“Yes Thelma. God is always with you”, said Mr. Landers, the old man from the park, whom Thelma used to meet often on her lunch breaks. The old man continued to say that God would never leave her, and she shouldn’t be afraid. That reassured her a little bit.
Thelma started a new job in a new town, where she didn’t know many people. Her position at the realtors’ office was very demanding, and took a lot of energy out of her every day. She was working for a boss who right from the start questioned almost any decision she made. To say the least, he kept her on her toes all day at work. Even when he wasn’t at the office, he would send her emails with many comments, or how he would have handled certain situations better than her, or call her and criticize her.
Her new house was small and cozy; the perfect size for her and Sparkle, the Teacup Yorkie. Sparkle was the remnant from her marriage which fell apart last year. Thelma ended up with Sparkle after the divorce. On the weekends she discovered second-hand stores to buy furniture and decorations for her house. She created a comfy atmosphere at her new home. The house was located at the outskirts of the town, and nestled in the middle of woodland. It was very quiet and far from the main road. Her next door neighbors were pretty far away from her, even though they were friendly last time she saw them, and welcomed her to the area with delicious chocolate chip cookies.
Thelma never slept alone in her life. After high school she went to a community college and stayed at home with her parents. That was where she met Andrew, her ex-husband. After college Andrew and her got married and moved in together to their condo. After the divorce Thelma moved in with her sister, but she couldn’t find her place there with her nieces and nephews. She knew she had to leave and go somewhere else, where not every single corner of the town reminded her of Andrew. She was searching for a position online in administration, further away from her small home-town. She finally found a company that offered a nice pay and health insurance. Nancy, the office manager, was always very warm on the phone with Thelma. That was how she found that house. It belonged to Nancy’s uncle, and it made the move easier to the new town after Nancy told her she got the job.
Around the house there was a lot of wild life. The woodland was a vast habitat for red tail fox, deer and other wild animals. Though the land was pastoral during the day, during the night it was coming to life, sort of speak. Thelma wasn’t used to all the noise that emanated from the forest all night, and she was afraid it was something else. Sometimes she thought she heard footsteps, another time a tapping on her roof, or her window. School of deer would have approached Thelma’s back yard and started eating the leaves on the citrus trees. Later, flying squirrels, raccoons and the rest of the nocturnal animals would have made different kinds of noise on the roof. All that nocturnal production kept Thelma awake and scarred for many nights. That didn’t help her during the day at work. It was very difficult for her to stay focused, and she drank a few cups of coffee just to stay awake.
One night after dinner, Thelma was sitting in the living room with Sparkle. She called her parents and promised them that she was alright. Then she was getting ready to go to sleep. That was when she started to make the connection between Mr. Lander’s conversation and the feelings of fear. Earlier, Mr. Landers from the park told her that God was always with her and she shouldn’t be afraid. Needless to say, she right away fell asleep that night. She wasn’t afraid from the garden variety noises at night anymore. From that night on she knew God was with her.
Isaiah 41:10: “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Years ago I started a new job in a new town I moved in from another state. A religious man came to our office. From some reason I felt comfortable enough to open up to him, and I told him that I had difficulty falling asleep at night because of all the mysterious noises outside my house. I was scared from every little thud that I would hear coming from my window. I would wake up so many times throughout the night that sometimes I would just keep on reading a book, or watching another movie and another one. The religious man told me, in his own simple words: “God is with you, you are not alone.” I got the message. It was very clear to me.
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