A Fresh Start Miracle

 

Annalyn gestured to her husband, trying to get his attention.  He was oblivious, or at least selectively so.  He was the other side of their compound wall, shooting the breeze with his neighborhood comrades.  Annalyn could see them and hear their laughter.  Insulting, so it was.  The other men ignored her signals and beckons; not bothering to relay the 'message' to her husband.  Or maybe that was what they were laughting about.  All in male cahoots.  

Speaking of male...there was one sitting on her front step.  That's why she needed Tom.   In the meantime maybe she could see what the fellow was doing there.   "Hey, sir, what are you doing here?"  she asked.  There was not much response from him either.  Typical, she thought.

He looked like a monk.  His hair was completely shaved off atop his head.  The puzzling thing was, he wore a most beautifully exquisite, emerald silk robe of high quality, very unlike the usual Buddhist monk, mustard-yellow-orange linen wrappings.

Perhaps he had a vow of silence.  All he did was sit there, elbows resting on his knees, chin cupped by his hands, framing a persistant smile.  The intruders' eyes looked at nothing in particular.  It was unsettling, really.  Annalyn wondered if she should start screaming.

Instead, she gestured more frantically to her husband.  Still he rebuffed her.  Serve him right if something untoward happened to her.

Something very weird was going on, she thought.  Besides the monk fellow, there was the appearance of the baby.  A baby girl about seven or eight months of age; old enough to crawl because that's how she'd arrived.  She crawled right up the front steps before that monk man came to be there; at least she thouht so.  The little one crawled right through the dog flap in the door, went upstairs into the bedroom and hid under the bed.

Annalyn had followed her upstairs.  "Come out baby," she had coaxed when she'd heard some cooing coming from under there.  "Come out, baby."

Next thing she knew, a little girl about four years old came prancing in.   She had a beautiful head of hair, lovely, abundant brunette ringlettes all around.  She laughed at some private joke.  Happy.

She went under the bed with the baby.  They seemed like sisters and had some sort of silent communication that contended and calmed them.  She didn't speak either, just like the emerald man on her front doorstep.

What was going on?!

A goat came next!  Of all things!   A billy goat.  A youngish one cuz its horns weren't well defined yet.  Goodness.  What would be next?  

Billy Goat Gruff in the house, and under the bed with the little girls.  Their pet?

And, where was her dog?  Why wasn't he protesting the intrusions, and barking his head off?

That's when she'd gone outside looking for Bouncer their dog and found the man there instead and tried to get her husband's attention, which she still could not get.  Hmmm!

She had an idea.  She wouldn't scream after all.  It would be something even better.  She marched over to the opened shed, rummaged around, got what she was looking for and quietly tested it.  Yup, it still worked.  Tom always said it'd come in handy one day.  Sure enough.  Hee, hee.

Grinning despite her irritation, she put the bullhorn to her lips in earnest, pressed the on button, and let him have it.  "Thomas Alcorn Birkenstock!  Calling Thomas Alcorn Birkenstock!  Time to come home.  The sheep's in the meadow and the cow's in the corn.  I'll not get off this horn, until I see your handsome form, at home."

"Calling once, calling twice!"

The men, startled, finally stopped mid-sentence.  Her Tom met her eye in angered embarassment.  She kept up her beckon.

"Thomas Alcorn Birkenstock..."

She saw him on the move.  She'd be safe though.  The crowd sizzled with what they thought would be a domestic drama, as Tom sprinted into the yard, his dander up.  He stopped short when he saw the Emerald Monk Man.  "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Ahh," said the man.

"Oh," thought Annalyn, "so you do speak."  She turned to Tom, "This is why I've been flailing my arms at you.  Why were you ignoring me?  He's not the only company we have.  There are two young girls and a goat in the house.  Who knows what else may have arrived since I've been out here signalling to ya."

"Ahh," said the Emerald Monk again.

Tom and Annalyn looked at him.  He said, "Man, you should listen to your wife more.  Be attentive too, that is, if you cherish her."

"Who are you to lecture me, you, you stranger!  What are you doing here, anyway?"  Tom shouted in contempt.  "Go!  Get off my property!"

The crowd lining the compund periphery was growing.  Some hecklers shouted, "Hey green man, you from Mars?"  They didn't help matters much, Annalyn mused, Tom was real triggered already.

"Call the police," she suggested to Tom.

Tom, not usually one to give his wife an inch, realized, that this once, his wife might have a good idea and scrabbled for the phone in his pocket.  

Emerald Man was swift, lashed out and snatched Tom's phone, "Oh no you don't, no police!"

Tom, a muscled man, pulled back, wound up and thrust his punch at Mr. Emerald.  Shock formed on his face as Mr. Emerald absorbed the punch with a fluid flick of his wrist.  "Are you ready to listen to me, Tom?" he asked.  "Why don't we go inside away from the prying eyes and pitcher's with big ears."

"Oh no," Tom retorted, "I'll not fall for that.  I don't know you and who knows what you'll do to my wife and me.  No, we'll stay right outside here."

"Suit yourself, Tom-man."

Tom turned to his buddies, "Call the police."

They reached for their phones but those too, were snatched away, as if by some tweak of gravitational force.  Everyone saw their  phones swoosh through the air, and then march into a hidden pouch on the Emearald Man's gown.

"Who is this guy?" everyone began to wonder uncomfortably.  "Some sort of magical being?  An angel?"  It was kinda freaking them all out.

"I repeat; 'Are you ready to listen, yet, Tom?'" Mr. Emerald asked.  "Have I gotten your attention?"

In this situation of importunity, Tom grudingly grunted he was ready.

Annalyn could see him seething though.

She was really curious to see how this was going to play out.  She was still nervous and a bit afraid; glad Tom insisted they stayed outside with the neighborhood gossips hanging over the wall.  For once, she was thankful for them.

"First off," directed Mr. Emerald, "Go into the house and verify that your wife is telling the truth about the three "kids" under the bed.  Come out and report your findings."

Tom complied albeit defiantly.  Annalyn could hear his stomps up the stairs.  He hadn't removed his dirt-grimed boots.  She sighed.  His inconsiderations always angered her.  She'd wait this out though.  Maybe this was the life change opportunity she'd often prayed would transform Tom to be "more like Christ" and to begin to be the more pleasant companion and husband she yearned for.  Yes, a bit of dirt on the stairs would be worth it.  Yes, she'd wait. 

"Now," Mr. Emerald Man explained, "I've come here not to harm you, but to exhort.  Never mind what right I have, just hear me out."

"Those two children represent that you need to 'rethink' and 'redirect' your focus.  When you accepted Jesus as Savior, by faith in Him, you had to 'become like a child' and humbly repentant, confess your sinfulness and need of a Savior.  You need to be reminded of the on-going process of sanctification.  You need to bear more fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

In practical terms, stop running roughshod over people, especially your wife.  Stop bulldozing over everything she says and does.  Vilify and vindicate that yes, she does, have worthwhile ideas, opinions and things to say.  Converse and actually communicate.  Stop your harsh treatment and words.  Am I getting through to you, Tom?"

"Yes," Tom meekly replied.

"I'm not asking you to become less of a man, nor a wet rag.  NO!  Rise up and be the head of the home you should be.  Leadership is to listen and to consider the "underlings'' words, thoughts, opinions on matters of the relationship and family living and so on.  Consider Annalyn's!  It does not mean you accept everthing and incorporate everything.  NO.  You take what is best for the both of you, that would honor God.  Think wisely.  Consider.  More than likely, your wife will be amenable even if you don't use all her input in your final decisions.  Two-way street communication, is key. Decide things, together."

"You do need to make these changes here and now, Tom!"  Emerald Man continued.  "Are you getting this?  I'll be back in a couple of weeks to check on progress.  Any questions, Tom?"

Tom was having difficult finding his tongue  New phenomenon.  He, at last, asked, "Why the goat?"

"Oh,"  Mr. Green Man chortled, "That's to let you know, I'm not kidding!"

"You may also be wondering, why my emerald green garment...Think, growth - new and continued growth.  Tom, it needs to happen in your spiritual life and relationship with Christ, your wife, and then out to others.  Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ." 

Annalyn was still cradling the bullhorn, the village folks were still gawking, mouths agape, but the feistiness had drained out of Annalyn.  She was feeling some compassion now for her husband and ever so thankful for Mr. Emerald Man's words - whoever he was and from wherever he was from.  She sincerely hoped this would indeed be that turning point she'd hoped, wished and prayed for, for so long in Tom and in their marriage.  She looked up to heaven and whispered, "Thank-You, Father God!  Help us both!"

With that, she walked over to Tom, stood in allegiance beside him, lending him her support and intertwined her fingers with his.  She looked up at him, found his eyes, now gentled, and spoke, "We're in this together.  We'll figure it out one day at a time.  Deal?"

"Deal," he smiled at her.

Say what?  Yes, Annalyn's heart did a flip.  Tom was smiling pleasantly at her!

They were off to a better start already.  "Lord," Annalyn breathed another silent prayer, "see us through and thank-You, again.  Amen."

Husband and wife, turned to speak to Emerald Man, but he'd disappeared, and the "three little kids" were just seen departing the compound.  Tom's phone was dancing around his head until he reached up and grabbed it.  As for the townsfolks' phones, they were step-marching back to the respective owners' outstretched hands.  One by one, once they retrieved their phones, they shook their heads from side to side, trying to grasp what had just happened.

Annalyn pinched her right thigh, experimentally,  was she dreaming or was this for real?

"Ouch!"  Yes, it was real.  She was awake.

She and Tom disappeared into their home and shut the door.

"Praise the Lord, " Annalyn whispered heavenward as she prepared the evening meal.  Wonder of wonders, Tom joined her and was actually, freely and happily listening to her directions of what she had in mind for dinner preparations.  Miracles do still happen!

And there was Bouncer.  He now sported an emerald green dog collar.  Annalyn smiled.

Thus began a new chapter, a better chapter in the life and times of Tom and Annalyn.  A fresh start miracle, indeed.

                                                       ~ERC  October 2021~