I wanted to be the ones that
stayed,
steadfast.
“Just be faithful.”
she said.
Only, “faithful” held one definition here:
Stay.
And I tried,
ever harder,
to stay.
Feeling hammered under words
flung out from the pulpit.
The very words spoken to me in secret.
The ones that still haunt.
I fought to stay.
I fought with my husband.
I fought through hot tears over cold-hearted words.
I fought to hear God remind me he would hold me fast.
and stay.
The story goes:
“They must be bitter—
they didn’t stay.”
God knows I wanted to.
ICYMI
Ten Toes or Lying Lines? on Substack
Always Behind on Substack
That Time I Signed a Book Contract with Moody on Substack
The Crushing Weight of a Wrong Identity on Core Christianity
A Pure Heart in a World of Passions: The Seventh Commandment on Core Christianity
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