Friday, June 27, 2014

My story, 250 words or less

I am entering a writing contest (actually two different writing contests, but this one first). The winner gets their story as a chapter in an anthology of inspirational non-fiction stories. The anthology is called "Pebbles in the Pond", and it is under the auspices of my mentor, Christine Kloser. The 3rd edition just came out a few days ago, and I have already read most of it. I am so inspired by it, I want to give my story and my inspiration to others. (BTW, it is .99 cents now on Amazon for Kindle. Snag it! It will only be that price until tomorrow, I think).

Christine runs an eight month course which she calls her MasterHeart coaching program. It is very intensive one-on-one (Internet) mentoring and coaching. The people who do that course automatically have their story published in the "Pebbles" anthology. That course costs $10,000. Yup. So, this contest will give someone the MasterHeart program for free, and have their story published in the anthology, due to come out in one year from now, next June.

Since the "Pebbles in the Pond" came out a few days ago, it has soared sky-high on Amazon, and yesterday reached the marker of 180th in *all Amazon books*. That would be millions of books- every book on Amazon. The book is that close to the top. It's said that a great Amazon standing is if you are in the first 50,000. That is just in the first two days. It is an international best-seller, hence the authors of the chapters are international best-selling authors.

I want in.
I am filling out the very challenging contest entry form these days. It has taken me hours so far, and I still have a few more very challenging questions to answer. Each answer has a word count to stick to, and if you write above the word count, you are automatically disqualified. They check he word count before they read the responses themselves.

I want to reprint here for you my answer to the question:

"Please share a brief summary of the Transformational Story you want to share in 
"Pebbles in the Pond -Wave Four"

So, this is my story, in 248 words. Because of the word count limit, it took me 3 hours, at one sitting, in the hotel lounge of the Leonardo Hotel here in Be'er Sheva.

lounge, coffee, computer. Bliss.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My story is about how my scarred and broken body gave spiritual essence to the soul it houses.

I made a seamless, yet presumptuous plan to bring another soul into our family.
My strategy was elaborate and sound.
I resigned my position as an orchestra musician, then had surgery to fix a hernia before the pregnancy.

Five days after the surgery, a deadly infection took hold. The flesh-eating bacteria, Necrotizing Fasciitis (NF).

Organ failure. Coma. On the precipice of life and death. Multiple surgeries. Hundreds of friends and family praying. Four young children at home.

With my husband, praying, swaying, eyes shut, by my side, I woke up.

My road is like one of those rickety rope bridges dangling over alligator infested waters. Painstakingly balancing my footing on that bridge isn't what I'd call the road to recovery, rather, steps toward transformation. The rare diseases and surgeries I have endured since NF broke not only my body, but also my soul and spirit. Hospitalizations have been in surgical wards, oncology wards, and psychiatric hospitals. They continue even today.

My body and soul have been through drastic transformations. The illnesses took away my ability to have more children. My skin grafts and scars, deformities beneath my clothes. Birth comes in many forms, however. I did birth a new soul, like I had planned, but it was... mine.


My new soul is built to accommodate God, faith, and loving. That is what my story is about. Turning death into life.

16 comments :

  1. Excellent, Sarah. Well worth those 3 hours. Yasher Koach.

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  2. Beautiful. I assume the stories in the anthology are way longer.

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    1. Yes, Michele, they are. This is only the questionairre for entry.

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  3. I told you yesterday, and I will restate it today, that the new meaning you give to the "new soul" you wanted to bring into the world was SO beautiful and inspiring.

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    1. Thank you, Ken. Your critique means a lot to me!

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  4. Very well done, Sarah. I can see why it took 3 hours to write this.

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  5. If you're asking for editing suggestions: In the second paragraph, is "seamless" the right word? The strategy was not flawless; rather, it did not allow for flaws.

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    1. You know, Rich, I thought of 'seamless', also. I used 'flawless' because the plan itself did not allow for flaws. That was the main problem. A flaw was not in my consideration at all. Does that make sense?

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    2. The plan/strategy was expected to be flawless, but it wasn't; so you can't really refer to it as actually flawless. Planned/expected to be yes, but not actually.

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  6. Wow!!!!
    If they don’t accept you they’re crazy!
    Have a wonderful Shabbos.
    Xoxoxo,
    Miriam

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  7. this is beautiful Sarah. Whatever happens is in H'S hands, but your words are out and they impact others. They just impacted me. Thank you for being born into my world.
    xxx
    sh

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    1. Thank you so much, dear Shuli! I thank you just as much for being born into my world, as well. :)

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  8. Wow I love it. That is so well written. I want to read more! This application is like a twitter account - have to condense what you have to say to fit your allotted characters. So difficult but makes you pare t down to the essentials. Like you in your life. Out of necessity having to pare down what's in your life to those things most important. Good luck!

    Jackie

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