Writing Contest

PERSONAL ESSAY/CREATIVE NONFICTION CONTEST
There’s still time to enter the 2012 Personal Essay/Creative Nonfiction contest! Enter to win cash prizes and publication in the 2012 winners’ anthology, Pooled Ink: Celebrating the 2012 NCW Contest Winners. Winners and honorable mentions get a free copy. This year’s judge is writer, poet, songwriter, and more, Mr. Kim Stafford. See contest page for prizes, entry fees, and submission guidelines!
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Darla
Dumler
As I walked into my Sunday School class, I was surprised to find a pint-sized princess regaling my entire gaggle of giggling girls with tales of adventures that would rival Pippi Longstocking. As I sat down among the group and declared it was time to start class now, the tiny munchkin placed a miniature hand over my mouth and declared, “I’m not done talking yet.”
So, what do you get when you cross Pippi Longstocking with Pollyanna? Darla, of course! From that first meeting, she captured my heart with her unquenchable enthusiasm for life and her Lord. As I met and became close friends with her entire family, only four incredibly complex individuals, my heart often broke at her difficult situation. Her beautiful mother, raised on a California reservation and struggling with depression and darkness, was often mentally and emotionally swallowed for whole weeks on end. Her father, retired from the military on disability, devoted his entire life and energy to protecting and providing for his troubled wife. Her only brother, adopted at birth, wrestled with his own demons of rejection. Each was isolated by their own pain, and Darla felt responsible to mother the entire brood.
From those childhood days, she graduated into an abusive marriage, battling to keep her own identity and protect herself and her children. Through it all, she maintained her optimism and her faith in God’s love and provision.
I would like to report that Darla is no longer plagued with circumstances that should overwhelm her, but instead she continues to plow through life, finding joy daily. Join her as she continues to amaze and inspire with her incredible faith and hope along her path – you’ll discover, as I have, that she’s “not done talking yet!”
www.darladumler.com
www.darladumler.blogspot.com/