The Garden of No Return

~ Sandi Staton

Paradise

She had it all

A home in paradise

A husband who adored her

The perfect wardrobe

The perfect diet

No bill collectors

No noisy neighbors

 No rebellious teenagers

But it wasn’t enough

She wanted more

The one thing she couldn’t have

So on that sunny day so long ago

She stood before the forbidden tree

Lusting

Her mouth drooling

To know more

To see more

To be like God

At least that’s what the Deceiver

That slithering snake led her to believe

Shoving her closer to the tree

With his lying forked tongue

Convincing her that God was holding back

I can hear his demented laughter

As she sunk her teeth into the luscious fruit

I can feel her horror

Her grief

Her shame

As the cloak of righteousness

Was stripped away

And her nakedness exposed

I can see her shivering in the freezing cold

Of reality

Of seeing what she had

Of knowing what she lost

Never to own again

I can see her young firm body shriveling

As death began running its course

I can hear her screams of remorse

As she staggered from her beautiful home in paradise

Never to enter again

What a terrible fate had it abruptly ended there

For Adam and Eve

For you and me

But it didn’t

In His love and mercy

God provided a way back to Him

When He sent His Son to die

That we may have eternal life with Him

In Paradise

Forever

~Sandi

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Published by Sandi Staton

So, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to describe myself to you, and these are the words jumping up and down in my heart: I'm just a simple human being living in a complicated, messed-up world. I speak my mind. I love hard. My feelings run deep. When push comes to shove, I stand my ground. Sometimes I push back. Sometimes I walk away. I've surfed the crashing waves of life that threatened to destroy me only to make me stronger. I bear the scars of emotional rape, sadness, and depression. I've walked the golden streets of churches and religion only to be disappointed time and time again. And as a result, it's taken me seventy-five years to get where I'm sitting today; a sinner saved by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ. I fell at the cross. I repented of my sins, and Jesus saved and washed me clean. I still fall flat on my face. I still get dirty as a pig in a mudhole. And Jesus still picks me up, dries my tears, forgives me again and again, and continues walking close beside me. No one has ever loved me like that. And no one ever will.