Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Special Moments
    Special Moments
    Special Moments
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    Special Moments

    By Bobby A. Troutt

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Special Moments is a collection of religious short essays and parables of the life of an old man who travels through life teaching a spiritual message that can be applied to our everyday life. The old man is a symbol of wisdom that teaches us life’s lessons.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBobby A. Troutt
    Release dateMar 13, 2015
    ISBN9781310779169
    Special Moments
    Author

    Bobby A. Troutt

    I am southern writer who enjoys writing about the southern living I grew up in. I am divorced and work at a nearby college. I live about fifty miles north of Nashville, Tennessee in the town of Gallatin. I enjoy sharing my stories with the readers, which I hope find the stories appealing. I write mysteries, crime thrillers, and suspense. My books touch on various subjects dealing with today’s society of the yester years. I write short story collections with the hope of sharing a variety of my stories for the reader’s enjoyment. I want to be an effective writer with positive stories that bring the reader down to a good old country story with a lot to say.

    Read more from Bobby A. Troutt

    Related to Special Moments

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Yes, You Can!

      Mar 23, 2020

      Yes, You Can!
      4 min read

    • Article

      HOW IS YOUR VISION? 5 Tips To Establish God’s Plan For Your Life

      Jun 24, 2019

      A church in a community bought a piece of property and built a building. They were excited about serving the Lord. They wanted to win the lost for Christ and encourage the believers to live for Jesus. They really had a vision for God. It was their de

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Purpose Of Life

      Feb 3, 2021

      ONE upon a time, there lived a wise man. He was the head of the local administration of a small village. Everyone respected him and his views and opinions were well regarded. Many people came to him seeking advice. His son, however, was lazy and wast

      3 min read

    • Article

      Why Hope Restores in Every Situation

      Jan 1, 2021

      Every one of us goes through dark valleys and troubled times. But in Christ Jesus we have hope. And hope restores in every situation—no matter how dark it may seem. To say the last year has been challenging would be an understatement for most of the

      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Nov 27, 2020

      I I believe b that we are living in the end times as we read about in all the books of the Gospel and listen to what Jesus had said. He warned of pestilences and famines. I believe that Covid-19 is one of the pestilences, as well as all the locusts t

      7 min read

    • Article

      Ilse Kleyn Prophetic Artist

      Jun 24, 2019

      Ilse Kleyn Prophetic Artist
      7 min read

    • Article

      You Are Not A Failure!

      Jul 22, 2019

      You Are Not A Failure!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Echo and Narcissus

      Mar 7, 2022

      Echo and Narcissus
      7 min read

    • Article

      When Bubba Met God

      Sep 25, 2018

      When Bubba Met God
      5 min read

    • Article

      Low Flying Planes

      Feb 20, 2023

      Low Flying Planes
      3 min read

    • Article

      It’s A New Season

      Aug 19, 2019

      Ruth 1:22 says, “So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.” The book of Ruth tells us how these two women, Ruth and Naomi, had lost everything. Naomi h

      3 min read

    • Article

      How Ordinary The Revelation

      Nov 5, 2020

      I left my beak hanging on the tree, but my voice continues in my head. There’s no silence in this house. No forgetting. No beginning of forgetting. Humans walk by with their widening language, their twitching wings. They don’t understand we must be q

      1 min read

    • Article

      Riddles For April Fools

      Apr 1, 2020

      Challenge yourself and your friends this April Fools’ Day with these brain-teasing riddles. You’ll find the answers on page 47. I’m not an animal, and yet I eat.I’m not a plant, and yet I grow.I leap and dance, but have no feet.I have a tongue, but

      1 min read

    • Article

      Sunset Reply

      Jun 25, 2019

      Sunset Reply
      2 min read

    • Article

      THE GIRL In The TOWER

      May 11, 2020

      THE GIRL In The TOWER
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Blessing of Burnt Beans

      May 27, 2022

      The Blessing of Burnt Beans
      2 min read

    • Article

      Absolute Mystery

      Sep 22, 2017

      I HEAR THE WORD, of course. I go to Mass some Sundays, listen to Al Green’s Greatest Gospel Hits, and have lived in or near the Bible Belt for the better part of the past decade. Even still, the word God has never quite fitted itself to my ears. And

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Centre

      May 6, 2021

      The Centre
      8 min read

    • Article

      Treetop Procession

      Jun 26, 2018

      Treetop Procession
      2 min read

    • Article

      What Prayer Can Do®

      Feb 27, 2020

      I sat down by a window with my prayer journal just as the sun was coming up and turned to my prayer requests. Lists of names filled at least 15 pages. Some names had been there for years. Friends, family, people from church, even strangers. Every day

      1 min read

    • Article

      A Prayer for October

      Sep 19, 2020

      A Prayer for October
      10 min read

    • Article

      Saint Cuthbert’s Incorruptible Body

      Sep 8, 2020

      In the year of our Lord 687, in cause of an early, wet spring, the body of Saint Cuthbert was laid in the ground to rest. On the tomb were figured angels and seraphim of plain but wonderful design. And among these flitted cherubs, like apricots set i

      19 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday, May 26

      Apr 15, 2020

      I BET I’VE READ JESUS’S Parable of the Sower a hundred times. Maybe a thousand. I’m Southern Baptist after all. I cut my teeth on a black King James Version Bible, and I thought I had these verses zipped up in my mind. But the other day, some complet

      1 min read

    • Article

      A Change Takes Place

      Oct 28, 2019

      A Change Takes Place
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Epic Of Gilgamesh

      Jan 1, 2020

      My friends, who can reach heaven? The monster bellows like a river swollen with flood.Many are consumed in his fiery breath. My friends, who can reach heaven? Let us ask the mountain for a sign.Let us cut the spirits from the cedars. My friends, who

      3 min read

    • Article

      Five Poems

      Mar 4, 2019

      for William Gifford, 1928–2015 The river. Always the same, never the same.Poughkeepsie. A place north of where I am.To remember you is to remember Poughkeepsie.To remember Poughkeepsie is to remember the river.I am downriver now & you are a memoryI

      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Nov 19, 2021

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Special Moments

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Special Moments - Bobby A. Troutt

      Special Moments

      Bobby A. Troutt

      Copyright 2015 by Bobby A. Troutt

      Smashwords Edition

      Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. Thank you for your support.

      Table of Contents

      The Withering Vine

      Somewhere Out There Is God

      I Wonder, Will You Forget Me

      The Old Man and the Autumn Sunset

      The Old Church Bell

      The Old Man with the Withered Hands

      Forever and a Day

      The Old Man, the Ship and the Lighthouse

      The Other Side of Nowhere

      Every Way That I Would Turn, Trouble Besought Me

      To Everything There is a Season

      As the Crow Flies

      The Flight of the Three Doves

      Lord, When the Leaves Fall, I’ll Return in Autumn

      Torn Between Two Stones

      The Old Man and the River

      The Fallen Tree

      The Old Man and the Rainbow

      The Dust in the Wind and the Fallen Tree

      Flowers

      Where the Lilies Grow

      *****

      Special Moments

      The Withering Vine

      There was a time, not so long ago, when a young man named Ollie who loved the Lord with all his heart lived in the plains of the valley of Homer in the small community of Pleasant Grove that laid between two mountains. He was a tiller of the ground; a man who walked with the Lord daily as he watched over his land and vineyard. Ollie was a young man in the Lord because it wasn’t too long ago that he surrendered his heart and life unto the Lord. He lived a blessed life there in the valley. Year after year, his crops gave an abundance of fruits, berries, vegetables and grains. He had record crops of food that he sold to the market for a living. People from all around the valley of Homer came and bought his vegetables, grains, berries and fruits. Ollie was well liked by all and was highly respected. He prayed daily and praised the Lord for everything the Lord had blessed him with. He shared his blessings with others who were less fortunate. All went well for Ollie in the valley for a long time as he worked his crops in the fields. Until, one day, tragedy struck; the valley was stricken with a drought. Day after day, month after month, the drought hovered over the valley and turned the land to dust. The creeks were dried up and the hot swirling winds scorched the barren land. Ollie lost all his crops and his fields laid in ruins. His land was nothing but a naked and barren wasteland. He didn’t know what had happened or understand why. Ollie, who was broken, knelt down on his knees and called out unto the Lord.

      Lord, he cried out. Why, Lord has this tragedy befell me so? Have I not done your will? Have I not done my best in everything you asked me to do? Why, oh, Lord? Why? What have I done? Where have I failed to deserve this tragedy?

      The Lord heard his cries. However, he sat still and gave him no answer which caused Ollie to cry out even more.

      Forgive me, my Lord, I pray. Forgive me for all the wrongs I did that brought me these troubles.

      The Lord sat still with no answer. Ollie looked out across the fields and then looked down at the ruined crops that lay at his feet. He stood in silence with tears running down his face as he looked about his land. He slowly looked up to the sky for a moment, dropped his head and walked away. He suddenly stopped, looked up at the sky once again and listened. But, he heard nothing but the blowing of the dry wind. As he watched the dust blowing across the fields, his heart became bitter and he cried out unto the Lord once more.

      Lord, it’s so unfair and so unjust.

      With no answer from the Lord, his heart hardened and he looked up to the sky no more. All he could do was turn and walk away. As time went on, he tried to put back the pieces of his shattered life. Unfortunately, the more he tried, the more of a mess it became. Ollie never looked up again unto the Lord. He had given up all hope, cast away all his dreams and lost all sight of his blessed vision. For years, he struggled to regain everything he had. He worked from dawn to dusk, day after day, planting, replanting, sowing and plowing. But, it was all in vain because the land held back its fertile soil.

      Several years passed and Ollie was now an old man. Throughout those years, the land produced enough to see him through. It was just enough to get him by and allow him to survive. Although his bitter and hardened heart dwelled with him all those years, deep down inside there was still a drop of good in it. The time came when he stood in the open fields, once again, and looked up to heaven, unto the face of God.

      Ollie cried out, Lord, forgive me of my ways and the things that brought this upon me. I don’t understand, my Lord. I am sorry for being so blinded that I can’t see. But, I pray you will have mercy on me so I may live fully once again and know you in my heart like I once did. Ollie fell down upon his knees and cried out even more. Forgive me, Lord, I pray, for where I have failed.

      He dropped his head and tears fell from his eyes. He watched as a sun-scorched vine withered and died when a worm cut the root of the vine. As he took a seed from the fruit of the withered vine in his hand, the Lord spoke to his heart.

      My child, my precious child, the world is cruel and it beholds tragedy for all. It is an unfair and unjust world. However, you have been strong and endured. Plant the seed that it may grow and bring forth its fruit from the land; your heart will become as pure as gold.

      Ollie took the seed and did as

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1