Credentials

by Cheryl Merrick

Earning my credentials
has taken many years.

At first my assertions
of faith in the Lord’s wisdom
were dismissed.

With knowing nods,
they declared that
my faith had yet to be tried,
then that the trial just
hadn’t been long enough.


After forty years of intense
suffering and limitations,
the new disclaimer is
it is easy to be grateful for trials
when they are over.

To which I quietly remind them
that my trials aren’t over
and never will be.

In that moment of silence which follows,
I know that I have at last
earned my credentials.