Redemption

Chapter 29

Rose

"Didn't I tell you?"

I look over at my cousin, Ayo, as she smirks. "I told you that you would both end up together." She's the one who dropped me off the day I slept with Austin. I ended up telling her about that a few months after it happened and she was shocked, never expecting it. Her view of me changed, but for the better as she felt for a while like I was perfect and she just didn't measure up. It turns out, she felt like I was the golden child. So the event somehow brought us closer together and it had her feeling like the faith is more approachable.

I hadn't known then, but she had a view of the faith that she had to be perfect to be Christian. So when I slept with Austin and repented and still continued on the faith, it struck her that there's something to the faith she wasn't aware of. My dear cousin was agnostic, but she is now exploring Christianity and I keep her in prayer that she will eventually come to Christ, reconciling with God through the Son.

"And now look at you, courting and smiling like a child on Christmas day." It's true, my cheeks hurt with how much I've been smiling.

This is our girl's day together and this time, I'm the one driving.

"I'm happy," she divulges, getting somber. My smile drops a bit at the change in mood. "I never told you, but I really wasn't fond of how you both ended things. I'm not Christian, but I don't have to be one to know that Austin derailed and was going down a terrible path back then. It's good to know he's doing better." Her light brown eyes meet mine.

"And it really gladdens my heart to know that things worked out. You two were always so cute together, but it's not just that, Rose, you two have always had something special together. I know people who went to school with him, whether in elementary school or high school and they tell a different story about Austin. It's clear that he had perfected his image as a child, which is so crazy. But with you, he can be vulnerable. That's amazing and to be honest, I don't see that much." She grins. "And you're different with him too. You look at him like he's the only one for miles and miles. You have it bad." Ayo laughs and I join her, feeling elated by her words. I reach over and pinch her arm.

"Look who's talking. You've always got hearts in your eyes for that one man."

"Stop," she rolls her eyes, "he's Christian. That's not a thing."

"Who knows. The Lord is working on your heart and you haven't closed Him out. But of course, focus on yourself and your search about the faith. When you put your trust in the Lord and make Him first and foremost, everything else falls into place. That's not to say life is perfect, but you can trust that He always has you." I smile brightly, my eyes on the road, but I see how she looks at me from the corner of my eye, taking in my words with an open heart. Her heart used to be hardened and she almost mocked Christianity, so we didn't talk about faith together. But now it's almost a 180. Even with my misstep, the Lord still used it to His glory.

Ayo takes my free hand, holding it as she thinks in silence.

"You really believe in Him."

"I do."

"...have you ever had doubts?"

"I have for sure. But the thing about the doubts is that I would remind myself of the validity of Scripture, the historical facts about the Christian faith, the undeniable truth that Christ existed with the accounts of not just the disciples but historical figures such as the Jewish historian Josephus, archeological discoveries that give the faith credibility, and my own personal experience with how God has met me."

"...do you ever feel stupid believing in someone you've never seen?"

"No, just like I don't feel stupid believing Cleopatra existed, or Alexander the Great or Genghis Kan. I've never seen any of them, yet we know they were once real with historical accounts that tell of them."