He Led Me To Life

Chapter 4:

      The gospel. I'm not sure what I think about this or what my parents will think but I'm going to listen with an open mind. Samuel began. " We don't have much time till the charity closes so I'll try to be quick and to the point."

      "If you don't finish now you can share more with me later," I said before he started.

       "Ok. Well, here it goes." He began while continuing to sort food. "God loves us so much so He had a plan. He sent Jesus, His son, to earth to die for our sins so that we could live and have a relationship with Him."

      "So we could live. What does that mean?" I asked, pausing my work to look at him.

    Looking back at me, he replied: "No one comes to the Father except through Jesus and He died so we could live eternally in heaven with Him. Those who don't believe will live eternal death in Hell." he answered.

      "How do you know this is true?"

      "I don't have proof but the bible says: "Blessed are those who believe without seeing."

      "It is kind of hard to believe, but I guess most history doesn't have much proof and I believe that. I'm not sure about all this but it seems right and true."

      "I'm glad you're listening," he said. "Most people are not interested at all and say all kinds of mean things. We need to go now but I will continue in the car if you want."

     "I would love to hear more!" I said as we walked out. We got into his car and were on our way to my house.

       Samuel began again. "Jesus lived and died and rose from the dead so we could have eternal life. Jesus was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life. He died for us so we could be reconciled to the Father(God)."

     "This might sound dumb but how does that connect with being a Christian? In other words, how does one "become" a Christian?"

     "Well this is what I've been taught and what I did: to admit to God that you're a sinner and repent; believe that Jesus died for your sins and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the son of God," he replied. " I became a believer in Jesus when I was about 10 and it changed my life."

     "That's amazing! I guess I've never really heard the gospel at all. Thanks for sharing with me."

      "You're very welcome! I'm glad to have shared with you," he said as he pulled into my driveway.

     "Well, see you tomorrow and by the way, I would love to hear more about Christianity and this Jesus you believe in."

     "See ya," he said and drove away. He lived 2 streets over from my street.

    It was 6 o'clock pm. I checked my phone for messages. There was one message from my mom saying she picked up my little brother, Jack and they were going to be home at 7 o'clock with pizza. There was an organic pizza shop in town and she loved to pick up a couple pizzas every now and then for an easy dinner. I didn't like them as much as normal pizza but they were good enough.

      I spent that hour tidying up the house a bit before they came home. Sorting food got me into a mood of helping and cleaning which I don't usually do. When I was done, I went over to our bookshelf to look and see if we owned a bible. I could not get what Samuel shared with me out of my head and I needed to know more. I couldn't find one so I looked it up on the internet and got many results. I found a bible website and started reading in Genesis. After reading a little, I heard a car drive up.

     "Sadie." My mom called as she entered the house.

      "Yeah, mom," I replied.

      "Just seeing if you were here." she came bustling in with arms full of groceries. "It looks nice in here. Did you clean?"

      "I did. I had a little time so I thought I'd tidy a bit before you guys got home. Where's Jack?"

      "Oh, he's coming; Probably still in the car. I bought him a Nintendo DS today and he's addicted to it," She replied.

      "I'll go get him," I offered as I walked out to the car. "Jack! It's time to come in; we're having dinner."

     "Okay!" is all he said.

     "Come now!" I ordered as I opened the car to see him staring at a screen.

     "I am!" he screeched annoyingly as I closed his device. My little brother and I always had this weird tension between us. I walked back into the house with a disgruntled brother following close behind.

      "Pizza is served!" My mom yelled, which was unnecessary because we were right there.

      I ate a couple of pieces and was full. As I got up to leave, my mom said dad would be home Tuesday night. He seemed to be gone working or on business trips a lot so I felt like I barely knew him, so I didn't really care when he was here or not. Both my parents are pretty absent and even though my mom was around, I feel like I can never relate to her but I guess that's life.

      I took my laptop upstairs and continued reading the bible. I got a little bored and sleepy so I fell asleep and started to dream...

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      I was running through a forest...heart racing...something was chasing me. My feet felt like they were slowing down and I was about to get captured. All I could think of was: I don't want to die. What would happen if I did die? What Samuel had said about heaven and hell was intermingled into my mind. Hell was chasing me and I couldn't get away. I tripped and jolted awake.

    "What the heck!" I said aloud to into the darkness of my room. I was sitting at my desk. I had fallen asleep reading and I had keyboard imprints on my face. I must be thinking about what Samuel said a little too much. I hate bad dreams and I never really remember them but that was like it was real! I calmed down a little, got into bed drifted back to sleep. I started to dream again...

     I was at school. Everyone was looking at me when I walked in like I was some kind of alien or something. It was all grey, like a black n' white film. Then I saw Samuel. He was in color unlike everyone else. There was something different about him; he was light and seemed to glow. It was strange. Something changed, I wasn't at school anymore. I didn't recognize my surroundings. It was like pictures before me and I had two choices: to follow everyone else which seemed like the easier, better choice or follow the light which seemed unknown and hard. I couldn't choose, so I stood there thinking...falling...sinking... where was I? It was blackness. I wasn't dreaming anymore. Just sleeping.

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     I woke to the sound of my alarm ringing; it was 6 o'clock am. I got out of bed and put on my clothes I had spent hours picking out the other day and took a little longer than usual to put on my makeup. I couldn't help but think about the dreams I had. They were super weird and like nothing I ever dreamed of before.

      After getting ready, I ran downstairs to a table set with breakfast; oatmeal and organic nut mix to top it. I always put sugar in it to make it more bearable. I'm not such a big fan of oatmeal, especially the steel-cut, organic, raw kind. If I do have oatmeal I prefer the instant packets. It's good that my mom has been a little health food crazy though because I am a little overweight.

     I ate and made my way to the school bus stop on my street. Jack's school started 2 hours later than mine so I was usually the first one up and to leave the house. When the bus arrived, I hopped on and took a seat with my best friend Amy, who lived in the next neighborhood over. The bus always drove through hers first, then mine. I had a lot to tell her about the events of the last couple of days.