Short Stories!

Alone

A/N

This is something that I have struggled with, though many people don't know it. And, with me being Christian, I wanted to include a similar experience to what I had. If you are not a religious person, you do not have to read this, though I would appreciate it if you did. Without further commentary, I will allow you to read this story.

Sam walks up to me. Aubry soon follows. Lilly comes too. As does Logan. All with their issues that they want to talk about. Sam, a shattered heart when her boyfriend walked past with another girl. Aubry, friends who walked away when she was at her lowest. Lilly, can't keep a job for the life of her. Logan, forgot to finish his final project for a class.

I know that they are all great friends. To each other and me. I do my best to keep them happy, though they are all drama queens. My parents don't approve of them because they are not religious. My parents believe my friends will steer me in the wrong direction.

It has been a long day and I finally get to go home and relax. As soon as I walk in the front door my parents bombard me with questions.

"How was your day? What did you do? Any big drama at school?"

After I dismiss them my mom walks to my room with me, much to my annoyance. "May? I found another group you can try. They meet in a few minutes, but do you want to try?"

Just to appease my mom's desire I agree to go. Just this once. I would much rather stay home and binge Netflix. My mom ushers me into the car. After about ten minutes of driving, she drops me off in the front of a large church.

As soon as I walk in I am in awe. They have inflatable obstacle courses, pop and rock music playing over the speakers, and there are people my age socializing. The lights turn off, the auditorium doors open, everyone rushes to be the first people in. I find a seat in the farthest row from the stage.

The church's band is on the stage playing various songs as a timer is projected onto the screens. Some guy walks onto the stage as soon as the timer hits zero. He is wearing ripped jeans and a dirt-covered white shirt. His hair, I notice, is in a mohawk. "Everyone, please come up to the stage and let us worship!" He announces.

I reluctantly stand from my seat and walk, slowly, towards the front of the room. The band plays a few songs and everyone is asked to go to their seats.

The same guy as earlier walks back onto the stage and dismisses the band. "Welcome back everyone! And for those of you who are new here, my name is Luke. I am the lead youth pastor here. I just want to open today's service with a story."

Luke shares an embarrassing story from when he was in high school. He wanted to impress some girl so he became a jock as well as changing his appearance. It didn't work.

"With that out of the way, open your Bibles to Jeremiah, chapter 29, verses 11-13. 'For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.' If anything happens, we know that the Lord will be with us.

"Psalm chapter 46 verses 1-3 'God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.' If we ever have trouble, we know that God is with us. He has given us the tools we need to prosper.

"Many times we will try to do things we know will be hard. Some people it may be pushing yourself to do sports. It may be getting rid of things in our houses. Perhaps it is keeping everyone around you happy. Whatever it is, ask God to take some of the pressure off your shoulders.

"People have said that the person who tries to keep everyone happy often ends up feeling the loneliest. I know that from experience. Sports. I was never the most athletic person. I found sports to be rather difficult. But if you are forcing yourself to do something that you don't want to do, it makes everything ten times harder than it should be.

"We wander away from what is holy and righteous. If this is you, ask God for help. Ask Him for forgiveness. For God is good and forgives us for our sins. He forgives us when we wander away from him trying to do what it is that WE want to do. I end this night in prayer. Please, bow your heads and pray with me..."