Bringing Me Closer

Chapter Four

               "Okay, let's begin. Are you okay with telling me what happened the night of your accident?" That's the first thing my counselor asked me. Cool. "Umm I can try." "Yes, that's all you can ever do, and that's all I'm asking of you." "Okay well I was just leaving the beach and I was walking down a street by a bar. This man came up behind me and grabbed my side. It scared me so I pushed his hand aside and then I began to run. The he um, he..." I didn't want to cry in front of this nice man so I just stopped there. "Is this as far as you would like to go Roxy?" "Um yeah, sorry." I sniffled, holding back the tears. "Okay that's fine. I

leave you with a reassuring truth, God is there." When I walked out, I was confused, I didn't really know much about this God but I guess I knew he existed. That's when I walked out to my mom and Liam in the waiting room and of course I burst into tears as soon as I saw them. Liam came in for a long hug and told me it was all going to be alright. Everyone was doing their best to help me, but it had nothing to do with them, I needed to do my best too.

               When we got home, Liam was able to stay until 11pm but then he had to go home because his parents were finally back. I decided I would talk to him about how the counselor mentioned God. "Oh well that's great Roxy. I've been meaning to talk to you about God, He works in mysterious ways. Would you wanna come to church with me tomorrow maybe?" "Well sure why not? What time should I beready?" "Um could I pick you up at 8:30am? It starts at 9am!" "Yeah that works!"

        When it came time for me to wake up, I jumped out of bed excited for this new experience. I straightened my hair and put on a yellow sundress and some wedges and a limited amount of makeup. By this time it was already 8:15am so I just decided to have some toast with peanut butter. Liam came to my door in a suit and tie, and boy did he look spiffy. "Wow Roxy you look gorgeous! Are you ready?" I nodded my head and he looped his arm around mine as we walked down to his car. When we pulled into the church parking lot my heart started to pound, what if I didn't fit in? What if I'm not good enough for this God? Liam grabbed my hand, already reading my mind, "Roxy they'll love you! Just keep an open mindand trust me on this one."

               When I walked into Liam's church a nice older man shook my hand saying, "Well hello young lady, welcome!" I said thank you and shook his hand back as Liam brought me to a pew in the middle of the aisle. We sat down next to his mom and dad who were incredibly happy to see me. "Roxy we're so glad you could make it!" said Mrs. Nixon. His dad nodded in agreement. Then the piano began to play and

we all stood up and sang a song called "River of Life". The lyrics went something like this, "I've got a river of life flowing out of me, makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. Opens prison doors sets the captives free. I've got a river of life flowing out of me." The lyrics made me realize why Liam is always so happy, He has God with Him. I needed this, but how? The preacher went through a whole sermon about not worrying, how God has a plan and it will benefit those who love Him. By the end I was ready to accept Jesus, I was willing to do anything I could to serve God and to be a part of His family. Just in time, the preacher explained that we must first believe, repent, confess to men, be baptized, and of course remain faithful. Of course I believe in God, how else would this world be here? How would we be so complex and have so many feelings? How would there be a creation without a creator? Of course I had things I needed to repent for, to completely turnaround from. Baptism would bury me into Christ's death, and I would rise to have a new life, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Remaining faithful was only a given. I smiled at Liam and didn't stop until we got back to his place for a Sunday lunch, that was better than any counseling I would ever receive.

               For lunch his mom made lasagna, what a day. My life was completely changed and I got some amazing food. His parents and I talked while Liam sat quietly. I had no clue what was wrong but I know we needed to talk. After finishing our food and cleaning up for a bit, he and I went out to his porch swing and sat down. "Liam what's..." "Roxy I need to know," he looked down, this was something important, "did that effect you at all?" "Well yeah I feel..." He interrupted me again, "Because I can't live my life here thinking that I won't be living my life in heaven without you. I just can't do that Roxy." "Liam," he looked into my eyes for the first time since we were in the car before the service, "I wanna get baptized." "Roxy, this is the day I have dreamed about since we met. You have no idea, I care so much about you and I can't..." He was almost in tears and stopped himself. We looked at each other again and he stood up, took me by the hand and brought me into a hug. We then walked into the kitchen and Liam explained the life changing choice I wanted to make. His parents were overjoyed and hugged me. They decided to call my parents right then to invite them over so Liam's dad could baptize me right then and there.

               When my parents heard that I wanted to be baptized they didn't know what to say. After a few seconds of silence and awkward stares, my dad said, "No," my jaw just about dropped, "I'm sorry Jane and Carl, we just can't let Roxy do this right now. She doesn't know what she's doing, she's only seventeen. This isn't what she wants." I tried to explain myself but my parents just about shoved me into the car without even letting me say goodbye to Liam. I was so upset, I couldn't even speak. My parents acted like nothing happened! When I got home I just sat in my room and cried. My parents didn't understand any of this one bit, that's when I called Liam. I sniffled, "Hey." "Are you crying?" "Um yeah I am, but I just..." I couldn't even talk, with tears beginning to well into my eyes.  "Okay Roxy, you listen to me. Your birthday is in less than a month, and you'll be eighteen, and then they can't hold you back. You're going to be okay. Plus, this way you can learn more about God and His word and promises and commandments before you make this lifelong commitment. You can grow closer to Him. I can help you." "Liam thank you so much, I honestly can't thank you enough."

               The next day I was surprised that my parents let me go out with Liam to the park. He picked me up around 10am and we headed out. When I got into the car some music was playing that I had never heard before. "Hey beautiful," he said as I shut the car door, "how are you today?" "I'm doing great! What's this CD?" His face reddened as he pulled it out and stuck in an old Maroon 5 CD. "Liam?" "It's just some stupid album I found." I grabbed it from his consol and read Songs I wrote for Her written in a silver sharpie with Liam's messy handwriting. I looked at him and before he could stop me I ejected the Maroon 5 CD and put it right back in. "Liam, since when were you going to tell me that you write music?" "Well I..." Then a song began, "As the midnight glow grew across her face and I witnessed the formation of her smile, I realized that our memories would become enlaced and our journey would last for quite a while." Just as this line ended he shut off the radio because we were in the parking lot. "Liam!!!! That was beautiful!" He smiled and then became serious within seconds, "Well it was about you... I love you." This was the first time he ever told me this. I looked straight into his blue eyes and said it back then he pulled me into a long kiss.