To GOD Be the Glory
GOD Loves you, too.
Josi slid the cell phone from the backpack quietly. She snatched her head up quickly to see if anyone saw. If they had, she would just lie. She rummaged through the menu until she found the sound recordings. Then, deftly, and without mercy she deleted every file. “Sing now, Tara.” She breathed hatefully under her breath.
As everyone was being seated, Josi’s mom grinned at her. I can’t wait till Tara sings. She nudged her daughter. “That could be you, baby! Look, here she comes!” With a silly excited giggle, she hugged her daughter and pointed. Josi looked up to see a tear streaked and distressed Tara coming through it. There were about seven girls with her. They were muttering things to her as that walked her to the front. There was lots of noise in the room but Josi strained to hear. “Don’t worry about it. GOD’S got it.” One girl said. “That’s right.” Another girl agreed. Another added, “Once you pray, it’s done, believe it. One girl mouthed, “Go! ‘And pushed her gently to the center of the room.
As Tara stood, Josi saw her glance around the room, then directly at her, into her eyes. She continued to look at Josi as someone put a microphone into her hands, then gripping the mike, Tara smiled. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth.” Holy is the LAMB!” she cried out. What? Josi was stunned. She knew the words by heart! She stared at the tear streaks on Tara’s face, then why was she crying? “Hey.” Somebody whispered to Josi whom reluctantly took her eyes off of Tara and slid them across the table to the instantly appearing group of teens speaking to her. Just as Josi watched them talk to Tara they began to talk to her. One said, “A couple of us saw you delete all Tara’s songs. Just so you know, she memorizes them before she records them. The recording is for the musicians, not for her.” “And the other thing is, we think we may understand why you did it. We don’t hate you and we are not mad at you for doing it. ““But we do want to talk to you after this.” “If you don’t mind” the last girl replied. Then with generous smiles from each of them, they were gone. “That’s why I will foooreveeer praise HIM, -the God that brought me in from the storm!” Tara triumphantly finished. Wow! GOD was blessing Tara’s songs! Disappointment rose in Josi as she watched her mother beam and clap outrageously. Man! She loved Tara. Josi hung her head and sulked.
“That’s GOD. All GOD. “She told someone before they walked away from her. She sat on the bench outside, grinning. She looked so happy. Josi thought. She turned around. She began to shake her head, ‘I’m not going over there. ‘She thought to herself. “Oh, come on.” One of the girls appeared behind her and nudged her softly. As she neared the bench, Josi began to cry. “Aint fighting nobody” she stammered. The girl looked confused and genuinely concerned. “We aren’t either.” They were tight, Josi could see that. Just as she was wondering what they wanted, they urged her to sit. They told her how they noticed that she and her mom had been coming to church for about a month now. They said her mom was cool. And that it was good to see her get saved, but what about Josi? Did she understand what it was to be saved? Didn’t she want to be used of GOD like them? They all had different talents and they knew Josi was very good with her hands and could organize things and figure things out easily.
Didn’t she want to give those gifts back to GOD? The girls shared stories of how they used to fight and fuss and talk back to their parents. They said some of them used to hang out, skip school, and steal. Until, one by one, they began to let God change them.Now, they just hang out, read, study, sing, pray for people, and try to reach out to other hurting teens. They loved it. Josi felt her heart lifting. She asked about their mothers. “Mine is dead” one said. “Mine lives in Georgia” another said. “I never knew mine, I’m adopted” a different one said. One beamed, “Mine is your Sunday School teacher. She and your mom are tight.” Josi felt a sense of relief. It was almost like she could just call these girls sisters. ‘Sweet. ‘She thought. The girls asked her again, if she had considered being saved. Josi said, “I didn’t know how, and for some reason, I just never thought about it. I always think about --feelings…” The oldest girl bent to look into Josi‘s eyes and said “You are sad. But GOD can take all that hurt out. If you want HIM, You’ll see, everything will get better!” The girls all added their agreement. “HE loves me, too, huh?” Josi asked. It was now dawning on her that she was wanted. GOD loved her and had used these girls to reach her. SOMEONE did care for her! He wanted to be in her life, to use her, and make her better. She didn’t have to be jealous, or lonely, or hurt anymore. “I want to do it!” she said decisively.
It was night and the young people had just left a very excited church service out of town. The altar had been full of children, and teens that felt just like Josi had months ago. She smiled. “Thank YOU, JESUS for saving me.” She was so happy now. In the mirror above the driver, Josi noticed the new teenaged boy sulking. “Maan!” he said as he sighed heavily. Something was clearly bothering him. She turned to see the other girls. Some were reading. The rest were asleep. Tara was staring out of the window and singing quietly to herself. Josi reached back and tapped her. When her friend looked up, she pointed to the boy. Tara tapped one of the sleeping girls, who then tapped one of the reading girls and so on... before long, they were in deep conversation with the boy, who told them energetically, “GOD loves me, too- huh?”
