Finding Freedom, Loki's Story.

chapter 10

Britney's pov

"So, anything I should know about your family before I meet them?" Loki and I were working on cleaning up the bank on the tank before Loki's baptism tomorrow. You know, basic things like pulling the weeds, cutting the brush, and trimming the trees. I was trying to make small talk so as to distract us both from the heat. Whether or not it worked, I don't know. But either way, the companionship was nice.

"Nothing too much to know. My brother is an oaf and my mother an angel." Loki shrugged. He was working on sawing a dead limb off of one of the trees by the water. He paused and looked back at me. "Is there anything I should know about your father?"

I shrugged. "He may seem crazy at first." Honestly I sometimes wonder if he is crazy. "Don't underestimate him. He's the moat feared man in the universe." I don't care who says he's not. They're wrong, I thought with a smile. "And he's wonderful." Loki stopped sawing again and turned back to face me. 

"You really miss him don't you." It wasn't a question but more of a statement.  

"Yeah, yeah I do. He's the only constant I've had my whole life. We traveled together full time during my childhood so I really didn't have any friends except him. There were a few people that traveled with us but they went thier seperate ways long ago. So really, it was just him and me until I came here." 

He knodded in understanding. "Growing up, my mother was my only friend as well. I inherited my power from her and she taught me how to control them. Sounds like I still managed to have a more stable bringing up than you did though. Why all the traveling? Is your father a gypsy of some sort?"

"Well, we didn't really have a home. It was destroyed a while back. Our TARDIS was our home and took us wherever we needed or wanted to go. So we took her everywhere, and saved people along the way. And yeah it was lonely, and dangerous, and scary at times but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Me and dad, tackling the universe together and gorging on the richness of life." 

Loki brushed a strand of hair behind his ear (I gave him a hair tie but not all of it would reach to the back) and went back to sawing in silence for a few minutes. Then he turned back to me. "What's a TARDIS?" 

I thought for a moment. What is a TARDIS? I didn't even know how to answer that question myself. Is it a spacesip? Is it a vehicle? Is it a time machine? I mean really it's all of the above.  But I don't necessarily want Loki to know that until it's here for him to see and believe. If I told him that then he would probably have thought me crazy. And if he thinks I'm making up the TARDIS who's to say he won't question Jesus again? "So, it's kinda complicated. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. I'll explain more when my dad brings it here tomorrow." I finally said. He seemed satisfied (albiet puzzled) with my answer and left it at that. 

"So what are tomorrow's events going to entail?" He asked me after another long while of silence.

"Well, like I said, it's just a public statement. So it's more or less to tell everyone present that you believe in Jesus, you've entered into the kingdom of God, and they can hold you accountable to that. So basically we're gonna wade into the water about waist deep, I'll say a few words, and then you confess out loud that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. And then I'm gonna dip you down in the water, and bring you back up. That's it." I answered.

"Where does the tradition come from?"

Well it goes back even farther than Jesus' death and resurrection. You see, Jesus' coming was prophesied many times and whoever believed what John said about the promise of the one who was to come and redeem humanity, was baptised as a public statement of thier belief. Jesus even got baptised himself."

"Ah" was his response.

Silence. I never was great with people like my dad. And even so, my social skills were still pretty rusty. I wasn't used to holding out conversations or taking hints. I wasn't used to reading moods or asking questions. There's so much more I want to teach him but I can't find the words to ask.

I realized then, that I was relying on myself way too much, it wasn't me along who Got Loki saved. It was God working through me. I needed to take a heart check and give God the reins again.

God, I commit this friendship to you. Give me words to speak and guide me through being Loki's teacher. You know his needs better than everyone. Thanks God. I prayed in my head.

Despite everything I say about being lonely, God has always been there for me and He's always been faithful. He may not be here physically, but in spirit, we have a strong relationship. I feel him in my soul, I see him in the nature all around us. He gives me supernatural peace when I'm in despair. He's my father when dad's away. He's my everything and if I didn't have him through all my time in isolation I would've gone crazy, or fallen into depression.

But luckily I used that time as an opportunity given to me by God to really get to know him. It was as if he was saying, "Hey, you've stepped away from all your distractions, Let's talk!" So we did. I opened the Book and opened my heart and the truth and revelation started pouring in! I got to know Him immensely well, and it's been the best thing to ever happen to me.

And now, I hope to help Loki along the same path. I looked up again. He was finished with the branch and had just started another one. Even though he was probably miserably hot, and he's been banished to live here with me, and he seemed...happy. But he still carries a sort of heaviness wherever he goes. He's met and accepted Jesus as his personal saviour. But that's only the first step.

Loki has found the forgiveness of Jesus, but he hasn't forgiven the the people who wronged him. Loki has found freedom from his deeds but he's still a prisoner of the past.

There's a lot to be learned to gain freedom, but the ball is rolling and he's willing to learn.

"Hey Loki!" I said over the grinding noise of the saw. "Do you think this is nice enough?" I jestured to the area there at the waterbank which we had just cleaned up.

He shrugged. "I suppose. What do you think?"

"I reckon this'll do just fine. It's getting too hot to be working out here much longer. Do you know how to swim?" I askes looking past him at the floating dock.

"Yes, but wh-" he didn't have a chance to finish because in that moment I made a very spontaneous move. I grabbed his wrist and ran out to the dock. He knew what was happening almost instantly and started running with me. And in the span of maybe 3 seconds we had reached the dock's edge. But we didn't stop there. We plunged right into the dark blueish-green water with a splash. The water had a rejuvenating feel to it as it washed over our bodies, the cool and wet contrasting the hot and dry.

When my head broke through the water I shook the water off my face, my pony tail flinging back and forth as well. Loki wasn't far behind me. His hair tie had apparently come out so his hair was plastered down to his shoulders.

I laid back into a floating position and gave a sigh of contentment. "Thanks Jesus." I said quietly

Then a few moments later Loki said in all but a whisper, "Likewise."

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Hey everybody! M.J. here! I'd like to give a huge thank you everyone who's followed this story so far! You guys are the ones I keep writing for!❤ Please don't hesitate to give me feedback! What would Y'all like to see later on? What do you think so far?

On a different note, how is everyone doing with the Covid19 crazyness going on right now? Personally I lost my job until further notice and I'm quarantined with my immune-deficient family member. But like Britney, I'm taking this time of isolation to grow my relationship with God and I want to encourage you to do the same thing! With all of this uncertainty and unstableness try to anker your life in God. He never changes and never let's us down. : )

Toodles!