All my memories are of Jesus, from when I was eleven, to three years later when he was crucified. I was fourteen when he died. I followed him from the beginning of his mission until the very end. Of course, he did come back to life; he resurrected himself, proving that he was the son of God.
I've been an orphan for as long as I can remember; I don't even know what happened to my parents. Maybe, they abandoned me, or they got killed somehow. The times I live in are rough, brutal, with no mercy whatsoever, for anyone. The Romans especially are brutal; they have no mercy or a soul in them. They really scare me, but I have to be brave because there's no one else to be brave for me.
I scrape by a lot of the times, but when I started following Jesus around, I was always full and happy. I was full not just in the stomach, but in the spirit. He always had a sparkle in his eyes, a sparkle you couldn't help to admire and look at. Every time he looked at me, I swelled full with happiness and self worth. I followed him every step of his journey; in a way, I walked in his shoes. I walked in his footsteps, experiencing what he experienced. But, of course, Jesus had a different perspective on a lot of things. When I saw disgust, he saw beauty. When I saw that someone was broken beyond repair, he saw something that could be healed by love. He always saw the positive, and now because of that, I try to, too.
Book Two in the Grace Series. This can most certainly be read as a standalone, but I would recommend reading Grace first (and Something New before or after). Either way, enjoy:
I spent my entire life trying to earn my parents' love and it just never worked. I wanted that same love Aunty gives me, from my mother. The same discipline Pops instills into me, I wanted from my father. I wanted comfort and care, and at the very least, their attention. It's all I wanted.
But I never got it.
Something within me still had some sort of hope that things could possibly change. I thought things could be salvaged at some point. I never voiced this to anyone else, but a part of me held onto that. That was shattered with the news they delivered to me.
It shook me that they've been divorced, but what did the most damage was that they never even bothered to tell me. It's like they forgot they even have a child together.
The people I lived and breathed for...didn't even seem to recall that I existed.
That broke me.
"I can't do this anymore," I repeat.
Pops stares at me in silence before standing and disappearing. My mouth turns down in a frown, not expecting that, but then he comes back. I grit my teeth as he holds an item in his hand. I saw this very same item five years ago as well. The Bible.
"Just like then, I won't force you into anything, Austin. You've got a choice-you always have. I don't know what made you try to walk away from the faith, but I'm still going to extend it to you."
~
Redemption: the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.