You’ve already heard from her mother, Darla, who found a Refuge–but today we have a contributor whose thoughts are really, like, rad ’round these parts! Like…Ya know, man? (Sorry, that was me trying to be cool.) Take it away, Trina!
A FRIEND THROUGH THICK AND THROUGH THIN
by Trina
I am sixteen years old and currently in the tenth grade, but this is my Tempest Tale.
I wasn’t always a believer in Christ, and the same could be said the same of my family. About eight or nine years ago, we had moved from our little trailer park to a real development. I was seven at the time, but would soon be eight. I had plenty of friends at school and many of them lived near by so we would often go to each other’s homes and play.
After we moved things were a little different–okay, very different–but I had no clue that our lives were going to change for the absolute best. Pretty soon, I would be starting a new school with new people. I was very nervous, and I really missed my old friends. Things weren’t as easy as I thought they would be. I was usually pretty good at making new friends and being pretty social with others, but, for some reason, it was like I had forgot how to do that. This time, instead of making friends right away I had met people who had already decided they were not going to like me–even if it killed them. That can be a pretty big change for anyone.
A couple of weeks went by and I was not adjusting as I hoped. On top of school not going well, my parents decided we were going to start going to church–every Sunday! I was not the only kid in the house who wasn’t happy about that. We started attending a church near our new house because that was where I had been taking martial arts classes. Once we started going, I began meeting people who were…Well, different. But there were also some people who were just like me. After a couple of weeks, I actually began to like Sunday school. This felt kind of weird because my siblings didn’t enjoy it as much, and one of them already thought I was “goodie-goodie”.
But I started to get interested in why Jesus is so important. And I wanted to go to heaven. My Sunday school teacher, Gladys, was so so nice. And every Sunday she would talk to us about the people in the bible, telling us stories and teaching us that God loves us–and His love never ends. But one thing she said hit me the most: God wants to be your Friend.
At the end of each class, Gladys would ask us if we wanted to have Jesus in our lives. All we had to do was pray–which is just like talking to God–and asking Him to live in our hearts. Gladys also said that once we did that we would never have to do it again. It felt like, ‘This is what she has that I don’t have. This is what makes her different. I need this!‘
I thought about it the rest of the day, and I remember that night I was laying in my bed–still kind of scared of my new room–but I began to pray. I know that God was with me in my room, sitting on my bed while I prayed. And I just said, “Jesus I know You love me, but please help me know that You are real. Help me believe!”
As soon as I said this–and I’m not kiddin’ here when I say this–I felt a hand rubbing my head and moving my hair. I automatically felt a calm peace all around me. When I went to touch my head, the hand had gone away–but I knew it was God.
Nothing was going to stop me from telling my mom. And I did. I told her that I had just been praying, and I know God is real.
He is real!!!
Now that I look back on that year, I realize God was teaching me something and I didn’t even know it: He is my friend. And He is the One True Friend that is there through thick and thin.
I still struggle with this every now and then, but I just have to remind myself that God never goes away–even if I stray. And I am happy to say that all of my sibblings have decided to have Jesus in there lives. My parents love the Lord. And I pray to be like they are in every situation.
To GOD be the glory!
