The Winner Of The 2018 Story Contest Is...

Hey guys! Graciepopstar91 here, finaaaaally announcing the winner of the story contest! This year we had a Christian theme. ^.^

Unfortunately, only two people entered. But, both of them were siblings, so I decided that both of them would win this years story contest! So the winners are,

🎉Housemom322 and Housemom418!🎉

Congratulations you two!! You both will be writing guest posts on AJFC, and getting personalized signatures to use in your blog posts.

Now, I need to gather a little bit of information from you guys so you can post. I will need an email address from both of you that's connected to a Google+ or Blogger account (if you don't have one, I can walk you through how to get one), and I will need to know what date you guys will be able to post. It could be either May 10th, May 13th, or May 17th. You guys can decide who gets what day. XD If these dates don't work for you, please let me know, and we can work something out. ^.^

But pleeeeeeease get your parents permission before sharing your email address. Only admins of this blog (me and Coolcat) will have any ability to see your email addresses. When you comment it, I will copy your email addresses, and delete your comments. If your parents don't feel comfortable doing this, we can work things out this week, and try to find an alternative way to do this. But I promise you, I will not share your email addresses to anybody at all, for any reason, and I will not contact you through it. You'll only get a confirmation to write on AJFC.

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Now, without further ado, here are the Housemom sister's stories!

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Housemom322's story - Finding Faith

Chapter 1 (The Questions) 

It was the 7th period, science class. Alexandria sat at her desk silently as her teacher rambled on about the earth being millions of years old and that we came from monkeys. Suddenly, a thought came to her. “What proof did they have that there was no God?”

Her best friend Mary was devoted Christian, Alexandria knew this by the things she did and didn’t participate in. Also in her speech, she was different. A question started filling Alex’s mind. “How would Mary act if she randomly came up to her asking about faith.” Mary had been working on Alexandria’s heart for a few months. Telling her the things that she had been learning in church. Alex tried pushing the thoughts away, but she couldn’t it was like something wouldn’t let her. 

The bell rang interrupting her thoughts. She had 5 minutes to get to homeroom, quickly gathering here stuff she walked out the door. She whispered to herself as she walked to room 21B. She was stopped midway.

“Hey, Alexandria! How are things going.”“You sure?” 

“Yeah, I wanted to…uh, ask you a question.”

“Um, fine.” She hesitated to ask.

“Sure! Go right ahead!”

Alexandria’s hands began to sweat. There was no possible way she could ask her, so she quickly came up with a question. 

“Just wanted to know how your writing project was going.”

“Oh, it’s going great! I just finished the part talking about my testimony. Now, I’m finishing up on the part where I explain how the reader can receive the gift I’ve received.” 

“Oh, nice! I am glad it’s turning out! 

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

Alex bit the inside of her lip to avoid asking the real question. 

“Yeah.” She softly responded. “Got to go!” 

Mary could tell that there was something wrong. She just couldn’t find out what it was. She watched Alex walk to her classroom. Alex walked into the room 30 seconds before the bell went off. 

“Whew.” She was relieved that she didn’t ask. She sat down by Ricky, which was an odd kid. He never made sense. Every word out of mouth ended with s, whether it was supposed to or not. Alex was consumed with her thoughts. Mary had something Alex didn’t have this became more and more obvious as the days went on.  

The bell rang yet again. She walked to the bus, to get on. Mary was on the bus.

“Alex, come sit with me, please!”

“Okay, I guess I can do that.” 

“What is going on with you? Is something bothering you?”

“Yeah, actually there is.” 

“Okay, what’s wrong.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Well I may not understand, but I’m sure I could pray about with you.”

“You know what maybe that is what I need. Could you pray that someone would tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Never mind, I don’t need to know.” 

“Okay, then.” Mary gave her a puzzled look. What was she talking about? Did she even know what she was talking about? 

“Alex! Your stop!” Cried Savannah

“I got to go, Mary.” 

She ran up the hill to her house. Mary’s words kept repeating in her mind. “Well I may not understand, but I’m sure I could pray about with you.” She quickly entered her house, slammed the door, and ran to her room. She started crying, what if there was a God? What if what Mary told her about the afterlife was real? She once again pushed away the thoughts by putting some music on. Within a few short moments, she fell asleep. 

“Alexandra, dinner is done.” Her mom yelling for her.

“Huh? What happened?” 

“Alexandra Marie Gibson, stop ignoring me!”

“I’m coming, mom! I fell asleep.” 

“Oh, I am sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t know all I heard was your music blaring.” 

“Yeah, sorry about that Mom.”

“No, more music for a week.”

“Yes, mom.”

Hearing that was hard. She loved her music, but maybe it was what she needed. She picked at the freshly made Mac and Cheese. Mr. Gibson saw that there was something wrong with his daughter.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Why are you picking at your favorite dinner then?”

“I guess school has been a little confusing lately.”

“Oh, I see. What has been giving you trouble.” 

“Science. I have been thinking that there could be a God out there. Maybe there really is a place called heaven and hell.”

“What are you crazy? You know better than that!” As he stood up, smacking the table. 

“Dad, I should’ve never told you! I knew you would get upset!  

“Go to your room, right now. You need some rest!”

“Fine, I will.” Giving her dad an attitude. 

The house was silent for about 3 seconds, then a slam of the door interrupted it. She grabbed her phone and dialed Mary’s number. 

“Hello, Alex!” 

“Mary, I need to talk to you!” She began to cry.

“Aw, what’s wrong girlie?”

“Dad just yelled at me because I was considering that there could have been a God.” 

“Oh, well let me tell you, Alex, there is. He’s been working on your heart. I’ve noticed it.” 

“I have too.” Admitting shamefully. 

“I’ll tell you what. On Saturday come over to my house and we can have a sleepover. How does that sound? I’ll answer all the questions that you have.”

“Okay, that sounds perfect! Thanks, Mary! Oh, I hear my dad coming. I got to go!”

“Okay, bye!”

She hung up, and ran over to her bed and laid down. She didn’t want her dad to know she had been talking to Mary. 

“Go to sleep, darling. You need rest that’s more than obvious.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

Chapter 2 (Sleepover) 

Friday after school she asked her mom if she could spend the next night at Mary’s. She seemed fine with it. Saturday quickly came. Alex yelled from the front door at 5 O’clock.

“Mom, I’m heading over to Mary’s. I will be back tomorrow night.” 

“Okay, sweetheart just be careful please.”

“Yes, Mom.”

She walked out the door with all her essentials, got on her bike strapping the stuff in the basket, and rode a mile down the road. She was tired by the time she got there, but she knew that she was now safe in the arms of Christians. She was safe in the arms of people who loved being devoted to serve God. They wouldn’t harm her. Walking up to the door, her knees began to tremble. She reached up and rang the doorbell.

“It’s Alex!” Could be heard from inside.

“Hey, Alex! I am so glad you came! You have no idea how proud I am of you.”

“What are you talking about? You’re my best friend!”

“Come in, please! We were just getting ready to eat, but you may join us if you would like.”

“Oh no, thank you. I’ve already eaten.”

“Okay then. You can still come in. My parents would love to talk to you!”

Mary led her to the dinner table where her parents were setting up the table. On the table sat sweet smelling rolls, Long pasta noodles and a pitcher of fresh cold sweet tea. She looked, were they having a feast? She sat down in the extra chair that Mary had brought over. 

“Mary, introduce us to your friend.”

‘Okay, Mom. Dad and Mom, this is my friend Alexandria. Alexandria this is my mom and dad.”

Alex smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you guys!”

“It’s very nice to meet you too. I am glad you were able to come over. You seem like a very kind and gentle girl.” Spoke Mr. Nelson.

“Aw, well thank you. I’ve learned a lot from your daughter.” Glancing at Mary. 

“Oh, Alex you’re so sweet. You know why I am the way I am.” 

“Um, I do?”

“Yeah, remember why you came over, to begin with?” 

“Oh yeah, I had a few questions about faith.”

“You do?” Smiled Mrs. Nelson. She looked up at the ceiling whispered something. 

“Yeah, I do. What is the purpose of life? In science right now, we are talking about evolving, the earth being millions of years old and that there is no proof of a God. Deep inside, I think there is.”

“Well, youngin’ I believe you are right. That feeling deep inside is right. There is more to this life than living. The God of the universe wants to have a personal relationship with you. That is the true reason we are here. We are to be pleasing to him.” Mr. Nelson had moved his chair over to the scared little girl. 

“If there is a God why doesn’t he make trouble go away then?” 

“You see my child, there is right and wrong, good and bad, God and Satan. Satan is the ruler of this world. Besides what would be life if everything was good and there was no trouble. You wouldn’t learn any important lessons.” 

“I guess that’s true.” 

“Can I ponder on this a little.” 

“You sure can. Mary why don’t you take her up to your room and talk to her a little while. Your mom and I will wash the dishes and be up in 30 minutes.”

“Okay, sounds great Dad.”

Mary led her up the staircase and pointed to a room at the end of the hall. She spoke up with excitement in her voice.

“That’s my prayer room. In reality, it’s a closet, but I like to go in there to pray. That’s where I’ve been praying for you at.” 

“I appreciate, Mary.” As she winked at her. 

“This is my room. That’s where you are going to sleep tonight. I can’t wait for tomorrow! I am going to take you to church!”

“Oh goody!” She tried to hide the fact that she was really nervous about it. 

All of a sudden there was a slight knock on the door. 

“Come on Mom.” 

“Hey, girls it’s devotion time. Come downstairs we are going to be reading Psalms 23 tonight.”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll be down in a few minutes. I need to find Alex a bible.”

Mary rummaged through her bookshelf. 

“Aha! I found it. This was my first bible, you may use it to follow along with us.” 

“Okay, thanks, Mary!” A big smile came across her face, like the shape of a banana.  

They went down the stairs and gathered in the living room, sitting on the floor. They first started out with prayer. 

“Dear, Lord. Thank you for this little girl that you’ve brought into our lives. I pray that you would be with her and work on her. Please help us get something out of this passage tonight. In Jesus name, Amen. 

“Amen.” Mary and her mother said simultaneously.  

Mr. Nelson opened his old, wore out, bible and began to read. 

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” 

Mary leaned over and showed her where to turn. Alex looked up at Mary. “Thank you.” 

“No problem.” 

She followed along with verse 4. 

Alex sat there puzzled. She had no idea what it was saying. It was confusing. Finally, Mr. Nelson read the last verse. “Okay, girls time for bed we have church tomorrow.” 

“Yes, daddy.” 

They walked up the stairs and went into the room. Alex laid down, with the words repeating in her mind. She finally fell asleep at 4 AM. 

Chapter 3 (Church Services) 

Mary woke up at 6:45 as she always did, but allowed Alex to sleep. She carefully woke and grabbed her bible and began to read 1 Corinthians 13. It was amazing, loving people was important this she knew, but maybe she didn’t always show it. She carefully got on and walked to the closet to take her shower and get ready for church. 

Meanwhile, Alex was sleeping. When all of a sudden, she woke up. She was having a nightmare again. She got up and looked around. Mary walked back into the room with her Sunday best outfit. A white flowy dress and flats. 

“You look beautiful!” 

“Aw, thank you! Did you want to wear one of my dresses this morning?”

Alex tried saying no, but she knew she couldn’t so she bit her lip and said: “Yes, please.”

She handed her a dress and she put it on. It was not her! She hated this but went along with it. Each of them grabbed their bible and hopped into the car and were off to church. 

They walked into the church and Alex looked around. They sat in the 3rd pew from the back. The pastor got and talked about a place called hell, a burning place, a place of fire. Alex began to squirm like a roach sprayed with roach spray. It was loud and clear where she was going. Alex got up and ran out the door. Mary came running after her. The preacher could be heard from outside yelling. 

“God did not intend for you to go to hell. You put yourself there. You not accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. God is loving, but He will put you in a literal burning fiery hell if you reject His Son!

Tears began to roll down her face. The words constantly repeating in her mind. Mary walked over and tried talking to her, but she couldn’t say the words. Alex continued listening to the Pastor. 

“You can’t expect to get out of a fire unless you take the exit. There is only ONE exit, this trusting in Jesus Christ.”

She got up and ran back into the service, making a fool of herself. She sat there worrying that she might die before it was over. 

“Mary, what would happen if I waited?”

“Well, if you waited and died. You would go to hell because you have heard the gospel.”

The preacher gave an invitation to make the choice to accept Jesus as their Savior. Alex hesitated until he told a story of a man who waited. 

“It’s told to be a true story that a man was sitting in a church just like this one. He was sitting in the second pew. The invitation came the man gripped on to the pew in front of him as hard as he could. When suddenly, he had a heart attack. He fell into the aisle way. The preacher came down and said, ‘wouldn’t you like to trust Jesus Christ before you go?’ That man responded, ‘I am a very stubborn man’ Just like that he was gone. Would that be you today?”

Alex fell into the aisle way and crawled the whole way to the altar. Her eyes imminently turned into Niagara Falls. God called to her saying,

“Come follow me, I want you if you’re willing.” She prayed to God saying,

“God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus died for me, was buried and rose again, so that I may have life. I am sorry for acting stupid and running from you. I am trusting you to save my soul, allowing me to get to heaven. Thank you for saving me!”

Mary watched her crawl down to the altar. Both she and her family were crying. They had finally seen the fruit of their prayers. Night after night, they would pray for her. They had stopped at the store on the way home, to buy her a bible as a spiritual birthday gift. 

She was so excited to get it! There was one problem- her dad. She remembered a time when a man tried giving him the gospel. It was not a pretty sight, dad spat in his face. They dropped Alex off. She was thrilled to be born again. She ran up to her room and immediately started to read her bible. She was so excited. Then her dad walked in and the persecution started. 

“What is that!” 

“A bible Dad, I got saved!” She was so excited to tell him. 

“I don’t care about that. Give that here, now!” Ripping it out of her hand. 

It was hard to see her dad this way. Why didn’t he understand? I kept going, talking to Mary about the bible and going over to her house to read it every day after school. Mary text Alex her a few verses – Philippians 4:13, Psalms 55:22 and 2 Timothy 1:7. She told me told me the Christian life wouldn’t be easy, but God promised that He would be with me through it. The troubles kept coming. Mary continued picking me up on Sundays for church. Alex kept growing in her faith and continually prayed for her parents to see the hope that laid within her. 

The more she prayed about the getting saved, the more they got mad at her. It was like God was slowly working on them, but it made them more and madder. It was like God was showing all of them something. 

Chapter 4 (Talking to the Preacher)

It was May 22nd. Mary picked and her parents stopped at Alex’s house they were having a revival service at the church. Well, the message hit Alex’s heart very hard. It was on the Great White Throne Judgement, the judgment of the unsaved. Pastor Mills stood up saying,

“Who in your life is unsaved? This will be their judgment. They shall stand before God as He reveals every thought, act, and entire life plays out before them. Will you be watching them being judged or will they be beside you watching the others?”

Alex began to cry, there were people in her life unsaved – her parents! She once again crawled to the altar. The closer to the altar she got, the more she cried. She couldn’t imagine seeing her parents being judged like that, then being thrown into the lake of fire to never be seen again. She prayed, 

“God help me to lead my parents to you. I want them to receive you. They need the same peace that I have in my life. Help me to be an example to them please, Lord! In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

She walked back to the pew, grabbing tissues on the way back. After service, she walked up to Pastor Mills and asked if she could talk to him in his office. They walked back to his office. 

“Have a seat. What can I do for you?” 

“Well, I am Alexandria. Mary has brought me here since my parents are unbelievers. I was the girl that got saved a little over 2 months ago.”

“Oh, that’s amazing. I’ve known Mary since she was born. She’s definitely a sweet little girl.”

“So, I wanted to talk you about my parents. I really want to see them get saved. They are just very stubborn. I’ve tried talking to them many times, they always retreat to calling me names. The most common being, ‘Jesus freak.’ It bothers me.” 

“How many times have you told them?”

“Pretty much every day for 2 straight months.”

“And they call you names every time?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Man, girl! Who taught you to have the backbone that you have.” 

“Um, I guess it was Mary.” 

“Well, I think you are a very strong girl for putting up with your parents. The way they are treating you is wrong, but that is what happens when you get saved. You are now a child of God, when before you were the Devil’s child. The Devil is trying to do everything to keep your parents in hell. He doesn’t like when a person gets saved. You see, Satan can no longer take your soul, but he will try everything to get those who are saved away from God.” 

“So, that’s why my parents took and ripped my bible.”

“They ripped your bible?”

“They sure did.”

He got up from his desk and looked on his shelf. “Here you are going to need this.”

“Oh no sir, I go over to Mary’s and we read it together.”

“Yeah, but there will be times when things are hard. The bible can give you comfort during these times.” 

“Okay, thank you very much, Pastor Mills. I will be sure to cherish it and keep it away from them.”

“You are very welcome. Did you need anything else?”

“No sir, that was it.”

“Okay, Alex remember to stay strong when dealing with your parents. Look up Ephesians 4:26 and 27, when you get home.”

“Okay, I will do that. Thank you very much”

She walked slowly out of the room, clenching on to the bible as tight as she could. There was no way she was letting her parents touch this one. Mary and her parents took her back home. 

She walked up the stairs of her house carrying the bible under her shirt. She quickly ran up the stairs to her room, turned around, and slammed the door, locking it. She was in her room safely. She plopped herself onto the floor. Opening the Bible to Ephesians 4, she read. 

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.” 

This made perfect sense to her. It was wrong for holding feeling towards her parents besides, what did they know? They were both children of the Devil and he wanted to everything to stop them from becoming God’s children. She got up went into her closet with a bold prayer on her lips. 

“Lord Jesus, I need you do to a miracle in my life. I need to see my parents saved. I need you to work their hearts. They need to see you through my life. I want to see them saved. I need this Lord. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen. 

She crawled into her bed, grabbing her phone. She called Mary, quickly. She didn’t get anything, so she left a voicemail.

“Hey, Mary! I wanted to know if you could say a prayer for my parents to get saved. I need them to see Christ!” 

Within 4 minutes she called back. “Hey, Alex I was just literally praying for them when you called. I really want to see them saved too. Girl, I am not giving up on praying for them, just like I never gave up on you.”

“Aw, thank you, Mary, you’re…”

She was interrupted by her mom calling her down for dinner.

“Oh, I got to go. Pray for me I want to talk to them. Bye!”

“Bye!”

“I’m coming Mom!”

Chapter 5 (Changing Hearts) 

She was carrying around a burden, like a boulder of her lost parents. Mom made Mac and Cheese, which was her favorite dinner. She started to speak to her parents about her faith. The words “Be tender, sweet, and gentle” came to mind. God spoke to her. 

“Mom and Dad, did you know that a man 2000 years ago came to die for all of man’s sins, more importantly, your sins?”

The room went completely silent. Alex breathed another quick prayer. “Lord, help me.”

“Sweetheart, my heart has been heavy. Is this Jesus who’ve been talking about.”

With a sigh of relief, “Yes, it is Dad.” 

“Honey, that’s all you talk about, why? 

“Dad and Mom, He is real. I don’t want to see you at the Great White Throne Judgement. As I watch your whole life play before you. Then, being throw in the lake of fire. I care about your soul.”

“Well, I think you may be a little crazy about the fire and judgment part. We both can say we are good people.” 

Her mom stayed silent the entire time with a face of fear, but stern. 

“Dad, it’s true. Trust me. I am made new. I am different. Who I was, I am no longer. I’ve been changed.” Her lips begin to quiver, holding back her tears. 

“I’ll think about what you said.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

God finally did something. He heard every desperate prayer of her and Mary. Their hearts started to soften, a miracle it was. Mrs. Watson on the other hand still had a hard heart, but it did get a little bit of water that night. She had s faith that God could save them and would.  

Alex got home from school one day. She was going to walk to Mary’s, but this day she decided that she was tired. She walked slowly into the house. There was no sign of her parents anywhere. 

“Mom? Dad? Are you here?” She yelled upstairs, downstairs, even outside. 

She sat on the couch, hoping they would pop from out of nowhere right beside her. Again, she relied on God to get her through. 

“God, I am not sure of where my parents are, but you do. I pray that you protect them and give them mercy and grace.” 

While she was looking and praying for them. They were on their way to the very church Mary goes to - Northern Bound Baptist Church. Pastor Mills was there to greet them since they called earlier in the day. 

“Hello, you must be Charlotte and Samuel Watson. Am I correct?”

“Uh, yes Pastor.”

“How could I help you today.”

“Well, uh… our daughter, Alexandria, has been telling us about things that she has been learning. We are a little concerned about the place where sinners go.”

“Let’s go to my office and we can talk in there.” 

“So, is hell is a real place, as our daughter makes it. I mean she exaggerates somethings.” Mrs. Watson as her voice shattered in fear. 

“It is. She is a brave girl to be talking about this, she came to me yesterday. She told what she was dealing with. Everything she said is indeed true. There is a place for sinners. If you don’t accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. You believe that he was buried and rose in 3 days. Also, you need to admit that you are a sinner. Would you like me to take a bible to prove this to you?”

“No sir, our daughter already showed us. How do we get…uh…what did she call it?”

Mrs. Watson started weeping. “Saved.”

“Yes, ma’am and sir. You guys pray with me I will go slow.”

“Dear Lord, I am coming to you as a sinner. I believe that you died for my sins and that 3 days later you rose from the dead. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord Jesus. In Jesus name, I pray amen.”

With a shout of joy, they both cried out. “Thank you, Pastor Mills.” 

“Glad that you’re part of the family, now. I’ve been praying since she got saved. I knew there was a story to what was going on. She just had a way about her, that she was grateful for her salvation like she had come from something.” 

“Yeah. She’s had a rough life before we adopted her. Well, we better get going to tell Alex that amazing news!”

“Bye guys! Hope to see you Sunday!”

“We’ll be here!” 

They drove home, just overwhelmed that their daughter would be so brave to tell them. It was truly amazing, nothing in her would give her that courage, but God himself. 

“We home! We got saved!” They both yelled simultaneously with tears welling up in their eyes.

“Mom and Dad! Really?”

“Yes, we both did. You were so brave to tell us.”

“Well, you do know Dad that it was very hard to tell you, but I knew I had to.” 

“Oh my, sweetheart. I am so sorry for calling you names all the time. I shouldn’t have. I took your bible too, it’s in my room.” 

“You can keep it, Mom. You need it.”

“Thank you!” With a smile on both their faces. 

Their relationship with one another became better. Christ changed their life. They were happy to tell their friends. To think it all started with one little girl, Mary, who was willing to tell people about him even when it was hard. It’s time to spread the gospel to others, who are lost and going to hell. Help them find the faith in Jesus Christ.

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Housemom418's story - Hope, Faith, and Grace

Chapter 1:

Faith, the daughter of Mr. John and Miss Rebecca, woke up one morning to find her mom and dad fighting. She rubbed her eyes and peaked her eyes opened. She wondered and then asked, ‘’Mom, Dad? What is going on?’’. Her mom turned around and opened Faith’s door, then turned on Faith’s favorite light. Her dad walked in and said, ‘’Faith, everything is okay. We will tell you later.’’ Her mom replied to Faith saying, ‘’Faith, get ready for school or you will be late. I’m sure you don’t want that to happen. 

Faith replied to her mom saying, ‘’Okay mom, but is there something you need to tell me?’’ Her mom replied, ‘’Yes, but I don’t think its time to tell you yet.’’ Mr. John and Miss Rebecca then walked out. Faith wondered and talked to herself a bit before getting ready for school. She asked herself, ‘’Are they taking away my favorite things? My puppy? I hope not.’’

She then got up out of her bed and rushed to her closet. She put on her black-glittery leggings, a black and blue striped skirt, and a shimmery black shirt. She walked out of her closet, then walked downstairs to the kitchen. Her mom and dad were in their room with their door shut and locked. She was confused, she always sees her mom downstairs making pancakes.

She went back upstairs, and heard her mom and dad arguing in their room. She put her ear over by the door and said, ‘’Mom, will you make some pancakes? The bus will be here soon you know.’’ Miss Rebecca was worried that she heard the argument, but Faith couldn’t hear the argument anyway. Miss Rebecca replied, ‘’Yes sweetie, go sit down over by the kitchen table. I will make your pancakes soon.’’ Faith replied saying, ‘’Okay, mom.’’

Faith went downstairs, sitting on the brown wooden chair. She sighed worrying about everything that was going on. She knew something didn’t sound right. She had never heard an argument like this before. Mr. John said to Miss Rebecca, ‘’You better get downstairs and make some pancakes, Faith is waiting.’’ 

Miss Rebecca, then walked downstairs to the kitchen table and made the pancakes. Miss Rebecca then served the pancakes to Faith. Faith said to her mother ‘’Thanks mom.’’ Miss Rebecca answered, ‘’You’re welcome sweetheart.’’ Faith ate her pancakes, and she heard a sound that sounded familiar, it was her bus!

Faith finished her pancakes quickly, then she ran outside. She yelled running out the door, ‘’BYE MOM!’’ Miss Rebecca answered saying, ‘’Bye sweetie!” She ran to the bright yellow bus, and the school bus door opened. She found a seat by her best friend, Hope, and then sat down. 

Hope said to Faith, ‘’Hey Faith! How are you doing?’’ Faith replied to the question, ‘’I’m doing good I guess.’’ Hope wondered a little bit why she said I guess, she always sounds happy. Hope asked a couple minutes later ‘’What do you mean you GUESS?’’ Faith answered, ‘’My mom and dad got in an argument this morning, they said they would tell me later, but I’m a little worried.’’ 

They entered the class and they were learning about evolution, Hope raised her hand and asked, ‘’But didn’t God create us?’’ The teacher stumbled on her words, then went back onto teaching the lesson. Faith looked around then, the teacher yelled ‘’FAITH! PAY ATTENTION!’’ Faith replied, ‘’Sorry ma’am’’.

After the lesson, the bell rang for lunch. Faith walked out of the room, then walked down to the cafeteria. Faith got food, then sat down by Hope. Hope said to Faith, ‘’Faith, can I talk to you?’’ she asked. Faith replied, ‘’Yeah, go ahead.’’ 

Faith and Hope got up from their seat, then, went to a corner to talk for a bit. Hope asked Faith, ‘’So, God planted this on my heart to ask you if you ever prayed a prayer, then had a relationship with God before.’’ Faith hated religion, so she didn’t want to talk about it. Faith said ‘’I feel uncomfortable.’’ and walked off back to lunch, then switched seats so she is no longer sitting by Hope. Hope was worried she scared her off, prayed a prayer quickly, and walked back to her lunch table. 

Faith ate quickly, then walked out and sat on the stairs. Faith had tears in her eyes, knowing she should have listened quickly. Hope thought that Faith was upset with her, but Faith was only scared. Faith got up and the bell rang for one more class. She knew it was time to take her math test. 

Faith got up from the stairs, then went to her math class. The teacher, and then some of the classmates came to the room and sat down. Miss Lauren, the math teacher passed out the test papers. They then did the test, and the results of Faith’s test made her speechless and ready to cry. Faith had failed her math test. 

The bell rang for the end of the test, and the end of the school day. Faith stood up and walked by the door, waiting for her mom to pick her up. Once her mom got there, Hope came over and said to Faith ‘’Are you okay? I’m sorry to scare you off this afternoon at lunch.’’ Faith answered, ‘’Sorry, but I got to go, my mom is here.’’

Faith got into her mom’s car, then buckled up. She grabbed the test results, then put them down. They then got to the house.

Chapter 2:

Faith went inside of the house, and found her dad waiting for her. Her dad said to Faith, ‘’Faith, meet me in your room, we got to talk.’’ Faith was worried, for she was waiting for this news all day. She went to her room, and saw her dad waiting for her. She sat down on her beanbag chair, and said, ‘’Dad, tell me, what is going on?” 

Mr. John replied, ‘’Sweetheart, we don’t have enough money for your school.’’ Faith started to cry, ‘’But dad, why not?’’ He answered tenderly, ‘’The house rent went up, now we can only afford the house and the electronics.’’ She replied to her dad, ‘’Okay, but it’s a need for me to go to school. Now what will we do? I can’t go to any school?’’ 

Mr. John replied, ‘’You will be able to go to school, just you won’t be able to go to that school.’’ Faith was worried, she just made a new friend yesterday. Her dad got up and walked out. Faith called Hope and said, ‘’I’m sorry Hope, but I can’t go to that school anymore. ‘’ Hope replied, ‘’Okay’’ and they hung up.

Hope felt that Faith was mad at her, she thought that Faith couldn’t go to that school anymore because of that small argument at lunch. Hope began to cry. She then felt very bad that she asked her that. But at the same time, she knew that talking about God planted a seed in Faith’s heart. Also, something for her Faith to think on. 

Faith got up from crying, then walked to her mom and dad’s room. Faith asked, ‘’Mom, what school will I go to now?’’ Miss Rebecca glanced at Mr. John and said, ‘’You told her?’’ He replied, ‘’Yes, is there anything wrong with that?’’ Miss Rebecca replied, ‘’No, just didn’t know how she knew.’’

Miss Rebecca replied to Faith asking her the question, ‘’You’ll do homeschool. You would stay home, you wouldn’t go to public.’’ Faith replied, ‘’Okay mom, I’m worried this won’t go to good.’’ Miss Rebecca replied, ‘’Sweetheart, everything is going to be fine. Its going to be easier on you.’’ Faith said to her mother, ‘’Okay mom’’ and walked away.

Faith went to back to her room and closed the door behind her. She grabbed her journal and started writing, Dear Journal, today has been a bad day. My mom and dad got in an argument, now I need to go to a new school just because we don’t have enough money to afford my school. Bad thing is, I just made a new best friend yesterday, now we barely will be able to talk. Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, I also got in a fight this morning with my new best friend, Hope. 

We were walking to lunch, then she asked if she could talk to me. Of course, being who I am I replied saying yes. She asked if I ever believed in a God, and I said no and walked off. I feel bad for doing that, but I felt uncomfortable, and I was ready for the tears to start flowing and crashing down my cheeks. Miss Rebecca called for dinner, Oh, sorry Journal, I got to go mom is calling for dinner.

Faith then closed her journal and ran downstairs. She sat on her chair and waited for dinner. They then ate, then Faith got ready for bed. Miss Rebecca turned off the light and walked out. 

Later that night, Hope thought of sending a bible in for Faith. The next morning, at 4:00 AM, Hope was up, already preparing the bible for her. Her mom was up as well, so, Hope asked her mom if they could go to a bible place, to get the bible imprinted with the name Faith on it. Her mother said yes, so they drove off to the bible place to get it imprinted. 

They handed the bible in, and they said it would take a couple of hours. So, they drove back home, waiting for it to be imprinted. Hope wanted to explain to her mom why she wants this imprinted. Hope explained to her mother, ‘’The other day, Faith and I got in an argument about God, I felt that she was upset with me.’’

Her mother replied, ‘’Okay, who did who?’’ Hope replied to her mother, ‘’I asked if Faith was saved, she felt uncomfortable and walked off.’’ Her mother answered, ‘’Who’s Faith anyway?’’ Hope replied, ‘’She is my new best friend, a lot of trouble is going on in her family.’’ 

Her mother got excited, ‘’Is she saved?’’ Hope replied, ‘’No. I was on the phone, talking with her’’ Mother replied, ‘’Oh, well maybe you can talk to her more about it!’’ ‘’I hope so!’’ Hope replied. 

Her mother asked, ‘’So, is there anything wrong that we could maybe help her with?’’ Hope answered, ‘’Well, maybe, but I think this is the best bet.’’ ‘’True, this will help her a lot in her journey finding God!’’ Her mother replied.’’ 

A couple hours later, the bible was ready to be picked up. They went out to the car, and drove back. Hope carefully handled it, then, put it on her lap sitting in the seat. They drove back.

They put the bible in the box, and wrapped it up. Once done, she added a note saying, ‘’This is a bible, you will love it in your journey.’’ So then, they shipped it out to Faith’s house.

Chapter 3:

Today, was a little different. Instead of arguing all morning, Faith woke up to lots of peace. The birds were chirping outside, singing their little lullaby. Miss Rebecca suddenly heard her alarm go off, BEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She shut off her alarm and went into Faith’s room to wake her up.

She opened Faith’s door, then said, ‘’Faith! Sweetie, wake up, it’s time for of school sweetheart.’’ Faith peaked open an eye just wanting to stay home. Faith replied saying, ‘’Mom, I don’t want to go to school today. I feel that I’ll be to sad when the end of school is over.’’ 

Miss Rebecca felt concerned that switching school’s will be to much for her. She grabbed her hand and said gently, ‘’Faith darling, you need to go to school today.’’ Faith didn’t want to hear that news, but she got up and got dressed anyway. Faith got dressed in black pants and in a white shirt with some flip flops. She rushed downstairs, then sat on a chair waiting by the island to eat. 

Faith waited to eat, but while she was waiting, her mom looked at her again. Faith replied to the look she gave, ‘’Yes mom?’’ Miss Rebecca answered, ‘’What happened yesterday?’’ Faith replied, ‘’Well, I got in an argument about God with my best friend, Hope. Miss Rebecca knew there was a God, but never had a true relationship with him.

Miss Rebecca never replied, and plated the food, then put them on the table. They ate bacon and eggs for breakfast, but they noticed something unusual. Faith ate her food so fast, that she ate every single bite of her food in less than 2 minutes. Faith never ate that fast in her life, other than when she was sad. Faith ran upstairs and grabbed her backpack, then headed out. 

The bus was there waiting for her. Faith never even said goodbye before going to school. She sat on an empty school bus chair, with her best friend in the other chair beside her. Hope looked at her, then said, ‘’Faith, I am sorry.’’ Faith replied, ‘’Sorry for what? That argument yesterday?’’

Hope replied, ‘’Yes, that argument yesterday, I felt terrible.’’ Faith then said, ‘’It’s okay Hope, it was small.’’ Hope didn’t know that she planted something in her heart to think about. A couple minutes later, the bus stopped. They were at school.

Faith got up and ran out to the school entrance. Next, she entered in. She went to her class, and once again they were learning about evolution. Evolution part 2, Faith had no clue that there were parts. Faith sat down once again, listened to the teacher.

Hope never said anything this time, because she knew that evolution is not true. Faith took notes on false information. Faith had no idea this wasn’t true, all she knew was that we were apparently, created by monkeys. 

The bell rang for lunch, the students walked out in a line. Faith was the first one in line, so she was able to get her lunch before the other students. She grabbed a salad and walked to a table. Hope sat next to her. 

Faith thought of the conversation yesterday that she had with Hope. She ate, but quickly forgot about what she was thinking about. Faith got up, then she found out that the school day was canceled. She called her mom to pick her up. ‘’Hey mom, can you come pick me up?’’

A couple minutes later, she sees a black shimmery car pull up to the edge of the school. She goes in the car, and sees her mom. 

Her mom drove home, and she said her dad has more news for her. Once again, Faith was worried the news wasn’t going to be good. They got home, then Faith rushed into the house to hear the news. She asked her dad, ‘’What is going on? What do you need to tell me?’’ 

Her dad replied, ‘’Sweetheart, I need to get a new job, but I don’t know what job it should be.’’ Faith was about to reply to what he said, but suddenly the phone started ringing. Mr. John picked up the phone and answered. ‘’Yes? May I help you?’’ The caller answered, ‘’May I help YOU?’’

Mr. John didn’t say anything, then the caller said, ‘’We need more jobs for nursing homes.’’ Mr. John replied, ‘’Well, I need a job. Where can I sign up for this job?’’ The caller said, ‘’Just go on the computer and look up nursing homes. It will be the first one.’’ 

Mr. John then said to the caller, ‘’Okay, thank you so much. Have a nice day.’’ Mr. John hung up and started searching for the nursing homes website. He found it, then he signed up. Well Faith, I have a new job now.

Faith replied, ‘’But, where is the nursing home at?’’ Faith’s dad answered, ‘’It’s a couple states away.’’ Faith replied, ‘’But dad! Will I be able to see you?’’ ‘’Maybe, maybe not sweetie.’’ Faith replied, ‘’Okay dad’’ then she stomped out of the kitchen and ran to her room.

Chapter 4: 

Faith once again, wrote in her journal. Dear Journal, today has been a better day. But, another thing happened. My dad brought up some bad news, he had to switch jobs. Oh, I got to finish some homework, bye journal! 

Faith closed her journal to do her homework. She opened her math homework book, then she started figuring out the questions. After she got done with her homework, she started thinking about the argument. Next thing she knew, her mom was calling her for bed. 

Faith got up, but instead of walking she ran to her bed to go to sleep. She waited for her mom to tuck her in for bed. Miss Rebecca came in the room to tuck her in for bed. Miss Rebecca turned off her light and closed the door. 

The next morning, Miss. Rebecca came in and woke Faith up. Today was her last day of school. Faith rushed to her closet and got dressed in a pale pink dress. She ran out of her closet, then she put on her white heels. 

Faith went downstairs to eat breakfast. She found her mom making pancakes. She sat on her chair, then she started eating. Next thing she knew, her bus was here. She grabbed her white backpack, and, ran outside.

Faith yelled, ‘’Bye mom!’’ Miss Rebecca replied, ‘’Bye sweetie, have fun at school!” Faith got on her bus and, sat alone. Hope wasn’t there today, she knew today was going to be a normal school day. A couple minutes later, she was there.

Faith got out of the bus, then she headed to her classroom. She sat down, and they were learning about math. 30 minutes later, she ran out of her classroom because the bell rang for lunch. She went to lunch, grabbed her food, and sat down. She ate, then the bell rang for the last class.

Faith ran to her English class, once she got there, she sat down. Faith was learning about normal English. A couple minutes later, she got out of her classroom. She saw a car pull up, she then went inside. 

Miss Rebecca asked, ‘’How was your last day of school?’’ Faith replied, ‘’It was good, other than the fact that Hope wasn’t there today.’’ Miss Rebecca replied, ‘’Oh, I’m sorry to hear that sweetie. I’m sure you can talk to her later today on your phone.’’ Faith replied, ‘’You’re right.’’ Then, they went inside.

Faith ran to her room, grabbed her phone and called Hope. Hope then said, ‘’Hi Faith’’, Faith replied, ‘’Hi Hope, so I was wondering about that one person you were talking about.’’ Hope answered with confusion, ‘’Jesus?’’ Faith replied, ‘’Yes! Jesus.’’

Hope replied with a gasp, ‘’Do you want to get saved?’’ Faith answered, ‘’Yes! What do I have to do? Do I have to clean up my room or something like that?’’ Hope answered, ‘’No silly, you have to admit you are a sinner, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and confess him as your personal savior.’’ Faith replied, ‘’Oh, that’s easy!”

Hope said, ‘’Yeah, I agree! Pray this prayer with me, but you have to have a relationship with God and believe that this is true. Faith replied, ‘’Okay!’’ Hope then prayed the prayer, and Faith believed everything in it. Faith was so happy that she got saved.

Faith hung up and ran to her mom, ‘’MOM! I GOT SAVED!’’ Miss Rebecca replied, ‘’Uh, what do you mean by that?’’ Faith replied to her mother saying that, ‘’YOU KNOW! BELIEVING ON GOD!’’ Miss Rebecca stared at her for a bit, then replied, ‘’Um, okay bye!’’ Faith ran upstairs to tell her dad, but her dad was always believing that there is no such thing as a God. 

Faith knocked on her mom and dad’s door, and her dad opened the door. ‘’Hi Faith, do you need anything?’’ Faith replied to her dad, ‘’No, but I wanted to say to you that I got saved!” He replied saying, ‘’Okay, bye.’’ then he slammed the door closed.

Faith got sad, so she ran to her room. She heard her mom then say, ‘’Faith, you got a package.’’ Faith ran to the door and grabbed the package. It was from Hope, so she opened it up. She saw a bible in the box, so she started reading it. 

Faith realized the bible was about God and Jesus. She looked on the front of the bible and it had her name imprinted in it. She flipped to a verse in the bible, and it landed to Romans 6:23. In the King James Version, it says, ‘’For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’’ 

Faith started to wonder if her mom and dad were going to heaven as well. She got up and ran to her mom saying, ‘’Mom, are you saved?’’ She answered, ‘’No, why do you ask?’’ Faith answered, ‘’Because, if you aren’t saved when you die, you won’t go to heaven with me!’’ Her mom answered her with a sigh, ‘’Okay who is this Jesus?’’ 

Faith answered, ‘’Jesus is God in 3 people. There is God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!’’ Miss Rebecca answered, ‘’Okay, can I get saved?’’ Faith answered, ‘’Yes, but you have to have a relationship with him.’’ Miss Rebecca replied, ‘’Okay’’ and they said the prayer. Then, Miss Rebecca had a relationship with God, and she got saved. 

Both Miss Rebecca and Faith, went upstairs to tell Mr. John. They explained to him, and he got saved. The next day later, he got a raise for his work. They switched back to schools, and everything worked out. 

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I love how both of these stories portray the simplicity of starting a relationship with God, and that one person telling someone else about starting a relationship with God, can spark a chain reaction to so many people. Congratulations again!!

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Here's todays Bible verse!

2 Chronicles 7:14

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

God made you. Uniquely. Beautifully. Intentionally. Purposefully. Wonderfully.

This is for the Housemom sister's! ^.^