Made Whole | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Made Whole | Previous Challenge Entry
By Skittles .
10/25/07
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Sweat beaded my forehead as I stepped out of the burning heat of the sun into the cool sanctuary. Pastor Ron had already begun speaking the lesson. Heads rotated, examining me from the rows of plush red seats. I lowered myself into the last stand of chairs, remembering the first time I had sat in one of these chairs. I looked around, the left side was just strait lines of chairs, but on the right side a raised tub covered in green cloth filled my vision. I stared at it, knowing that was where pastor baptized people. My heart beat faster, I ran my hand through my blue hair. Today, after three years of coming to this church, I was getting baptized. My mind drifted back to the first time I had been here:

My stomach growled as my nose caught the drifting sent of coffee. My feet had hesitated before stepping onto the property of the church. I wandered until I came to a small white tent, its sides blowing in the wind. Voices of strangers twisted in the air around me as I wove a pathway through milling people. Once I had claimed my doughnuts and a cup of coffee, I sat on the concrete beside the doors, watching strangers pass me off as a teenage punk. An older woman bent down and introduced herself as Beth Stevenson, I shook her hand and said my name was Aden David. She encouraged me to go inside the church, she said the music was good. I pulled a deep breath and entered the building. I enjoyed the music and the message and kept coming back.

The pastor sat down. The doors opened behind me. My lips pulled up into a smile, watching a group of kids in brightly colored costumes march to the stage. Their young voices filled the air. Joy pulsed through my body, my eyes still resting on the baptism tub. I never knew how much God had meant to me until my faith was tested one night;

My friends came to my house carrying packages of cigarettes and a large cooler of beer. They brought a movie I had never seen. They started the film and settled themselves on my couch. Dust blew in the air. My bottle of liquor was heavy in my hand. I tried to shove my guilty feeling aside, I couldn’t. I threw my alcohol to the floor, turned the TV off, and demanded they leave my house. I threw myself on my bed, eyes pouring over the Bible Ron had given me. An hour passed before I ran out of the house. I started the car and sped to the church. I flew into the pastor’s office and told him what happened, begging him to guide me to Christ. I had been made new that night.

It has been two months since then, I have drawn closer to God and have learned to use my gifts for him. The children left the stage and Pastor Ron stepped up to the baptism tub. He scanned the crowd before calling my name. I climbed the stairs and entered the water of the tub.

“Aden David, I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Pastor immersed me in the cool liquid. Opening my eyes I watched the surface of the water froth. My hair slick back from my face as Ron pulled me out. Water ran down my face, but not all of it came from the tub. The world before me blurred as I exited the tub. The church cheered. I felt whole.

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