My Testimony, My Saga, My Legacy... Pt. 3

Chapter 3: In which God shows His divine protection...

So, everything is starting to go a little crazy. I'm depressed, lonely and worst of all, distant -- very distant -- from God. I had been taking Martial arts for a while when my friend Liz* (also a martial arts student) told me about her youth group. It was small, friendly and she would be more than happy to introduce me to people.

I've always gone to mega churches. The kind of churches that have a minimum of 5,000 members, so going to a little church of 150 people was a novelty. Out of desperation and the slim hope that I'd be welcome, I went. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. Don't get me wrong, I love my Sunday-Super-Church, but the intimate fellowship with only 20 other youth was amazing.

Slowly I started coming out of my shell. The youth pastor strongly encouraged pursuing God on your own and after several months of Wednesday-night attendance, I decided to attempt reading the Bible each morning. My self-resolve, however was weak, and I'd drop in and out of reading.

At home we had joined a cell group. Several families would get together, have a lesson, share a meal and fellowship. But, everywhere I went I would almost hungrily look for possible husbands. There was one family that was a part of cell group that had a trio of sons, one of which I took a strong liking too, Ben*. He was just as much of a fantasy freak as I was. He collected books on faeries and was an amazing artist. Sure, he had a plethora of beliefs that I didn't agree with -- not to mention he was a full decade older than me, and I was 15 at the time.

We started hanging out together in cell group, discussing and debating out different ideas about faeries. Later we started e-mailing each other (Note to the reader, this is always a VERY dangerous habit to pick up with someone of the opposite gender!) He would confide in me his prayer requests and I started making his e-mails the highlight of my day.

Little did I notice what was starting to happen. All I thought about was him. His e-mails became precious to me, and the more I talked to him, the more I excused and over-looked the problems I had with his beliefs. Ben was super sweet, and one of the few people that I met that loved fantasy as much as I did.

I thoroughly believe that what God did next was for my protection. There was a large disagreement between our families; shortly after, he left cell group. Even though I was turning a blind side to God, He was still protecting me. If that wasn't enough, God quickly healed my heart and any attachments that I had toward Ben* so that I didn't miss him and was able to refocus my life.

To Be Continued...
Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9