Chapter 13 The View from Up Here Anika is released from the hospital after a couple of days. Debbie and Chris freaked out when they heard the news and rushed over to the hospital. They've had a hard time leaving Anika's side if it weren't for the babies they wouldn't. No one tells the group about they're encounters yet but they plan to meet to talk.
When Anika and Anderson get back to the apartment they find an older lady and gentleman out there door. “Hi,” the older woman says. She's about 80 years old with powder white hair pulled back in a ponytail and red lipstick. Her husband looks around 80 to and he has a baseball hat on and head bald. Anderson and Anika say hi to them hoping that would get them away from their door. But the couple doesn't move. “ I'm Lucy Mayfield and this here is my husband Bart. One of the nurses told me about y'all's situation. And I thought to myself. Now Lucy you have all this wisdom and these children obviously need it. So, I thought we'd come over and invite y'all to dinner tonight.” Anderson and Anika can't say no so they agree and ask if it's okay if the bring two friends. Lucy is happy that more people are coming. Bart doesn't seem that enthusiastic.
That night Anika, Anderson, Debbie, and Chris head over to the Mayfield's apartment. The Mayfield's live two doors down from Anika and Anderson. Mrs. Mayfield greets them and rushed them in. Bart is sitting in his chair waiting for them. Debbie and Chris introduce themselves. Everyone sits on the couch and looks around awkwardly. “So are y'all married to?” Bart asks Debbie and Chris. “No sir were not married. He's just my roommate and business partner. Debbie says with a smile. “Business partner?” Anderson and Anika ask. “Yeah that's what we want to talk to you guys about tonight,” Chris says. “But I do have twins,” Debbie says. In true mom fashion she pulls out her phone and shows Bart pictures of Annie and Andy. Bart smiles as she shows him the pictures. “So is he the dad?” Bart asks. “No Chris isn't the dad. Their dad died before they were born.” Debbie says “Well they have wonderful mother. I can tell,” says Lucy from the kitchen. Debbie thanks her. “So Mr. Mayfield you know a little about us tell us about you and your wife.” Anika says. “Well I'm old,” they all laugh. “I used to be a youth pastor and my wife was a youth leader. So we've dealt with many variations of y'all's situations. My wife is always on the lookout at for young people to mentor and encourage,” Bart says. “I'm impressed,” Debbie says. “It get better. My wife is a sensationally cool. We have two kids and five grandkids and two great grand kids. But, we don't get to see them that much.” Bart says. “But since we have y'all for the time being let's eat!” Lucy says.
During dinner Anika tells them what happened to her at the hospital. Then Anderson tells what was happening to him at the same time. After Debbie and Chris tell what happened to them at the same time everyone takes a moment. “ Wow. It seems like God has gotten y'all's attention.” Lucy says. “ I need to see this plan Debbie and Chris so I can look it over. Anika and Anderson I want to talk to the both of you a little more. Debbie and Chris hand Lucy and Bart they're notebooks to look over and thank them for a good time and leave.
The Mayfield's move Anika and Anderson into the living room. And they sit down facing them. “The both of you have special calling. Together y'all are unstoppable. I think that's why all of this had to happen to the both of you.” Lucy starts out in a serious tone. “ And y'all already know with great callings come great battles.” Lucy continues. “ Y'all have held each other up the best way y'all know how. But, it's time for the both of you to seriously unite because God has something so special for the both of you.” Lucy says. “You both have to let go of the past hurts. And find out who God is to both of you individually and together. From what I heard tonight both of you are starting to understand who you are in Him but you need to dig a little deeper.” Bart says. Lucy walks them to the door and says they'll talk soon.
Anika and Anderson walk back to their room in thoughtful silence. How could they get closer to God together? What did that look like. They stay up late discussing what the Mayfield's told them and how they would start finding God together. They decided they should journal. Each of them would get a personal journal and then they'd have a journal they shared.
Chapter 14 Finding Him Anika begins journaling right away. She writes down her interpretation of the scriptures she reads, prayers, and personal feelings only her and God would know. She finds that reading and writing helps her understand God better and grows deeper in her relationship with Him. Anderson writes songs in his book about God. Anika doesn't know that most of the songs he sings around the house are the ones he's written. His songs are bringing Him into a deeper and more intimate relationship with God. In the journal they share they're are love letters to God and each other, interpretation of the scriptures they read together, prayers,poems,and other expression of love, worship, and admiration.
As they grow deeper in there relationship with God they move closer to each other. The Mayfields mentor them as they move deeper in their relationship with God making sure they stay on track. They help them interpret scriptures that they don't understand and answers their questions.
Debbie and Chris’ ministry of sorts takes off. They call it “The Love of Mother and Father,” and it is gaining success quickly. Lucy and Bart help them manage the financing. The success rates are high and Chris and Debbie actually feel like they're making an impactful difference.
Anika and Anderson are starting a Bible study with some of the couples from “The Love of Mother and Father,” helping them to navigate their relationship with God and each other. They are starting to write a book titled “The Love I Have for You” it's a collection of their journal and thoughts on God's love through they're experience. The Bible Study is growing every week. Anderson sings the songs he's written which really helps boost the attendees. Anika and Anderson are still getting to know God and the deep they go the more they share. As one of the many ways of giving back to the kingdom
Notes From the Author You may have started reading this book and thought you had it all figured out. Anika was going to end up falling in love with Anderson and it was going to be another teen love stories. Aren't you glad it wasn't?
Finding God is a long and hard journey but it's always worth it. And the road is full of traps trying to keep you away from getting to Him. But, hardships make it so much more when you finally get Find Him.
I know some of y'all are like that was a great story Naomi but I don't know how to find Him. Well let me help you. 1. Get a Bible and start reading. You might want to start with devotionals or jump right into the book itself either way is an adventure of a lifetime. I've found an effective method of flipping through the Bible and stopping on what I find interesting works out. Getting books on certain subjects in the Bible or the history of the Bible itself is a fun way to jump into the Bible. 2.Learn how to pray/ pray a lot. I know you're thinking you have to learn how to pray? Kind of learning how to pray cuts out wasted air space and helps you get to the nitty gritty of what you want to say. There are bunches of books on how to pray just Google around or go to a bookstore and see which ones will work for you. 3. Take this seriously. If you're going to pursue a relationship with God you have to be serious. You have to want it with everything in you if you don't then it'll be easier to give up. 4. Memorize the Word. Psalms 119:11 says “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Memorize it'll be in your best interest. 5. Listen. Just listen. 6. Ask questions. There's knowledge to be found in a question. Trust me I ask at least 1000 questions a day. 7. Pray for a mentor. Most people are like go get a mentor you need one. But form personal experience it's best to pray and also for the right one instead of choosing the wrong one. 8. Go all in it's going to be rough and not make sense or be frustrating at times but you have to stay committed.
You're never too young to let God work in your life. And he doesn't have n age limit on who can serve Him. Samuel was young when God called his name, King Josiah was 8 when he became King and 16 when he gave his heart to the Lord
for real. Jeremiah was young when he started his ministry and there are so many other examples. Age doesn't define capabilities. “You are young, but don't let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them by what you say, by how you live, by your faith, and by your pure life” 1 Timothy 4:12 (Easy-to-Read Version).
Finding Him
By Naomi Townsend
Chapter 1
The Search "Our family is falling apart Paul! And you don't even care!" Martha’s heartbreaking words ring through the house. Boom boom boom! Heavy boots stomp down the stairs. Click. The door unlocks. Swoosh! The front door swings open Paul’s anger pulsates through the knob. Bang! A car door slams so hard the windows rattle. Ding... ding, the car waits ready to go. Paul takes a moment, should he really leave? Vroooom! The question is answered. Skuuurrrttttt! The car rips out the driveway.
Silence. No one in the house stirs. The silence from this dramatic episode from Paul and Martha Wilson is still in the air. Mrs. Wilson returns to her bed heavy hearted and defeated. She wonders can her heart take any more of this pain? She falls asleep on her tear stained pillow. In the next room her oldest daughter Anika lies awake cradling her two frightened sisters. Her heart is beating as tears stream down her face. She wonders will her parents ever stop fighting like this?
This is a reoccurring episode in the Wilson home. Mr. And Mrs. Wilson are constantly having late night chats that turn into heated discussions about the failure and misfortune of the family and why Paul is to blame. Now don't get the wrong idea here the Wilson family is not poor by any stretch of the imagination. But they’re not filthy rich either. Like most parents they make it work, in their case well enough to send their seven children to Luden Marks Christian Academy (a prestigious school in Williamson Bay County) and to live in a good neighborhood. Both Paul and Martha work at the same construction company (B & B Construction) where they met 25 years ago and fell madly in love. Almost like something out if a fairytale. But, as of late it seems that their marriage may be coming to an end.
Beeeep beep! The sound of Anika's alarm clock startles her out of her thoughts. She hasn't been to sleep yet in hopes she would hear her dad come in, it's now 5:45 and she has to get up and get dressed for church. Anika silently slips out of her bed and hurries to the bathroom. In the Wilson house you're either early to the bathroom or you get a cold shower.
As she is finishing getting ready she hears the front door creak open and heavy footsteps come up the stairs. She instinctively turns off the bathroom lights. She's relieved her dad's home, but angry that he keeps leaving.
By now Anika has been up for 28 hours (you can’t even imagine the bags under her eyes). Anika can't even remember the last time she's gotten a proper night's rest, but as they say there’s no rest for the weary. After she hears her parents bedroom door shut she turns the lights back on breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe this blow up will finally fix them she thinks. It all has to fall apart for it to get better right?
She attempts to fix the bags under her eyes, (it doesn’t go well). After many failed attempts she throws the brush she’s using down in frustration. Hot tears roll down her cheeks. The emotions of last night’s events, the previous nights of war, and barely any sleep all rush out in a hot stream of tears. Upset at herself for crying over her parents she tries to brush the tears away and move on, but as those kinds of persistent tears do they continued rolling getting harder and harder as they came. Anika wasn't just crying because of her stress she was crying for her little brothers and sisters, they didn't deserve to live in so much instability. The foolishness and stubbornness of her parents is hurting them and they refuse to open their eyes and see the damage that they're doing. And the worst part is she can't tell anyone or the Wilson name would be diminished and she'd be in more trouble than she knew how to deal with.
After a while she pulls herself together. She pours water in her eyes to reduce the redness and walks out the bathroom. When she opens the door she’s greeted with a line of her siblings waiting for the bathroom. Luckily her youngest sister is at the front of the line and does not yell at her because she had taken so long, but gives her a hug instead. She tells everyone good morning and goes back to her room. She shuts the door and grabs her phone (idle scrolling is a great stress reliever). While scrolling through her phone she runs across an and ad for an app to find people to talk to a sort of Tindr for teens if you will. As hurting people seeking an escape do, she downloads the app out of desperation masked as "curiosity”.
You may have already noticed the recurring drama at the Wilson house has been none stop for much longer than a few months. These battles have been sprinkled throughout their marriage, but these past couple of years the fights have ramped up. Her mom or dad are storming out in the early hours of the morning or being overly upset at the kids. As you may know parent drama is a whole different level of stress and worriedness. Anika is a type of person who puts together plans before executing anything. She's been planning for a blow up from her parents since she was 14. She's gotten her driver's licenses, taken cooking class in case she has to feed her siblings for more than one meal, she has a job and money saved in case anything happens, and a notebook full of several escape routes in case her parents ever get violent. She's prepared physically for the worst. But, spiritually and emotionally she's hardly ready gir the trials ahead.
For the next hour and a half Anika spends time on the app. She has already received some less than holy propositions. She is baffled at how early people were up looking for sex, especially on a Sunday. But, she simply blocks them. An hour passes and she has blocked what feels like a million boys looking for the one thing she is not giving up. Just as she was giving up hope she gets a message from a guy named Anderson Peterson. "Hi!" he wrote. She replied to him in the same way he had (never had she seen a guy use an exclamation point when texting hi). They had the "basic getting to know you" conversation but they clicked instantly. Anika knew in her heart that something was special about him. They planned to meet after they both got out of church at a local frozen yogurt spot. Anika understood what she was doing was risky and she could end up kidnapped or something worse but there's a certain level of desperation that makes you do wildly irrational things, it's that level between existing and rock bottom.
Anika could hardly pay attention in church (for obvious reasons). Today she is even able to pull off the "everything is fine" act without any hiccups. She thinks "God must be really working in my favor today."
After church Anika asks if she can go to Yo Yo Land to meet a friend (technically not a lie). Her parents agree without a second thought (Williamson Bay is a fairly small town and everyone seemingly knows everyone so in theory she's" safe"). As soon as she gets the okay she dashes over to Yo Yo Land. Her and Anderson have planned to meet right outside of the shop at the table with the flamingo pink umbrella. Anika arrives first so she sits at the table with the pink umbrella thankful that it is empty. Anderson text her and says he's there. She looks up (trying her hardest to look natural) and her eyes fall on the most beautiful boy she's ever seen. He has brown curly hair down to his shoulders, caramel skin, big brown eyes, and the cutest smile she had ever seen in her whole existence, she nearly choked on her fro-yo. The sun was shining in such a way that it made him look angelic. He wore a light blue shirt and white shorts with white shoes looking even the more angelic. Anika set back in her chair and stared in awe. "How had God created such a beautiful man?" He finally arrives at the table. He stops at their table and says, "Hi!" Anika nearly died his voice was like an ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup drizzled on it. She nearly falls out of her chair when she hears his voice. When she finally spoke she shocked Anderson with her candidness. "Wow you're gorgeous," she said with a smile on her face. Anderson just smiled feeling like the king of the world. The two smiled at each other for what felt like two eternities. They finally realized they had just been staring into each other's eyes but hadn’t sa
id anything more than “hi” to each other. Anderson with his beautiful voice started talking about what he had learned in church, and the conversation started from there. They had a long conversation talking about their families, school, friends, church, and why they had never met each other. By the time they had finished talking it was the evening. The two had learned so much about each other. Anderson offered to drive her home an offer she gladly accepted. They talked all the way to Anika’s house. When he pulled up to her house he stops the car and walks her to the door. Anika is nearly dead at this point never has she ever encountered such a gentleman. They said goodbye and promise to meet the next day. Anika had lost track of time in those gorgeous eyes and she knew as soon as she went inside she was screwed. She prayed time had stood still for her but it hasn't.
When Anika arrives home she realizes time hadn’t stopped for her. She walked into the kitchen starving. As soon as she walked in she opened the refrigerator to get something to eat. And all of a sudden her dad busts through the backdoor. "Where have you been Anika?" He demanded. "I'm sorry dad, I lost track of time," She said trying to lessen the blow of her on coming punishment. Anika's dad went on a screaming tirade hitting points of kidnap, rape, death, and ending with how worried he had been. Punishments were settled on house arrest for three days no friends (like she had any real ones besides Anderson), no phone, and no fun (as if she had time to have any). Anika accepted the punishment. She just hands over her phone and goes to her room trying her hardest to look remorseful, she had had such a wonderful time she couldn't be upset. She has homework to do so she got into it.
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