A Time of Faith

A Time Of Faith

By Tyler Brackett, Class of 2016

Kernersville, North Carolina

            God's a safe house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you're never sorry you knocked.

Psalms 9:9-10

            My big brother Austin attended Mount Pisgah Academy and I was left in elementary school and at home“by myself.” At first I thought it was fun to be an “only child” but that didn’t last long.  I was left with the responsibility of the older child and there was nobody to hang out with at home and have laughs with. It was a very discouraging period for me.  I did pray about it.  And I went to church.  But nothing seemed to be working. So I drifted further and further away from friends, the church, and especially God.

            Soon I got to the point when anger and frustration whirled around inside of me. My friends seemed to always get on my nerves and I would scold them daily. My parents finally had a heart to heart talk with me and I erupted with tears trying to explain all of this. They understood. After that tough talk, it felt like a ton of bricks was lifted off of my shoulders and pretty soon I was happy once again. My friends and I were hanging out again and I was going to church and praising God. Soon afterwards, summer arrived and Austin came back. We were together again having a great time.

            But sadly summer ended.  We had to take Austin back to Pisgah and that sad feeling swelled up in me again as we unpacked all of Austin's stuff.  (I was a ninth grader but our local school offered that grade.)  It was almost time to leave and I prayed as hard as I could saying these words, "Dear Heavenly Father,  I beg of you please, please let me stay here. There must be a plan here for me at Mt. Pisgah Academy.  Please dear Lord.  I love you."

            It seemed as if I was about to break down as I was going to go back down to the ad building to leave when Austin said, "Tyler, where are you going? You can stay."

            "What? For the night? That makes no sense."

            “No Tyler, you can come here for school."

            At that moment I knew that God had answered my prayer.  Thank you, Jesus!

Lost

Lost

By Jordyn Consignado, Class of 2016

Charlotte, North Carolina

Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.

He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. Psalm 55:22

            It was the summer of 2006 on the day after my birthday. My dad, my step mom, whom I call Ms. Anita, her three children, my 4-year-old younger brother, Logan, and I went to the Wild Waves Theme Park in Federal Way, Washington, for my 8th birthday.

            At the pirate-themed water park my dad and Ms. Anita were sitting on beach chairs while my siblings and I were splashing each other with the cold water. The water made us cold so we decided to leave and go to the hot tubs adjacent to the huge wave pools.

            It had been 15 minutes or so when my dad noticed that Logan, my brother, was missing. He told us to go look for him and meet back at the hot tubs if we found him. Immediately, I got out of the hot tub, along with my siblings, and searched for my little brother. I became very worried,  thinking of the terrible things that could happened. Eventually, I started to cry. I was crying and wandering around like a lost child. I felt as though I had searched the whole theme park for Logan! I decided to give up and sat on a bench near the park. I began to do something my parents and school had taught me my whole life -- pray. And that's exactly what I did. "Dear Jesus, please help me or someone to find my brother. Help him to be safe. Amen."

            As soon as I finished that prayer, I heard someone crying. I turned my head expecting to see an upset infant, but I was wrong. It was my baby brother in Ms. Anita's arms crying like a baby. I ran up to them, crying, and gave them a huge hug. At that moment, I realized God had answered my prayer.

            I was scared, worried, and anxious. But then I prayed to God and He answered my prayer. I have learned from this experience that when I am lost, I can call on Him to help me. He never lets me down.

I Am Here

I Am Here

By Shayna Garrison, Class of 2013

Fairview, North Carolina

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls,

it will grind him to powder! Luke 20:18

            We  often think of brokenness as a condition we are left in after the world has had its way with us -- that we come to God broken, asking Him to put us back together. When we allow the world to break us, we come to God with a pile of pieces crumbled by human hands, asking the Master to reform them.  But if we allow God to break us, the pieces are formed by His hands, and He will reconstruct us in a pattern designed from the ground up.

            What does it mean to be truly broken? Why do we need to be broken at all? We are going to fall at some time or another. The question is when we fall, are we going to be on or under the stone? When we fall, do we want the Lord to be able to pick us up again, or will we be completely destroyed? When we fall, are we falling to our knees in reverence and worship, or are we falling from heights reached with our own avarice?

            Everyone will fall one day. Those who fall in humility will be broken on the stone and transformed into a man of honor. Those who erect themselves and reject the life of righteousness, their kingdoms will fall and become dust.

            Brokenness is being on the ground in front of the Lord--even when it starts getting a little uncomfortable. Being broken is having the heart of a sinner, looking toward heaven, and crying out, “I’m here!”  God says in Isaiah 1:18 “…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (NKJV). Praising God is not about being perfect. He asks us to come to Him as we are, so that He can restore us to all that we are worth. I throw a challenge to all who choose to accept. Give God a chance to repair, restore, and replenish you.

Angel on a Jet Ski

Angel on a Jet Ski

Robin Clifford, Class of 2016

Spartanburg, South Carolina

Surely God is my Salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord,

the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense,

He has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2

    

            I spent most of my summer at the lake. It was refreshing to splash around in the cool green water and not have to worry about school work. One particular sunny day, me and my brother were being pulled behind the boat on an inner tube. My dad and some friends were in the boat, and my brother and I were thrashing around in the roaring waters behind. We were having so much fun with nothing to worry about. Every once in a while, my brother or I would let go, and we would be left in the lake. The one still on the tube would scream and holler until the people in the boat swung back around to pick up the “lost one.” There were a lot of people out that day, so the water close to the house was crowded. In order to avoid crashing, we decided to go to the other side of the island that was empty of people. We spun in circles and zig zags, trying not to fall off. Somewhere in the crazy ride, my brother lost his grip. He slid into the water without me noticing. After several minutes I suddenly realized he was gone.

            With panic rushing through my veins, I screamed at my dad to turn around and find him. As he slowed the roar of the boat, I craned my neck in all directions to see my little brother floating on the waves. I looked as hard as I could, but I couldn't find him. I was shaking with worry as we drove around looking for him. No one was around to see him fall, so we didn’t know exactly where to look for him. Just when I thought my brother was gone for good, I heard the weak roar of a Jet Ski. I whipped around to see who was coming, and there was a man on a purple jet ski with my brother right behind him. My mom was crying as the man helped my brother into the boat. Thinking about it now, I don't remember seeing a Jet Ski like that ever on the lake before. I'm sure it was an angel that God sent to save my brother. Without that man on the purple Jet Ski, we could have lost him.

            I am so thankful that God protects every one of His children. I was reminded that day that when we place all of our trust in Him, there is no need for me to be afraid of anything.

Lost and Found

Lost and Found

By Abby King, Class of 2016

Charlotte, North Carolina

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. Luke 15:24

            When I was eight years old my family and I took a trip to Disney World. We had a blast, but unfortunately family vacations never last long enough.

            One of the last things we decided to do before we went home was to see one of the parades. We arrived on Main Street early that day to make sure we got a good spot, and we did. My sister Tori and I soon became restless and tired of waiting, as many six and eight year olds get.  So, we decided to go look in one of the stores. My dad and grandparents stayed at our parade spot while my mom, Tori, and I went into the nearest shop. We looked around for a while and we ended up finding a toy that we wanted. While we were checking out at the cash register I began to wander off, looking at some of the other items on display.

            Once my mom finished buying our toy,  my mom and sister began to walk back outside without even noticing I was not with them. After a few moments of looking around the store,  I turned around to realize Mom was not there anymore; she had disappeared and taken my sister with her, leaving me all alone. I was frantic and did not know what to do.  I was lost! My mom soon realized too that I was no longer with her and she was in a bigger panic than I was. She assumed I had probably left the store and could be anywhere in the park by then.

            Meanwhile a kind lady that worked at the store found me and decided we’d better call my mom. As the phone was ringing, I saw my mom running towards me, arms open wide welcoming me in. As I ran into her hug, I was so happy she had found me. I was very lucky to be found so quickly.

            When I remember this story, I am reminded that Jesus is always there waiting for us with outstretched arms. He will always welcome us in, even if we’ve strayed away.

Blessings in Obedience

Blessings in Obedience

By Joshua Cale, Class of 2013

Candler, North Carolina

If you listen obediently to the Voice of  God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today,  God , your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these

blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God. Deuteronomy 28:1,2

            I have lived my life believing that if you follow the path that God has set for us, He will give us a future. But this is really the first time I have seen and recognized this occurance in my own life. 

            During my years of school I didn't get the best grades in the world, but I managed to get by.  In high school, I struggled with and failed a couple of classes, and I had to take correspondence classes to make those classes up. It was challenging  to do that, but, I survived it, and I passed them. 

            As for SAT testing, I was not real concerned about it.  I did not spend time preparing at all.  Consequently, my test scores were not the best I could have gotten.

            If you had asked me a few months ago, with my grades and SAT scores, if  I was going to be able to get into any college, much less a decent one, I might have shrugged and said, “who knows?”  In fact, many people in my shoes would probably have even given up on attending a four-year college and hoped to attend a community college for a while.

            But I and my family prayed about it a lot.  I committed to live my life in such a way that was honoring, obeying, and glorifying God.  I claimed His promise to bless me.  I had to stand strong in my faith and trust that He would help me go where He wanted me to attend (despite my scores).  So, I applied to six colleges, and so far, I have been accepted by two of them.

            God is so good.  He has even given me choices!  I promise to honor Him by doing my absolute best and serving Him wherever I go.

Changing Lives

Changing Lives

By Kali Huskey, Class of 2014

Belton, South Carolina

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us. Romans 5:8.

            Going to Nicaragua on a mission trip was truly amazing.  I was really nervous about preaching a Share Him campaign. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.

            My first night preaching I had about thirty people there.  I was really excited.  I had never preached to that many people before. Something else that was really exciting was that fifteen of the people at my meeting were children. When I saw all of the kids surrounding me, my heart was filled with peace and love. It amazed me that all of those kids came to listen to me preach.

            On my fourth night the kids really started to open up and talk to me. I could understand them for the most part, but I couldn’t really respond to them. (I don’t know Spanish very well.)  So when I would try to say something, they would laugh at me.

            My second week there, on one of the nights I talked about baptism, I made a call to anyone who wanted to be baptized.  Six people came forward.  Praise God!  It brought me to tears knowing that I -- no, not me, but God -- had touched that many peoples’ lives.  That little group continued to study and by the end of the series were ready to be baptized.

            The last Sabbath there we all piled into a cattle truck and headed to my friend Mazin’s preaching sight.  We were going to meet up with his group and all go down to the river for baptism. He had a good many that wanted to be baptized, as well. All six of the people that came up front to my call that night were baptized on that beautiful Sabbath.

            It is so amazing to see how God works in peoples’ lives.  It was very exciting to see them grow stronger in Him throughout each meeting.

            I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go and preach the word of God to others.  It really touched my heart and helped me realize that no matter where we are, we are a missionary.  And each of us can do something to share God with others.