Tuesday, August 26, 2014

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!