Courtney Holstead sat alone on her queen-sized bed, thinking....just thinking. Her eyes, which were normally alive and vibrant, were now red and puffy. The clothes she had been wearing were ripped and strewn about the room. She tried to act the perfect Christian girl, just as everyone saw her, but these were the times when she felt God had forsaken her.
She lived her life by the Bible, keeping the commandments and the other rules laid down throughout. She never smoked, never drank, never cussed. She was not a virgin, however, though by no choice of her own. This is why she was sat in her room, crying whatever tears she had left, naked down to the flesh.
Her boyfriend, David Bouls (pronounced "bowls"), was definitely not what you would call a Christian. Sure, he went to church, but outside of Sunday mornings, he was just another sex-crazed, drug addicted teenager. He had come by her house an hour ago and barged in, once again high on some drug he got off some drug dealer across town. He commenced in dragging her to her room and raping her. He immediately left, not a word said between the two. This had happened many times already and the first few times, Courtney tried to fight him off, but his strength always won. After about the sixth or seventh time, she just gave up and let him do what he wanted to do. All the time she was around him, he was either drunk off Budweiser or high on marijuana or some other drug. She only stayed with him because she thought she could change him; show him what God had for him, if only he obeyed Him. Now, though, she knew he would not be changed, at least not by her. She had decided that today was the last time, enough was enough.
She got up from the bed that David had defiled her on so many times, put her clothes back on and, with an enormous amount of courage, called him up. He answered after four rings.
"David, I need you to come back here. I need you with me..." Her voice trailed off.
"Whatever you need, babe, I'm here for you. You know I love you. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Constant lies, she thought, he never loved me and he doesn't now. David arrived at her front door step in fifteen minutes, just as he had said he would. Never late for a date, she thought sarcastically.
“David, I need to talk to you. Would you step out back with me?” She led him out to her backyard, where a large pool shone as the centerpiece, surrounded by a small walkway of stone. A rock garden and a tool shed were on the far side of it, a medium-sized patch of grass on its right, and a row of assorted flowers and trees along the fence to its left. They were currently standing next to a small wooden table, five matching chairs around it. A corrugated tin awning jutted out above their heads from the roof of the house. She stood with her back to the pool.
“I can’t do this any more, David. You say you love me, but I know you’re lying. I’m not going to let you treat me as if I’m your own personal sex toy. Not to mention, you want to be with me and when you are around me you never even acknowledge my presence. This relationship is over. Get out of my sight.” She finished with a choked sounding sob and rested her face in her hands, the tears flowing freely.
David’s face grew redder with anger at every word she spoke. How dare she talk to him like that? “Fine! If you don’t want to be with me anymore, then I will leave! I’ll expose you for the slut you are! Have a nice life, you ******** whore!” As the last word left his mouth, he shoved her into the water behind her and stalked off through the house, slamming the front door in his wake.
Courtney slowly pulled herself from the water and laid there by the side of the pool. Her sobs were heart-breaking, the tears left streaks down her face. After about half an hour of misery, she got up with a purpose, stomping through her house, destroying everything that reminded her of David. The photograph on her mantle of the day they got together soon lay shattered on the floor. The $500 crystal lion he gave her for her 17th birthday she threw across the room. It shattered into thousands of pieces.
The rest of the day and through the night, she spent lying on her bed, sobbing into her arm, then her pillow, then her arm again. She cried herself to sleep. The dream she had that night changed her life.
She was out in the local park just a couple miles from her home. She sat on one of the nicer looking wooden park benches, though they all had many years worth of graffiti on them from the local hooligans. She stared out past the grassy hill in front of her, over the pond ahead of that, off into the skyline. Just then, a blinding light appeared in the sky. Courtney shielded her eyes the best she could with her arm. The light lasted just a few seconds and when she looked back in front of her, a man in white robes stood there. She knew he had not been around her, nor anywhere near the park, so how could he have gotten here in a matter of seconds? As she pondered this, the man began to speak.
“Courtney, do not be afraid. I am here to help you. I am an angel sent from God to look over you. Do not think He has forsaken you, for He loves all and forsakes none. God, our Father, is good and you must keep your faith in Him, else sin will take over your life and the Wicked One will find a way to control you.”
“If God has not forsaken me, why do I feel so alone? My ex is nothing but a low life, good for nothing pig. My family is never around and my friends never seem to care!” Courtney’s exclamations were mirrored by the helplessness showing on her face.
“All simple questions with just as simple answers. The Holy Spirit will work through someone to reach David, even if it is not you. Your family will always love you and are doing what they can to protect you and give you a wonderful life. Do not think that just because they are gone most of the day, they do not love you and do not want you around. As for your friends, they care about you more than you know. Their only problem is that they do not know how to show it to you. Reach out to them for encouragement. Most of all, however, remember that when everyone around you seems to have forgotten you and do not care about you, God the Father will always accept you as you are and welcomes you with open and loving arms.” The light flashed again and the angel was gone.
Courtney awoke then and immediately bowed her head in prayer, asking God for forgiveness of her foolishness and for strength enough to keep her faith alive. That was the beginning of a brand new day and a brand new chapter in her life.
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