disclaimer: sounds like all the other disclaimers, i dont own any of the characters in this story, melody carlson does, yadda yadda, i'll create some characters to mix it up a bit.
please review and tell me what you think. i'm trying to capture the atmoshpere melody carlson creates, draw you into the story, so if you have comments, let me know.
Chapter One:
july third
heading to los angeles!!!
so, here we are, in our new TOUR BUS. we have two drivers this time, Max and Emmy, who are married. Eric Green from Omega is meeting us in LA after checking out a gig of a new Christian band.
i'm sitting in the room Allie, Laura and i are sharing, they're in the main area which includes the kitchen and living room. Beanie and Caitlin are along with us again, and things are going awesome so far. i'm pretty confident that Redemption's going to be good on this tour--although nobody knows it, Allie, Laura and i have been working on some new songs. Willy helped us with them, and we're all pretty upset that he couldn't come along on this tour with us. a few months after our Christmas tour, Willy was invited to help start a program at Faith Fellowship for anybody who needed some sort of support in one way or another--in leading a Christian life, in need of support financially, stuff like that. he's basically Faith Fellowship's major counsellor guy, who helps people pick their lives up and get back on their feet. he's absolutely amazing at it, and he gets people the help they need. during the last two weeks in July, he's going to a special workshop to help him do his new job even better. i know he's doing a great job of it because he helped my friend, Manda from school. Manda used to be really crazy about dating and alcohol and drugs, and i got paired up on a project with her in april. the project was for english, and we had to write biographies on eachother, highlighting major events in our lives. one event i told her about the day i went to the cemetary in the midst of being really depressed, and became a Christian--because, ultimately, i'm where i am now because of God, and when i told her this, she really opened up to me.
she asked me the questions alot of people seem to ask about Christianity. why should God love me? what's all this stuff about Jesus? why should i bother? i told her about Jesus dying on the cross for us, so we could be free of the penalty of sin--this being REDEMPTION! i explained the basics of having a relationship with God--prayer, reading the Bible which isnt as boring as people think! a few weeks after the project, Manda showed up at my doorstep. she looked like she had been crying, and i invited her in and took her up to my room. she told me she was sick of her life and wanted to do something about it. she took four containers of pills out of her backpack and handed them to me. "Chloe. i feel like killing myself. take these away from me so i cant."
Manda stayed at my house a long time that day. i told her all the things i loved about her, and all the reasons we needed her. slowly she opened up, and handed me the razor from her backpack and showed me her scars. i hugged her, and surprisingly she didnt pull away. three hours after she arrived, she asked me if God could really help her. i told her that i really believed He could, but the only thing that mattered was if Manda believed He could. she did. that day in my bedroom, Manda surrendered and became a Christian. we drove down to Faith Fellowship together, and i got her into Willy's office. he was totally awesome with her--he struggled with addiction and stuff too. it was a totally amazing day.
sorry to check out on you, but Emmy just buzzed back here and told me we're driving through Arizona and we'll be in Phoenix in about an hour. i'm gonna go and see whats going on at the front of the bus. later!
i love You
God, thanks for everything
cause I know that without You i wouldnt be here
touring across the country
God, thank You for saving me
from my own destruction
and now You complete me
and forever i'll be Yours
this passion is unwritable
so i guess i'll say
i love You!