This chapter is dedicated to my prayer buddy, SugarQueen8980! Thank you so much!
Amy's POV
It was a shock to me when I woke up to Natalie nudging my side a couple hours later.
"Amy," she whispered while shaking my shoulder. "You hear that?"
"Mmmm?" I said back, half asleep.
"I think it's going to rain."
A flash of light appeared over the top of our tent. I heard soft thunder a few seconds later in the distance. I sat up on my sleeping bag.
"You didn't hear that earlier?" Natalie whispered sharply.
"You must be a really light sleeper to wake up by that."
"What do we do?"
Another flash. Thunder seemed closer and louder.
"What do you mean?"
"Do we go inside?"
"We probably should."
"Didn't your great uncle say that it was not going to rain?"
"He did. Guess he was lying." Huh. Never thought Uncle Fiske would lie to us.
The wind started to pick up. Lightning flashed right over our heads. Thunder boomed.
"We should wake Sinead and the twins up."
I went to the left side of the tent and nudged both of the snoring twins. It took several hard punches in the arm to wake them. "What?" they said with their eyes half open.
"It's lightning outside. Get your stuff and put it on the porch. We don't want to get rained on."
They nodded. Then fell back down on their pillows and started to snore again. I sighed. This could be a while.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a while. It started to poor. And all we had was a bug screen for a roof. Natalie started to scream and cover her head. Sinead and the twins jumped up, grabbed their sleeping bags and pillows, and ran out of the tent for cover. I grabbed my stuff and raced off to the porch. Natalie was sprinting behind me.
It only took ten seconds to get to the porch. We opened the screen door and dashed inside. Thunder boomed and we caught our breath. I heard yelling from across the yard and I looked towards the boys' tent. It was shaking back and forth. A few seconds later, the boys came out of their tent running and yelling like warriors, holding their sleeping bags or pillows over their head.
My fellow girls and I started to laugh. As soon as they got in the porch, we all started to laugh together. Nellie, in black athletic shorts and purple t-shirt, and Uncle Fiske, in red flannel pajamas and a robe, walked out onto the porch. Dan asked with a smile, "Certainly not gonna rain tonight, right, Uncle Fiske?"
"Well, it's about six in the morning. It didn't rain during the night, did it?" he said back with a smile. "Good morning children!"
Good mornings echoed his. Natalie screeched, "You ruined my hair!"
"Natalie, you can take a shower and use Amy's hair dryer." He said back, chuckling. "In fact, all of you, after breakfast, can go and get ready. We will be leaving in about four hours."
"All right, kiddos! What do you guys want to eat?" Nellie asked, excitedly. I was surprised. She's normally not an early-morning person.
"WAFFLES!" Dan yelled.
Natalie made a face. "A parfait? With strawberries. I want fruit for some odd reason."
"French toast?" Sinead asked.
"I like cereal." Jonah said. Kinda bland for a superstar.
"You can have anything you want if you can make it. We have almost everything. I get a day off from cooking. Well, at least breakfast. I still have to make Sunday dinner." Nellie turned back inside.
Amy's POV
About an hour later, we were all in the dining room eating breakfast. Sinead had her French toast, fresh from the freezer. Dan had his waffles, also from the freezer. Jonah had a mix of five different cereals in his bowl. Twins had pancakes with chocolate chips on top. Hamilton had four waffles. Natalie had found her yogurt and fresh fruit.
A timer went off in the kitchen, and I walked down the hall to the kitchen and opened the oven door. Cinnamon filled the air. I love muffins on Sunday.
I put the muffins on the dining room table, where everyone sat. When the muffins banged on the table, everyone looked up and dived in for a muffin. In a matter of seconds, Hamilton was on his way to eating his third muffin, and Jonah and Ian were about to take a bite of one, when Ian paused and asked, "Did Nellie make these?"
"No, I did," I answered.
Hamilton paused mid-bite, and Jonah slowly put his muffin down.
"It's made with box mix."
Hamilton chomped down on his muffin, and the others continued to eat theirs, too.
"I am not that bad of a cook!"
"Really? How about the time egg shells ended up in the brownies?" Jonah asked.
"I was under a lot of stress! I was baby-sitting two three year olds at the time!"
"Or the time the chocolate chips were salty?" Sinead joined in.
"I thought the salt was sugar!"
"Or the time you left the plastic wrapper on Dan's grilled cheese?" Ian said with a smirk.
"…I don't have an excuse for that one."
By that time, Uncle Fiske had come into the room. "Alright, children. Finish eating your breakfast, then go ahead and start getting ready for church."
I reached for a muffin, and found that there was none left. "Hey!"
"Hi!" said Dan, stuffing another muffin in his mouth.
I guess I'll stick to cereal…
Natalie's POV
I franticly ran a straighter through my hair. I only had a total of forty-five minutes left to get ready! AH! I'll never have enough time!
"Natalie, take a chill-pill. We don't need to leave for another forty-five minutes."
"I know!" I said.
"Your hair is naturally straight. Why in the world are you fixing it?"
"Because it got rained on!"
"But you took a shower and blow-dried it this morning!"
"You just don't understand me." I sighed.
"You're right, I don't!" Amy looked like she was going to start laughing. Thanks, Amy.
A few minutes later, I closed the bathroom door and slipped on my dress. With a price tag of only fifty dollars, I hoped it was enough. It was white with a black plant-like pattern on the bottom half, and a pink stripe outlining the edges. It wasn't that bad when I put on my Prada heels and my diamond earrings, necklace, and bracelet.
I stepped out of the bathroom and back into Amy's bedroom. Sinead's jaw dropped. "That isn't designer, Natalie! I saw that at JC Penny's!"
"What?" Amy asked and turned around to face me. "Wow, Natalie! I didn't think you would actually dress normal! That's great!"
"Your great and my great are two different greats." I mumbled. Sinead wore a spring-green skirt with a white shirt and white flats. Amy wore a jade green dress that went right below her knees. The twins wore skirts, and didn't look too happy about it. I did notice they were also wearing Converse…
If you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all.
Amy glanced at the clock. "We have fifteen minutes until we go. Everybody set?"
We nodded.
(A/N- The church in this chapter is described kind of how my church goes. Sorry if your church is a little different.)
Natalie's POV
I have to say, church was a little different than I imagined it. Maybe I thought it was going to be a cold, unfriendly, strict setting. In fact, it was the exact opposite. As we entered through the church's doors, hello's and warm smiles were directed towards us. I saw Ian shake some people's hands as we entered the building and into the sanctuary. Pews were lined up, with people shaking hands and chatting with each other. A piano was spreading a lively tune throughout the large room. I followed Amy to a pew and sat between her and Ian. The rest of the Cahills followed, taking up the large pew. We had to have been an odd group.
"Alrighty!" Amy said to me, "We have a few more minutes until the choir files in, and then we can start."
A few seconds later I saw a curly blonde run across the room in my and Amy's direction.
"Amy!" She said when she got to us.
"What's up, Olivia?"
"Well, you know how I was supposed to sing with Hannah?" She asked. Amy nodded. "Well, she didn't show up! Now I don't have anyone to do the background vocals with me! Can you sing with me?"
"I'm not the best singer…" Amy began.
"Please? Maybe you're not as good as Hannah, but you still have a pretty voice! We're just singing the piano version of "Blessed Redeemer" by Casting Crowns before Bro. Tom preaches."
"Bro. Tom's preaching today? Where's Pastor James?" Ian butted in.
"Visiting family, I think." Olivia replied. "Anyway," she said, turning back to Amy, "Please?"
"Sure. I know the song. I'm not going to sound nearly as good as Hannah, but I'll do it."
"You'll do great, Amy!" Olivia said, and then sped away to her seat as the choir started to file in.
"You're seriously going to sing, Amy?" I asked. "You're not going to get nervous in front of all these people?"
"These people are my friends and family. They're going to cheer me on, even if I mess up completely."
"But, the church also has live service broadcasting on the internet." Ian said.
"Aw, man! I didn't think of that!" she said. "Not a whole lot of people go on our church's website, though, so it can't be that big of a deal."
The choir had already started to fill in. A middle aged man stepped up to the podium to speak. "Great to see you all today! I see a few new faces in the crowd. Just want to let you know we are glad that you are here today and I hope you meet some wonderful people! Let's stand and sing a few old hymns to start this service off!"
Words appeared on a screen on the wall. Another man, some kind of conductor took the podium. "The Old Rugged Cross!" he announced to the church. The piano started to play, and the congregation and choir started to sing.
On a hill far away
Stood an old, rugged cross
The emblem for suffering and shame
And I love that old cross
Where the dearest and Best
For the world of lost sinners was saved
So I'll cherish the old, rugged cross
'Till my sufferings at last I lay down
I will cling to the old, rugged cross
And exchange it someday for a crown
It was weird because I didn't know the words. Amy and Ian were singing, though; so I tried to join in.
"On with "Amazing Grace"!"
Amazing grace,
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
"Beautiful!" the man said again. "Let's let everyone go around and shake hands while Mrs. Star plays the piano and the choir comes down. I challenge you to meet someone new today!"
Then the piano music rang throughout the church. "I've got to help Olivia now, Natalie." Amy said to me, and then walked into the swarm of people that were again shaking hands. What was with all the hand shaking?
I lost count of how many people shook my hand. I must have had a million peasant germs.
"You're Ian's sis, aren't you?" A boy that was talking to Ian said to me.
"Natalie, this is Sean, I good friend of mine." Ian said.
"Wow," he said, "you two look wildly similar! Oops, got to go!" The crowd started to end their conversations and head back to their original seats.
"Join in now!" the man said.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb
By the end, everyone was situated. Another man stepped up to the podium. "Great to see you all today! I'm Brother Tom, the youth pastor of this church. I'm filling in for Pastor James, who is out of town to visit his family. We'll have one more song, take up offering, and then we'll get on with the service." He said, then exited off the side of the stage.
The piano started in the corner of the stage, with middle-aged Mrs. Star. Olivia and Amy were behind her, each holding microphones. Olivia began to sing first.
Up Calvary's mountain one dreadful morn
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn
This song sounds oddly familiar. We heard this at the concert last night!
Facing for sinners, death on the cross
That He might save them from endless loss
Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me
And He didn't have to do it. He loved me so much. He went through all that pain for me.
Oh, how I love Him, Savior and Friend
How can my praises ever find end?
Through years unnumbered on Heaven's shore
My songs shall praise Him forevermore
I'm not guaranteed that yet.
Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding, dying for me
Seems now I see Him…
The piano got softer and faded away. Amen's and claps were heard from around the room.
"Wasn't that wonderful?" Mr. Tom said, "Did you notice some similarities between the songs? Some of you were invited here today by your friends and family. It's not because they wanted to bore you to death, it's because they love you. They want you to know what has changed their lives, so maybe it will change yours.
"Have you ever wondered what would happen to you if you died? Some people think heaven and hell are a joke. I hate to tell you this, but hell is real. It's not just a bad word; it's a place that you can go.
"Now don't think you're not going there because you think you lived your life good enough. Good enough won't get you out of hell. You have to be perfect. "Well, no one's perfect, Brother Tom!" you might tell me. And I'll agree with you. No one is."
Mr. Tom went through the whole story. I knew it now. God sent His Son, to give me a ticket to heaven. He loved me that much. And God could be that loving Father I never had. All I had to do was except it.
"You've heard the story, now. It's up to you. What would happen if you died? Right now. Where would you go?
"I'd like every head bowed and every eye closed." Heads bowed all across the sanctuary. "How many of you are here today, and you don't know Christ as your Lord and Savior. How many of you don't have a personal relationship with Him? Accept that Gift. What is today was your last chance? If you are not 100 PERCENT SURE, don't leave today! Don't put it off any longer!"
That hit me. I've been putting this off for the longest time.
"I'm going to let the piano play, and, if you want to know how you can accept Christ as your Savior today, come down to the alter and pray that prayer. Don't put it off any longer!"
Something was stirring inside of me. Some might call it a conscience, but it was something different. I was on the verge of tears. I was a dirty, rotten sinner, and I wanted God's love. I was a little scared of going down to the front by myself. But I wanted to go. Badly.
"Amy, Ian." I whispered. "Will you walk down to the alter with me?" my voice was tight. Amy opened her eyes and nodded. Ian did the same. Together we walked down the aisle to the alter, where I crashed at the bottom of the steps, Ian and Amy beside me. I let out my tears. I let out my prayer.
Ned/Ted/Sinead
Something crashed. We can't say exactly what, but we wanted to know more. But we weren't going to walk down there. But when we saw Natalie walking down the aisle on the verge of tears, we knew we should come. And we soon followed her to figure out what this life, and the next, was all about.
Madison
I had often wondered about life after death. Who doesn't? I always had wondered the purpose for being here. Who hasn't?
"Hammer," I said to my big brother. "I'm going down the aisle." Natalie was already there. And the Starlings were talking to themselves.
"Don't be stupid, Madison," Reagan said, but not looking so sure.
"It makes you weak," said Hamilton.
And that was the first time I had done something major without my family to back me up, but this opportunity was just too hard to miss.
Jonah
Life isn't about being famous, having riches, or living to the fullest. Trust me, you don't find happiness in that.
But I think I've found what I've been looking for…
Amy's POV
Natalie's dress was wrinkled, her mascara was running, but she didn't even care. She was in the middle of the most life-changing moment she would ever have. And I was honored to be here with her. Ian had his arm over her. I swear, that couldn't have been a nicer picture. I'll admit, I was near to tears, too. Natalie was sobbing. Ian, strong and steady was there for her.
What's amazing is that now, I'll see them both in heaven one day.
Ian's POV
The only day that could have beaten this one, was when I got back on track with God. I had my arm wrapped around my little sister, and she was sobbing and praying the prayer of salvation. I'll see her and heaven. And now we both have the same loving Father. I swear, it couldn't have gotten any better. I smiled.
Natalie's POV
When I had finally finished my prayer, it felt as a huge load had been taken off of my shoulders. I had the most loving Father. I hugged my brother. "Thank you for not giving up on me." I whispered to him. I knew I wouldn't be here without his numerous attempts to lead me to Him. "You to, Amy." I loved her like a sister. Well, I guess we were, now. We both had the same heavenly Father.
I was a princess. The daughter of the King. All the times I had been treated like scum by my own parents, I had an opportunity to become a princess. A princess. A real princess.
A/N- I want to thank every one of my reviewers. Every single one. You make the story keep going on.
With Cassidy, she passed away the morning after I uploaded the last chapter. (About 7:00 AM October 1, 2011.) She was so excited to go to heaven, though. She's there with her mom now. Continue to pray for her family please.
If you have a prayer request, I'll be happy to be your little prayer buddy. Anything you have, just PM me. No request is unimportant.
I tried to make this chapter as best as I could. I really hope I wrote it well. (It's such a long chapter!) Please review! :)