“What?!” Brent couldn’t help but laugh with the shock of her statement. “Joshua told you that I said that?”
“Yeah, but unlike you, I only almost said the same thing,” she said with a giggle.
Elizabeth reached across the table, both of her hands open.
Brent took them and held them. And together they thanked Joshua for just how lovingly involved a God he really was.
JAMIE SAT IN the car waiting for Elizabeth. Not her car, but his mom’s.
Not in the passenger seat, but the driver’s seat.
He was pumped about being a newly licensed driver. He was extra pumped because his parents periodically allowed him to take the car to do things.
Today’s thing? Take Elizabeth to the store.
He elected not to go in because her purchase involved an aisle that he didn’t really want to walk down. So, he waited.
The past few months had been filled with a lot of happiness and hesitations. Happiness that Elizabeth was looking at him with the caring eyes that he’d often hoped to see. And hesitations because of the things he’d learned about her experiences, both online and with Drew.
He wanted to trust her new heart. But there was enough doubt that it kept him from promoting the idea that the two of them should become “more.”
His dad had told him that there were some maturing and nurturing areas in her life that she needed to grow into. Especially when it came to proper relationships with men.
He respected that and purposely monitored their emotional distance.
There were several times in which he wanted to gawk at her because of how gorgeous she was, but then he would remember that that’s what the “other guys” did. They gawked. They didn’t respect. So, with as much strength as he could muster, he willed his eyes not to linger on her body.
There was a noticeable tension between the two of them at times, keeping the two of them a bit too bashful to say what they had going on in their hearts.
And that was okay. For now.
She viewed him as her hero. And that’s really what he’d always wanted to be.
A Personal Note from Elizabeth
Well, now you know my story. Up to this point, anyway.
Ultimately, I ended up being accepted and loved by a wonderful family. They welcomed me, regardless of what I’d done and what I’d put them through. They had discovered that I wasn’t nearly the good girl that I’d led them to believe, but they still fought for me and rescued me.
I later found out what it was that they’d been giving me during the time I had been living with them. It’s called agape—sacrificial love. God’s kind of love.
They provided it to me without hesitation. Without price. And they proved their sacrificial love for me during that scary period in August, when I thought I would never again see the light of day.
That was seven years ago.
Today, as I write this, I remember back to a tearful conversation at the dinner table, surrounded by the entire family. I made a confession to them—more of a grief-filled concession, really—that hurt my heart more than I could have ever imagined.
I told them that I knew I’d never be a Lawton, that I’d never measure up to the standards that kept them together as a family. The whole idea of losing their acceptance hurt me to the deepest part of my being. Oh, how I wanted to be one of them! To be part of a family that had learned how to love well, give well, and sacrifice well.
It’s funny how things can turn out so different from what one might yearn for yet still match up with one’s deepest hopes and desires; for something happened today … something special.
A gift from a very loving God in the form of an engagement ring that was gently placed on my finger by a wonderful man.
My hero.
A man named Jamie Lawton.
A Note from the Author
W
riting has been both a challenge and a pleasure for me. It has garnered me some recognition and income. I imagine more books will be flowing from my mind to the page over the next several years, should Jesus delay His return. But there is a reason I’ve written what I've written that goes beyond any desire for people’s praise—a primary reason: I want to make an impact for God in the lives of people.
You see, Jesus quite literally saved my life when I was 16 years old. I’m not sure of the form that killing myself would have taken, but it most certainly would have happened. My life was hanging by a VERY thin thread when George Hallis, my high school track coach, shared Jesus with me. If not for that act on his part on April 23, 1981, I wouldn’t be here today. And worse, I would have missed out on Heaven and lived forever in anguish, alone and separated from all the things that God is: love, peace, hope, purpose, joy.
But George DID share Jesus. And God DID rescue me.
As I look at the events of the past several days, and as I look at how the world is choosing darkness over light, I have reflected on the “why” of the writing of my book series called the Otherealm Saga. In fact, it may have been better named the Encroaching Darkness Saga, as they deal with how a real enemy in our world is trying to snatch lives away from God and put forth its own agenda for mankind.
Be that as it may, the Enemy does NOT have the final say over what happens here on Earth. God does. However, that does not mean that the Enemy isn’t constantly destroying lives, routing people to hell, and peddling its dark influence throughout the world. The Enemy is real and dishing some real hurt into people’s lives.
What God has done in my life—and what He continues to do—is the reason behind my writings. He has graciously taken a broken kid who thought he had nowhere to turn for help and saved him. He’s taken my jacked-up life and turned it into something He could use to affect other people’s lives for good—for His kingdom.
As many of us are seeing a dark road ahead (I know I am), I find assurance in this fact: We, as specific creations of God, are here, in this moment of time, because He wants us here. We have a purpose in this encroaching darkness. The darker the dark, the brighter the light who is Jesus Christ.
Do you know Jesus? I mean REALLY know him? If not, you can, and it only takes a moment of faith to begin that relationship. Simply call on Him and let Him know that you don’t want to do life alone, that you acknowledge that He is the Creator, that He, alone, defines the purpose and value of your life, that He died on a cross to pay a penalty that you DO NOT want to pay on your own. Ask Him to come into your life to be your Savior and your Lord. Confess to Him your sins (the blatant and trivial wrongs you’ve done). Ask Him to forgive you and to include you in His family. He’ll erase every single sin you’ve ever committed and ever will commit. He will do ALL of that and so much more.
If you already know Jesus, then ask God to reveal His purpose for you in these times ahead. I know that I wouldn’t want to die and stand before the Savior and have little to show for my time here. We are all charged with making Heaven full. We are all responsible for the lives of those here who don’t know Jesus yet. Your life was designed to impact the lives of others within your sphere of influence.
Let’s be sure to make our lives count and mean something. Let’s hope for a day in Heaven when others will approach us and tell us that something we said or did impacted the directions of their own lives, something that led them into a relationship with Jesus. Nothing else matters as much as that. Nothing.
It’s ALL about Jesus and His kingdom. This life on Earth may seem long, but it’s nothing when compared to the fact that we ALL have everlasting lives. All of us will leave Earth for one destination or another. Let’s just make sure that we have chosen the right one for ourselves and that we work to direct others to that same forever home.
Links:
The Official W. Franklin Lattimore Website
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attimore.com
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About the Author
W. Franklin Lattimore is a graduate of Kent State University, with a B.A. in Political Science. His former involvement in the occult as a teenager was the springboard for writing the Otherealm Saga. Now a committed Christian, his books are written as a wake-up call to those avoiding their God-given value and purposes. His books are also designed to educate Christians on their position and authority in Christ and their responsibility to make Jesus known beyond the walls of their homes and comfort zones.
Frank is an active volunteer in his church and enjoys spending time with his wife hiking, biking, camping, target shooting, and eating crispy BBQ wings. He makes his home in Central Ohio with his wife, Lynn, and their daughter, McKinzie.
Biography Photographer: Christy Brothers
Christy Brothers Photography—Columbus, OH
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