The Gifts- ON HOLD

The Gift of Mercy

Mercy

I pulled my hood up as it started to downpour, then went into a slight jog. Keeping my Bible close in the crook of my arm and feeling the bounce of the cross around my neck against my chest, I could see the small coffee shop at the corner.

ALMOST THERE, SAM. I thought to myself. I was running a little late due to the weather. This past week has been filled with sudden severe thunderstorms and even a tornado. This is odd weather- even for New England.

"Thunder storms on and off," Rose said a few days earlier, "It's like Florida up here!" We had a good laugh then went on to talk about how we believe the rapture is soon- and this is phase one. Don't get me wrong- it's not like that old guy who's got everyone thinking it's happening in October. That guy obviously hasn't been reading his Bible much, and that's coming from a guy who's had one for about a month. It probably won't happen for years, Rose thinks America will be out the window (or at least the first amendment) seeing we will be killed and persicuted for our beliefs.

I pushed the door open and heard the bell ring above my head. Across the room, Rose waved to me from her small table. She sat across from a red head woman with a notepad and a tape recorder.

Another reporter. Ever sense she and I escaped from the Mexican drug lords, reporters from every local newspaper and a few Christian magazines have interviewed the amazing kids who showed up on the streets of Texas asking for a ride to New England with a miraculous story so hard to believe. Unlike me, Rose loved the interviews, always truthful to the reporters and only saying yes to the newspapers and magazines with good intentions and genuine qualities. She turned down magazines like Seventeen and Teen Vogue, but she has received a letter saying they could be on Good Morning America and even Oprah. "Maybe we'll get a car." I joked as I read the letter last week, and Rose slapped the back of my head.

I could deal with the interviews, but I like to get them done fast. Rose does most of the talking, which I like.

I hung my coat on the rack and wiped off the cover of the Bible Rose bought me. Yes, a lot has changed in a month. It took us two days to find a way home for a bloody boy and a girl in a white silk rode on the side of a Texas road. When we returned home, we first stopped at my house, where we found my twin sister Tammy praying in the living room at midnight. "She must be our 'Rhoda'." Rose whispered to me.

It's amazing how much my sister and Rose are alike. Some ask if they are the twins, even though Rose looks nothing like us. I think they both have the supernatural gift of Faith.

After that day, the next thing to do was to talk to my parents about what happened and explain why I wanted to switch churches. I couldn't do it, so Rose did it for me, she's really good with my parents.

I have nothing against the Catholic religion, it just wasn't for me I guess. I never liked my church, hey had a bunch of weird rules and traditions that aren't even in the Bible; confessions, lent, etc. And they weren't really accepting of anyone outside the church, even though Jesus says to be. Rose explained that her church, a Pentecostal church, also believes Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins and rose again on the third day, it's just more RELATIONSHIP then a list of rules. My parents surprisingly understood, so they let me attend her church and they even checked it out. Now my whole family goes to the Assemblies of God Church- one sermon of Pastor's jokes and meaningful lesson my parents were hooked. Now Tammy attends Rose's Missionettes class and I go to youth group with both of them. And I'm enjoying church for the first time in my life.

Then the most amazing this happend! That night, while Rose was back home in her bedroom for the first time in about a month in a cell, the Holy Spirit came upon her.