Keep the Faith

Skylar

After hearing what the doctor had said, Carlos ran into the men's bathroom, collapsed on the floor and began sobbing.

"Why did You do this to me, God?" Carlos cried. "I've done everything I can to please You. And now You do this to me?" He stood up and his voice grew louder as he began confronting God. "Why? What I have I ever done to You? Nothing! I read Your Word, I prayed to You every night! And this is how You reward me? You know what, God? I will never put my faith in You again! I hate You! And I wish that You were never a part of my life!" After what seemed like hours of crying and yelling at the Lord, he finally washed his face with hot water and walked out of the bathroom.

"Are you alright, Carlos?" Julia asked him worriedly.

Carlos wiped the tears that were prepared to escape his eyes. "No, Mom," he sniffled. "Our grandmother is about to die. How can I be okay?"

Julia walked over to her son and wrapped her arms around him. "It's going to be okay, son," she comforted him.

"No, it won't, Mom," Carlos said miserably.

"Oh, sweetie. Why don't you go sit down?"

Carlos sat down on one of those uncomforable dark, green chairs and continued sobbing silently.

"Are you okay?" an unfamiliarly feminine voice asked.

Carlos looked up. A beautiful young woman stood before him. She had long, wavy, brown locks and cocoa brown skin. She looked about a few years older. Carlos never felt comfortable crying in front of girls. Except for his mother or grandmother.

"Yeah," Carlos lied.

She sat down next to him, giving him a worried look. "You don't look okay to me. What's wrong?"

"Look, I don't wanna talk about it, okay? Just please, please leave me alone." Carlos didn't mean to sound rude, but he just didn't feel like talking to anyone about his grandmother because if he did, it would make him want to cry even more.

"I heard you yelling at God in the bathroom," the girl told him.

Carlos looked up at her in slight shock. "You did?"

The girl nodded.

Carlos blushed of embarrassment and turned away.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" she asked. "I want to help you."

"With what?" he asked bitterly.

"With whatever you're going through."

Carlos finally sighed and looked at the girl in the eyes. "My grandmother has heart failure and the doctor just told us that she is going to die soon." After saying it, more tears threatened to drop out of his eyes.

The girl noticed. "I'm sorry. But, look. God didn't want this to happen."

"Then, why is it that every time I ask Him to heal her, she gets worse?"

"Because that's just life," she told him. "Look, I've gone through a similar thing that you have gone through. My cousin had cancer and after she had passed away, my faith had weakened. But, then one day, my mother told me that no matter how hard life may get, you still have to keep your faith in God."

"What if I can't?" Carlos asked.

"Then you ask God to help you."

"God is not going to listen to me after I just yelled at Him."

"Yes, He will. And He will forgive you for every harsh word that you said to Him. Just promise me that you won't lose your faith in Him again. Please?"

Carlos sighed and became silent for a moment. He closed his eyes for a second, then finally responded with a weak "okay".

The girl gave him a friendly smile. "Good." She patted him on the shoulder. "My name's Skylar by the way."

A smile finally grew on Carlos' face. "Carlos," he introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Carlos," Skylar said.

"Nice to meet you, too, Skylar. And thank you."

Skylar gave him another smile. "No problem." She pulled out a piece of paper from her jean pockets. "Here's my number if you need anything." She handed it to him.

"Thanks again, Skylar," Carlos said.

"Skylar?" one of the nurses called her.

Skylar stood up and turned back to Carlos. "It was nice talking to you."

As she left, Carlos thought about what Skylar said. He looked down at the piece of paper that she handed him and smiled. He stuffed it in his pants' pocket.

~

Hey, guys! Thanks again for reading this story! Please continue to share your thoughts and give constructive criticism. Thanks again and God bless! :)