"Come on Sarah, we have to face the boys at some point,"
She shakes her head, "I don't want to see him, not after what he said last night."
"Asher said he's been upset ever since you walked away, he really wants to see you, Sarah," Josie says
"He should have thought about that, If he wants another girl, let him find one, there are better girls out there than me anyway,"
"You know that isn't true, He's just an idiot who needs to think before he speaks,"
"I second that," Josie says
"Even Zack said that he's upset,"
"So am I, I just don't want to talk to him right now,"
"You know that if you don't come out, he's going to come in and talk to you right?" Josie says
"They're coming by and they're going to walk with us to breakfast,"
"I guess I'm going to hide then,"
"Sarah, please listen to me,"
Sarah's POV
I look up to see Josie had let the boys in and they were standing in the middle of the cabin.
"Why so you can tell me about your new girlfriend? Save it, Luke,"
He wrapped his arms around me tightly, "You're the only girl I want, I'm sorry, I never should have run my mouth last night,"
"You have a funny way of showing that, I thought you loved, and I thought you had really changed, but I guess I was wrong,"
"I do love you, Sarah, please give me a chance to prove that to you,"
"I've given you a ton of chances Luke,"
"Please, after breakfast come and have coffee with me,"
"I'm not coming to breakfast,"
"Then please come have coffee with me,"
"I don't know, I've given you chance after chance and you always blow it,"
"I'm sorry Sarah, You deserve so much better than me,"
"I don't want anyone else, Luke, You saved my life, I wouldn't be here it wasn't for you,"
"Really?"
"The day you found me cutting myself, I was going to end it all, I was going to cut deep enough that I bled out,"
"I didn't know that,"
"I was so scared, We had just started dating, and I thought you were going to end up treating me like he did,"
"I love you too much to treat you like that, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you,"
"You're acting just like him, You may not be physically abusive, but you've put me through hell this year,"
"Sarah, I never meant for things to get like this,"
"Really Luke? I think you need to stop and think before you speak, This isn't the guy I fell in love with,"
"Please, give me the chance to fix this,"
"This is your last chance Luke, If you mess up again I'm done,"
"That's all I need, I'm not going to let things get this bad between us, We're going to have fights, things aren't going to be perfect,"
"I don't expect you to be perfect, I know we're going to have arguments in the future, but I don't want you to take your feelings out on me, or tell me that you can find another girl to end the argument,"
"I never want another girl well not until we're married and start having kids, those are the only other girls I want in my life,"
"I love you,"
"I love you too, let me get dressed, We can get coffee if you still want to,"
"I'd love that, We have a few hours until we leave, and I want to spend that time with you,"
Lila's POV
Zack and I had finished breakfast and decided to go to the little snack shop to get some coffee and talk about everything that happened last night. I got my usual cup of black coffee, and Zack got something that I had never heard of before. We walked over to one of the corner tables and sat down
"What did you want to talk about Zack,"
"I want to explain what happened last night,"
"I know something must have really been bothering you, I could tell just by how deep in thought you were,"
"I was thinking of all the ways that I can love you better and be a better boyfriend to you,"
"Like what?"
"Listening to you, showing you that I love you by doing the things you love, even if I've seen the same Disney movie a million times, be there for you when you're hurting, hold you when you cry or you're upset about something, be patient with you when you don't want to talk about what's bothering you,"
"Zack, you're already an amazing boyfriend, You go above and beyond to make me happy every day that we're together,"
"There's still a lot of things I need to work on,"
"There are things I need to work on too,"
"You're perfect Lila,"
"I'm far from perfect, I need to be better at listening, not getting emotional over every little thing, opening up to you, letting you share your heart and not making everything about me, doing things that make you happy,"
"Spending time with you makes me happy, no matter what we're doing,"
"I still want to work on things, I'm always so quick to tell you about things that I'm struggling with, but I never let you share your heart,"
"Is there something on your heart your struggling with?"
"Connor, Ever since I started opening up about it, I've been having nightmares about him,"
"I'm sorry Lila,"
"I wish I never would have told anyone about him,"
"I'm glad you told me, It gives me a chance to prove to you that I'm never going to do anything to you unless you're ready and I know that you want to wait until we're married, which I respect completely,"
"I just don't want to keep you waiting,"
"I'd wait forever if that's what you wanted, you're worth it,"
"Really? You think that?'
"Of course, I've never met a girl as perfect as you, Ever since the night we met, I knew you were the one I'm going to marry someday,"
"I've been feeling broken like nobody wants me because I'm damaged,"
"You are priceless Lila, God loves you, I love you, our friends love you, there are so many people who love you," He gets into this backpack and pulls out his devotion book, and opens it to today's page. "I read this morning, and It's something you need to read too, It talks about this very subject,"
October 18
1 Cor. 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God's.
A few years ago, there was a fascinating article in Bloomberg about how the prices of some paintings are falling rapidly. As I read the article I wondered just how much paintings actually go for.
The most expensive painting according to Wikipedia was sold for over 300 million dollars. It's called "Interchange" by Willem de Kooning. I thought -- "wow that's a lot of money." Then there was another painting called "Number 17A" by Jackson Pollock that was sold for over 200 million dollars!
As I perused Pollock's collection, (I'm no art connoisseur) the paintings looked like a bunch of house painters' drop cloths that were hung on the wall. Honestly, to me they just looked like a mess -- yet people have paid millions of dollars for these works!
That got me to thinking -- what is a human life worth? To some uninformed or cynical eyes, human beings are just a mess of "useless eaters" (a phrase used by Henry Kissinger to describe the elderly) ... but we know that every human life is extremely valuable because God was willing to pay the highest price for it. He gave His Son for your life -- declaring its value in His own precious blood!
So while you may feel, or even look like a house painter's drop cloth, in God's economy -- the only one that matters -- you are priceless, of inestimable value!
Live your life in the Father's estimation of its value. You are a precious piece in His "collection" His valuation of you is filled with a loving purpose -- let it sink in -- you are precious, "worth more than many sparrows"; bought and paid for by the King of Kings whose taste is impeccable!
"You're worth more than the most precious artwork in the world in God's eyes Lila,"
"I really needed that today,"
"You are so loved, don't ever forget that Lila,"
"I'll try not to,"
"I'll remind you if I have to, everyone loves you,"
"Is there anything on your heart that you want to talk about?"
"Tomorrow is going to be hard, It'll be one year since my dad passed away,"
"I'm going to stay with you tonight and all day tomorrow,"
"Luke and I already planned to stay the night at Sarah's house tonight once we get home,"
"Good, You can sleep in my bed with me if you want, or we can sleep in the basement,"
"As long as Sarah's parents don't get upset,"
"I've already talked to her mom about it, She's okay with us sleeping in the bed together, we discussed everything,"
"You know I won't try anything, right?"
"I know, I trust you,"
"I just want to spend time with you, so maybe I won't think about it,"
"Zack, It's normal to think about him and to cry about it, I'm going to be there to comfort you however I can tonight and tomorrow,"
"Thank you, Lila, Tomorrow is going to be hard,"
"God will get you through it,"
"I'm glad I have you by my side, You always comfort me when I need it,"
"I know what it's like to lose your dad, to feel that void in your life,"
"You're brave Lila, You've gone through so much in the year and a half I've known you,"
"I'm only here because of the support of you and all of my friends,"
"See? You're loved,"
"I know, You don't have to keep reminding me,"
"How about I keep reminding you how much I love you then,"
"I'm okay with that,"
"I love everything about you, Lila, there's nothing that I'd change about you besides your last name one day,"
"That was cheesy,"
"But true, I can't wait to call you Mrs. Anderson in a few years,"