Perfectly-Imperfect Post 2

Chapter 4

The first 2 months of school were especially hard for her. She was awfully quiet in class and found it hard to relate to the other students. She made a few more friends but she was very reserved. Her schoolmates often wondered if she was always like this. They tried to make her feel comfortable but most of the time they failed. Nicole and Anotida remained her friends and they remained nice to her, even Mako, Nicole’s brother was nice to her but she was never nice to him, especially him. It seemed she had something against him but she never said what it was and he never understood it. She tried all she could to keep her distance from him.

One night after school she phoned her friends from back home. She told them how hard it was for her to cope and she went to the extent of crying over the phone. Her friends told her God would help her, they prayed together over the phone because both Dalia and Nicole were very prayerful. After that phone call she felt so much better yet she still felt she wasn’t quite there yet. “Thank you” she sighed just before she got off the phone.

That night she lay on her bed she decided to talk to God because it had been long since she had. She poured out her heart to God, told him exactly how she felt and she prayed God would help her adjust. “God if this is the life you have chosen for me I need you to help me see it, help me to see the goodness of it. I need you to give me good friends, friends that know you. Let me be a light amongst the friends I have right now. I need you Lord…I really need you” as she said this tears began to flow. She spoke to God for so long. After that prayer she was overwhelmed with peace she didn’t remember feeling before all this. “Thank you Jesus” she whispered and she fell asleep.

When she woke up in the morning everything felt so much better. She was feeling so good and she couldn’t explain it. Every morning she woke up the first thing she would say is “This is the day that the Lord has made, I WILL rejoice and be glad in it” she declared (Psalm 118:24) and every time she did she would feel empowered and joyful. She hadn’t been doing that for the past few months so she thought today would be a good day to start again. She had gotten comfortable and forgot the importance of declaring the word of the Lord over her life. She felt revived. She realised she had not been praying as much lately but she made a choice to make her prayer life better. From the moment she woke up she was praising and worshiping God, it especially felt good because she hadn’t done all this in a while. The better it felt the more she went on.

She began singing songs of praise and worship as she bathed and got ready. Her parents heard all this, neither of them said a word to her or to each other but individually they felt encouraged. “Someone’s in a good mood today” Mrs Ishe said to her daughter as they walked to the car.
“Why do you say so mum?”
“Well you’ve been singing all morning child, I haven’t heard you do that in a while”
“I don’t know, I just woke up feeling different” Adi smiled at her mum. “That’s good Adi”.

For the first time she was looking forward to going to school.
When she got to school she bumped into Mako who was also walking into the school premises.
 “Hello Adi” Mako smiled expecting the same cold response he had been getting for the past few weeks.
 “Well hello Makomborero, how are you today?”
“I’ve very well thank you ma’am. You’re smiling at me today, is everything okay?” Mako asked with a frown on his face.
“Ah ah! Can I not smile at my friend’s brother?” she replied
“And here I thought I was not just your friend’s brother but also your friend?” Mako replied.
“Ok, let me rephrase that. Can I not smile at my friend?” and they both laughed at that. Mako walked to Adi to her class but couldn’t help trying to figure out why and what was so different about Adi but he couldn’t point it out.
“Please stop looking at me in a weird way” Adi said shyly as she covered her face.
“There’s something different about you today, I just don’t know what it is” Mako told her.
“Bye Mako, maybe I’ll see you after school” and she walked into class.
She was smiling when she walked into class.
“Who made you happy today Adi??” Nicole asked raising both her eyebrows. “Oh wow, your brother’s just said the same thing” Adi smiled
 “Hmmm, so is it my brother then?” Nicole teased. The girls laughed and the teacher walked in. Adi was relieved she didn’t have to answer that.

School was fantastic for her that day. She spent her break with the usual Nicole, Anotida and Mako. “I had to spend this break with you, I could get used to you smiling at me but just incase you never do again I never want to forget what you look like with a smile on your face” Mako teased her and laughed
 “Oh go away!” Adi said playfully pushing him away.
“Nope! I’m not going anywhere” and they all laughed. Nicole and Anotida were just starring at each other.
 “Is there anything you two want to tell me?” Nicole asked “You mean ‘US’?” Dalia interrupted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Adi told them as she looked down. “OooooOoo” the two girls chorused. “Break time’s over ya’ll, back to class” Mako said trying to cover up the whole thing. The girls laughed and went back to class. No one said anything after that.

“You never told me why you’re so happy today, you’re being nice to my brother as well, you have to tell me!” Nicole asked Adi as they walked to the car park after school.
“Well, it’s God” she replied.
 “What do you mean its God??” Nicole asked again looking puzzled.
“I spent sometime with God yesterday and he gave me this perfect amazing peace. I asked him to help me because I was having a hard time adjusting to being in a new place and I woke up feeling this way” Adi smiled at her friend. Nicole looked puzzled at this and she smiled but the smile quickly faded away
“I’m serious, I’m not lying to you” Adi said to her friend.
“I would never have guessed that you’re a Christian” said Nicole “maybe I should pray to God to help me understand that maths topic we’re on right now” Nicole said trying to be sarcastic, as if to tell Adi what she’s saying is crazy. “And I’ll pray with you” Adi replied pretending as if she didn’t notice the sarcasm. Nicole just looked at her but didn’t say anything.
“There’s my dad, I’ll see you tomorrow Nicole” and she hugged her friend and ran to the car.
"You're eve giving out hugs" Nicole pointed out while they hugged.
"Keep chatting like that and this will be the first and last hug you ever get from me" Adi pushed her away and ran to her dad.



Chapter 5

Adi felt so amazing. She was chatting to her dad the whole way home. Mr Ishe did not say anything to her but he did notice the difference.
“My daughter’s back, thank you Jesus” he said to God in his heart. He dropped her off because he had to go back to work. Adi phoned Dalia and Nicole and she told them about her day in general, how God had answered their prayer. The girls rejoiced together, they missed each other but phone conversations are going to have to do have to for now they told each other.

Adi was a very beautiful singer, she began to sing to God until she could feel his presence and this made her feel very special, it made her feel like the princess that she had forgotten she was. The next few weeks were so good to her. She shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with her friends. Nicole and Anotida just loved the passion in Adi’s voice whenever she spoke about Jesus.
“How long have you been a Christian?” Anotida asked her.
 “For as long as I can remember” she smiled. “I was born into a Christian home but I got to know Christ for myself about 2 years ago. It has not been easy but it has been an amazing journey”
“Oh wow Adi, Jesus seems to make you happy but I could never do it. It’s so hard and I’m so far from perfect” Nicole told her friends.
“If you could be perfect on your own then Jesus would not have come to die for us now would he?” Adi said as she gave them both a wide smile.
 “I honestly do not understand the whole dying on the cross thing, it really doesn’t make sense to me. How can one man die for the whole world?”
Anotida asked but she wasn’t looking to get an answer because she really didn’t think there was one.
"Yeah and why would he even say yes to that, you have to admit it's crazy!" Nicole complained.
 “Do you know the story of Adam and Eve and the garden of Eden Ano?” Adi asked.
“Yes I do, well not that well but I’ve heard of it, I think we did it in primary school and even when I used to go Sunday school but I was too young to understand it.” Anotida replied.
“Okay, would you like to go and read it over the weekend and we can discuss it on Monday during our break time, you too Nicole if you want” Adi said looking at both of them.
 “Sure” they both said though they sounded like they were far from being sure. Adi was happy they agreed, she was excited on the inside but on the outside she simply smiled.

When Adi got home she told her parents about the whole thing. They spoke about salvation as a family and her parents helped her on how to evangelise to her friends. They assured her that the Holy Spirit would help her out and she too was sure of this. They prayed for her friends and they studied the story of Adam and Eve together as a family. Adi was so excited, she couldn’t wait to go to school on Monday to share all she had learnt from her parents.

They had found a new church that they attended every Sunday. It was small and just over a year old but they loved it, they were like a little happy family and they all loved the Lord. For the first time in months Adi was happy to go to church and she even enjoyed the whole experience. Though she had attended that same church for a couple of months it truly felt like it was her first time. She even joined their praise and worship team. Finally she felt at home. Sunday after church she received a surprise phone call, it was from Edward. He was the guy from her old church. She was so happy to hear from him. They spoke on the phone for over an hour.
“I really miss you Adi, when are you going to come visit us, you know church ain’t the same without you” Edward told her.
“I miss you too, but what you mean church ain’t the same without me. Did you used to come to church for me?” Adi said as she laughed
 “No, it’s not that I went for you, it’s just that I can tell you’re not there that’s all”.
 “Oh, okay fine. I think I can understand that. I’m coming there soon and I’ll spend the weekend and come to church too” said Adi.
“That’ll be nice. I can’t wait” he said.

After that phone call Adi just lay on her bed and spoke to God as usual. “Lord, show me what you have in store for me” she prayed. I don’t have to see all of it but I would like to see a part of it.” She went on to pray for her friends and with that she fell asleep.



Chapter 6

Monday did not come too soon for Adi. When she got to school she was her jovial self and it felt good. Her friends were now used to seeing her happy. Class was fantastic and she was even participating, sometimes she surprised herself. She knew the Holy Spirit was at work within her. Break time came and the girls were ready to talk about Adam and Eve. Mako came to hang out with them that particular break time.
“Mako I don’t think you’ll want to sit with us today” Nicole said as if to chase him away.
“Why not? I’ve enjoyed a lot of breaks with you girls” Mako replied looking a little confused.
 “We’re going to talk about the bible” replied his sister.
“Oh, you’re making me sound like I'm the devil” he exclaimed with his hand on his chest.
“You can stay if you want to” Adi shrugged unsure of whether he was interested or not. “You don’t even have to say anything”
“I’ll stay because I’m sure this will be interesting since YOU’RE involved” he emphasised pointing at Nicole as he sat down.
“Fine, suit yourself” Nicole smirked.

Nicole and Anotida explained what they read about Adam and Eve. Adi explained to them how Adam and Eve’s sin separated us from God so God decided to send a perfect sacrifice to reconcile us to God and how we’re made perfect through Christ.
“So how do I know that God really does love me?” asked Anotida
 “Because while we were yet sinners, God loved the world that he gave his only son so that who ever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. His only son being Jesus” Adi explained.
 “Wow, so Jesus loves me even now, even though I’m so not perfect?” Nicole Hesitated.
“Yes Nicole, he’s loved you since before you were born, Jesus especially came for that. So that though we are not perfect we may be perfect through Jesus Christ” Adi smiled.
 “I am so going to church on Sunday, can I come to yours cause I kind of don’t have a church” Anotida Looked embarrased.
 “Me too, if that’s okay?” added Nicole.
“That’ll be fantastic" Adi replied excitedly because she dididn't expect them to jump right in. I’ll ask my mum and dad if we can come and pick you up on Sunday morning. It’s a morning service though” she frowned hoping that wouwouldn't put them off and it ddidn't.. They both agreed to go. Mako did not  say a word, he just listened. Adi didn’t say anything to him either. She wasn’t going to push him. From that day on she spent every break with the girls and when they spoke about God he remained silent. There was a change in all three girls and Mako even noticed but still didn’t comment, however, the girls also noticed a change in Mako but they didn’t want to push him away by mentioning it. By the end of the 3rd month the whole stream saw the change in Nicole and Anotida and they knew it was Jesus. At first they were too shy to admit they had become believers of Christ. They were too concerned about what people would think of them. They felt like the change was too much for the people around them so they did their best to be seen as what they were before.

Mr and Mrs Ishe were so proud of their daughter. The change in her became the change in them, they became a stronger family. Their house was greatly blessed by God. They were both appointed elders in their new church and they were greatly humbled by this. Mrs Ishe got a well paying job and she was blessed to work with people she got along with, both of them were well liked at their work places.