Alex was so nervous and happy, she thought her heart might pound out of her chest. The pastor, Pastor Phipps, called Alex out to the baptistry. She stepped into the baptistry, and the water made her realize that this was the moment. She was really getting baptized. James, Madalyn, Adalyn, her mom’s boyfriend, and her mom were all there. Madalyn wasn’t asleep surprisingly, Madalyn was smiling so much, taking a lot of pictures, and James looked really proud of her, as he was Baptist too. Her mom and her mom’s boyfriend looked kind of confused, but also her mom felt very proud because her daughter wasn’t just sitting in her room and watching something. Her grades had gotten better, her focus span had gotten higher, and her friends weren’t dragging her into parties where kids would get drunk at. Her life was really changing for the better.
As she was submerged in the water, she said a small thank you prayer. When she came back up from the water, the church members and her friends and family said amen and clapped their hands.
While she took a shower in the church bathroom, she thought about how far she had come. It all started with going to that party and getting drunk, going to jail, and having her mom bail her out. The shame and disappointment she received almost made her upset that God would allow her to do that, but she realized it was all for a reason. When she went to the academy, she didn’t even feel a need to think about God. She had friends and a cute boyfriend. However, God had to shake up her life a little bit to make her think about God. She needed to see that while having a boyfriend and friends is fine, you can’t always rely on them. You need God. Now she had accepted Him into her heart.
As soon as she got out of the shower, and sat down next to James, he put his arm around her and squeezed her. “I love you so much.” He smiled.
Alex smiled back at him. “I love you too.” They almost kissed, but then they realized they were in church and looked at the pastor as he preached.
Later that day, she received a text from Trisha. “Hey girl, what’s up?”
“Just got baptized into the Baptist church!” Alex responded.
“OMGOODNESS FOR REAL?”
“lol yep! I feel so amazing rn!”
“I bet! I’m actually a Catholic but my family doesn’t really go to church that much except on like Christmas and Easter” Trisha responded.
“you should go more often!” Alex encouraged.
“haha” Trisha said, closing the conversation. They began talking about other things after that.
As Alex began walking in a new chapter of her life, she couldn’t see what God had in store for her. But He had a lot in store for her. She would see new truths, meet old friends, and fight with her current friends. But it was all leading somewhere. And that somewhere was beautiful.
I. am. so. HAPPY. There are no words to describe how excited I am for the future! Do you think James is a good kid, or is there something more to him? Is Louise rude or just hurt? What do you think is going to happen to Alex? Will her mom become a Christian? Find out in the next book, Better!