Episode 12

Sitting in Izzy's kitchen the trio had explained what was happening to her Mum and she said she'd go over and talk to Callum's Mum to explain where he was and see if she could help.

Shannon sat and listened as Izzy and Callum chatted. She had never seen someone so vulnerable and emotional. Especially a boy. She wanted to be able to help in a way that would mean something and help him through his troubles.

"Callum, do you think Jesus could help you?" she said when the conversation lulled.

"I don't know." He didn't seem to mind being asked "I've been thinking about it. Alisha and I have talked a little, but she seems to be a bit embarrassed to talk in any depth."

"Well, you know, if you wanted to, we could pray with you and you could ask Jesus to help you." She said it all in one breath, feeling she was putting her neck on the line and waiting for his instant rejection. Deep down though, something told her he was ready to hear it.

"Pray? umm. Yeah. What do I need to do?" Callum didn't really want to take the lead in this, but he was willing to go along with it.

"We'll do the praying. If you agree just say 'amen' at the end." Shannon caught Izzy's eyes and they both tried suppress a smile at the excitement growing inside them, borne in anticipation of what might happen. Shannon felt little hallelujah's going silently from heart all the way to heaven.

"And if there's a pause feel free to jump in and say what's on your heart. We're not going to laugh at anything you say, we just want you to feel God's peace in the middle of this...this situation!" Izzy interjected, trying to allay any fears that might be creeping into Callum's mind.

"Okay." He let out a long breath. "Let's do it!"

"Cool! Alright then, let's bow our heads and do it.", Shannon began.

A silence enveloped them, just as the darkness outside the kitchen enveloped the house. Thoughts raced through each of their heads, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Dear Lord," It was Shannon again, she had decided how to begin her prayer and was going to wing it from there, "You are our heavenly father who never disappoints us. Yet we find many ways to disappoint you. Even so, you never give up on us and you always wait for us to come to you with your arms wide open and full of love for us."

As she spoke the words she could feel others welling up from inside her, wanting to be heard, "Lord, you know why we're here at this moment. You've placed me and Izzy in Callum's life at this moment, so that we can bring his needs before you. Lord, I thank you for the privilege of being here for him as he finds himself dealing with his parent's problems.

"It's not his fault that they are breaking up Lord, I know you know that, but I want to ask you to bring peace to his heart. Lord, give him a peace in his heart that passes his understanding. Help him to know that there was nothing he could do. Don't let him suffer for his parent's mistakes. Help him to know that he is precious to you!"

Shannon felt as if the prayer was flowing through her rather than from her. That her prrayer itself conveyed a message of comfort to Callum as much as it asked God to intervene.

"Heavenly Father, we feel really blessed to have been brought up to know your love. I ask now that your love would wash over Callum and bring him joy like he has never felt before. I ask all these things of you in Jesus' name and according to you will. Amen!"

Shannon closed her prayer with a feeling of elation. Izzy's amen confidently agreed with her friend, whilst Callum's was quiet and thoughtful.

The silence crept back in. The air was thick with a sense of otherwordliness.

Callum took in a deep breath, as if about to speak, but before he could Izzy spoke first.

"Dear Lord, I thank you that you that you have shown us another way to live our lives that means we can face life's challenges, not on our own, but with your strength to keep us going through them. We don't have to rely on anyone else but you and you are happy to help us because you love us.

"Please Lord, be with Callum now, even though he may not feel your presence, so that he will be able to look back at his life one day and know that you carried him through this difficult period of his life. Lord, give him hope that no matter how bad things may seem today, they will get better and his life will blossom with opportunities. Lord, let your spirit be with him now and touch his heart. In Jesus' name, Amen."

After Shannon and Callum said their amen's there wasn't much of a pause before Callum spoke up. Nervousness filled his voice but he seemed determined to just get on with this.

"God. There's a lot I still don't know about you, but I do know the people I've seen who go to Church because of you. Alesha, Izzy and Shannon are all wonderful people, God, and they all seem to think you're pretty special too. I don't know what to say really. I agree with Izzy and Shannon's prayers. If you could do those things, if you could make my life better, if you could stop the pain and help mend my parents' relationship I would be very happy. I don't know if you'd expect anything from me in return. I'd be willing to get to know you better and see if you are who people say you are." Callum let out a nervous laugh.

"I have felt something here tonight, God. If that's you then there may be something to it all. I don't really want to rush into all this. I guess it all boils down to, if you want to help me then I would appreciate it. If there's something you need from me then you need to find a way to let me know and convince me that it's really you. I'm conscious there's a lot of if's there, but I've never done this before. Anyway, I should probably stop there as I'm just rabbiting on now. ummm. Thanks for the help to come. Amen."

The girls followed suit with their agreement. When Shannon lifted her head she saw that Callum had a nervous smile on his face as he looked between the two of them.

"Did I do okay?" he asked.

"You did fine! I'm not sure there's a right way or a wrong way to talk to God if you're not actually a Christian! You just gotta do it, and you did!"

Shannon was still excited by this as she lay in bed. Last night was the first time she had ever been part of a prayer like that. The first time she had been present when someone had reached out to God. She had prayed silently for Callum all the way home as Izzy's Mum had taken them both back to their respective homes. She sent up another prayer now, hoping that God was working with Callum and his family right at this moment and things were changing for the better.

She hoped to see him at Church soon. Would he turn up or not?

"Shannon are you getting up?" It was her Mum. Everbody was already downstairs having breakfast.

She got out of bed, stretching, she said goodbye to the sunlight and headed of to do her bathroom routine.

She appeared downstairs and greeted her family as she sat down at the breakfast table. She sat between her elder sister and 10-year-old brother.

As she prepared her cereal her smile continued to dazzle as much as the sunshine she'd left behind in her bedroom as she thought about what God might be doing for Callum.

"Still beaming from last night, I see!" Her Dad commented. He had been waiting when she arrived and they's sat and talked about it for a while before eventually getting to bed.

"Isn't God excellent!" Shannon did a little happy dance in her chair, making everyone laugh, before tucking into her cereal. "It's going to be a great day, isn't it?"

"Are you going to be this annoying all day?" said her brother, only half-jokingly.

"For the rest of my life, hopefully." She replied.


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