Millie in Acts

When I was in Oxford spring 2009 semester, I took Christianity in Culture. one of our assigments was that we had to pick a character from the bible who we felt we could relate to in terms of their spirtual story/journey and write their story as our own. we could  stay in their time period or modernize the story. I chose to do the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-39. I had just been baptized a few months earlier and I could relate to a baptizim on the spot almost with little preparation time. dont get me wrong: i thought about it but i didnt spend hours and hours studying, thinking about it. I just decided I wanted to follow Jesus and I loved Him, why not?it worked our great from a creative writing point of view because there is not a lot of detail in this story; it is very short and open, so that allowed me to be really creative in terms of filling in the details to correspond with my spitritual autobiography. this was a really good assighment and I had fun writing this. it felt more like a creative writing assighment than an academic paper,which was perfect for me.

“Good morning miss. Is your carriage in service?”

I look up from my notes from last week’s student council meeting; I am student council treasurer. I see a girl who looks to be my age, roughly 16, standing right beside my horse drawn carriage. She was wearing a backpack that looked to be heavy and was wearing a blue vest over a white polo shirt with a blue mini skirt. I have never in my life seen anyone dressed like that and oddly enough, I like it. Judging from the looks I see on people’s faces as they notice her I am in the minority.

“Yes, it is. The cost is $20 per hour and we have a no smoking policy while on board.”

“Sounds good to me.” She said with a smile.

She hopped on and we were on our way. She turned out  to be a very friendly person and she loved to talk. She insisted on setting next to me and she talked the entire time. Her name was Mary but her friends called her “presentation Mary” because she loved to give presentations and was good at it as well.

“My family is from France. Well, my grandmother came over from France and she came to the states before she had my mom. I go to France every couple of years since one of my uncles still lives there.”

I had never been to France, so I jumped on this topic. I asked her what her favorite thing to do in France was and her answer surprised me. She said her favorite thing to do was go to Sunday service at Notre Dame Cathedral. I would expect someone to say their favorite thing was to go to Notre Dame to look around not attend service.

“Why is this your favorite thing to do?”

“Because it is my favorite church to worship God in. it has different chapels all along the inside so during service I go into one and just…have a talk with Jesus.”

“Talk to Jesus? We can’t talk to Jesus…he’s in heaven.”

“Yes, he is in heaven. But we can talk to him. All you have to do is go to him and say exactly what is in your heart, your mind, and he listens and he talks back. It’s just a matter of whether or not you want to listen.”

“That is very poetic and a nice picture, but why would Jesus want to talk to someone like me?”

“Because he loves you. He always has and always will.”

“Why does He love me? I am far from perfect…there is so much wrong with me!”

By this point I had forgotten that I was on the clock and she was my customer; Mary has become my friend. We talked for her entire carriage ride that afternoon, which was about 2 hours. She started coming every week at around the same time, sometimes 2 times a week. Each time we would talk about Jesus. She called Him her “friend Jesus.” She would tell me all about how much Jesus loved me (enough to die for me), how He’s the best friend I will ever have, that He’ll never ever let me down…this went on for 4 years, and during those four years, Jesus became my friend too. You could say she introduced me to Jesus.

May 25, 2007

Dear: Diary,

Today I found out that my route at work has been changed. I will be working the queens into Manhattan route instead of the central park route. It is definitely a more challenging route since I will be in traffic now. Another positive is that I will be getting paid more so I can save more money .I also get to keep Ethiopian. He is such a good horse and by now we’re a team. I am determined to be able to buy a cherry red wrangler jeep with zippered sides. There is a down side: I won’t be seeing Mary anymore. I am sad about that. She taught me so much in the four years I have known her, even though we never socialized outside of her weekly carriage ride. If it weren’t for her, I never would have known Jesus. I wonder what this new route holds in store for me.

“Hey there, ma’am. How are you doing this fine morning?” a cheerful voice, too cheerful for 8am on a Saturday morning, said. Why anyone was so happy this early in the morning was beyond me. Of course, he probably chose to get up this early. If I wasn’t on the clock I would tell him to not call me ma’am; I am not that old.

“I am doing fine, how are you?”

“Happy to be alive. How much is a ride?”

“$30 per hour.”

“Awesome. Could I have a ride?”

“Of course. Hop on.”

“Sweet. What’s your name?” he asked with a bright smile full of excitement.

“My name is Candace.”

“Candace. That’s a pretty name. Where do you go to church?”

“I don’t go to church.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t feel I need to be in a building to worship God.”

“Well, that is true but there’s more to church than a building…”

This guy that I hardly knew, that was so happy from this joy that seemed to come from the inside, started talking to me about what a church is and surprising enough, it was interesting. He explained things in such a way that it made me realize that I believed them too. Maybe it was that I was ready to hear it; maybe it was simply seeing how much joy his faith brought him.

November 23, 2008

Dear: Diary,

Today I was baptized. It was the most random decision I have ever made. It just came into my head and I realized it was the right thing to do. I was talking to this guy named James Phillip (he had come to my carriage and we got to talking about God and the bible and Jesus…). I don’t know where the idea came from. It’s not like I was thinking about it before or anything. It was literly a 2 minute decision but I know that it was the right thing to do.

I feel like a new person, diary. Something has been changed inside me, and I cannot wait to live a life of God and that shows the change.

Cinderella:The REAL Story

Note:I wrote this story as a class assighment for my AP Literature class Senior year at PMA. the assighment was to "re-write"a fairy tale in a new perspective, a new way.

Once upon a time there was a man who lived with his daughter in a magnificent kingdom. When his wife passed away he wanted his daughter to have a mother's care, so he married again. his new wife, a king and caring woman, had two beautiful daughters of her own from a previous marriage. their names were Anastasia and Rosella.unfortunatly,the father became gravely ill one winter and passed away.

His daughter, whose name was Isabella,was distraught and sought comfort in doing choses around the house. every day she would wake up early,feed the horses, chickens, and cows; she would prepare  each of the meals for her stepmother and stepsisters...she even cleaned the house from top to bottom!she loved doing this and as the years passed she would work harder and harder to make sure that her father's house did not fall into disrepair. plus, she loved cleaning. there was something about it that she couldn't get enough of.she chose to spend her nights reading by the fireplace and came to be called cinderella, because she would often fall asleep and would wake up covered with cinders.

one day, the prince of the land,Prince Charming, decided to hold a ball. he invited every young maiden in the kingdom and it was rumored that he would choose one of them to be his royal bride. Anastasia,Rosella, and Cinderella were all so excited to go to the ball. they went shopping for dresses, shoes, and even had their hair done together. both stepsisters thought that cinderalla would win the heart of the prince.

the night of the ball arrived and things started off bad for cinderella. walking down the stairs she tripped and fell not only ripping her gorgeous dress but also breaking her leg. she was unable to go to the ball and she was truly upset.her stepmother offered to stay home with her but cinderella said she would be ok on her own and urged her stepmother to go and have fun.

after they left, cinderella went out to the garden and started reading one of her favorite books.all of a sudden,she noticed the garden filling with light abd then in front of her was  a man. he said that he was her Fairy GodFather and her was there to fix her leg and send her to the ball. he touched her leg with his wand and it was no longer broken. he conjured up a beautiful gown of blue, glass slippers, and a golden carriage. she said thanks and was on her way. she decided to stay until midnight since her family said they would be home by then.

once there she went to find her family and was met by the prince  himself. he asked her to dance and she accepted. she danced with him for a couple more dances and before she knew it,it was pass midnight. she ran out of the ball so fast that one of her slippers fell off. when she got home her family was there, worried about what had happened to her. she told them everything and they were happy for her.

the prince, however, wanted to find her. so he had every girl try on the slipper the next day and of course it fit cinderella. he asked her to marry him, she said yes, and they lived happily ever after.

unfortunatly,"happily ever after" isn't as long as it used to be. after about six months, cinderella discovered that royal life wasnt for her, so she left prince charming and went back home to her family. she married the loval baker 3 years later.

her stepsisters married a couple years later. anastasia married a blacksmith and rosella a physicial. the prince remounced his title after his divorce from cinderella, left the kingdom, and was never heard from again.

THE END

The Genie Along The Beach

Maelta Haphga Blondey was walking alongside the surf. She had just finished her junior year at James Green University in Black, Texas. She had managed to keep up her GPA enough to maintain her scholarship, she hadn’t made any enemies and she had not broken a bone. However, she could not help but feel that something in her life was…off. Nothing was wrong, everything was good-sure she had a few complains but all in all her life was good. Yet, deep inside, she felt restlessness, a longing for something she could not identify. So now that she was home for a few weeks, she planned to take some time to think about this, try to figure it out.

It was freezing cold out, but she was nicely bundled up and her thinking kept her warm. She was so deep in thought that she did not notice the green glass bottle right in her path. Well, she did see it, after she tripped over it.

Thankful that no one had seemed her fall, she was about to go on her way when she decided that she ought to pick up the bottle and throw it away so some other person would not trip the way she had. As she picked it up, she noticed some writing on it; as she tried to brush away the dirt to make it out, a cloud of purple smoke came out.

And then, right in front of her eyes…was a genie! A beautiful man…blonde, blue eyed, muscled but not too muscled…gorgeous flawless skin with a smile that could melt steel. Being the person she was, Maelta was not too shocked by the genie but she was feeling nervous at how gorgeous he is. She could hardly think straight, breather or remember her own name!

The genie looked her straight in the eyes with those heart melting blue eyes. He looked at her so directly and intently that it felt as if he was not only reading her mind and her heart but staring straight into her soul.

After what seemed like ages, the genie/gorgeous man spoke:

“Hello beautiful woman. I am a genie and my name is Tyler McMatthew. I have been around in your world long enough to know what the stereotype of genies are, so let me tell you that I will not grant you three wishes. However, I will grant you a wish but it is not a wish that you get to choose but I choose. I look at your soul, at your mind, your heart, and your life, and find that one wish that will make your life be help you make your life what it is destined to be. At some point in your life, you will find this bottle again and when at that point you get to choose if you would like to go back in time to erase finding this bottle, or if you would like to keep your life as it is. It might sound easy: if your life is what it is destined to be, then why take it back? This is why: because most people prefer what they want instead of what is destined, and I love humans enough to let them choose. Now close your eyes, beautiful one.”

Maelta closed her eyes and felt the genie named Tyler McMatthew put his hands on her shoulders. She never heard him utter a word, none of the “abra cabra”, “Hocus Pocus “words that she always heard genies and magicians utter in movies; nor did he have a magic wand.  

Maelta was never told by the genie when to open her eyes; she just got a magical-like feeling that told her that it was time to open her eyes; that the genie was done fulfilling his wish for her, the wish he saw she needed in her soul, mind, and heart. That he was gone, yet just as he promised, he would find her.

 Maelta opened her eyes and looked around… 

By:  Mildred M. Gonzalez 

12/6/09