Kat's Brush with Death

        Stupid me! I thought that once Carter and I escaped the land of Dearth things would go back to normal. I should have known better. It seems that once the adversary becomes aware of you, he never stops trying to destroy your life.
        It hasn’t been that long since Carter and I returned home after traveling beyond Dead Forest, and already the adversary has made an attempt on my life. I know this sounds unbelievable, but it happened to me, and it will sound insane to everyone who reads this. This morning when I was in my bathroom getting ready for school, I saw my appearance change in the mirror. I have red hair, green eyes, and my complexion is very light, but I saw my hair became black, my eyes turn blue, and my skin darken slightly. When the background in the mirror changed from my bathroom to a forest, I realized that I wasn’t looking at my reflection; rather I was looking at another girl in another place. While I was seeing her in my bathroom mirror, she was seeing me and my bathroom in a pond reflection. Her name was Hash, and she seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see her, but it was all an act. She lied to me telling me a sob story about how her family had mysteriously disappeared. I felt sorry for her and wanted to help, so I found a way to enter her world. When I got there, I started to get specious. Things she said did not add up. I learned from traveling in Dearth that things and people are not always what they seem.

        When I found out that Hash lied about her family disappearing, I knew something was rotten. Oh I was supposed to believe that it was all some sort of ploy so that Hash could have someone to hang with. When Hash introduced me to her parents and her brother and they seemed overly happy to meet me, I knew I was in trouble. They strongly insisted that I stay for dinner. I won’t tell you what they had planned for me because it is so awful I will probably have nightmares about it. If you want to know the whole story, Pastor Steve wrote it all down, and you can read it at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?AuthorID=132409&id=49607 Just click on the link, scroll down to the story, and see what really happened.  For now, let’s just say that I almost ended up very dead.
        It is sad but true that even in our world that we have to be cautious. My mom always says that if it looks too good to be true it probably is. I think we need to be careful, because not everyone who says they are your friend, not everyone who says they are looking out for your best interests, and not everything that looks good, is. Do you think I am being too negative? I would like to hear what you think.
        I wanted to thank Ms. Johnson for a great point she made when she said, “not forgiving harms the one keeping it more than the one who is not forgiven.” That is so true because sometimes people who have wronged us don’t even care what they have done, but the person wronged carries the hurt for years sometimes.  Night everyone.

Kat's Giant Problem

        I have to say this right now. When Carter and I were in Dearth (the dark land that exists beyond Dead Forest) we did something terrible! In my last post I confessed to stealing a toy ring that belonged to a brokenhearted, little girl. I made things right by admitting my mistake and returning the ring. Pastor Steve (Sorry for calling you Mr. Groll in my first post.) left a comment saying that there are some things that can never be made right again. That reminded me of what Carter and I did to Taloff.

        Basically, this is what happened. When we were being tested in the Forge of Providence (the caverns we had to travel through), we were deceived by this awful little person named Lastooch. He told us a pack of lies about how an evil giant stole his gold and took over his goldmine. He wanted us to help him steal his gold back from the giant by creating a diversion. We did it; it worked, and it was a big mistake.

        Even though he deceived us, we can’t blame Lastooch. Neither Carter nor I trusted him from the beginning. So why did we do it? I think it was for the same reason I stole the ring. We were afraid. We wanted out of the caves. We were told that many people get trapped in the Forge of Providence and never get out. Lastooch said that he would show us a way out if we helped him. When we saw Taloff, the giant, we let our prejudice against someone that different; further convince us that it was okay to help Lastooch.

        When Lastooch took all the gold and left us alone to deal with the giant, we confessed to him what we had done. We found Taloff to be a kindhearted soul who was just doing what he was told to do in order to escape the caves. His task was to mine twenty bags of gold as payment to leave the Forge. It took him four years to mine the gold, and the day we helped Lastooch rob Taloff was the same day that Taloff finished digging the last ounce of gold in the mine which came to exactly the twenty bags he needed to buy his freedom. So you see, the mine never belonged to Lastooch. Since we failed our final test of three by helping rob an innocent of his way to freedom, Carter and I were trapped along with the giant. At least that’s the way it could have ended except for one important thing. Taloff freely forgave us and invited us to stay with him. And when he forgave us, Lastooch appeared and explained that Taloff’s real test was to see if he could forgive someone who had done him a great wrong. Because he forgave us, he not only set us free, but he set himself free as well.

        That is a lot to think about isn’t it? Some wrongs can only be set aside through the forgiveness of the person wronged. And when I think of what happened in Dearth, the most important thing I learned about forgiveness is that when the person wronged forgives, he sets himself free.

        Wouldn’t you know it? The phone is ringing. It’s probably Carter needing help with his math. I better go, but maybe you could tell me your thoughts about what I shared with you. Have a good night.

Kat's Confession

        This year I want to make a clean start and talk about something I am very ashamed of. I stole something. I know… I feel horrible. When I tell you what I stole, you will probably hate me. It was a toy ring that belonged to a four-year-old girl named Trisha. The ring’s her most precious possession, given to her by her big brother on the same day that he died. I have tears in my eyes just saying it. Trisha’s brother was just fourteen when he was hit by a car, and he was everything to her: her best friend, her protector, her hero, her big brother. Whenever she misses him she gets that ring and kisses it. When she is done with it, she puts it back in the box, and says bye-bye to it.
         But I didn’t know the story behind the ring when I took it. I hope that when you understand why I stole it, you will not be too disgusted with me. When my best friend Carter and I first met The Guardian in Dead Forest, we were tested before we were sent on our quest. While sitting around a campfire the first night in Dead Forest, I fell asleep. Or maybe it wasn’t asleep; I’m not sure. All of our experiences were so strange in our travels beyond the dead forest… Anyway, I found myself in a bed trapped in a strange bedroom. It was night, and a violent electrical storm was raging. The only light was from flashes of lightning that appeared outside one small window. To make a long story short, I found a door that opened to stairs that led down to a basement. A strange flickering light came from below. To make things even creepier, a woman’s voice was calling my name from the basement. I was terrified, but I had to go down and see if there was a way out. The basement was furnished with an old couch and a coffee table with an old portable TV sitting on it. The TV was the source of the light, and the voice came from a beautiful woman on the TV. The woman spoke kindly to me and told me that she wanted to help me. I was desperate and willing to do almost anything she said. She pointed to a wooden box on the table and told me to find a ring with a plastic, blue jewel. When I found it, I noticed the jewel was cracked. It was a worthless, broken, toy ring, but the woman said that it was like a key. If I took the ring, I would be able to leave. I knew the ring wasn’t mine, but it was just a little thing of no value, so I did it.  I put the ring in my pocket. Then something strange happened. A secret door opened revealing a passage. Knowing that it was the way out, I took it, and found myself in a very dark place. When I looked back for the door, it was gone. I felt around for a wall or door or anything to grab onto, but there was nothing. I walked in total darkness for what seemed like hours, and still there was nothing. I panicked and began to scream and run in all directions, but there was only dark emptiness. Then I tripped and fell. All around me was the sound of cruel laughter. It was the Adversary mocking me. He was mocking me because it was all a cruel plan to tempt me into making a wrong choice. I thought that taking the worthless toy ring would get me out of the place where I was trapped.  It did, but it did not set me free. It just put me into an even worse place. Then later when I learned from the Guardian the story behind the ring, I realized a horrible truth. When the Adversary tempts us to do the wrong thing, we not only bring pain to ourselves, but we become instruments of pain to others. I hurt myself by stealing the ring and I hurt that sweet little girl who already had so much pain in her short life.
        Well, that’s what would have happened if I had not discovered the remedy to my error. Reaching into my pocked for the ring, I acknowledged my wrong doing, and swore that if I had the chance to make things right, I would put the ring back. Then it happened. The hidden door appeared right before me. I ran back into the basement and replaced the ring. Then I found myself back in the dead forest with Carter and the Guardian.  I learned two very important lessons from that test. First, is that when we do wrong we not only hurt ourselves, but we hurt other innocent people as well. Second, the remedy for righting our wrongs is to admit that we did wrong and then do all we can to make things right again.
        It is time for me to go to bed. I feel better now that you know what I did. Now maybe after hearing the whole story, you will not think too badly of me. Good night.