Chapter 7: Differences

John and I were sitting in his car in front of my home talking for quite some time. A van pulled up next to us and I realized I had forgotten about Wednesday night church services. After I excused myself from going to church for the evening it opened the door for the topic we avoided. He was a devoted Mormon, I was a devoted Baptist.

He asked me about my beliefs in which I informed him about the Trinity, how to get saved and how different our religions were. I was already very familiar with his religion, or at least the Baptist interpretation of it.

We debated for a short time, comparing scriptures and sharing testimonies. Do we want to quit seeing each other for religious differences? Not at that point. We really liked each other and were very good friends. We had a great respect for each other despite our religions. As we debated about Heaven and Hell and everything in between I remember thinking, "He is so smart. Why can't he see the truth?" Later, I found out he thought the same thing about me. During the moment our conversation became quite intense or should I say tense and quiet. I reached over and hugged my friend. He hugged me back. I said, "Sorry. I couldn't help it,"apologizing for my assertiveness in which he said, "That's okay. It was appropriate."

We went to a football game after our long discussion in his car. We arrived at the game holding hands showing our peers that we were "together." We went to a dance after the game where he held my hand and we danced all night. He came over afterwards and we watched TV and he still held my hand. Of course that means a lot when you're a teenager. This was the night of our very first kiss.

The topic of religion came up often after that point. I always wanted to avoid it. It isn't that I was ashamed of the Lord. I just knew that arguing about religion would not prove anything. One day we were sitting in front of our school gym and John wanted to talk to me about his church. I promised I would listen to him if he would listen to me in return.

I was strong in my beliefs but had some questions in my mind. I prayed about our relationship and asked often for the Lord to separate us if it was His will. I knew if would be harder later on. We started to avoid the topic once again. But you can only hide what's important to you for so long.



.....to be continued.....