Having Faith

           “Are you there, God? It’s me, Bobby,” the boy of five years old said as he kneeled down beside his bed. “Mommy and daddy are yelling at each other again, and I really need you to ask them to stop. I know you can do it because my grandpa says you can do anything. I don’t like it when they yell. It makes me scared. I guess that’s all for now. Thanks for listening. Goodnight, God. Oh, I almost forgot, Amen.”

           Bobby was an only child in a home that had been less than happy since he was old enough to walk. His dad worked as a police officer, and his mother had just started back to work at the local grocery store. Bobby was left with his babysitter, Greta during the day while his mom worked.

           Bobby loved Greta. She was always laughing and smiling. It made him forget about the fighting, at least for a short while. Greta would take him to the park and go for walks with him. On the chilly days, she would read him stories, or they would watch his favorite DVDs together. When it was time for Greta to go back home, Bobby would cry and squeeze her tightly.

           Greta felt more like a mother to Bobby than his actual mother had. He prayed for her every night.

           “God, it’s me, Bobby again. Did I wake you up? If I did, I’m sorry. I just wanted to ask you to take really good care of Greta, you know, my babysitter. She is so nice to me, and I want her to be happy. Thanks, God. Talk to you soon. Amen.”

           As the years passed, Bobby saw less and less of Greta, but he thought of her every day. His mom decided to enroll him in a daycare so he could be around other kids his age. Greta only babysat if Bobby’s mom was going out in the evening.

His parents weren’t yelling at each other anymore, at least, not in the same house. His dad left them and would only come back two or three times a month to see Bobby. He would take him out for a meal at a restaurant, or they would go out in a boat sometimes. His dad was trying to teach Bobby how to fish, but Bobby thought it was mean to hurt the worms and refused to go along with his dad’s plans.

Now at the age of ten, Bobby was more interested in hanging out with his friends than spending time with his mom or dad. Even his thoughts of Greta had faded. The group of friends that he had made were decent for the most part, but there was one boy who proved to be a bad influence on him. His name was, Chad.

Chad was in-and-out of foster homes. He was forever getting into mischief. At his last placement, Chad set fire to his foster parents’ couch while his foster dad was asleep in it. He then tried to accuse his foster father of falling asleep with a cigarette in his hand. Bobby’s mom did not approve and tried her best to keep the two of them apart, but Bobby always found a way back to Chad.

One day, while Bobby was having dinner with his mom, the phone rang, and his mother picked it up. When she hung up, she had a sad look on her face and Bobby was concerned. When he asked her what was wrong, his mother informed Bobby that Chad had tried to run away from another foster home, but this time, he was attacked while trying to sleep on a park bench. His foster mom said that he had died at the hospital.

That night, as he got ready for bed, Bobby scanned through some pictures on his phone that he had taken with Chad. Tears began to form along the corner of his eye as he thought about his friend. He wiped his tears, looked at himself in the mirror, then closed his eyes and prayed.

“Are you listening, God? It’s me, Bobby. Why did you have to take my friend away? I know that Chad did some terrible things, but that doesn’t mean he was a bad person. Nobody understood him like I did. He was my best friend! Are you punishing me? Haven’t I been through enough already? I thought if anyone would understand, it would be you, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe you don’t exist at all. I mean, nobody has ever seen you, right? I don’t know how I feel right now. I think I need a break from you. Sorry.”

Bobby stopped praying to God that night. He felt like if there was a God, he wouldn’t be so mean. These thoughts, mixed with everything Bobby had gone through, had made him very depressed. After several months of his manic behaviour, Bobby’s mom arranged an appointment for Bobby to see a psychiatrist. After the first session, Bobby was prescribed lithium to help stabilize his mood. This seemed to work if he did not miss any doses, which did happen whenever the medication made him feel nauseous.

Once Bobby became a teenager, he became more rebellious. He would try to sneak out of the house once his mom fell asleep and go hang out with his school friends. They would purposely vandalize the school property using eggs, toilet paper, paint, or anything else they could get their hands on. This went on for more than a year until one night, while filling the fountain outside the school entrance with red dye, Bobby and his friends were caught in the act when the blue lights of a police car lit up the school parking lot. A bright spotlight shone upon them, and one of his friends took off running, but Bobby froze when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name. It was his father, and he knew there was no escape.

Bobby was brought down to the police station and his mother arrived soon after. His dad arranged for Bobby to be placed inside one of the interrogation rooms by himself for an hour to give him time to think. When they thought he was ready, Bobby’s dad opened the door and entered with his mother right behind.

He sat there silent, but with a look of remorse on his face. His dad began to question him about the damage he did at the school that night and asked him about incidents from previous nights as well. Bobby admitted to it all. He thought that he was going to jail and knew that if he lied about anything, his parents would know. Instead, he was released into his mother’s custody. It was nearing the end of his father’s shift, so he asked if he could stop by the house for a visit. His mother agreed.

Back at the house, the conversation continued between Bobby and his parents. He tried to tell them that he was dared by his friends to do the things he did but assured them that it wouldn’t happen again. They decided to play a board game together as a family. That was the first time that Bobby could remember them all being together without anyone yelling. It felt good.

A few months later, Bobby was surprised to find out that his mom and dad were getting back together. They decided to try and patch up their marriage. In the beginning, it was a little awkward for everyone, but in time, things began to improve. Bobby was finally happy being at home.

One night, while helping his mother set the table for dinner, Bobby noticed an extra plate and asked his mother why it was there. She told him that they had a special guest coming for dinner. Bobby figured it was one of their friends from work or from the neighbourhood and didn’t give it a second thought until the doorbell rang.

Bobby went to the door and swung it open. He was shocked and elated to see a familiar, yet slightly older smiling face staring back at him. Greta held out her arms and Bobby wrapped his arms around her, squeezing tightly.

“You have sure grown up to be a fine-looking young man, Bobby,” Greta stated. “I was surprised and excited when your mom invited me here for dinner. I can’t believe ten years have passed already!”

“It’s so good to see you too, Greta! How have you been? What are you doing now? Are you still babysitting?” Bobby had so much to ask his former babysitter.

“Easy there, fella. One thing at a time. Why don’t we talk about it all over dinner, okay?”

Bobby agreed and took Greta by the hand, leading her to her spot at the table. She told him that she did not babysit much anymore because she was now working as a nurse in the Paediatric wing of the hospital. She admitted that she thought about Bobby a lot since those early days and wondered how he was doing.

It was a wonderful visit and Greta agreed to stay in touch. She stayed much later than she had planned, so it was already past Bobby’s usual bedtime after she left, and he started to yawn. After getting ready for bed, he laid under his covers thinking of his time spent with Greta and a smile filled his face. He threw back the covers, stepped out of bed and kneeled to pray.

“Hey, God, it’s me, Bobby again. I know that it’s been a while, and you are probably still mad at me for the way I spoke to you last time, but I was hoping we could start over, just like my mom and dad did. I got thinking that you were listening to me back when I was little, but it just took a while to answer all the other prayers that people have been asking you. Thank you for bringing my parents back together and for bring Greta back into my life. I guess I will be chatting with you more soon. Goodnight and Amen.”

The years continued to pass, and Bobby was now an adult with a family of his own. He was married to a girl he met in college, and they had a beautiful girl that was four years old. Bobby, who now went by the name, Bob, was walking past his daughter’s room one night when he heard her speaking.

“Are you there, God? It’s me, Sasha. I want to pray for my mommy and daddy and my goldfish, Bubbles. Oh, and if it isn’t too much to ask, can you ask my daddy to take me to see Grandpa and Grandma’s graves? I want to give them some more flowers. Night-night, God. Talk to you tomorrow. Amen.”

Bob fought back the tears as a lump filled his throat. He wanted to run in and give his daughter a hug, but he knew how much that time with God meant to her, so he quietly walked back to join his wife in the living room. No words were necessary as he walked in the room. His wife could already see that his heart was filled with joy. His life was now complete, and his faith was stronger than ever.