Bum-bump. Bu-bump. Bu-bump.
Almost as loud as a base-drum, is the sound of her beating heart; in perfect unison with the one who pieced it back together. This living being was once lost, but then she was found. Here is her story. This is how she came alive.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there lived a child who was as innocent as a lamb and as pure as a dove. Her joy was evident to all and her love and faith in God moved mountains. However, one experience after another, caused pieces of her heart to fall off- now her adult self is in search of those missing pieces. This is not a fairytale by any means; this is Real Life. Now you may be wondering to yourself, "What is the girl's name anyway?" Well, for the time being we will call her Joy; that is the meaning of her name, after all.
The first door Joy came to said "Alive". She went to open it, but it was locked; so she decided to try the next one. That door also read "Alive" and it too was glued shut; so instead of giving up completely Joy decided to try one last time. As Joy walked up to the third door, which was painted blood red and shaped in an awkward angle, she noticed the sign read "Dead". Joy grabbed the door-knob and turned it to find that it actually opened. As she entered the dimly-lit room she felt herself transform into her eight year old self. Little Joy, wearing her oversized, hand-me-down clothes and large glasses, gazed upon a Doctor's table with her life-less, mint-size body on it; it was almost as if she were having an outer body experience. As Joy turned her attention to observe the rest of the room, she noticed a dark shadow over by a small-dirty sink in the corner of the examination room. Leaning against the counter was a skyscraper of a man wearing bloody gloves and tailored in a doctor's jacket, splattered with blood. This man without a face had his lanky arms crossed over his chest and his presence gave off a sense of fear that would stop anyone dead in their tracts; little Joy could not move an inch. However, she did notice something. In the left-hand pocket of the doctor's jacket, laid a piece of her heart. A voice inside her rang, "Have no fear for I am with you wherever you go." Although it was as if Joy's feet were stuck in wet cement, she managed to take one step after another until she reached the faceless man. Joy lifted her head and said, "I do not fear you anymore." Joy then reached into the pocket and grabbed the bloody piece of her heart. All of a sudden, there was a ray of light that burst from the heart and encircled the room. As soon as the light came, it vanished leaving the room completely spotless, without blemish-leaving Joy to be the only soul in the room. She turned to leave to find a garden full of ladybugs crawling over the doctor's table. Innocence had been restored.
Joy left the room, made her way down the narrow hallway and did not stop until she saw another sign that had the word, "Dead" written on it. This door was significantly different from the one she had just walked through. This time, the door looked like that of an elevator. Joy, still in her little girl's body, pressed the "open sesame button" and just like that, it opened to reveal her mother staring into a dimension unknown. Joy did not want to step foot into this scene, yet the voice she had heard earlier reassured her by saying, "Do not runaway. I am right here with you." Although it was hard, Joy walked through the elevator door and stood next to her mother. Joy noticed her reflection in the elevator's walls and saw that she was now in her awkward-junior high body instead of her little girl skin. She turned and faced her mother and asked, "Mom, are you there?" The eerie quietness and the still-hallowed expression that her mother wore gave away the lack of response. Joy then turned to face the elevator door, but instead of seeing the narrow hallway, she became entranced with a whole new world-a world of wild colors, shooting stars, crazy-laughing creatures, and fairies. Joy could not look away, although she did attempt to do so a few times. Then the voice thundered yet again and said, "Do not fall into the trap, but continue to follow my voice to guide you." Just like that, Joy snapped back into reality and noticed a piece of her heart under her mother's right foot. Joy bent over and seized it only to find that it was as hard as stone-filled with the bitterness and sorrow of life's choices. She stared into her mother's pale-green eyes and said, "Please forgive me and please come into the light of day." Within a second, the piece of Joy's heart radiated light, yet again, and then diminished after exploding on the walls of the elevator. The next thing Joy knew, she was surrounded by a million multi-colored sticky notes on the walls that read, "You are forgiven." Peace entered the room and then Joy stepped back out into the hallway and continued her journey.
Joy passed many more doors reading, "Alive" until she finally came to the word "Dead." The door she was about to walk through was in the shape of a large pink heart, broken in two. As Joy walked through the center of the heart, she was transformed again; this time into the hour-glass figure of her 20 year old self. Within seconds of entering, Joy found herself sitting in front of a very familiar face; one she had not seen in a long while. Tears flooded her eyes as the scenery around her changed from a spotlight to an outside of a coffee shop. As she stared into the eyes of the man who left her bare and naked for all to see, the voice came in a gentle whisper. "It is time to restore your purity. Do not feel rejection for I will always delight in you and call you by name." The streams of tears poured out from her eyes-not for the hurt this man had caused her, but for the One who loves her so. Joy then said to the man, "I will no longer make you an idol in my life but honor the One who will bring me back to life. I am sorry if I took pieces of your heart and I pray that it may be healed; however, I do want my piece back now." As soon as she spoke, another familiar face-this time a young woman-entered the scene carrying a tray. As a waitress would serve a customer, this tall beautiful woman lowered the tray on which a huge slice of Joy's heart laid. The young woman handed Joy her heart that she had been missing and then in an instant, the man and the young woman intertwined and became one. With a snap of a finger, they disappeared into thin air, which left a puddle of rose petals in the man's seat. The rose petals gave off a beautiful aroma-a fragrant offering pleasing to the One who created Joy. The voice came like an exquisite love song by singing the words "Look underneath." Joy got up from her chair and walked over to the puddle of petals and wiped the roses off of the seat-only to find a letter. "You are loved" was all it read, but that was saying a lot. Walking away with a new sense of freedom, Joy strolled down the hallway in search of another room.
Joy passed even more doors this time until she got to the very last one. This door seemed almost impossible to get through for it had long-entangled chains attached to it. Joy stood for a moment debating whether or not to give up on this one; then like on cue, the voice came. "Do not give up hope for I have never given up on you. You have the key, though you may be surprised where it lies. Look deeper inside yourself." Once she heard the encouraging words, Joy started to look for the key by patting her entire body down to see if she had it. Sure enough, it was in her left back pocket of her jeans. She took the key and unlocked the pad-lock to strip the chains off the door. Then, like magic, the door opened revealing a small-intimate living room. There was one couch with someone sitting on it. The figure looked as that of a man-he was not facing her, so Joy began to walk carefully around to see who the person could possibly be. As Joy was making her way in the mystery man's direction, she saw herself in a full-length mirror that hung on one of the walls. She had altered back to her normal 22 year old body-the same skin she traveled down the abyss in. As soon as Joy came face to face with the man, she was utterly flabbergasted to see who it was. The one man she loved and trusted the most in the entire world. The one man who would never intend on hurting her. The one person who never turned his back on her. The one man who sacrificed so much for her-Joy's father. Questions started to flood Joy's mind. "Why? How? I mean, how could this be? I never thought…" Then like clockwork, the voice said, "Deep down you have not forgiven this one person for the small wounds that turned into bigger grievances due to the lack of attention given to the injury. Stuffing things down has never created a free place to live-forgive and then you may be able to have the last piece of your heart back." Then, like a sudden attack, wave of emotions trickled down Joy's entire body and she began to cry out to her father. Joy revealed her heart to this man that she had known her entire life and then waited for his response. Joy stood facing her dad in silence for a few more seconds when all of a sudden, he got up and wrapped his arms around her; embracing her for what felt like eternity. The moment he laid hands on her, Joy could feel the chains of her heart fall off-leaving Joy to feel as though she could float around the room. Through all the cries, Joy managed to get out, "I love you." The moment it was said out loud, light radiated from Joy and lightning shot through her body-throwing Joy down onto an operating table.
The light was now shining brightly over her which made it impossible to see what was going on. However, Joy could feel a lot of tugging where her heart was located. What Joy could not see, was the Great Physician was stitching the pieces of her heart, which she had received in all the rooms, back together again. It was painful and incredibly uncomfortable, but the entire time the procedure was taking place, Joy's father was right by her side; giving her the comfort and encouragement she so badly needed. As she looked upon her father, the voice gently spoke straight to her heart. It was not her father speaking, but the One who sent the ultimate sacrifice so that she may live. The voice whispered, "It is done."
The next thing Joy remembered was opening her eyes to a magnificently-beautiful land, flowing with milk and honey. By far, the most remarkable sight she had ever laid eyes on. Before she could take in all the sights, Joy was greeted by her eight, awkward teen and 20 year old self. The little eight year old Joy grabbed the older version of herself by the hand and all four Joy s' walked along a narrow path, leading to a glorious light; hands locked together in perfect unison. The glorious light was not overpowering by any means, but it was breathtaking. The closer to the light Joy got, the more she could make out a door-made of the most striking jewels. Alongside the door, was a massive Pearl gate in which you could make out images that were incredibly angelic. When Joy got up to the door, she knocked three times with no hesitation. Then the voice came, but this time Joy could hear exquisite praise in the background that stirred up complete peace, restoration, abounding love, and great happiness. Then the voice sang, "You may enter." Since then, Joy has never looked back and continues to seek out more missing pieces of herself and to help others walk into the healing that took residence in her. Joy no longer sleeps, but LIVES. So, this was the story of how Joy's heart began to beat with the rhythm of the Lord's. This is how she came alive.
The end-well, for the time being at least.
