Emmanuel - God is with us

I got to know God through the hard way. And this is my story.

            My brother Emmanuel, or Noelle for short, was born on the 25^th of November 2006. I was the happiest 9 year old girl the day he was born.

            Emmanuel. That means ‘God is with us’ in Latin. My parents decided to give my brother that name for a good reason. They just received Jesus Christ as their Saviour. As for me, I was still a bit skeptical.

            I didn’t believe in this God concept my parents embrace. Take the beginning of the universe for instance. According to science, this all happened from the Big Bang. Some chemicals collided with other chemicals, and BOOM, the universe was born.

            But as for the Christians, this all happened because ”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earths.” Who is this ‘’God’’ anyway?

            I mean, I love my family, don’t get me wrong. I love all of them BUT the fact that they are Christians. Since I was still 11 by then, I had to go where my parents go, right? So if they go to the church, I’ll just tag along with them. They asked me to go to Sunday school, I went, but all I do there was day dreaming. The teachers tried to “reach out” for me, but of coarse, I didn’t want them to.

            And I hate the fact that my brother Emmanuel actually enjoys going to Sunday School. Every Sunday after church, he will ask me to sit down and listen to what he learnt that day. It could be about Adam and Eve, Jonah and the whale, strongman Samson and all those other nonsense. I would be physically there, but mentally I was somewhere far way.

            “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever shall believe in Him shall not die, but have eternal life. John 3:16” Wow, as if. A lot of people are touched by this verse. God loved them so much that, for their sin’s sake, sent Jesus to die on the cross for their sin. Utter nonsense.

            ‘’Noelle! Noelle! Come out come out wherever you are!’’ We were playing 3 year old Emmanuel’s favourite game, hide and seek, in the living room. I looked behind my mom’s flower vase, under the brown wooden coffee table, inside the playhouse. Emmanuel’s small size sure gave him an advantage of being a good hider. ‘’Noelle! ‘’ I think I saw toes under the long red curtains. ‘’ Oh no! I think I’ll give up! I can’t find you Noelle. Aha! Gotcha! Huh?’’

            With the curtains still in my hands, I froze in horror as Emmanuel’s pale white face stared back at me. His skin colour was all drained out. He doesn’t seemed to be breathing either.

            ‘’Ma! Come here quick! Something is terribly wrong with Noelle!’’ Upon hearing the urgency in my voice, my mother, who was doing some chores in the kitchen, rushed to the scene.

            “Oh my gosh! Lena, call the ambulance. Now! Call dad too! Oh Noelle, what happened to you? Noelle” (to be continued....)