“Unique and serious, this story represents the state of the human heart well. We think we are something special; we crave attention and praise. Using common language and just the right amount of humor, this author appeals to a young audience and holds our attention with interesting details about cars and sports!"

-Stacie Childs "Well written and captivating. This is a page turner! The author skillfully demonstrates the evil that has taken over Lucas' heart before Jesus breaks through the walls of pride that kept Lucas blind and enslaved to his sin."

-Anonymous

LOOKING DEEPER

By Cameron Childs

Designed to be Worthy

2018

Published by: Designed To Be Worthy 102 W.McElhaney Road Taylors, SC 29687

Copyright 2018 Designed to be Worthy. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. First printing March, 2018

Dedicated to:

Mom, Dad, Ben, Joe, James, Zach, Jake,

Alexandra, Heather, Cole, Susanna, Mrs. Husman,

Isaac, Logan, Mrs. Dejoris, Sylvia, Mr. king, Cesley,

Mikayla, John, Dew, and all y’all people whom I

missed.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mrs. Husman, first of all. I’m also so

thankful for Vanguard and all the people that I have

become friends with. I thank my parents for

encouraging me through the hard process and for

bearing with me. Most of all, I want to thank God, who

helps me realize that life is hard, and that writing a

novel is just one of the hard parts.

Thanks to all who have helped me through this

amazing journey.

Table of Contents

1. Stronger

2. Victory

3. Conditioning

4. Popular

5. Fast

6. ”Boring!”

7. Hallucinations

8. Big Man

9. Grudge

10. Olympics

11. Stroke

12. Looking Deeper

6

Chapter 1

470 Lbs

❧

Fit Gym in New York was a popular and busy

gym with a diverse clientele. There were the usual

gym-goers who weren't really in shape but weren't

couch potatoes and losers. And then there were the

lazy people who just enjoyed lifting the 5 lb

dumbbells and eating their protein bars, but weren’t

actually working out much. But, of course, there were

also real-deal gym goers who were in shape and

actually pushed themselves to improve. The buff

guys there in their forties could bench-press around

330 lbs, which is not a whole lot, but not many people

can do better. The young jocks constantly tried to

show off their abs and muscles. They pridefully

thought that there wouldn’t be anyone more

muscular than they were. Until Customer

Competition Day rolled around one summer

afternoon. A 23 year old athlete came into the

7

spotlight. Lucas Moore would make a lasting

impression on his competitors that day!

Lucas had never spent much time working on

his character or trying to be easy to get along with.

Knowing that he was a freak athlete, kept his ego all

fired up and ready to go. Sometimes Lucas didn't

even know why he competed with others if he was

already so far ahead of them. If anyone in the world

could be called the “perfect body,” it would be Lucas.

Chapter 2

Victory

❧

Lucas attended Cornell College and was

majoring in Physical Education. He was 6’5 and 240

lbs of bron and ego! Even though Lucas was big, he

could run faster and jump higher than anyone, no

matter their reputation. Being a spoiled rich kid,

Lucas had always done his workouts at home in his

private gym until deciding it was time that he showed

off his skills (and good looks) in a gym. So, he set out

and searched New York City for a gym to attend.

8

Finally, after driving for hours he found the

perfect opportunity as he passed the banner at Fit

Gym that read: “FIT GYM is having a Customer

Competition Day today!”

“Perfect”, Lucas thought. He was looking for a

place to attend and a great way to introduce himself

to other gym goers. He had this sense that nothing

was impossible for him and that others just could not

compare to his bulk and handsomeness.

Walking up to the glass doors of the gym,

Lucas noticed that there were lots of people crowded

inside cheering on the competing gym members. He

also saw that there were some really big dudes who

were competing. However, he had absolutely no fears

or insecurities that any of them would beat him. In

fact, he would make certain that no one would even

compare to what he could do. After registering at the

front desk, Lucas went to the changing room to put

on his gym clothes and shoes. When he walked out he

began walking down the hallway, and there was a

man who had apparently been working out. When

the man saw Lucas, he stared at him wide eyed and

filled with awe. He was so mesmerized by Lucas that

the the guy ran into an open door and smacked his

face squarely into it, taking him back to reality. Lucas

gave the guy a puzzled look and asked if he was okay

and the man said, ”yeah...yeah...ummm, I just think

that you look familiar that's all.” The truth was that

9

the man was admiring Lucas’ massive, ripped

muscles that stuck out and swelled like a bag of

popcorn in a microwave. Lucas definitely had a

Hercules-like figure. Lucas simply replied, “Alright

man, just making sure”. Then the man said: “you had

better get on out there if you want to compete, the

event is about to end”.

So Lucas hustled to where everyone was and

everyone stared at his perfect physique. Lucas was

able to compete in all of the competitions; he crushed

everyone at all the routines. A jock scoffed at him in

frustrated defeat; “You’re strong but not THAT

strong.” Lucas’ pride was bruised, so he gave the man

the death stare and locked eyes with him hissing;

“you got a phone book?” The guy’s eyebrow lifted

about half an inch. “Why in the world do you want

one of those? Is this some kind of game you wanna

play?” Lucas gave a satisfied grin: “no, I just want to

show everyone something.” So the gym owner

grabbed the biggest phonebook from the office and

handed it quickly to Lucas. “Do you have another

one?” Lucas questioned with a smile.

“Umm actually we do.” said the confused gym

owner.

So Lucas now had two massive phone books

in his hands and he spoke with a wildfire like ego:

“Today I want to show you all that no one should

underestimate me.” Lucas then placed the massive

10

books on top of each other and… RRRRIIIIPPPPPP!

He tore the books cleanly in half simultaneously.

Then, with a chip on his shoulder he point blank

dropped the books and glared at the man who had

questioned his strength. He chuckled with pride

saying: “I’d like to see you try that.”

Lucas walked out of the gym thinking that he

was Zeus.

Chapter 3

Conditioning

❧

Working out was always one of Lucas’

passions, partly because he loved the attention of

showing off his skills and good looks. He never liked

to do much other than working out. Though he did

love driving all of the nice cars his dad bought him.

Lucas was on his way to the Olympics for track and

Ultimate Frisbee. He was exquisite at all the sports he

tried and seldom lost at anything. However, he was

pretty cocky about his achievements and and had

11

very little humility. If you complimented him, he

would be decent to you, but if you annoyed him he

hated you. Lucas knew a lot of people but wasn't

close to anyone. Living for himself was Lucas’ mission

statement, whether he knew it or not.

Lucas went to train every day, 50 hours a

week, and never quit hustling until his body was

spent. His coach loved how Lucas could do anything

he asked perfectly; how he never gave up, even if it

seemed hopeless. Coach Harvey was sure that Lucas

would make it big and that the chances of himself

becoming a famous coach were high. Being a selfishly

motivated man, Harvey would do whatever it took to

get Lucas to the top. He pushed Lucas harder than he

did anyone else on the Ultimate Frisbee team and

everyone knew that Lucas BY FAR was the best

athlete.

Players on Lucas’ team did not understand

why the team seemed to be all about Lucas. They

were silently jealous but didn’t dare speak out

against the coach or Lucas. Except one brave

teammate named Pedro. One evening, after practice,

he tried to get Lucas to tone it down a little.

“ Jou need to bring it down a little man! Jou

never take breaks, jou never have fun, jou never

wanna play Fifa wiff me dude! In Mexico we take time

to have fun wiff people we care bout.”

12

“Who said I cared about any of you? I mean,

none of you guys are near as good as me at running

or Ultimate, so why should I tone it down? Why try to

drag me down to your level?” Lucas replied

heartlessly.

Pedro, hurt badly by these words, managed:

“I used to want to be dope like jou and be bros with

jou but man, I don’t like jou no more. I don’t know

why I did not realize that jou were just in it for

yourself and not for the team, man. Jou don’t talk to

me no more. I don’t want to be around jou!”

Lucas did not like being treated like this and

lost his temper. “I don’t give a flip if you don’t like me!

Go eat your tacos and play fifa!”

“ Oohh… I see how it is! Jou want to play do

me like dat, bro? Don’t Jou ever talk to me like dat!

And Jou know what? I quit!”

“Fine, go ahead go and be a complete loser...

oh wait… you already are!” roared Lucas.

“Jou are such a booger head! Jou have

problems!” Then Pedro stormed from the locker

room and hopped in his Maserati and rocketed off

into the night.

Lucas pretended that he wasn’t upset over

the loss of his friend but deep inside his heart there

was a wound that was just opened.

13

Chapter 4

Popular

❧

Going to school was fun for Lucas because it

was easy for him and he was the most popular guy in

the entire Cornell College because of his athletic

ability. Every time Lucas walked into the lunch room

there was an awe that captivated all who were in the

room. Lucas was definitely a lady’s man and was

friends with the good-looking athletic girls of the

College. One girl in particular, Susan, seemed to have

a special interest in Lucas and she was the female

sports star of Cornell. She fell in love with Lucas at

first sight. But in reality she just liked him because of

his good looks and popularity. Not to mention, she

gushed over his ability to crush anyone at any sport.

Lucas asked her out and their so-called “relationship”

began.

14

Chapter 5

Fast

❧

Being the fast guy on the field wasn't all Lucas

cared about, he also had good taste in sportscars.

Lucas’ father was a rich, busy business man who

expressed love mainly by spoiling his son. Lucas was

able to afford just about any car he wanted. He had

several garages full of the fastest cars in the world.

One Saturday afternoon, he was able to show

off his newest ride. Lucas was driving back home

from the gym in his Mclaren P1 Limited. The car was

brand-new and was a specialty edition hand-

delivered by Mclaren. The typical Mclaren P1 had 963

HP but this one was armed with a 1840 HP motor

that would crush even a Hennessey’s Venom. And

instead of going 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds, it powered its

way to a record breaking 1 second flat. It was also the

fastest street-legal car in the world with a price tag of

$8.3 million dollars. Lucas was proud of his sweet

ride and was willing to do anything to show it off.

15

Pulling slowly up to a stop light, Lucas sat in

his matte black Mclaren waiting for the light to

change. Then slowly another car pulled up beside

him. Lucas didn’t care to look at the other car until it

started revving at him. Lucas looked over and rolling

down his window he hollered: “Is there a problem

dude?” The other driver had a dirty smile on his face

and he replied: “Yo, man what kind of car is that you

drivin’? Is that a ferrari or sumthin’?”

Lucas gave a loud laugh: “Na man, this is way

better.”

“I bet I could beat you to the next stop light.”

Lucas stuck his head out of the window to get

a better look at what he was up against. I was actually

a modified Lamborghini Huracan that was pretty cool

looking.

“Alrighty, you’ve got a deal, but I’ll warn you

that my car is special.”

“As in lame, you mean” sneered the other

driver.

“We will see!” Shouted Lucas.

Just then the light turned green and the other

driver roared off and was picking up ridiculous

acceleration, but Lucas simply just sat at the light.

The other driver was confused at why lucas just sat

there. He saw the Mclaren in his mirror and it wasn’t

moving and so he thought to himself: ”That guy is a

16

complete wimp. He won’t even race me!”... or so he

thought.

Lucas sat in his car slurping on his protein

shake. Shaking his head, he said to himself: “That guy

is such an idiot.” Then Lucas put the pedal to the

metal!

The other driver was cruising down to the

next stop light and then heard a super loud

screaming motor sound on his right and then a black

flash whiz past him before he made it to the next light

with a force that swayed his car a little. Then the

driver realized that the car that passed him was

Lucas’ car and he was completely flabbergasted.

Thrilled that he just crushed the guy who

challenged him to a race, Lucas was so satisfied with

himself that he laughed out loud in his car with his

pride and ego on overload.

17

Chapter 6

“Boring!”

❧

Beth tried and tried to reach Lucas for hours

but he never answered. She emailed him, called,

tweeted, snapchatted and and even got an instagram

account just to see if she could reach him there. She

felt an urge from God that she needed to speak and

minister to her older brother. She had tried to talk to

him about the gospel but Lucas always acted like he

was too busy to talk (which he kinda was), so she

never really had much opportunity to say what she

really wanted to. God saved her at the age of 19 and

she was hooked on Jesus after that and there was no

turning back for her. However, she never understood

that Lucas wouldn’t repent of his sins. She had always

wondered what he would be like if God would save

him. He would be a completely new person! He had to

have a slight desire for Jesus but, she never guessed

that he would be such a cocky, arrogant workout

freak.

18

Eventually Lucas picked up the phone and

answered. Beth tried to talk to him about the gospel.

“What do you want?” Questioned Lucas

annoyed.

“I just want to say a few things that are on my

heart, that’s all.”

“Fine. I’ve got ten minutes. Go ahead and say

whatever girly little things are on your mind.”

“Lucas, that was rude! It has nothing to do

with any girly stuff. I just want you to know that I

care about you and I think that you should… you

know... like look deeper inside your heart or

something like that.”

“What in the world do you mean? Aren’t I

being productive with my life and doing something

awesome? You still drive a 1999 Honda Civic and I

drive a 2018 Mclaren P1. I’m in college and you’re

not. I have a lot of friends and you don’t. I’m going to

the Olympics and you aren’t. My point is that I have

everything going for me and… well... you don’t, so

maybe you should be the one looking deeper sis.”

“The problem is you don’t have everything

going for you. Matter of a fact, everything is working

against you in ways you don’t even see. Everything

you listed are things leading to your downfall and I

don’t want that for you. There are much more

important things that you could be doing instead of

19

being rich, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and buying fast

cars.”

“Like what? You think that I’m going to waste

my time sitting for an hour listening to a old, bald

man babble about some apostle Rob guy!? Oh, and let

me guess, you want me to give money away to some

dyslexic dork who’s gonna blow it all on Elmo

coloring books? I don’t think so! So tell me, what’s

your real purpose for calling me? To try and guilt trip

me or to actually say something nice about me like

every other decent human being?”

“Ok. I really just want to talk about Jesus.”

“ Jesus!? Ok that's it, this conversation is over!

You hear me? Over! This is so boring!”

Lucas hung up on Beth and she felt heart-

broken for her older brother.

Beth had always thought that Lucas would at

least listen to her for a little bit but she was surprised

at how angry he got; it reminded here of the anger

that it brought him when their mother died. After

Lucas found out that his mother had been killed, he

never liked to talk to his father or Beth and things

seemed to go grey for Lucas. He always had a

negative attitude at home and he was constantly

looking for reasons to push people away. She knew it

would be hard to talk to him but she had no idea that

he would listen to that little.

20

Chapter 7

Hallucinations

❧

Lucas had an important conference meeting

to go to, but he wouldn’t be caught dead without

wearing a nice new suit. So he decided to go to the

best tailor in town and buy a suit.

When he arrived, he asked for someone to

help him. The man who walked up completely

confused Lucas. He seemed so familiar but there was

something about him that brought terror and peace

simultaneously to Lucas. The man was completely

silent while working with Lucas but he somehow

knew exactly what Lucas wanted.

When the man had finished packing up the

suit, he handed the bag to Lucas, who searched it to

make sure everything was in place, but mistakenly

thought the bowtie was missing. He complained:

”Dude, you didn’t put my bowtie in there, what's your

prob bro?!”

21

The man simply smiled at Lucas and said

nothing. This infuriated Lucas and before he could

say anything he heard a voice in his head that said

“look deeper” and for some reason, Lucas thought

that the voice was coming from the man but his lips

did not move. The words still rang in Lucas’ ears, but

he walked out thinking: “I must be hallucinating!”

Lucas unlocked his 2 million dollar, three

level apartment and grabbed a beer to sit and watch

some TV. While he was flipping through the channels

he saw the man he saw at the tailor appearing in the

background of every channel. Lucas choked on his

beer and spat it out on the $40,000 bearskin rug that

rested below him. Panicking, he flung the remote at

the TV. Then some words flowed out of Lucas’ mouth

that should not be repeated. Immediately the phone

rang and Lucas hesitated to answer but he mustered

his strength and answered: ”h… he… hello?”

“What in the world is wrong with you?!”

It was just Lucas’ girlfriend, Susan.

“I’m fine I just forgot how to answer a phone I

guess. But anyways, what's up with you?”

“It’s over.”

Lucas was confused.

“What do you mean. Do you mean that your

softball season is over?”

“No, our relationship is over.”

“W… w… why? What did I do?”

22

“I’m moving to France to get a fresh start on

life and I’m leaving everything behind… including

you. No hard feelings but I feel like life is pretty

mundane and boring here, so I figured I could leave

everything. You and I can just forget each other.”

“No hard feelings? Are you crazy?! I spent

time with you; precious time that I can’t get back. I

thought you loved me.”

“Actually, I just liked you because you are the

best looking guy I know and you drive nice cars but

other than that, I never actually loved you. That’s

crazy! You were always more into yourself than me…

but that’s ok, I’m actually just like that too.” She

couldn’t help but laugh at her own coldness, which

infuriated Lucas!

“You know what? I hate people like you. Get

out of my life!”

Lucas hung up the phone and jumped up and

punched a hole in the nearest wall in furry.

“It’s like… like… I’m doing something wrong!”

Lucas screamed out loud. And he was exactly right.

23

Chapter 8

Big Man

❧

New York’s Ultimate Frisbee team wasn’t

very good until Lucas came along. When Lucas was

drafted onto the team, he was always called “Big

Man”. Being a professional Ultimate Frisbee player

wasn’t really even one of Lucas’ goals because he

pridefully just assumed he had it in the bag. All of the

other players on the team knew that his chances of

being famous and going on to the Olympics were very

high. No one wanted to mess with the big man on the

field and no one thought that anyone could match

Lucas’ skill.

There was never a time when Lucas was in an

Adidas outlet and didn’t hear the admiring whispers:

“whoa, that’s a massive dude!” or “don’t wanna mess

with that guy!” Acting big was one of Lucas’ main

priorities in his life. No one was to be as fast,

handsome, buff, or as rich as he was. There was

definitely no room for God in Lucas’ life, only for his

24

idol of self. Though something deep inside Lucas told

him that something wasn’t right in the perfect life

that he thought he had. But... there wasn’t time for

that. For now it was all about the Olympics and

sprinting and Ultimate Frisbee.

“Lucas Moore.” called coach Harvey.

“Yeah, what do you want?”

“ Let me talk to you for a minute.”

“Alright coach, spit it out! I have to take off in

two minutes.”

“Well, I know that you like me being your

coach and all, but after this Olympics I need to retire.”

Coach Harvey was only in his mid fifties.

“What? Coach, you’re only like fifty three or

something!”

“I know, I know, but I found out yesterday

morning that… that… that… I… I am not going to be

around much longer.”

“What do you mean? You’re moving away?”

“No. I’m going to probably die soon. I was just

diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and have about 8

weeks to live.

Lucas was in shock. Coach Harvey was one of

the few people that Lucas actually liked.

“No! Too many bad and weird things have

happened recently for you to just die on me, coach!”

Coach Harvey was in tears.

25

“Don’t worry about me Lucas. You keep doing

what you’re doing. I’m sure my replacement will be

fine.”

Harvey slipped away as Lucas looked down at

the ground, stumped and frustrated.

Lucas mosied his way to the parking lot and

retreated to his traffic yellow Dodge Demon where he

sat distracting himself with the navigation system.

“Maybe Beth was on to something.” Lucas

whispered out loud.

26

Chapter 9

Grudge

❧

Lucas’ dad was never a real encouragement

and even though he was very successful, he never

tried to help Lucas become the man that he was.

There was no time for Lucas in his father’s mind.

Lucas would never forgive his dad for getting angry

at his mother which sent her away on a plane and

eventually to her death. Lucas always blamed his

father for the death in the family. Knowing that the

blame was on himself, Lucas’ dad tried to spoil Lucas

with stuff and friends, but Lucas would never forgive

his father of the wrong that was done to the family. I

never really was Lucas’ dad’s fault but Lucas had

made up in his mind that somehow it was and that he

should be punished for arguing with his mother.

There was only a handful of times that Lucas could

remember that his father actually spent time with

him. It was only to do things that his father wanted to

do. Lucas did love his father a little, but he refused to

27

show it after his mother's death. He partly blamed his

father.

Lucas stopped by his father’s mansion to pick

up some tires for his Jeep. His father was outside on

the front porch settled in a lounge chair eating a

salad.

“Hey son. The tires are in the eighth to last

garage.

“Ok.” Lucas trotted over to the garage and his

father shouted after him: “I bought you another car.

It’s sitting in the same garage as the tires.”

Lucas opened the garage and there sat his 38’

tires and behind them was a covered car. Lucas

moved the tires out of the garage and then pulled the

cover off the car. There he beheld a platinum gold

Lamborghini Veneno that was formerly known as the

Motortrend supercar of 2017.

Lucas walked back to his dad and said “Where

are the keys?”

Lucas’ father gave a sigh.” Aren’t you going to

thank me first?”

“No.”

“Ok, I see how it is. The keys are on the

kitchen counter.”

Lucas didn’t respond back but simply strolled

into the house to the kitchen. There were papers all

over the kitchen counter. Picking up one, he saw the

word “LAWSUIT.” Lucas picked up paper after paper

28

which revealed that Lucas’ father was getting himself

in trouble and losing money. Just then Lucas’ father

walked into the kitchen whistling.

“Explain this to me.” he ranted, shoving a

lawsuit paper into his father’s chest.

“Oh, that’s none of your business son.”

“What have you been doing? Don’t tell me

you’re ripping people off.”

“The company is not doing too good and there

were a few adjustments that I needed to make.”

“Yeah, a few adjustments that are costing you

millions of dollars. Are you starting to become a loser

like Beth?”

“DO NOT BRING UP BETH! She is a better

person than both of us and you know that! Yes! I did

do some illegal things at my company and I’m losing

money fast. But I want you to stay out of my business

and go sip your protein shakes and win your metals!”

These words stung Lucas and they infuriated

him.

“You’re so selfish dad.”

“So are you!”

“You know what? I’m picking up my car

tomorrow and I don’t ever want to hear a word from

you!”

29

Lucas stormed out of the house, threw the

tires in the back of his matte green lifted Dodge Ram

2500, jumped in the car and skidded out of the

driveway with his angry, bitter heart thumping hard.

Chapter 10

Olympics

❧

Reaching the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan was

satisfying for Lucas and he was ready for some action

and gold metals. Preparing for the first Ultimate

Frisbee game against France was easy. Lucas had no

fears of losing. The others on the team knew that the

star of the show would be Lucas and that he would be

the one to win it all. There was no fear or hesitation

in Lucas’ eyes and yet he felt something inside of

himself that said that he was forgetting something.

And the phrase that had been haunting him began to

rattle again in his head: “look deeper”. The world

seemed to revolve around Lucas, but all the bad

things that happened caused Lucas not to feel his

best. Then Lucas saw the mysterious man again,

30

walking down the practice track. He walked right

past him, but Lucas bumped into an oncoming person

and when he turned back around the man had

disappeared. Lucas tried to re-focus on his training

and forget that it happened but it kept popping up in

his head.

Chapter 11

Stroke

❧

By the second week of the Olympics, the USA

Ultimate Frisbee team had been completely

undefeated and already won gold! Lucas was the star

player. He had already won several golds for

sprinting. But there was one last gold he craved,

which the announcers said he couldn’t win, but Lucas

wanted to prove them wrong.

At the starting line, Lucas saw the racer that

would challenge him to victory but Lucas did not

think much of the guy. All he was thinking about was

the strange figure that kept appearing in his head.

31

The racers all lined up to the the starting line

with confidence and strength. Lucas on the other

hand, was uneasy and struggling mentally.

It felt like an eternity before the gunshot rang

out. Lucas started running as fast as he could but

something did not feel right.

At the beginning, Lucas was in first place but

not for long. Soon the rival racer caught up to Lucas

and passed him. Lucas was pushing himself harder

and harder but the other racer got farther and farther

away. Suddenly other racers began passing him and

then the lights of the stadium were appearing to

grow dimmer and he couldn’t see. His muscles

started to cramp up all over and before he knew it or

saw it coming, everything went dark and he passed

out, falling over.

32

Chapter 12

Looking Deeper

❧

Lucas woke up in a hospital room unable to

move his legs. He didn’t remember what happened in

the race other than that he was losing. The nurse

came in with a blanked faced and gave Lucas some

food.

He asked her trembling: ”What happened to

me?”

The nurse was uneasy to say what happened

but after some stuttering she stammered; “You…

you... pushed yourself too hard in the race… and…

well… you had… a… a… stroke. Now your legs are no

longer functional.”

Tears began to swell in Lucas’ ocean blue eyes

and he felt like he was just punched in the stomach

by the incredible Hulk. He wouldn’t let himself

believe that he was paralyzed. Lucas’ emotions began

to take hold of him, so he sat up and growled at the

nurse with balled fists and strained veins saying:”

33

What do you mean no longer functional? Do you

know how important I am? You will tell me this

instant if I’m paralyzed or I promise you that you will

be jobless by tomorrow!”

The nurse reacted with frustrated protest:

“Lookie here mister, it’s not my fault that you pushed

yourself too hard and lost the ability to move your

legs! Plus, you should be thankful that you're even

still alive. You almost died last night but guess what, I

helped save your important little life! I’m sorry for

being disrespectful sir, but try to remember that the

world does not revolve around you and your sports.”

The nurse began to walk out but as she closed

the door, she quietly said; “Maybe you should look

deep inside your heart and find what you’re living

for.”

Those words hit Lucas like a linebacker nails

a quarterback. He thought about them for hours until

he heard the door open and saw the man whom he

met at the suit tailor. The man was smiling but there

was a hint of disappointment in his face.

The figure sat down beside Lucas and said:

”Had a rough day yesterday huh? I was trying to

decide when to have you fall out in the race, but I

think I got the timing just right.”

Lucas was downright confused. “Did you say

what I think you just said?” Lucas asked hesitantly.

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“You heard me right, Lucas Joel Moore. And I

think that you should listen closely to what I’m about

to say. You have been living for yourself far too long. I

want you to have a second chance.”

Lucas thought this guy was delusional or

something. “Who are you to give me second chances?

How do you know my name. How were you able to

follow me around on all my tours? And how in the

world did anyone let you in here?”

The man laughed softly and said: “Who are

you to talk to me like that and what makes you think

that you’re so important, young man? I don’t have to

answer any of your questions. I am the essence of

your being, the beginning and the end. In your

language I’m the “coolest of the cool.” I don’t need to

run fast because I manufactured speed. I don’t need

muscles because I created them! In fact, I don’t need

anything because I made every single thing that

exists in the entire universe. Don’t know who I am?

Your sister Beth sure knows who I am. She talks to

and about me daily. She has tried to talk to you about

me, but did you listen? No. You thought you were too

good for me and you went your own way and now

I’m offering you a second chance. You can turn away

from your selfish ambition and follow me. It will cost

you everything. But the gain will be far greater.”

Lucas was bewildered. He remembered the

name that Beth had brought up and so he asked the

35

figure: “Is your name Jesus?” Then the “man”

vanished into thin air leaving Lucas trembling.

Lucas had no idea what had just happened

and he didn’t understand what the guy was saying.

And he guessed that his name was Jesus. There was

something about that name; it just had a feel like

“enough said” to it. Lucas was wondering if he was

crazy or if it was really happening, but something

inside him said that it was real. And suddenly he felt

the presence of God fall upon him and he wanted to

change! He suddenly felt the urge to use the

bathroom so he got up and walked to the bathroom

door… then it hit him... he could WALK!! He didn’t

even realize at first that he was walking but then he

finally realized that Jesus had healed him and boy

was he happy. He ran out of the room and yell: ” I can

walk! I can walk! Jesus saved me!” The nurses around

recognized him and immediately dropped their jaws

in awe.

That afternoon Lucas was released back

home and that night he was a new man.

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About the author

Cameron Childs is a sophomore at Vanguard

Homeschool Academy. He likes reading, writing,

and playing sports. He does Ultimate Frisbee

(which he thinks is the best.) and ballroom dancing

which is also one of his passions. Cameron plays

drums at church and enjoys hanging out with his

two best friends Ben and Joe. One of Cameron’s

goals is to be a personal trainer and/or an Olympic

athlete.