Pursue | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Pursue | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gloria Pierre Dean
05/08/25
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Pursue. Follow. Hunt. Trail. Stalk.

Celina grew up in a beautiful cottage in a small village far away from the city.
Her parents were Christians and so, she and her siblings went to church every week.
She never questioned her faith. Subconsciously, she assumed everyone believed in God until she entered high school.
It was like a battlefield. There was no more quiet agreement with other classmates.
After all, it was the sixties and everything was changing.
The media, the local radio, movies, movie stars, and newspapers were all ablaze with sin.
In her quiet shy mind, she saw turmoil, except when she went to church or hung out with her girlfriends who were like soulmates.
“Where did all these macabre images and behavior come from?” was her silent query.
Her hardworking parents kept them safe at home, gave good advice and daily Bible study continued. She gave her life to Jesus in her preteen years.
As the years progressed, strange things did happen in the family.
One of her younger sisters somehow got entangled with a ‘bad’ boy and the heartbreaking results affected them all. He had chased her, even stalked her with his smiles, pretty compliments, and attention. His purpose was to get her alone.

In their simple culture, it seemed to her that the teenage boys were always pursuing the girls with charm and chasing their hearts but the unfortunate results were many young pregnant teenage girls. The legacy of single-parent families in the village was multigenerational.
Celina learned some tough lessons in life from what she saw happened to local girls.
When she grew out of her teenage years, and with Dad’s permission, she moved to a large city to study. One of the most momentous lessons she learned in the Bible was that Jesus chased his loved ones too. His pursuit was loving and for their good. “The Lord himself will be with you..He never leaves or forsakes us.” {Deuteronomy 3:18}
Her father’s letters were stern and full of advice but, alone in a city, she had to make decisions.
She remembers hearing the voice of God speaking to her one night as she was about to enter a nightclub. The audible voice said, “Celina, what are you doing here?”. The terror she felt spun her around and she hurried back to her college.
A few weeks later, she moved to another city and the first person she met became a very dear friend and she was a Christian. In her training on the new classes, her first patient was also a Christian who invited her to her home for a meal with her family. Celina was away from her natural family, but she was not alone, especially when she resumed attending Church and reading her Bible again. Jesus pursues his children lovingly and chases them with love, with loving friends, and with His gentle embrace.

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