They picked Celeste up again...

Some crazy stuffed happened a couple weeks ago. I woke up to take Ray Shon to work at like 5:30 in the morning and God was telling me to be praying. Right after I dropped him off at work I turned on radio to the Christian station so I could focus more (since I was half asleep). I started praying and just talking to God. He pretty much told me that I needed to stay awake until church (a Sunday morning) and just pray and seek him, that He was going to show me something.


When I got home I got my Bible and started praying, but not really. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with God lately cause it’s summer and its been real laid back. I mean I would read a verse here or there but it had been a minute since I just gave God a set amount to focus and just spend time with Him in prayer. So nonetheless this was hard to focus. I read my Bible some but mostly just for me. I began to pray for Ray Shon and Valerie. I figured I guess they were the two I prayed for the least in the house so maybe I was supposed to be praying over them.

After a few minutes I got on the computer, read some more verses and pretty much quit. I knew God was wanting to show me something, but I cut it short before He did. I got in bed and just stayed awake. Val woke up and soon after that the phone rang. I saw the number and it was Celsete’s family. I asked Val, “Are you scared?” She said no but I was on edge. I told her if it rings again answer it. It rang like 10 minutes later and she did.

As she started talking I was like, “Oh No…” It was Celeste’s family saying they were gonna come pick her up. See we just take care of Celeste cause her family drops her off and leaves her with us and like usual… when they call we have to let her go back with them.

It was her aunt talking noise saying that Celeste’s mom was coming to pick her up in like an hour and we needed to have her ready. Man, we were like what do we do? Do I leave town with her (we had talked about me going to San Diego for a week and just taking her with me), do we tell Celeste… what do we do? She’s been with us for 7 months straight and before that 9 months. And now they just want to come pick her up. It was like 7 or so and they wanted to pick her up around 9. We called back and said we weren’t gonna take her anywhere unless her mom called us and talked to us. And then we just waited. Val’s mom and dad came by and were a big help. Her dad was very upset and was on our side… Don’t just let her go back.

Her mom finally called us and talked to Val. She said she just wanted to talk to Celeste and see what she had to say, if Celeste wanted to stay or go back with her. We agreed to meet her up at the church and we had already told Celeste what was going on. We met up at the church and let Celeste talk with her mom some in a prayer room as we waited. In the end her mom said I just want to take her for the day and then I will bring her back. We talked to Celeste and told her that if she went she might now come back. Her mom said she would bring her back in time for her soccer party at 5:30. With tears and sadness we let Celeste go with her mom. It was so hard…

I felt terrible for not praying, for not seeking God… mostly not being ready. He warned me and I just let it go by. Her mom told us that she had been up since 5:00am crying and wanting to come pick her up. I knew that God was having me seek Him and be praying.

This was also the morning that Martika was doing an interpretive dance at church. It was hard to stay at church that morning but we knew it was the right thing. I told Martika to dance in worship and that God knew about all this. This was no surprise to him and that she needed to dance not just to dance but to speak to God in worship with this dance. Just like he told me to be praying she needed to be dancing. While she was dancing God showed me that Martika’s life is very similar to Celeste’s and look at her. God took care of Martika even though it was hard and he would do the same for Celeste.

After a very emotional morning we went home and just did nothing. It was hard to be home without Celeste. We cried and cried, and cried. We spent the day waiting. At 4:45 Celeste called us on her aunt’s phone. She asked us if it was time for soccer and that she just had to go a couple places then she would be there at the church. She said bye and we went and waited. Five thirty came and passed, then six, sixty thirty… nothing. We tried to call them and they answered the phone and hung up on us, they didn’t bring her back. We went home empty handed.

Over the next couple days we never heard back from her. We went from Moms, Dads, brothers and sisters to a family minus one. We sent out some emails letting people know if they saw her in the streets of stores to let us know. On MySpace people started sending out Code ADAMS (missing children lol) and we just waited. Freddy ended up calling me one day and he saw Celeste and her mother at Wal-Mart. Valerie raced over to Wal-Mart and caught them in the parking lot. She dialed my number and the first thing I heard was, “Heyyy Carrrlloss…”. It was Celeste!!!

Val talked to her and her mom but that’s as far as it went. We got in touch with her but nothing concrete. We are still praying that she can come back and live with us. We miss her a lot and still haven’t talked to her since. Its been over a week and life’s still sad. I got this verse though that I’ve been reading. Its…

Ecclesiastes 7 (NLT)

A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume. In the same way, the day you die is better than the day you are born.

It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time.

Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

A wise person thinks much about death, while the fool thinks only about having a good time now.

It is better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool! 6Indeed, a fool's laughter is quickly gone, like thorns crackling in a fire. This also is meaningless.

Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart.

Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.

Don't be quick-tempered, for anger is the friend of fools.

Don't long for "the good old days," for you don't know whether they were any better than today.
Being wise is as good as being rich; in fact, it is better.

Wisdom or money can get you almost anything, but it's important to know that only wisdom can save your life.

Notice the way God does things; then fall into line. Don't fight the ways of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked?

Enjoy prosperity while you can. But when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.

That way you will realize that nothing is certain in this life.