Brown

[|"By your side"] By: tenth avenue

[|"By your side"] Lyrics

__**By your side**__
My name is Mia. I have an older brother and sister, well I did up until about 9 months ago. My family was recently affected by hurricane Katrina. I’ll never forget the day of the storm that turned my once perfect life into a living nightmare. The visions of watching my home being destroyed and the look on my mothers face before she took her last breath. My older sister Shelly was frightened and couldn’t bare anymore of the suffering she was feeling, her emotions ran wild. In result to that I watched her from a distance find a kitchen knife that the water washed up next to her, and end all her misery in one split second. All these surreal images haunted my dreams almost every night. My older brother Mike was the tough one nothing ever got him down. Even the tragic loss of our mother and sister. His facial expressions remained blank. His heart was cold as stone he cared for no one except himself. The week before the hurricane our family went to church our usual Sunday routine, we stayed and spoke with the pastor about Mike and his beliefs. His beliefs consist of worshiping himself and not caring about anyone who didn’t treat him like a king. The rest of our family was strong Christians we believed that Jesus was in fact the Son of God and he did save us from eternal damnation. So knowing this and also knowing the background of my religion I knew that one day I would see my mother and sister again in Heaven. Last night like all the other nights was filled with terrible dreams causing me to wake up in a cold sweat screaming for someone, even though no one was there. All I had to keep me company was a piece of wood and a little cabin built of water-logged trees and bug infested leaves. Mike finally arrived back to our so-called house. He kept asking me “so Mia where is your God now why is he putting you through all this misery huh?” I replied with tear filled eyes, “ I don’t know but I know he’s by my side whenever I fall, in the dead of night whenever I call, his hands are holding me”. “ Yeah yeah whatever keep telling yourself that”, he snapped. As I buried my head in the corner I mumbled to myself a little prayer, “Lord I need you please reveal your grace upon me and give me strength to go on, Amen”. Time continued to go on and I was beginning to drift further and further from God and Mike. One Friday morning I heard a knock on the door and it was an older man about 48 years of age or something like that. He very sweetly asked my name and asked if I knew about God. I replied a bit unsure of myself, “My name is Mia and yes I do know about God but I’m beginning to be a little skeptic of the whole religious concept”. The slightly grey haired man looked at me in confusion, “Do you want to take a walk and I’ll see if there’s anyway I can reintroduce you to Christ”? I was debating in my head about whether or not I should go with him, but I came to a conclusion. What do I have to lose? We started pacing around the bits and pieces that once was my home. I politely asked the gentleman his name. He replied, “ Oh how rude of me my name is Mark, Mark Mason”. “Nice to meet you Mr. Mason”, I blurted out before he could continue any farther. Mr. Mason and I continued our little stroll and he finished reminding me about God and what Jesus did. I thanked him and told him that I really enjoyed his company. Mr. Mason assured me that I would be seeing him tomorrow at the same time. Hearing this I felt a sense of relief. That night was cold and rainy but I fell fast asleep completely excited about seeing Mr. Mason again. The next morning I woke up well rested and ready to begin the day, unlike most days where I lived today was very sunny and perfectly breezy. I heard a noise from outside I ran out to see what all the raucous was and it was Mr. Mason’s old beat up car. “Well hello there”, he smiled. “Hey, Mr. Mason”, I smiled back. “Please call me Mark”, he continued. We went on our usual walk and talked about God. Today’s walk conversation was very interesting he asked me if I had anyone that I stayed with I kept trying to change the subject but I finally gave up. “No sir, my mom and sister are dead, I never knew my father and my brother is never around”. “Oh I’m sorry to hear that my dear”. “It’s fine you kind of get used to the concept of being alone”. He asked me if I would like to stay with him and his wife for a while. They were unable to have kids and his wife always wanted a little girl. Even though I wasn’t a little girl I was 15 but I knew I could fulfill the place of a daughter. Mark and his wife were missionaries they went out to various places and shared the gospel. After a few seconds of thinking I agreed to stay with him and his wife, it was a lot better than being lonely. We immediately walked to his car and took of to his house. We arrived there and as soon as we got there my jaw dropped because of how big his house was. His wife ran outside and held me in her arms, it felt good to be hugged considering that it had been so long since anyone showed me any affection. They showed me to my new room and they even gave me a new puppy as a welcome home gift. I have never felt so much at home until now. Even though I was being pampered I kept thinking of my brother all alone wherever he was. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in like 2 weeks. I got used to the fact that I’ll probably never see him again. Mike held a special place in my heart and his name was repeated every night in my prayers. After about a week with living with the Mason family I became an official member to the group. My new mom’s name was Candace and she was very nice and extremely beautiful. I loved my new family it felt as if my life was being restored to its former glory. One morning I woke up and I got a call, it was Mike my brother. He had found himself a girlfriend and is going to move in with her next Tuesday. Hearing this news made me realize that no matter what happens in your life just pray about it and keep God close because he will always be by your side.