Page 91 of The Inn Dilemma

Only Maya and Roxy get up.

“Come on, guys, you know you want to.”

Holt comes up from behind me, putting his hand on the small of my back. “Yeah, come on. Just one song.”

They look around at each other, all shrugging and giving in to our request.

Our group takes over the dance floor. The other guests laugh and clap as some of us give our all into some ridiculous dance moves while others awkwardly sway offbeat. Mom comes out and spins me around.We throw our heads back and give in to the moment of pure excitement and joy.

My life is far from perfect. My relationship with my parents has healed a lot, but we still have our struggles. A lifetime of hurts and misunderstandings from poor communication will not heal in just a year. But with our lives now centered on Christ, I know that even the hardest days won’t break us. Because it’s the hard days where we need to lean into Jesus more. It’s in those hard days where we grow closer into becoming the people God made us to be.

Just over a year ago, I called myself the prodigal daughter. Because that’s exactly who I was. A girl who ran away from home and made countless mistakes on the journey to finding herself. I gave myself away to guys who only wanted to use me, and I never felt that I truly belonged with any of them. But today I can confidently say I know who I am, and most importantly, know who I belong to. I know with every ounce of my heart I am a child of God who has been redeemed and restored.