Finally Home

Christopher Yuan

“Sign here and date here,” the officer directed, pointing to two blank lines on the page in front of me. I had been looking forward to this day for so long that I almost couldn’t believe it was here. Even though this wasn’t my official release date, it was the day I was transferred by furlough release to a halfway house in Chicago. This time my parents were picking me up to take me to the halfway house—but not before swinging by home. It had been so long since I’d been home, and even longer yet since I considered home to be…home.

終於回家了

袁幼軒 | 中譯：楊光

“在這裡簽名，為下日期”，警衛告訴我，指著在我面前的兩行空格。我幾乎不敢相信這期待已久的一天已經到來。雖然我還沒被正式釋放，但今天我將被轉移到芝加哥的一所重返社會訓練所。這次我的父母要來接我去那間訓練所，但在此之前我們會先回家一趟。我已經好久都沒回過家了，而更久之前我已經沒有把這個家當自己的家了。

Unconditional Love

Janet Lui

This isn’t a story to celebrate me, but to celebrate Jesus and what He has done for me and what He continues to do every day. I write this because this is my way of thanking Him for loving me and washing my sins away. I never deserved any of this for a second, yet He loves me so much that he has led me out of the darkness. I want to share with you my love for Him and how I am ready to dedicate my life to Him.

I fell away from God during the first few years of post-secondary. I didn’t feel as if I belonged in church with all the “good kids.” Christians were just too good, while I felt sinful, guilty, and ashamed every time I stepped into church. I told myself: this is not where I want to be. I didn’t want to pretend that I’m a good person. So I left altogether.

無限的愛

Janet Lui | 中文翻譯：楊光

這個故事慶祝的不是我的成就，而是耶穌，慶祝他為我所作的並每天繼續做的一切，用我的方式感謝他給我的愛並洗淨我的罪。雖然我根本不應得，但他很愛我，帶領我走出黑暗。我想與大家分享我對他的愛，我怎樣準備好將生命奉獻給他。

大學的前兩年內，我遠離了上帝。我覺得自己與教會裡的「好小孩」太不一樣了。基督徒們實在是太好了，而我每次走進教堂都會感到有罪惡感、很羞愧。我告訴自己：我不想在這兒呆下去，我不想假裝自己是個好人。所以我徹底離開了。