It was the week before finals during my senior season at Chattahoochee High School. During the next six days I would devote hours with my textbooks with notes sprawled all over the floor and walls of my room. Of course, I wasn’t doing this merely for the fact of getting perfect grades. My application to the Georgia State Archeology program had already been confirmed. Although my acceptance was contingent on passing high school, I was going to pass regardless of my scores on the 9 weeks exam.

The reason why I wanted to get a solid grade was because my parents expressed it was the only way I was going on the church trip to Jerusalem. It was their way of saying, “we know you’ve already been accepted into a university but we will not have our daughter ruining her high school GPA simply because she would pass her classes regardless of the grades she makes on the 9-week exams.”

As I was arranging books from my locker into my backpack, my best friend Jason and his friend Zach approached me.

“Hey Naomi, are we still studying this weekend at your parents’ place? I literally need help with my Algebra 2… factoring and quadratic equations are killing me!” He always referred to my house as “my parents’ house” because of how often we talked about moving into an apartment next to Georgia University together after graduation (he did not want to get the places confused). In my opinion, this could have been interpreted in a way alluding to the fact that he liked me, but he claimed this wasn’t the truth. Maybe he was just too embarrassed to be honest, anyway… I was still flattered by the idea.

“Hi Jason, thank you for reminding me that you were coming over. I mentioned to my Mom and Dad that you were coming over so they’re already expecting you for dinner. And of course, I haven’t forgotten your promise to bring Adderall. Were you ever able to find any?” I said as I looked in the mirror of my locker and gave my hair a few brushes.

“Are you kidding me? You’re not the only one who wants to go to Jerusalem!” Jason and Zach exchanged a high five.

I gave Jason an expression that told him that I was concerned.

“I think she wants them now” replied Zach with a grin on his face. “It’s not like there is a big shortage of Addys Jason, especially not for what she’s paying.”

Jason began to take a pill bottle out of his bag but I interrupted him and told him to take my purse into the bathroom, put the bottle in the bag and give it to me like I had forgotten it before we left the school parking lot.

Our plan worked out perfectly and by the time I was home, my attention was already focused on my school work. Jason finally arrived around 5PM just as the frozen foods I had prepared were coming out of the oven (my parents had trusted me enough to take themselves out for dinner without me).

The two tests that were going to give me the most trouble were anatomy and philosophy. The anatomy because of the number of memorizations and the philosophy because the professor wanted a well thought out argument about all sides of the issue regarding the standardization of public education in high schools.

Socializing with Jason also contributed to my understanding of the issues I was thinking about regarding philosophy, and it also helped me with anatomy… in ways that I can’t describe. Let’s just say that many times while studying the chapter on muscles of the body, I wanted to ask Jason to take off his clothes. Yet, because I was not a virgin and had slept with someone who had Human Papilloma…. I felt awkward with the idea of getting naked around Jason. But we did debate the topic of public education being controlled by the government. As I helped him with his math, I enjoyed being close to him. His scent and every detail of his perfect face mesmerized me. I wondered why he didn’t want to be anything besides best friends, but knew that pressuring him into doing something he didn’t want to do was unfair. Plus, I had humiliating anal and genital HPV that I had not had the courage to tell my parents or doctor about.

After nights of studying, we were finally prepared for the exams. Yet, because of COVID-19 all our tests had been rescheduled to be taken online while being proctored by the instructor. I prayed before taking the exams and asked Jesus to help me remember everything I had learned. At the end of the day, we had both began the process of packing our bags, we were going to Jerusalem.

II

My blond hair came down to my shoulders and had a fresh coat of hairspray in it. My light blue eye shadow was complimented by my pink shirt. I had chosen to wear a belt that glistened when light reflected off it. At the last minute, Zach had convinced his parents to allow him to go on the trip with us. So, by 2PM in late December, all three of us along with the rest of the church group were boarding the plane to Israel.

Our first destination was to Golgotha, which is also known as Calvary. It was fantastic for me to think that after a 15-hour plane ride across the Atlantic, we would shortly after be bused over to the place Jesus had been crucified. On the plane I had a discussion with Holly, the girl I would be rooming with, about how God had called us to make this trip and how we would share our life-changing experiences with people we ministered to back home. How little did we know how drastically our lives would be changed.

III

Once we were at the hotel in Jerusalem, we took showers, ate a late lunch and very excitedly rushed onto the bus that would take us to Golgotha. It was on that bus ride that I felt God urging me to express my feelings to Jason. I made the decision to tell Jason I loved him while we were standing at the site of Calvary. The thought also occurred to me that I would have to tell him about my HPV, which was causing me to have and strongly resist the urge to scratch my genital area right at that moment.

Filled with butterflies, I got off the bus and found Jason and Zach. It had taken me some time to find them because of the massive crowd, but just as I was reaching for Jason’s shoulder, I saw him take Zach’s hands and kiss him passionately. I covered my mouth in terror as tears began to stream down my face. Jason and Zach both turned their attention to me while I screamed and turned to run away broken hearted.

​IV

As I was turning to run away looking like an absolute idiot and having no idea how I was going to explain myself, I tripped over something and fell onto the hard ground. Jason and Zach immediately came to my aid.

“What’s wrong, Naomi? Are you okay?” asked Zach and Jason, who were both alarmed.

“Nothing, its just that, I thought I saw the Devil!” I lied to cover up my embarrassment. “What did I trip over?” inquired myself.

As Jason was helping me up to my feet, I noticed that my genital areas no longer itched. “I must have fallen pretty hard…” I thought that I might have had a concussion.

“It looks like you tripped over a piece of antique metal. I have no idea why it would be out in the open like this, it probably came off one of those old wagons they take out here sometimes” offered Jason.

“We better take it with us because it looks like you scratched your knee on it. Showing it to the doctors might help,” suggested Zach.

After I was reluctantly brought to a doctor, I was told that I would be totally fine. Before the doctor discharged me, she brought out the object I tripped over. She said I should keep it as a memento of my trip to Golgotha.

She said she would have to do something about objects like this being left out where someone could trip over them. Adding that it was a good thing that nobody had been hurt worse. I replied that this wasn’t the only weird thing that had happened that day. I nervously confided to her that by some miracle, my anal and genital warts I had contracted from having premarital sex (as a punishment from God) had disappeared. Not seeming a bit surprised, the doctor replied that “God’s presence is alive at Calvary. Apparently, your devotion to our Lord has pleased him and He has blessed you because of this.” After that she asked if she had my permission to pray with me so that we could offer praise and thanks to God for healing me. I did not refuse.

V

The remainder of the trip went by oddly quick and involved me having to come to terms with Jason being gay. I confided my secret to my roommate Holly, and it turns out that she was profoundly helpful. She reminded me that the Lord works in mysterious ways. In the end, I was able to continue my friendship with Jason. Before leaving Jerusalem, I had processed enough of my emotions to congratulate him for expressing his true feelings to Zach. I was honestly happy that Zach felt the same way about him.

Once we got back to the states, several weeks went by without anything especially interesting happening. Until one day Dad picked up the rusted piece of metal that had been being displayed on a shelf in my room.

Being an alumnus of Georgia State anthropology department himself, he remarked that it looked like a nail that the Romans used to crucify criminals that he had studied about. What happened next was astounding. The first thing you should know is that my dad had been in a car wreck shortly after I was born and had been paralyzed from the waist down. My dad hadn’t walked in over 15 years and there was no hope that he would ever walk again.

“This might be something you could share with our Sunday school class. What do you think about that?” he asked as he was taking it out of the plastic bag the doctor had put it in before I was discharged.

“Sure dad, I had no idea that it was a nail! I thought it was something that had come off an automobile or bicycle.”

Then as my dad was holding the nail, he stopped and said something I had never heard him say. “Naomi, you’re not going to believe this, but I think I have to pee!”

Being that he had been forced to wear diapers for the past 15 years, this wasn’t something I was ever expecting to hear come out of his mouth. “In fact, I have to pee right now!” He said as he wheeled himself to the bathroom. As he lifted himself off the wheelchair, I became terrified because he started screaming.

“I can stand up! I can walk!” proclaimed my father.

VI

This had not been a coincidence, obviously my trip to Jerusalem and falling down at Calvary had been fate. When my mother came home and saw my father, we all gave thanks to Jesus and shared a cathartic cry. I also put on my big girl pants and told them about how Jesus had healed my Human Papilloma while I was at Golgotha. Puzzled and somewhat distressed that their daughter wasn’t the virgin they thought she was, my dad was reminded of the old nail I had brought back from Jerusalem.

He walked to my room and picked up the nail he had dropped before he had the urge to urinate.

“This must have been one of the nails they crucified Jesus with. In fact, if his blood is still on this, I would say that is why I can walk and our daughter’s HPV has been cured! We all looked at each other dumbfounded for several minutes. After our initial shock had passed, we held each other’s hands and prayed to praise and thank god for his blessings. Before we let our hands go, we began dancing and rejoicing over the fact that the church would finally have proof that God had one day walked the Earth!

Before we had time to let each other go, we heard banging at the front door. Looking out the window, we observed dozens of reporters outside. Turning on the TV we saw our house. Apparently, whoever Dad had told about his miracle had spread across the nation. Still very delighted and being filled with spirituality, my dad went outside to confront the reporters and the curious people about what Jesus had done for him.

VII

The news had become a world-wide phenomenon. Soon, we had been taken into protective custody and the memento I had gotten on my trip to Israel had been “temporarily” confiscated. Scientists had discovered fragments of body tissue and blood on the nails and were running a DNA analysis on it. Once the DNA had been mapped, the United States Government was hacked online and copies of the DNA had spread all over the world.

It was being called, “the miracle genes” and scientists from all over the world were being given enormous sums of money to try to clone the DNA so that more blood of Jesus could be produced. This was having a bigger impact in the world than COVID-19 had over the course of 8 months. People were talking about using the clone’s sperm for artificial insemination purposes. While all over the world scientists had discovered relatives of people of this two-thousand-year old DNA.

“Is it possible?” was the phrase being used in memes and reporters from all over the world.

So, what do you think, is it possible?

Dear Readers,

I want to personally thank you for all the support you have gifted us over the last two years. We have grown exponentially and I am constantly amazed at how blessed we have been. As you can see by the blog title, we have some updates to share. As you have seen, if you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, we are now the media production company for Landmark Worship Center. What does that entail?

We have a main team that you will see more of as time goes on: myself (Alex Burchnell), Chris Burchnell, Christin Barrett, and David Bennett. Chris is our editor for this blog as well as Landmark's. He also helps with filming when needed. Christin and David are our main production crew when it comes to filming services, podcasts, etc. They also post daily discussions on Landmark's Facebook group. 

What does this mean for our current partner program? Well, not much will change. We still accept guest blog posts, graphic designs, etc. The only requirement to be an official partner of QCFV would be to create and send in a piece at least once a month. If you cannot commit monthly you can still send in guest posts but we would not list you as a partner. We would simply have your information at the bottom of each post you send in.

If you are an existing partner this will apply to you as well. If you have questions, please email me at QueerChristianFamilyValues@gmail.com for further discussion. If we do not get a response of confirmation from you by May 15th we will remove you as a Partner with the ability to submit as a guest.

I look forward to building QCFV's ministry to promote the affirmation and inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals in the Christian faith.

Until next time,
Alexander (Alex) M. Burchnell
​President/Owner of QCFV