Taking it on Faith

By J. Camp

Ever wonder what you would ask God if given the opportunity? This is a story of a regular person who gets that opportunity to have many discussions with God.

It begins with God sending the angel Gabriel to inform Ian that the Lord wants to speak with him to the appearance of the Almighty himself. The problem is both Gabriel and God will not perform any miracles to prove who they are saying they are, and Ian Knight, the regular person, does not believe either one of them.

Ian, who is not the most religious of people but does deeply believe in God and has read the Bible from cover to cover, tries repeatedly to discredit who they claim to be.

From disbelief to laughter and from anger to tears, this book covers questions and the answers that came from them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662456862

Book preview

cover.jpg

Taking it on Faith

J. Camp

Copyright © 2022 J. Camp

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-5708-1 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-6624-5686-2 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Book 2

Chapter 1

About the Author

Acknowledgments

First, I would like to thank the readers for purchasing this book. My hope is that you are entertained, and at the very least, it causes you to think!

This book is fiction, so if you don't agree with what is written, it's fine because I made it up. It is not written to offend anyone but it may. Some of the things have actually occurred, some were played down, others were exaggerated, and the rest were based on the Bible. I never met Gabriel or God or anyone who told me they were Gabriel or God.

There are so many people I need to thank, but first, I have to thank God because those who know me know there is no way I could have completed this without some kind of supernatural help.

To my wife, JoAnn, who had way more faith and confidence in me than I did and who encouraged me when I was ready to give up; I love you and I thank you.

To my other two angels who if not for them, I may not be alive; I thank you, Mary Ann and Susanne.

To my brothers, Dan, Mike, and Roby, with whom I have had many heated discussions, thank you for your support and I love you.

Thank you, Uncle Norm and Aunt Donna, for your input and encouragement.

A special thanks to John and Cindy whose opinion and the many discussions we had, whether we agreed or not, always made me think. I valued our discussions more than you will know.

Many of my friends and coworkers helped me with questions, so thanks to Ken and Amy P., Dave and Cindy, Antoine, Chris, Ameer, Joe H., Kenness, Joe G., Paulla, Mike and Sue L., Alberto M., Darryl M., Scott and Carrie J., Roy and Sue D., Jackie S., Jenny K, Zee, Joyce, Cindy W., Wayne A., Dorian G., Makayla B., Barbara B., Ryan C. and Peggy C. If I have left anyone out, I apologize.

Thanks to the internet and numerous search engines that I used; without them, this book is a nonstarter.

I also want to thank my mother, Junette, who will never be able to read this; thank you for giving birth to me and my brothers who instilled in me my sense of values, morals, and determination in a brief amount of time that have carried me this far.

To my grandparents, Norman and Irene, thanks for taking all of us in; I know we did not make it easy.

Also thanks to Trevor and all the people at Page Publishing for their help and support and for taking a chance on my story.

Lastly, once again, I thank God. I hope you enjoy my story.

Chapter 1

In the Beginning (No, Not That One)

I know what you're thinking: What kind of asshat is this guy claiming to have had conversations with God? Well, I guess you'll form your final opinion after you've finished this book. I want to make this perfectly clear: This is the first book I've ever attempted to write or even thought about writing. In fact, up till about a year ago, all I ever did with books was read them. There are a few things I must point out: I am not a religious person. Oh, I believe in God, but I have a problem with organized religion. As a person who grew up in the late sixties and early seventies, being born in 1957, I have seen and done a lot of stupid things. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll was not just a mantra; my friends and I lived it. Sooooo if you use your imagination, I'm pretty sure you'll be close to being right on the stupidity part.

As a child and teenager, I was a liar, I stole, I drank booze, I did drugs, I sold drugs, I cheated, I swore, I gambled, I ran away, I ditched school, I masturbated, I had sex with girls, and so, so much more. In other words, I am a sinner. Oh, I almost forgot I did, and still do, the most major no-no in today's society. Anyway, I smoke (gasp) cigarettes.

I also had paper routes starting at eleven years old, both the morning and the evening editions. I have also worked full-time at various jobs since I was fourteen years old.

I like to argue or debate if you wish, and win or lose, you always learn something. I am sarcastic as hell, and I have my own morals and standards. I am neither a follower nor a leader, as I prefer to do my own thing. I love to read, yet I can't spell to save my soul. I am a walking contradiction. I do things my way, and sometimes I pay a high price. I now try not to lie because I don't like being lied to. I don't steal because I don't like being stolen from. I believe in the Golden Rule, not He who has the gold makes the rules but Do to others as you want them to do to you.

I'm telling you this because I think you need to understand this in order to understand just where I came from and am coming from. Oh, by the way, I've been married to the same woman for forty years. We have one son who's thirty-four years old. I've been at the same job for thirty-eight years. And my name is Ian Knight. I'm of German, English, and supposedly a little Blackfoot Indian decent, which would explain why I've never been sunburned. My wife's name is Sabrina. She is fifty-eight years old and is 100 percent Irish. Our son is, well, you can figure that out, and I am going to be sixty shortly.

In order not to be too repetitive, I won't go into any more personal information because, well, when having a conversation with God, a lot of things come out, and believe me, it is not always good.

Anyway, this is the way it all went down: It was a sunny Saturday in early April, around two o'clock in the afternoon. There was a slight breeze, and the trees and flowers were coming to life. College students from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb were shopping and doing what college kids do. Sabrina was at work, and I had just finished the grocery shopping.

I hadn't had a good week, as I had a seven-day anxiety attack basically about whatever my mind could come up with, and I tried to fight it off with logic, which was really easier said than done. Those of you with anxiety know what I'm talking about. I hadn't eaten much in that period of time, and I decided to grab a sandwich at my favorite fast-food restaurant, Potbelly's.

What would you like? asked the girl behind the counter.

I told her, I'll have a roast beef, double meat, double cheese, and a chocolate shake.

When it came out of the toaster thing, she asked what I wanted on it.

Everything and some juice from the hot peppers was my reply.

I paid for the food and decided to eat outside at one of the tables. Sitting with the sunlight on my face because I love the feeling of the sun on my skin (did I mention I don't sunburn?), I started to eat.

I was about a third of the way through my meal when the most amazingly beautiful man I had ever seen came up to my table (now I'm not gay, but I know no other words to describe him). He was dressed in what I guess you would call business casual—dark-blue long-sleeved shirt, black slacks, and black loafers. He looked about twenty-four years old and about six foot four, had shoulder-length jet-black hair, and was about two hundred fifteen pounds. I mean, he looked as solid as a rock. But when he took off his shades, what really stood out were his eyes—the greenest eyes I had ever seen, emerald green, with what I could only describe as a hint of sparkles.

Excuse me, he said in a deep yet melodic voice. May I sit here? he continued, motioning to the chair across from me.

I took a look around, and there were two vacant tables, one behind me and one to the right of me. I said, Why? There are vacant tables right there, nodding to them.

I would like to speak with you came his reply.

Considering that was a college town, bells and whistles went on in my head immediately as a lot of things ran through my mind. He wants to sell me something I probably don't want or need, an opinion polltaker on whatever, a religious zealot who wants to save my soul, or something along those lines. He's hitting on me, which definitely made no sense to me as I am not gay. I'm old enough to be his grandfather, and with his looks, why would he want me, just your average-looking old fart, when he could most likely have his choice of whomever he wanted?

My brilliant response was Umm, about what? I took a bite of my sandwich, almost chocking on it, as I watched a young lady miss the curb because she was staring at this young man. She almost did a face-plant on the sidewalk, catching herself with her right hand, skinning it a bit.

He turned his head toward the young lady, asking her if she was all right. He went to her.

She said yes and seemed to blush from head to toe as she made eye contact with him. I just skinned my hand a touch, clumsy me.

He helped her up by taking her hand, the one that was skinned. He looked at it and said, It will be fine shortly. He wished a good afternoon to her and returned to my table.

She slowly walked away, turning to look back at him several times before she was finally out of sight.

Again, sir, may I sit and speak to you?

Well, I thought, he seemed to be nice enough. Sure, I replied. What can I do for you? I asked.

My name is Gabriel, he began, and I would like to speak to you on behalf of the Father.

Okay, now I know he's a Jesus freak, and I know where this is going, I remember thinking, but I said nothing, allowing him to continue as I continued to eat my sandwich.

The Father would like to meet you and discuss something.

I continued to eat and just looked at him, waiting for him to go on. He said nothing and just sat there, looking at me as if waiting for a reply. I took a drink from my shake, and we sat in silence for what seemed like forever. His face was showing no emotion, just content to wait for me to say something, which was really getting on my nerves.

I finally gave in or maybe had enough. I just came here to eat in peace and try to get out of my own head, and instead, I have to deal with this shit. Well, enough is enough, I thought. Look, I don't know what the hell you want or what kind of game you're trying to play, but either way, I am not some dumbass that's going to buy or donate anything to anyone with that bullshit line. And furthermore, I don't know you or your father or why in the hell he would feel the need to speak to me about anything. I guess I was getting juuuuust slightly worked up, but who wouldn't with someone just sitting there, watching you?

I still got no reaction from Gabriel. He just sat there, looking at me with an almost amused look on his face, which, in hindsight, was probably right when you consider he looked like he could have thrown me into the next county with one hand.

Finally, he spoke, I, nor the Father, are not asking you to donate or buy anything from us. All I am tasked to do is to ask you to meet with him. I do not know about what, as he did not tell that information to me, but I can assure you he is not going to ask you for currency of any kind.

I ask you, Who the hell talks like that? I mean, task? Currency instead of money or cash? What is going on here? I finished my sandwich, saying nothing, just wanting to get the hell out of there.

By the way, he started again, "I did not say he was my father. I said the Father. Though technically speaking, I guess he is also my father."

I told you that I have anxiety, which sometimes makes me prone to overreactions. Look, I said as I glanced around, there are people all around you, looking at you. You could most likely talk to anyone of them. Please go talk to anyone of them. I am sure you would not have any problem getting into a conversation with whoever. Trying to keep myself in check, I said, Now if you don't mind, I really have to go.

I started to leave when he spoke, Please, Ian, I do not mean any harm, nor did I mean to upset you. Please try to relax and give me just a few more minutes of your time.

Warning bells sounded in my head. I didn't remember saying my name at any time, so how did he know it? I ran the conversation through my head. Nope, I definitely did not tell him my name. This, I thought, had gone from weird to downright spooky, and relaxing was about the last thing that was going to happen.

All right, I thought, if he wants to play games, let's play. I took out my cigarettes and lighter and fired one up. First, I said, how the fuck do you know my name? If you're going to ask me any stupid questions along the lines of ‘Have you heard the word of the Lord today?' or ‘Have you found the Lord?,' I'll give you my standard answers to save us both sometime. Hell, I figured maybe he would take offense and would go away. If not, I would probably end up in a garbage can or worse, but I was done playing games. No, I haven't heard the word of the Lord today. But I did hear it yesterday, or maybe it was the day before. Or if it's like a password, how would I know his word? As far as ‘Have I found the Lord?,' I didn't know he was missing. Now please explain to me how the fuck you know my name because I'm damn sure I didn't tell you it.

As calm as he could be and with a slight chuckle in his voice, he spoke, Now, Ian, you're going to set yourself off if you don't calm down, and neither one of us wants that. The Father told me your name and a little bit about you when he sent me to give you his message about speaking to you. I've already told you he has not told me what it concerns. He continued, Ian, there is no reason to be upset. This is not a joke, nor, as I've already said, no one is here to hurt you. Now you need to understand, this is not really a request. This is a message telling that you will be meeting the Father soon, so whatever questions you have that I have the answers to, I will answer for you.

You have to understand that I'm only five foot eleven and about one hundred seventy pounds and not in the greatest shape of my life. I have always been thin, more built for speed than anything else. I have been in more than a few fights in my life for various reasons, most of which would be because of my big mouth. I have this thing where, if I believe I am right, I don't back down until I'm proven wrong. In other words, my mouth writes checks that my ass usually has to pay for. Anyway, being damn near sixty years old, I have to be a little smarter now than before. That means keeping my mouth in check, and sometimes it actually happens. Of course, this was not one of those times.

I finished my cigarette, putting the butt in my now-almost-empty shake cup. Okay, let's begin the questions. I lit another cigarette. We have until this is done, then I'm leaving. Got it?

You know, you really should quit smoking, he said.

No shit, if it were that easy, I would have done it by now came my reply. All right, Gabriel, first question is, who is the Father?

His one-word reply was God. That was not the answer I was expecting. What I was expecting was a church leader—you know, a pastor, a Catholic father, or hell, maybe even a cult leader. But God? I thought, This guy is nuts, and then it hit me—prank.

I was in a college town. Maybe it was one of those TV shows like Candid Camera or the one that was on MTV or VH1 or whatever channel those shows were on. I started to really look around, looking into Potbelly's for any sign of a camera. Nope, there was nothing that I could see other than their security cameras. I checked the awning, the trees, and the cars that were close to us. I still found nothing. That was the only explanation I could come up with. I reasoned they wanted to screw around with an old man and see how his reactions would be, and I was it.

I relaxed a bit, figuring, What the heck! Let's see where this goes and have some fun with it. "Okay, Gabriel, let's, for the sake of shits and giggles. I don't think you're one card shy of a full deck. Do you really think I believe that God, the Creator, wants to talk to me—a fifty-nine-year-old letter carrier from Illinois with maybe more than a little problem with religion? Hell, I haven't even been to church in, at least, ten years, maybe more, and you expect me to believe that out of all the billions of people in this planet, God wants to talk to me? Not the pope or the Dalai Lama or any of the other religious leaders that I don't know their name or titles of? Me, Ian Knight, basically a nobody in the grand scheme of things?" I wondered how that would play on camera, still looking around from time to time for said cameras.

He seemed to inhale deeply, letting out a slow sigh. This was a lot easier in the old days. I showed up, and people would bow down. I said what I had to say. They would believe me, and I left. Those are all questions that the Father will answer for you when you meet, but I assure you that I have all my cards in my deck. He continued, If the Father wanted to speak with the pope or any of the others that you mentioned, then he would have. The reason he would speak to you is known only to him. As your people say, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

This is almost done, I said, motioning to my cigarette. So any question I ask, you're going to tell me only God can answer?

No, he replied, only questions that I don't know the answers to will be answered in that manner. If you ask me a question I know the answer to, I will answer honestly.

All right, let's see about that. Question one, who are you?

I am Gabriel.

Where are you from?

Heaven.

I really should have seen that answer coming. But it gave me an idea, so I ventured on. If you're really from heaven, what's your rank there?

I don't know what you mean, he said, looking a bit confused.

Are you a seraphim, cherubim, regular old angel? What is your position in heaven?

I am an archangel.

If I remember correctly from eight years of Lutheran school [nine if want to count kindergarten], wasn't Gabriel the messenger of the Lord?

Yes, he said with pride. I am the Lord's messenger. I have brought tidings from the Lord to many people.

Other than Mary, who else did you speak to?

Daniel, Zechariah, and Joseph. Also, I spoke with Mary Magdalene, which you know; Mary, the mother of James; and Salome. There were others, but you would not have heard of them.

Okay, I said. Let's try something a little different. I was still looking for cameras. What is the devil's real name?

Lucifer, of course. Why do you ask me things that you know the answers to?

I had finished my smoke by now, but I didn't want to leave just yet. I'm the type of person who, when people come to the door to talk about their religion, gets into discussions with them, and it always drives Sabrina nuts. Hell, if she were here right now, she probably would have biffed me in the head. Well, I can't ask you questions that I don't know the answers to, now can I? I mean, you could just make up something, and I'm just supposed to believe it? All right then, what does Lucifer's name mean?

Lucifer's name means ‘morning star, bringer of light.' He continued, His name was changed to Satan by the Father, which means ‘adversary.' He has also been named Abaddon, the beast, Beelzebub, and Belial and called many more. Liar, thief, the devil, the deceiver—

Yeah, yeah, I get the gist, I interrupted. So you knew him, right?

Of course, I knew him. Since the Father created us, we had been together, but he betrayed us. He betrayed the Father. He was the most powerful of the cherubim.

Now we're getting somewhere, I thought. But as my mind started to go into debate mode, it was halted by the words Lucifer and cherubim. I forgot all about looking for any signs of cameras. Damn, I said to myself, I've really got to pay more attention to what this schmuck is saying.

Whoa, I said aloud, that ends the you're-an-angel bull. I sat back in the chair, feeling more than a little smug.

Why do you say that? he asked with a look of confusion on his face.

Dude, you just told me Lucifer was a cherubim, and everyone knows he was an archangel, one of the most powerful as far as I can tell, given the fact that he started a revolt against God. So once again, I'll ask you, who are you, and what the hell do you want from me? I had kept my voice low and stared into those beautiful eyes, still wanting to check again for cameras but resisting the urge to do so in order to see his reaction to my calling him out.

Ian, I have already told you who I am. I'm sorry if you think I have deceived you in anything I have told you. He slowly sighed, and his shoulders dropped a touch before he continued. Lucifer was not an archangel, Ian. I cannot help what or the way people think or interpret what they read. I can tell you that when we were created, the Father made seven archangels, and rest assured, Lucifer was not one of us. He was, however, the most powerful of all the cherubim, and I'm not speaking of just in strength but also intelligence, personality, and wit. His position was the head of all cherubim, and he was also what you would refer to as a friend of mine. The names of the seven archangels are Jedudiel, Selaphiel, Uriel, Raphael, Barachiel, Michael, and me, seven of us, as in the Lord's number and also the days of your week. Ian, I cannot help what you were taught or what you assumed to be true in your beliefs. I can only tell you what I know, but if you think about it, what reason would I have to deceive you?

I was silent for a while as I thought about his question. Then I started to laugh. Think about why you would deceive me? I've been sitting here, thinking about why the fuck you're here talking to me at all.

As I said, the Father wants to speak to you.

I truly cannot figure out why I continued to stay there, but I did stay. Okay, we will have to come back to that, so what went wrong? What did he do to get his butt kicked out of heaven? I had to ask, thinking, Let's see you answer these questions.

Lucifer was a prideful angel, not at the beginning, but once mankind was created, he seemed to change. He became jealous or envious of mankind and Adam and Eve. He thought that they were not worthy of the attention that the Father was giving them. To Lucifer, they were like pets, something lower than the lowest of angels. Not really worthy of anything. He started to think he was better than all the other angels, that he should be the one that we should follow and not the Father. I can't begin to describe to you the hurt we all felt or the happiness when the Father told him to leave.

I was watching his face to see if I could tell if he was lying, but all I saw, as far as I could tell, was sorrow. This guy seemed to actually believe what he was telling me. I remembered to look for cameras, and I did so, still not finding any. I figured I would cut to the chase, so to speak. Gabe, you do realize I'm not buying any of this shit, right? I mean, no offense, but where are the cameras?

Ian, I don't understand what cameras you are referring to. He truly seemed confused as to what I was asking him.

"Look, I think I figured out what this all about. This is some kind of Candid Camera kind of show, isn't it? So you got me. Now where are the cameras? I said as I looked left then to the right. I can't see any of them, so either you did a fantastic job of hiding them or I'm blind or just stupid."

There are no cameras, Ian, and this is not a television show. I'm merely here to give you the message that the Lord is going to come to you because he wants to talk with you. Ian, I've already told you this a few times. You know, this was a whole lot easier in the older days, he said more to himself than to me. These modern times, while entertaining, can be a little confusing to us. Your trust in your fellow man as well as the things that you are told and shown seems to be met with skepticism. God has given you a beautiful place to live, yet you pollute it. You have animals and fish and vegetables in plenty, yet people starve, he said, looking a bit pissed off.

Okay, I thought I had already told him a few times that I was not buying the bullshit, so there was no need to keep repeating myself on that. But the things he just said rang true when you think about it. Also, I realized that I no longer thought of him as a threat to my safety. I still thought he wasn't playing with a full deck, mind you, but I came to the conclusion that he really did believe in what he was saying.

I checked my watch and was surprised that we had been talking for a little over an hour. (My, how time flies when you're having…fun?) Sabrina would be getting off work in a few hours. The groceries, at least the cold ones, were in the cooler in the SUV. I really didn't have anything important to do, so why not continue the conversation? I said to myself because quite frankly, I found this more than a little bit intriguing.

Gabriel, I said softly, let me try to get you to understand a few things first before we get back to the angels-versus-the-devil thing, okay?

He nodded.

I can't speak for the whole world, but I will speak on what I know or, at least, what I think I know. Does that sound good?

Again, he nodded, so I continued.

First, try to put yourself in my place. A guy you've never met or never even seen before—and believe me, I would remember seeing you before—comes up to you and tells you that God, the Big Guy, Lord of Lords, the Main Man wants to speak to you, basically a nobody in the grand scheme of things. What would you think? You'd think the guy was a nutjob. Let's be realistic here. God hasn't been heard from by any person since, if I remember correctly, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Anyway, so this guy tells you God wants to talk to you after all these years—no, centuries. And he wants to talk to you, a person that hasn't been to church in more than a few years and has a major problem with organized religion. Oh, I forgot, this person tells you he's an angel. Not only that, but the angel Gabriel, one of the few angels mentioned by name in the Bible. Don't you think that if this were to happen to you that you wouldn't be skeptical or think that he was a little off or, worst-case scenario, he was a religious fanatic? And in this day and age, that could be a dangerous thing.

He started to speak, but I cut him off.

Please let me finish before you ask any questions or say anything because I may forget what I wanted to say.

All right, he said, so I continued.

Where was I? Oh yeah, all you have is his word that he is who he says he is with no proof of any kind, no glowing aura or whatever, no miracles, so how could anyone expect you to believe he's telling you the truth? All that being said, let's, for the sake of shits and giggles, say you were to believe him. Now what do you think? God wants to talk to you, you—a person who smokes, swears, drinks, did many drugs, and so many things you don't remember them all. You, a person who is not quite sure where you're going to end up when you're dead, and it scares the hell out of you. As far as this planet is involved, yes, it is a beautiful world, and it has a lot of bad in it. Yes, we pollute it, but one day, we'll figure it out and hopefully clean up the mess we have made. Greed is the reason in my mind that people are starving. I could be wrong. I've been wrong before and will be again, which is another reason to question why God would want to talk to me, as I truly don't know shit. I sat back and took another smoke out and lit it while he seemed to ponder what I had hit him with.

I am sorry that I can't show you my angelic form. There are many reasons as to why I am not allowed to do so. I can't tell you all the reasons, but as I said earlier, I will tell you what I am allowed. If I were to come to you in your sleep, you would most likely think that it was just a dream. If I were to come to you in my angelic form while others were around, that wouldn't work out well at all, as God does not wish to speak with them, at least as of yet. Also, it would tend to, using your terms, freak people out, yourself included. We know that you have mental issues, so I was told that I could not show you how I look so it wouldn't set you off.

Whoa, I said. Let me get this straight. God told you that you can't show me that you are really an angel because of my anxiety problems, but I'm just supposed to believe that what you say is the truth. I continued, Sorry, dude, God is supposed to know all, and if what you say is the truth, then he would know that I am not the type of person that's going to buy it on words alone. Let me put it a different way for you. If I was one of the apostles, I would be Thomas. Hell, I would be Thomas on steroids. I doubt more things than I believe. That includes believing in me at times. I try not to speak in definitives because I could be wrong. Or it's like tempting fate, and I try never to tempt fate because when I do, fate always seems to say, ‘Gotcha.'

Gabe shook his head and smiled. You do know that is not the way things work, Ian.

For some, I replied, but that seems to be what happens with me. I am not a superstitious person by nature, but why tempt fate? And yes, I do realize how that sounds, sort of hypocritical, I know.

Excuse me, we heard and turned to where the voice had come from. I'm Mindy, the girl you helped up.

Obliviously she was speaking only to Gabriel. She was with four other girls whom she introduced as Sue, Donna, Mandy, and Fred—short for Fredrica. Mindy was a brunette and was around five foot four and maybe weighed about 115 pounds. She had round eyes that were a light green in color and had added a little makeup since we last saw her. She had also changed into different