Two little boys near the fence spotted their “special leaves” in opposite directions and tried to retrieve them while still holding hands. They yanked hard on each other’s arm. Before a major scuffle could break out, Christy stepped in and helped Tyler find his leaf while one of the junior helpers took Benjamin’s hand and helped him find his.
“Okay, buddies, everyone holding hands? Show me your leaves in your other hand. Oh, those are all beautiful! You did a great job. Now we’re going to be quiet little mice again and go back to our room.”
The procession seemed much louder than on the way out. Christy had to stop them at the door and press her finger to her lips once more. “I want to see only quiet little mice tiptoeing down the hall. Which one of you is going to be my quietest little mouse?”
“Me!” they all said loudly.
Christy quickly pressed her finger to her lips again. “Shh! I don’t want to hear any noise. Quiet little mice don’t make any sounds at all.”
With exaggerated tiptoe steps, Christy held her new buddy’s hand and demonstrated how quietly she wanted them to walk. It was working. They held hands, still clasping their special leaves, and tiptoed to the classroom.
The nursery coordinator happened to be standing by their door and seemed delighted at what she saw. “I wondered why it was so quiet in here all of a sudden,” the woman whispered to Christy. “It looks like you had a special adventure.”
Christy nodded and led the sweet parade into the classroom. As the coordinator watched, Christy said. “Now all my little mice need to sit on the floor and carefully hold your leaf in your lap. These are special treasures! God made these leaves.”
The children took their places and looked at their autumn leaves with reverent awe, awaiting their next instruction.
“I’ve never seen this class behave so well before,” the coordinator whispered to Christy. “You’re a miracle worker! I didn’t know you had such a gift to work with children. You should become one of our regular teachers. I’ll talk to you about it afterward.”
Christy felt warm inside. She did kind of enjoy this, as long as the kids were cooperative. She didn’t do well when they were fighting and screaming.
“Okay, my little mice, you’re doing a good job! One of my helpers is going to come around and put a piece of tape on your leaf with your name on it so you’ll know which one to take home with you after class. I’m going to put all the leaves up here on the board, and then I have a very special story to tell you.”
Christy couldn’t believe how sweetly the little faces looked at her. They followed instructions and waited expectantly for her story.
After she had gathered the leaves and arranged them on the board behind her, Christy sat on the teacher’s stool and held up her Bible for all the children to see. “Do you know what this is?” she asked.
“The Bible!” they all yelled. A string of comments and pushing and tattling followed.
Okay, so I don’t ask questions unless I want a riot to break out.
“That’s right, the Bible. Now everyone listen. Quiet little mice listen to the story without making a sound.” Christy waited a moment while her helpers calmed the children.
“The Bible tells us about God. The Bible says…” Christy quickly opened to Ecclesiastes 3:1—2 and began to read. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.”
Christy noticed the next verse said, “A time to kill and a time to heal.” She didn’t think a bunch of three-year-olds would understand that, so she skipped down a few verses and read, “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Then thinking she might lose their attention if she read the entire passage, which went on for another four verses, Christy quickly summarized. “You see. there’s a time for everything.”
I wonder if the person who wrote this lesson thought about how short the attention span of a three-year-old is.
She spoke a few minutes to the now-wiggling bunch about how God is in control of everything and how He knows when it’s time for things to change.
“Right now it’s time for the leaves to change color,” Christy explained. “Everything happens according to God’s plan.”
Just then the helper from next door walked in with a tray of juice and crackers, and all concentration was lost. Still, Christy felt good about having taught her first lesson to preschoolers. Some eternal secrets were locked inside those yellow leaves, secrets about God’s design and His proper time for everything.
Even if the kids hadn’t learned much, Christy knew she had snatched a nugget of God’s truth for herself and hidden it in her heart. This morning had been a time to try something new, a time to teach toddlers. To her surprise, she enjoyed it.
As the children filled in around the small tables, a few fights broke out in their eagerness to get their snacks. This was the part Christy wasn’t good at, calming down the wild ones. She had seen Katie do it with ease and wished Katie was here now.
Then, remembering how the verses said there was a time for everything, Christy gritted her teeth as she pulled apart two squabbling toddlers.
Maybe there is ‘a time to kill,’ and that time is this afternoon when I get my hands on Katie for abandoning me!
“Well, do you know when she’ll be home?” Christy asked Katie’s brother on the phone Sunday evening. She had tried all afternoon to reach Katie, but no one had answered the phone.
“I don’t know,” her brother said.
“If it’s before ten, could you ask her to call me? Thanks.”
Christy hung up the phone and was about to head for the kitchen to find something to eat when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Todd, hi. I wish you were here.”
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Katie didn’t show up at church today. I called her all afternoon, and she wasn’t home. I just talked to her brother, and he doesn’t know when she’ll be back. She’s out with Michael; I’m sure of it. This is not a good thing.”
Christy could hear Todd chuckling on the other end of the line.
“What? You think this is funny? She’s serious about this guy. What’s so funny about that?”
“It’s not funny, but you are,” Todd said in his matter-of-fact way.
“So you think I’m funny?”
“You sound like a mother, not a best friend.”
“Todd, I can’t believe you’re making fun of me and treating this relationship between Michael and Katie like it’s nothing!” Christy let her irritation show. “He’s not a Christian; she’s falling in love with him. It’s obvious. She’s going to get hurt, Todd, or worse. And excuse me, but I happen to care about what happens to my friends!”
“Then stick with her,” Todd answered calmly.
“It’s kind of hard to stick with her when she’s out with him!”
There was only silence on the other end of the phone.
“What should I do, Todd? I am her best friend!” Christy didn’t realize how loud her voice was until Mom poked her head around the corner and peered at Christy.
More silence on the other end.
“Todd, are you even interested in participating in this conversation? I feel like it’s awfully one-sided.” Christy had lowered her voice, but she was aware the intensity of her tone had not diminished.
“I’m here, Christy.”
“Well. I wish you’d tell me what to do about all this. It’s not something to laugh about, and it’s not something to ignore. Katie is headed for big trouble if we don’t do something. Tell me what to do!”
Todd paused before saying, “I don’t know what to tell you other than to keep with her. Keep loving her. Pray.”
Now Christy felt really mad. Todd prayed all the time about everything, and Christy tried to, too. But right now her best friend was about to make the biggest mistake of her
life! Todd’s answer, obviously, was too simple.
“It’s not that easy.” Christy argued.
“Sure it is. You’re the one who’s making it so hard.”
“I am not!” Christy’s voice came out wobbly with emotion. “I can’t believe you are being so insensitive, Todd Spencer. I don’t want to talk to you anymore!” Before she knew what she was doing, Christy slammed down the receiver.
What have I done? I’ve never had an argument with Todd like that. I’ve never hung up on him. He must think I’m awful! I can’t believe I did that.
Christy immediately dialed Todd’s number, but the answering machine came on with his dad’s voice saying, “We’re not able to come to the phone right now. but if you’d like to leave a message, wait for the beep.”
Christy waited for the beep and in halting words left her message. “I—I’m sorry. Todd. If you’re there, please call me back. I’d like to talk to you about this some more. Thanks. Oh, it’s Christy. Bye.”
That has to be the dumbest message in the world. What if his dad listens to it? Is Todd there and not answering, or did he call from somewhere else?
Christy thought of how sometimes Todd drove down to see her and didn’t call until he was in town, only a few blocks from her house. He would call to see if it was a good time to come over. What if he was calling her from downtown? It was an hour and a half back to his house, so it was no small thing for Todd to come see her. She felt awful.
For the next hour Christy waited for the phone to ring. She tried watching TV, eating ice cream, and doing her nails. She went out in the garage and gave Hershey a carrot and stroked his soft fur for a while. She felt terrible.
At 9:15 the phone rang, and Christy sprang from the couch to answer it. It was a wrong number—the person didn’t even speak English. Finally at ten Christy forced herself into bed, but she lay awake in the stillness for a long time, blaming herself for hanging up on Todd and worrying about Katie. It was not a good night.
She tried to call Todd again at 7:45 the next morning, but she only got the answering machine again. She knew his dad left early for work and Todd had classes on Monday mornings, but she had hoped to catch him before he left. The thought of spending the day at school without having apologized to Todd depressed her. It almost diminished her concern for Katie. Until she saw Katie at lunchtime, that is.
Michael hadn’t arrived at their lunch spot yet. Katie was sitting by herself under the tree, so Christy rushed to get to Katie before Michael showed up.
“Katie,” Christy began breathlessly, “why weren’t you at church yesterday? You left me with a whole bunch of rug rats all by myself. Where were you?”
“Michael and I went to the beach.”
“All day? I called you all afternoon, and your brother didn’t know where you were.”
“I don’t have to check in and out with him. And what’s with you?”
Christy decided to get right to the point. “You’ve got to end this thing with Michael. You’re going to get hurt; I just know it. He’s not a Christian, is he?”
Katie looked incredulously at Christy. “I don’t know. It’s different in Northern Ireland than it is here. With the Protestants and Catholics there it’s more of a political thing. Michael believes in God.”
“Oh, great! He believes in God. That’s terrific! Do you realize what you’re doing, Katie? You’re going back on every standard you ever set. Don’t you remember in Sunday school when you were Katie Christian’ up on the chair and Peter Pagan’ pulled you down? It’s happening with Michael.”
Katie laughed. “You crack me up, Christy! You should see your face right now.” Katie imitated her with a wild, bug-eyed look, shaking her finger in Christy’s face. Katie laughed again. “Relax, will you? I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“You’re dating a non-Christian. Don’t you think that’s wrong?”
Katie thought a minute. “When you went to Disneyland with Todd a couple years ago, would you say that you were a Christian then?”
“Well, no, I wasn’t a Christian yet, but that’s different.”
“How is that different? If Todd hadn’t spent so much time with you, do you still think you would have become a Christian when you did?” Katie challenged.
“I, well, it’s not the same, Katie. That was years ago. Todd and I weren’t really dating, and I wasn’t falling in love with him the way I see you falling in love with Michael.”
“You’re daft!” Katie boldly used Michael’s word as if it was hers. “You and Todd were dating, and you did fall in love with him. Only he was the Christian and you weren’t.”
Just then Michael walked up. Christy turned on her heel, refusing to make eye contact with him. “I’ll talk to you later, Katie.”
“What’s with her?” Christy heard Michael ask Katie.
As Christy marched away, she heard Katie say, “She must have had a fight with Todd.”
Now Christy was really fuming. It was bad enough that she had gotten nowhere with Katie, but to hear her crack about having a fight with Todd was even worse, especially since it was true.
Christy found an unoccupied corner of a picnic table and tried to convince herself she was hungry enough to eat her lunch.
“Hey, Miss Chris!” came an irritatingly familiar voice behind her. She was not in the mood to talk to Fred.
“I got some great shots at the game Friday. You should have been there. I love your camera. Are you going to be needing it the rest of this week? Because if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish off this roll of film.”
“Fine.” Christy said without looking up.
“Thanks.” Fred was about to walk away when he stopped. “Are you okay?”
“Sure. I’m fine.”
“Then why are you sitting here all by yourself?”
“I need to get some homework done,” Christy lied.
Fred sat down next to her. “You’re lying, Christy. You don’t have any books with you. You’re a terrible liar, I hope you know. Boyfriend problems?”
Christy ignored him. She felt terrible.
“Problems at home?”
Christy unwrapped her sandwich and prepared to take a bite.
Fred wouldn’t give up. He bent closer and in a low voice said. “You can confide in me, Christy. Your dad is beating you, isn’t he?”
His question prompted her to crack a tiny smile since the thought of her dad beating her was so completely absurd. “No, Fred, my dad doesn’t beat me.”
“Mine does.”
Christy looked up at Fred for the first time. He was serious.
“Your dad really beats you, Fred?”
“Well, he used to, before my mom divorced him. I haven’t seen him since I was nine. I don’t even know where he lives now. The only reason I said anything was because I used to sit by myself at lunch every day when I was a kid, especially after he had beaten me and I didn’t want to hear another person ask how I got the black and blue marks.”
Fred lifted Christy’s right arm and checked both sides. “No welts. You must be telling the truth.” He smiled as if trying to make light of the subject.
“Fred,” Christy said softly, “I’m really sorry. I had no idea.”
“It’s not something you go around broadcasting, you know. Besides, he’s long gone.”
“But the memories take a little longer to go away, don’t they?” Christy almost thought she saw Fred’s eyes mist over.
“Yeah, well, life goes on. Nobody has it perfect, you know. I don’t even know why I told you. It’s not really something I’d like spread around, okay?”
Christy nodded.
Fred let out a sigh. “So you haven’t told me what your problem is.”
Christy had almost forgotten her problems with Katie, Michael, and Todd in light of Fred’s revelations. “Oh, it’s nothing really. I’m glad you came by though. I feel better. Thanks.”
“There’s the smile I was waiting for.” Before Christy could stop him, Fred l
ifted the camera and pointed it at her face for a close-up shot. “Big smile, Miss Chris!”
“Fred, don’t take my picture.” Christy put her hand in front of the lens and blocked the shot just as the camera clicked.
“Hey!” he protested. “That would’ve been a great shot. Why did you do that?”
“Because I’ve told you, I don’t want you to take my picture.”
“But it’s part of our relationship. It’s my way of documenting our year together.”
“Fred, we don’t have a relationship. Our ‘year together’ is based on us being in the same yearbook class. That’s all.”
“You can see things your way. I see things mine.”
“Fred,” Christy began, but she didn’t know what else to say. She felt frustrated. He had opened himself up and told her about his dad, and that made her feel more tender toward him. However, Fred seemed to use her sympathy to assume their relationship was progressing.
She decided to try ignoring him. It had worked in junior high with guys like Fred. Maybe he would take the hint if she ate her sandwich and didn’t talk to him.
Unfortunately, Fred seemed content to sit in silence. He dug into his own sack lunch. Every now and then he would look up and smile at people who happened to notice them, as if this were a planned lunch meeting and he and Christy were together by mutual choice.
“I need to go to my locker,” Christy said suddenly, stuffing the unfinished half of her sandwich in her bag and getting up from the table.
“I’ll go with you,” Fred quickly offered.
“That’s okay. I’m going to stop at the restroom too. You can’t come with me there.”
“Then I’ll see you in class in a few minutes.”
Christy started to walk away when Fred said softly, “And thanks for having lunch with me. Nine years is a long time to eat lunch by yourself.”
Christy kept walking but thought about how things apparently hadn’t changed much for Fred over the years. Part of her felt sorry for him and wanted to make an effort to be nicer to him. He wasn’t that bad. He had a pretty nice personality. If only he weren’t so annoying.