Authors: Melody Carlson
The next morning, Emily seemed to be a little more cheerful as she rode to church with Morgan and her mom and grandma. Amy wasn’t able to join them today. She had to help out in her family’s restaurant since her sister had come down with the flu, but she promised to come another time.
“You didn’t wear the new dress you made,” observed Emily as they sat together in the backseat.
Morgan shrugged and rubbed her hands over her jeans. “I didn’t feel like it today. It’s so foggy and cool this morning, it seemed more like a blue-jeans day.” She smiled.
Emily looked down at her own jeans, running her finger over the patch that Morgan had made.
“Besides, like I said, you can wear whatever you like at my church.”
As usual, Morgan’s mom parked the car behind the church, which was located at the end of a somewhat-rundown strip mall.
“It doesn’t really look much like a church,” Morgan explained as they got out. “But that’s because it used to be a shoe store.”
“But it’s got a lot of soul,” joked Grandma as they walked toward the back door.
Morgan normally sat in the front row. She grinned and greeted her church friends, pausing to introduce Emily to a few as they made their way down the center aisle. She hoped that Emily wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable being here.
“I always sit up here,” she whispered to her. “That’s because when we first started going here, no one sat in the front row, and I always felt sorry for the pastor. It was like no one wanted to get very close to him —like they thought he had the chicken pox or something. So I decided to make it my special mission to sit right here.” She nodded at some high school girls also sitting in the front row. “See, they always sit up here now too. And Pastor George likes it. He calls us the cheering section.”
Morgan noticed that the college girls, as usual, were dressed pretty cool. She fingered one of her braids. She would’ve liked to have worn her new dress today. She knew that some of the girls might even have commented on it. They thought she had style. But knowing that Emily would be wearing blue jeans made her decide to dress down as well. Besides, as Grandma often reminded her, “church isn’t a place for showing off.”
“Good morning, everyone!” boomed a voice from up front, jarring Morgan back to the present. A young man
with shaggy blond hair smiled at the congregation. “Isn’t it great to be alive? And isn’t it great to know the one who makes life worth living? My friends and I came all the way from Vancouver, British Columbia, to share about all the amazing things that God has done in our lives.” Background music started up and the group began to sing. Morgan blinked her eyes in surprise. Boy, could they sing! This was like having a front-row seat at a first-rate concert.
“Aren’t they great!” whispered Morgan after they finished their first song.
Emily nodded enthusiastically. “They’re awesome, Morgan.”
After a couple of songs, the group did a skit about a girl who decided to steal money from her parents and then run away from home. But the runaway, played by a pretty red-haired girl, only found hard times and bad luck. Finally she decided to return to her family. She thought her father might reject her and throw her back out. But instead he greeted her with open arms. Then the girl who played the role of the runaway explained how God was like that—always ready and waiting to invite his children back. She shared about how her own life had been a mess, but then God had straightened it out.
Morgan glanced at Emily, wondering if she was taking all this in. It seemed like, more than anything, Emily could use a heavenly Father right now. Would she be ready to
invite him into her heart someday?
Finally the group sang their last song, and the blond guy began to speak into the microphone in a quiet voice. “Maybe you’ve known Jesus for your whole life, or maybe you’re just meeting him for the first time today. It doesn’t really matter. We’re all his kids, and he’s just waiting for each one of us to come to him and place our hearts in his hands.”
Morgan glanced at Emily again, and she could tell that Emily was feeling nervous. Was it because God was knocking on the door of her heart? Or because she was in a strange church? Whatever it was, Morgan decided it was time to pray. She bowed her head and asked God to show Emily how much he loved her. God could do that. Morgan knew it.
“And it doesn’t matter what condition our hearts are in,” continued the man. “They can be heavy, or broken, or even full of all kinds of gunk. Jesus doesn’t care. Because he can fix them. He can clean out the gunk, and he can make them better than new. And do you know why? Because he loves us. Because he wants to live in our hearts. All we need to do is just invite him in. If you want to invite him in again, or even for the first time, go ahead and stand up right where you are. Go ahead. He is waiting for you.”
Without looking to the left or right, Morgan stood up. She knew she was doing it as much for Emily as for
herself. But she meant it just the same. She had no problem inviting Jesus into her heart again and again and again. She knew that he was there all the time anyway. Nothing wrong with saying, “Make yourself comfortable, Jesus.” Now, if only Emily would do the same.
Just then, Morgan felt a brush of movement next to her and from the corner of her eye, she could see that Emily had shifted in her seat. Morgan shut her eyes tight. She knew that this was Emily’s decision. So she just stood there with her head bowed, praying for Emily and echoing the words to the prayer that the man in front was leading.
Then the prayer was done and Morgan could see that Emily was still seated. She sat down next to her and felt a wave of disappointment. It seemed that Emily, more than anyone Morgan knew, needed God in her life right now. Why hadn’t she stood up?
After the service, without even waiting for Morgan, Emily stood up and left. Worried that something was wrong, Morgan followed and they ended up in the women’s restroom.
“Are you okay?” Morgan asked Emily.
Emily nodded. But Morgan could see tears in Emily’s eyes.
“What’s wrong?” asked Morgan, seriously concerned for her new friend.
“I think I just invited Jesus into my heart,” Emily whispered.
Morgan’s eyes grew wide. “Really?”
Emily nodded again.
“But you didn’t stand.”
“I know.” Emily frowned. “Does that mean it’s not real?”
“No, of course it’s real,” said Morgan. “If you prayed, it’s real.”
“Oh, good.” Then Emily really did begin to cry. But, unlike yesterday’s tears, these looked like happy tears. Joyful tears! “It sure does feel like it’s real,” she said to Morgan.
“I’m so excited for you!” Morgan hugged her. “It’ll be so great to have a best friend who’s a Christian too! This is fantabulous!” She looked at Emily’s tearstained face. Did Emily fully understand what she’d just done? Had she really meant it? “You’re sure about this, aren’t you? I mean, you really did
want
to invite Jesus into your heart, right?”
Emily sucked in her breath with a creased brow, as if she was really considering Morgan’s question. Then finally she nodded. “Yeah, I really did. But it just seems so strange, you know. But like I said, I can feel that something is different inside me. It’s kinda hard to explain.”
“That’s just how it is,” said Morgan. “Having Jesus in your heart is kinda hard to explain. But you know it when it’s real.”
“Well, I
know
it.” She smiled now. “And I actually feel pretty good, Morgan. In fact, I feel really great!”
“This is so fantastic, Em!” Morgan squeezed Emily’s arm. “Let’s go back to the sanctuary and talk to the band. I’ll bet we can get their autographs. Maybe I can talk Mom into letting me get a CD for them to sign. Aren’t they cool? I wish I could do something like this someday. Wouldn’t it be fun?” Morgan tugged Emily toward the front where some other kids were already lining up to meet the band members.
“Thanks for bringing me here today, Morgan,” said Emily with happy eyes. “This is so cool.”
Morgan hugged her again. “Totally cool. Not only are we friends now, but we’re sisters too. Sisters in the Lord, Emily!”
Emily grinned. “Awesome!”
As it turned out, Morgan’s mom bought both girls a CD. “That way you can each have a different one,” she said, handing the CDs to them while they were still standing in line. “Then you can trade off when you want to.”
“And we can get them signed!” said Morgan. “Thanks, Mom!”
Emily thanked her too. Then she turned to Morgan. “Your mom is so cool.”
Morgan nodded. “Yeah, I know.”
The girls got their signatures and chatted happily as Morgan’s mom drove them home. Then they were barely out of the car before they heard Carlie yelling.
“Morgan!” she called out, waving as she ran toward them. “Emily!”
“Hey, Carlie,” said Morgan. “What’s up? You look like you just won the lottery or something.”
“Well, it’s not quite that good,” admitted Carlie. “But it is exciting. Tia Maria just told me some great news.”
“What’s that?” asked Emily.
“We can get plants for free!”
“Plants for free?” Morgan frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“To plant around the place,” said Carlie. “My aunt said we just go to the forest-service station and ask for a permit. And then we can go into the woods and dig some things up that can be transplanted here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And Dad said he’ll even take us in his pickup to do it.” She frowned. “But not until next weekend. We can’t get the permit today anyway.”
“Still, that’s good news, Carlie,” said Morgan. She looked over to where they’d cleared the garbage and weeds away. “It is looking pretty bare over there.”
“So, let’s all plan on going out in the woods with my dad next weekend,” Carlie told them. “And prepare to get dirty!” She grinned, rubbing her hands together as if there was nothing better than getting dirty. “I’m going to call Amy and tell her the good news.”
“Amy is working at the restaurant today,” said Emily.
“Yeah, but did you hear that her dad got her a cell phone?”
“Her own cell phone?” Morgan tried not to feel jealous.
“Yeah.” Carlie nodded. “She told him a little about the bullies, and he went out and got her a cell phone yesterday. He told her that she was to call the police if they ever bug us again.”
“Really?” Morgan was surprised, not so much because Mr. Ngo had told Amy to call the police, but that Amy had told her parents. Morgan had hoped that this was something they could handle themselves.
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” said Emily. “Just in case that Derrick Smith tries to do something again.”
“Yeah,” agreed Morgan. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he did.”
“He’s such a jerk,” said Carlie. “I think we still need to be careful.”
“So, do we all walk to school together again tomorrow?” asked Emily.
“Of course,” said Morgan. “No use taking chances. Even if Amy does have a cell phone, we still need to stick together.”
Carlie grinned. “Good.”
“See you at 7:50,” called Emily as she started walking toward her house.
Morgan smiled to herself as she went into her own house. As weird as it was, she almost hoped that the bullies weren’t ready to give up yet. It seemed like it was their attacks that brought the girls together in the first place. Hopefully they could keep it up long enough that the girls would all be fast friends by the time summer vacation started.
“Are you running away from home?” Morgan’s mom asked.
Morgan grinned. “No, Mom.”
“Well, what’s with the duffel bag?”
“Just some things I don’t really need.”
“Like what?” Mom set her newspaper aside and peered curiously at Morgan.
“Just some clothes.” Morgan shrugged. “I have a lot of clothes, you know.”
“I know. But what are you going to do with those?”
“They’re for a friend.”
“A friend?”
Morgan sat down on the couch next to Mom now. “I can’t really give you all the details. But Emily doesn’t really have many clothes right now. I think they moved here in such a hurry that their stuff isn’t here yet, you know?”
Mom nodded. “Oh.”
“Yeah, and so I thought I could share. I mean, I don’t need all the clothes I have, and Emily’s been wearing the same jeans every day since she’s been here.”
Mom smiled. “Morgan, I think that’s a great idea. But Emily is a few inches shorter than you. Did you pick out
things that will fit?”
“Yeah. In fact, I found some things I’d actually outgrown.”
“Is there anything else her family might need?” asked Mom. “You know that Grandma and I would be happy to share.”
“I don’t know,” admitted Morgan. “But I can ask Emily.”
“I hope this won’t make her feel embarrassed,” said Mom.
“I thought about that,” admitted Morgan. “I decided that I’m going to tell her it’s a God thing. And that God wants his children to share with each other. And so she can’t be offended. Unless she wants to get mad at God, that is. And I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
Mom laughed. “No, I don’t think that’s such a good idea either. Let me know if we can help.”
Morgan put a duffel-bag strap over her shoulder and went outside. She hoped she didn’t run into Carlie or Amy just now. She wasn’t sure what she would say to them. More than anything, she wanted to respect Emily’s privacy. She knew that it had been hard for Emily to open up to her. It might be too much to have Carlie and Amy in on this too.
Morgan glanced both ways, but the neighborhood looked pretty quiet just now. So, shooting up a quick
prayer, she darted down the street toward Emily’s house. And soon she was knocking at the door.
“It’s just me,” she called out. “Morgan!”
“Hi, Morgan,” said Emily, opening the door. “Come on in.”
“Sorry to just pop in unexpectedly again,” began Morgan. “I would’ve called … “
“What’s up?” asked Emily. “You moving in or something?”
Morgan laughed. “Not exactly.”
“So, what’s with the suitcase?”
“Well, I was doing some closet cleaning this afternoon, and I noticed that some of my clothes were getting too small. I think I’ve grown about three inches this past year. Even my feet got bigger. I used to wear size 6 shoes last fall, and now I’m wearing 8s. I hope they don’t keep growing.”
“I wear a 6,” said Emily.
“Yeah, so I was thinking maybe you could use some of these things.” Morgan set the bag on the floor with a thump.
“Really?” Emily stared down at the bag. “You’re giving me this?”
“You don’t mind, do you?” Morgan braced herself. “I mean, I don’t want to offend you, but I was thinking that since we’re sisters in the Lord and everything … well, sisters share things, you know.”
Emily grinned. “I don’t mind at all, Morgan. I’m sick of wearing the same jeans every day.” She picked up the bag now. “I can’t wait to see what’s in here. Want to come into my room while I check it out?”
“Sure.” Morgan felt pleased at how easy this was. But when she stepped into Emily’s room, she had a shock. Other than an air mattress, some blankets, and a pillow, the place was stark and empty—no personal items, no pictures on the walls, no color.
“Make yourself at home,” said Emily sarcastically. “Not much, is it?”
“No … but it’s like a blank canvas, Emily. Just think of all we could do with it. Raw potential.”
Emily sighed. “Maybe
you
could do something with it, Morgan. But it looks pretty hopeless to me.”
“I could definitely do something with it. Will you let me help you fix it up?”
“Really?” Emily’s eyes lit up.
“It’d be fun!”
“Hey, knock yourself out.” Emily unzipped the bag now, pulling out a pair of khaki pants that were too short for Morgan. “Wow, these are great, Morgan.” And just like that, Emily whipped off her jeans and pulled up the khakis. “And they fit too!”
“They look good on you, Emily,” said Morgan with excitement. She reached into the bag and pulled out a pale
blue T-shirt. “This would look good with them.”
The next thing she knew, Emily had on the T-shirt. “How does it look?”
“Fantastic,” said Morgan. “The blue is perfect with your eyes.”
“I wish I had a mirror,” said Emily.
“How about the bathroom?”
So they went into the bathroom, where Emily stretched to see her new hand-me-down outfit in the mirror above the sink.
“Hang on,” said Morgan. “I’ll be right back.”
Then she dashed over to her house where she quickly bagged up some extra hangers for the clothes and then put a full-length mirror under her arm.
“Moving out?” asked Grandma as Morgan walked through the kitchen.
“Mom will explain,” she said as she hurried past.
Soon she was back in Emily’s room, where Emily proceeded to try on all the clothes, checking them out in the mirror. Morgan hung them one by one on hangers and put them in the closet. Finally they were done, and Emily was back in the khakis and blue T-shirt. She threw her arms around Morgan. “Thank you so much!”
“There’s another thing,” said Morgan as she reached down to pull a New Testament from a zipper pocket in the bag. “I have several Bibles, and this is a spare. I thought
that since you invited Jesus into your heart … well … you might want to start reading it.”
“Thank you!” exclaimed Emily. “You’re the best friend ever, Morgan.”
Morgan could feel herself beaming. “You are too, Emily.”
“I don’t see how,” said Emily. “I mean, here you are giving me things and helping me and taking me to church … I haven’t done much of anything to be a good friend.”
Morgan laughed. “Hey, you needed me. That’s pretty cool.”
Emily smiled. “Well, someday I’ll repay you—for everything.”
Now Morgan looked around Emily’s room again. Other than having some colorful items of clothes in her closet, it still looked pretty sad. “So, were you serious about letting me fix up your room?”
“Of course. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to, Morgan. You’ve already done so much.”
“Hey, I can’t think of anything that’d be more fun, Emily.” Morgan glanced at her watch. “It’s almost two now. I need to work on some things. Is it okay if I come back in a couple of hours?”
“Fine with me,” said Emily. “I’m the only one here anyway.”
Morgan grinned. “Okay. See you around four.”
“Mom?” called Morgan as soon as she got into the house. “Where are you?”
“In here,” called Mom from the laundry room.
“Mom!” exclaimed Morgan. “It was so cool. Emily loved absolutely everything, and she tried it all on and we hung it up in her closet and she told me that I can even fix up her room. I mean, all she has in there is this air mattress and some bedding and I’m going to—”
“Slow down,” said Mom, placing a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “And take a breath.”
“Sorry, but it’s just so exciting. Do you know that it’s fun helping others?”
Mom smiled. “It is, isn’t it?”
“Anyway, I just remembered that we still have a lot of things in Grandma’s storage shed, don’t we?”
Mom nodded. “Yes, that had occurred to me too—things from our old apartment that didn’t fit in here. And I’ve been worried that some things will get ruined from the moisture. Do you want to help me go through it?”
“Yeah!”
So Morgan and Mom spent the next couple of hours sorting and sifting through the storage shed. Morgan found pillows and pictures and a lamp and a rug that would cover the stain of Texas just perfectly. They loaded an assortment of items into the car, and by four o’clock they were driving the treasure over to Emily’s house.
“This is so beautiful,” said Emily as she held a purple and green pillow.
“I’m glad you like it,” said Mom. “I’m afraid a lot of our things will be ruined if we leave them in storage much longer. Do you think your mom could use anything? I mean, until your other things arrive?”
Emily glanced at Morgan.
“I told her about how your furniture and things haven’t gotten here yet.”
Emily nodded. “Yeah, and it could be quite a while before they do.”
“Well, if you think your mom wouldn’t mind,” said Cleo, “I’d love to get some of my things out of the storage unit. I noticed that one of my chairs has been nibbled on by mice.”
“You can ask my mom when she gets here in a couple of hours,” offered Emily. “I don’t think Mom will mind at all.” She laughed. “You’ve seen that we have plenty of room.”
Cleo hugged Morgan and said she’d be back in a couple of hours to see what they’d accomplished. Morgan and Emily got to work and in what seemed like no time, the room was transformed. Fabric and pictures decorated the walls. The girls made a sitting area with the rug and some pillows. And a small desk and a bedside table with a lamp helped fill the once-barren room.
Emily and Morgan were sitting on the floor when Morgan’s mom returned. “Come and see Emily’s room.” said Morgan with excitement.
“It’s awesome,” said Emily as they all three went to look.
“Very nice,” said Mom, patting Morgan on the back. “You have a real flare, Morgan. I think you might have to come help out at the shop when school’s out. I could use your touch.”
“What kind of shop?” asked Emily.
“Didn’t I tell you about Mom’s shop?” asked Morgan. “It’s an import shop. Down by the waterfront. I’ll take you there next week. It’s really cool.”
Just then they heard voices. “Sounds like Mom and Kyle are home,” said Emily. “Come and meet them.”
“What has happened here?” cried Emily’s mom as she stared in shock at Emily’s room.
“Mom,” said Emily. “I want you to meet my friend Morgan.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” began Morgan’s mom, taking one of the bags of groceries from Emily’s mother’s arms. Emily quickly introduced everyone. Her mom’s name was Lisa. And, like Emily, she was a pretty blonde.
“I moved in with my mother a couple of years ago and put a lot of my things in storage,” Morgan’s mom quickly explained. “Morgan told me how your things haven’t
arrived yet, and I have furniture and kitchen items just sitting in storage getting damaged by moisture and mice.” She looked at Lisa’s nervous face. “It would really help me out if I could store my stuff inside a house rather than in a storage shed. You are welcome to it. I mean, until your things arrive, Lisa.”
“I don’t mind at all,” said Lisa. “But it might be a while before our things get here. The … uh … moving van seems to have gotten lost along the way somewhere.”
Morgan’s mom laughed. “Hey, the longer you can keep these things for me, the happier I’ll be.”
“Well, thank you.” Cleo followed Lisa into the kitchen where they continued to talk.
“This is so cool,” said Kyle. “We’re going to have real furniture. I can help move it.”
“This seems to be working out just fine,” Morgan told Emily as they headed back into her bedroom.
Emily looked around her much more colorful room and sighed happily. “It’s starting to feel like home here.”
Morgan nodded. “You are home, Emily.”
“I hope so.”
“Remember that feeling I had yesterday?” Morgan reminded her. “How I thought God was working things out for you?”
Emily laughed. “You were totally right!”