Until Forever (Women of Prayer) (16 page)

After “pastor” got done talking, everyone stood up and sang some songs. Olivia didn’t know the songs they sang, so she just looked around at the people. She was looking for Aunt Merry but hadn’t seen her yet. Maybe when everyone sat down again she would find her. After the singing it was time for her and Bethany to go to class; this was her favorite part. She liked her teacher and liked listening to the stories. They always made something fun and had cookies for a snack. She followed Bethany out of the big room and into the hallway to their class. On the way out, she saw Aunt Merry and waved to her. Aunt Merry smiled and waved back.

Ms. Shelly, as she liked to be called, taught the five- and six-year-old girls’ class at the First Christian Church of Oklahoma City. She had twelve girls in her class and enjoyed teaching them both Bible stories and the lessons that could be learned from them, and lessons for everyday life, like how to be a good friend. The past few weeks, Olivia Jensen had been in her class, and she was glad to see her again this morning. The child had such a thirst for the knowledge of Jesus, and she wasn’t shy about asking questions. She had yet to give her heart to the Lord, but if her quest for knowledge was any indication, it wouldn’t be long. Shelly knew her aunt well and liked her immensely, as she was one of her mother’s best friends and praying partners. Her mother, Judy, didn’t talk much about their prayer meetings, but she did give Shelly the good news if someone they were praying for found faith. Shelly, like Judy, rejoiced with the group.

Shelly greeted the children. “Good morning, class.”

“Good morning, Ms. Shelly,” the children responded, not quite in unison.

“Before we get started, I have a question for you. Who remembers what tomorrow is?”

Everyone’s hand but Olivia’s shot up in the air. One of the girls couldn’t wait to be called upon, so she answered out loud, “Vacation Bible School starts tomorrow!”

Shelly smiled. While trying to get the children ready for real school and reinforcing the simple courtesy rules from school, she oftentimes found their excitement too much for them to contain. “Yes, that’s right. Tomorrow we start Vacation Bible School. How many of you are going to be coming?” Once again all the hands but Olivia’s shot into the air.

Shelly decided to talk to Merry about Olivia attending Vacation Bible School as soon as church was over. With everything else going on in her life, and the fact that she didn’t work in the children’s department anymore, Merry might not be aware that it was starting tomorrow. “I’m so glad that so many of you are coming tomorrow. Remember, it starts at nine thirty and ends at noon. Don’t forget to tell your moms and dads, okay?”

All the kids eagerly said they wouldn’t forget, and Shelly started in on the Sunday school lesson. “Okay, girls, it’s time for our story. Today’s lesson is about friends in the Bible. The first friends we are going to talk about are David and Jonathan. Before I tell you about David and Jonathan, I wonder if some of you could tell me what you think makes a good friend? How do you know if someone is your friend?”

The girls began raising their hands one by one. Emily thought that being nice was important. Bethany looked at Olivia and said that a real friend would let you sleep as long as you wanted. Chelsea said that sharing was very important. All the girls gave very good virtues of a friend.

“Those are all very good answers. I have friends who are all of those things—they are nice, they share, and another thing they do that is very important to me is they love me, and I love them very much. I know they love me because when I am sad they try to make me happy, and when I laugh they laugh with me. They care about me and my life. Not everyone cares about our lives like our friends do, do they? That’s what was special about David and Jonathan in the Bible. They were very best friends who loved each other very much.”

Ms. Shelly went on and told the story of David and Jonathan before David became king, including the times Jonathan saved David’s life from King Saul, Jonathan’s father.

“I’m going to tell you about someone else in the Bible who wants to be everyone’s friend. Can anybody guess who that might be?”

Most of the girls, having been in church most of their lives, guessed whom Ms. Shelly was talking about.

“That’s correct. Jesus wants to be everyone’s friend. But there’s something that makes him very sad. Can anyone tell me what that is?” The girls were pretty silent on this one. Ms. Shelly continued. “Jesus gets very sad when people don’t want to be his friend.”

Krista, a very sensitive child, was close to tears. She couldn’t understand why someone would not want to be Jesus’s friend and asked, “Why wouldn’t someone want to be friends with Jesus? He’s my very best friend.”

“Well, there are different reasons that people don’t want to be Jesus’s friend. First, they might not believe in Jesus because they haven’t ever seen him. They don’t have what we call faith. Faith is when you believe in something that you can’t see. Like Jesus. We can feel in him our hearts, and we can feel his love inside us, but we can’t see him, right? But we believe in him because we have faith. Another reason some people don’t believe Jesus is because of pride. Pride is not being able to accept help, and there are people who don’t want any help from Jesus or anybody else. Do you think there are things that you can do to help people believe in Jesus?”

All the girls nodded yes.

“That’s right; there are some things that you can do. First, you can tell people about Jesus so they can learn to have faith and believe. Second, and this should be very easy for all of you, you can do something nice for someone. This shows them that it’s okay to be helped, and it will quietly lead them to Jesus. I want each of you to think of something nice you can do this week for someone who you think might not know Jesus. Have you thought of someone yet?” The girls each nodded. “Okay, I want you to do something nice for them, like take them cookies you baked or pick some flowers for them or anything nice you can think of. There are many things you can do, and I want you to tell me next Sunday who you picked and what you did for them. Okay?”

All the girls got excited and started talking among themselves about their assignment for next week as they headed to the work table to make their art project.

It wasn’t long before the bell rang and church was over. After all the kids were picked up from class, Shelly found Merry talking with her mother and asked if she would be bringing Olivia to Vacation Bible School. Merry didn’t make any promises but said she would ask Jessi and do her best to get Olivia there.

***

The next morning, Ms. Shelly found Olivia sitting at the table, ready to learn more about having a friend like Jesus.

Chapter 20

Monday after work Mark headed to Merry’s house to visit with Olivia. He found her sitting on the front steps with her face cradled in her hands. “Hi there. Penny for your thoughts?”

Olivia looked up at him. Not recognizing the phrase, she asked, “Penny for my what?”

Mark smiled at his daughter. “It’s just a different way of asking what you are thinking about.”

“Oh.” Olivia was quiet for a moment, thinking about how to answer her dad. She’d had a lot to think about lately with Sunday school being yesterday and Vacation Bible School today. She was learning a lot about Jesus and how good he was, but she didn’t understand how he could be in her heart. How did he get there? She felt like she was missing something but didn’t want her friends to make fun of her if she asked. Maybe her dad would know.

“Well, we are talking about Jesus in Sunday school, and I don’t understand how he could live in my heart. Everybody at church has Jesus living in their hearts.” She looked down at her chest and back at her father. “I want him in my heart too, but I don’t know how he gets in there.”

Mark almost laughed with joy but held back because of the seriousness with which Olivia asked the question and the tears that already threatened to pour down from her frustration. “I believe I can help you with that. All you have to do is ask him to come in and live there. You can’t see him, but once you ask him, he’ll come right in and live in your heart too.”

“Really? Just like that? But how will I know that he came into my heart?”

“Well, you will feel really happy on the inside. And you’ll know that Jesus is the one who is making you feel that way. It’s like he’s smiling inside of us, and it makes us smile too.”

“Can I ask him now?”

“You sure can. Do you want me to pray with you?”

Olivia nodded her head.

Mark began to pray with his daughter. “Jesus, we thank you for being here with us today. Thank you for living on earth and loving us so much that you would die on a cross for us so we can live with you forever in heaven. You came back to life so death couldn’t keep us, your creation, from you any longer. Olivia, you can ask Jesus to come into your heart now.”

Olivia continued in her childlike way. “Jesus, please live in my heart. I want you to smile in me ’cause sometimes I’m sad, and you will make me happy. I want to live with you in heaven forever, Jesus. Please come into my heart and live there.”

Olivia looked up at her father, who smiled back at her and nodded his head. Both ended the prayer at the same time. “Amen.”

Mark hugged his daughter tight, and when he pulled away she had a huge smile on her face.

“It’s true, Daddy. I can feel him smiling inside me, and it’s making me smile too!” Olivia jumped up and ran into the kitchen. Mark followed close behind. “Aunt Merry, Jesus is living in my heart. I prayed, and now he is in my heart.”

Merry looked from her great-niece to Mark and back again. Tears of joy filled her eyes. Another prayer answered. She wouldn’t be able to wait until she and the others met to let them know. If the angels in heaven were rejoicing, then the prayer partners would want to be rejoicing too.

Merry bent down to Olivia’s level and gave her a giant hug. “Oh, baby, you have made me the happiest aunt in the world today. I’m so proud of you.”

Olivia ran to find her mother.

Mark and Merry looked at one another, both instinctively wanting to follow Olivia to find out what Jessi’s reaction would be. She wouldn’t dissuade Olivia from her newfound faith, Merry was quite certain of that, but she probably wouldn’t exactly be jumping for joy either. Neither she nor Mark wanted to intrude, so they patiently waited for Olivia to return. The look on her face would tell them all they needed to know.

Olivia found her mom upstairs in her room with one of Aunt Merry’s journals. She knocked on the door like her mother had taught her to do.

“Mommy, can I come in?”

Jessi looked up from her reading. “Yes, sweetheart. I was just doing some reading. What have you been up to today? I thought your dad was coming over?”

“He’s here now. But I wanted to tell you something.” Olivia wasn’t sure if her mother would be excited for her like her dad and Aunt Merry were, but she wanted to tell her anyway.

Jessi couldn’t tell if what she was about to be told was good or bad. At first glance, she’d thought Olivia was excited, but now she looked a little apprehensive. “Why don’t you come over here and sit on my lap. Then you can tell me whatever you’d like, okay?”

Olivia walked to her mother and climbed on her lap. She looked up at her mother and couldn’t contain the smile any longer. “Oh, Mommy, I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and he did! I’m so happy inside.” Olivia was grinning broadly at her mother as she looked up in expectation of praise.

Jessi managed to create the expected response to the news her daughter had just shared. “Oh sweetheart, that’s such good news. I’m very happy you have Jesus living in your heart.” Not wanting to say any more than was necessary, Jessi reminded Olivia that her father was downstairs waiting for her.

After Olivia returned to the kitchen, where Aunt Merry and Mark were waiting for her, Jessi sat back and closed her eyes. It was hard to ignore God’s existence while she was in Aunt Merry’s house. When at home, she could stay busy and remain a loner, therefore keeping most everyone at arms’ distance, especially those who believed God was good and only wanted what was best for his children. No matter what Aunt Merry or Mark and now Olivia believed, Jessi could never understand or love a God who could take a small child from his mother. Every time she faced the God issue, she also faced Ethan’s death. Not getting over and finding forgiveness in the latter would keep her from finding true peace with the former. She stayed in her room for most of the afternoon. Mark and Aunt Merry were sure to be celebrating with Olivia, and she didn’t feel like taking part in a celebration.