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12
Years Makes a Difference FREE
Romantic Fiction Online provided
by PneumaSender |
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Chapter 10 Christa
had always been an extraordinary child. At a surprisingly young age, she had
made up her mind to be a doctor like her father. Patrick often sat with her
on the steps overlooking the foyer of the house, talking about things in her
life. From where they sat, the front door was on their right, the den behind
them on the left. Behind them on the right was a small room now kept for
storage, and across from the front door, straight across the foyer, was the
door into the great room, on their far right, a combined dining, living, and
kitchen area which was both long and spacious. That was where most of the
living took place. However, to be alone, Christa often sat on the bottom step
of the wide, dark grained wood staircase. And Patrick could hardly ever
resist stopping to talk with her. Christa
was a quiet, brooding child who could talk about great, weighty matters and
seemed much older than her years. Sometimes called strange by her school
friends, the girl had occasionally expressed a desire to be more
"liked" by the children in school. Patrick considered this a lonely
state of existence and he longed for a way to help. However, it wasn't pity
that drew him to the girl, but rather admiration. As he got to know her,
Patrick realized that for all her seriousness and odd quirks, she was a
reasonable, intelligent human being. In
fact, Christa was so unique that he often sought her out to talk over issues
of every kind. He even talked to her at that early age about who she might
marry. "He'll have to be really special to match up with you. And he’ll
probably be very strong and kind. You might pray the Lord keeps him that way,
since this world has a way of ruining people." She
asked him once, "You really mean I should pray about who I will marry so
far in the future?" Smiling inwardly at her adult speech, he regarded
her quietly. After taking a moment to gauge her seriousness, his answer was,
"I do. In spite of the fact that I had never met her, I have prayed
about my wife every night. I pray for the Lord's protection and His guidance
for her every day. Life is hard, and I don't want her to end up hurt."
She had looked at him in awe, and nodding solemnly, she promised to pray
about her future husband every night, too. < ; ; > < < ; ; > < < ; ; > < < ; ; > < Months,
days, and even years passed and their friendship stayed strong.
"Christa," he told her often, "you are going to make your mark
on the world.” After a while, she knew how to end the phrase with him,
“Because you are extraordinary." Saying it in unison like that became
joke, but he was entirely serious about the message of the words. As she
grew, she would counter this statement with one witty remark or another. Once
she said, "Yes, well my hips have gotten bigger, but that 'extra' remark
is really rude!" The, she had winked. But eventually, at age 13, she
gave him an answer that tore at his heart. "I'd
much rather not make dent and be ordinary." Her answer deflated him for
some reason, causing a pain deep inside. "Christa, you are not meant to
be ordinary. You are better than that. People will admire and love you for
being different!" Her serious demeanor showed him she wasn't kidding
when she said, "I'd trade someday for now. I want to be admired and
loved now." < ; ; > < < ; ; > < < ; ; > < < ; ; > < Patrick
came up with the game called “Sixes” one day. It just so happened
that he had been hearing Christa tell about how her mother shopped. The
frugality that Christa was learning might be good to pass on to all the girls
at this party. Considering these two thoughts, and the fact that he had been
recruited to chaperone the girls on a trip to the mall, it only made sense
that he make this a shopping game. Patrick
had exactly $36 dollars in his pocket, and there were five girls. He figured
that he could give each one $6 to try to find the best value for the money
and allow each girl to keep her purchases. Then, the winner of the game—the
one who got the best values from shopping—would earn $4 more at the end of
the game. This would make a pretty big stash of candy money for the winner to
use during the film they would watch later. Patrick
would keep the $2 left over from his money for a snack of his own, as long as
he practiced the same frugality he was preaching, and the girls would learn a
great lesson. All in all, he felt proud of himself. It would be an
educational experience, and probably would make a great game. At
first, the girls balked at the idea of finding anything in the mall for $6,
much less anything of value, but Patrick told them that unless they played
the game, he would make them skip the movie that they came to watch. This
motivated them, and soon the girls were frantically running through the mall,
checking tags as they went. Now that they had to play, they figured that they
might as well try to win. Patrick
sat down in an area that afforded him a good view of Jingle’s Closeout
Closet. It was a Christmas-themed store that sold general merchandise at clearance
prices. Christa had gone directly to that shop, and
he could glimpse the top of her head now and then as she shuffled through the
Elf-sized Prices section. The
entire store was a bargain shopper’s paradise, but the Elf-sized Prices
area held clothing and household items with hole-punched tags. The tags had
progressively larger Christmas-shaped holes so that the previous hole was
lost inside the cutout of the next one. The prices got smaller as the hole
got bigger, and the silliness of it all make shopping more complicated,
perhaps, but fun for people who enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. The
smallest hole available, for instance, was called the Christmas Tree Ball,
and it was a 15% discount. The largest one was a huge Christmas tree, and
this promised a price reduction of 99% off of the original price. If he knew
Christa, she was sticking with tree tags. The
shopping went on for exactly twenty minutes, and at the end, all of the girls
returned. One girl named One
and all admitted that Christa’s gold-toned bracelet for $.30 was nicer than
her friend’s jewelry purchase. Her shorts were equally impressive,
and—Patrick noted—more modest than the ones the other girls had bought. She
also had a bag of chips and a large box of trail mix that she shared with
them all before the movie. Patrick
tried not to show favoritism, but it was difficult to do when this amazing
girl surprised him every time he thought he knew all there was to know about
her. She could always make him glad to know her. Yet, Christa’s kindness
impressed him the most. For
instance, even thought Christa won the candy money, she shared it all with
the girls, and each one managed to eat plenty of sweets before they left the
theater that evening—a fact that would likely earn him no love among the
mothers who would take their sugar-energized daughters home that night. When
the party was over and Christa and Patrick were headed home in the car that
night, he heard his first word of thanks. “You’re a wonder, Patrick. You made
that long wait for the movie fun, and you probably went broke doing it.” He
smiled, but she continued. “Thanks for putting up with us all evening. It was
nice of you to agree to chaperone Vicki’s party when her parents had to go
out on that emergency trip, especially since you don’t even know her.” While
it was true that this party had been Vicki’s, his efforts had been on behalf
of Christa, who was a favorite friend of his. He told her so, and she gave
him a hug. Her eyes shone with admiration as she said, “I love you, Patrick.”
She
was twelve years old then, and for the next couple of years, as it had been
since he moved into the household, he and Christa were close friends. His
relationship with the young girl was one of the brightest spots in his life
at the time. She was intelligent and interesting, and also wholesome and
considerate. In fact, her maturity and Christ-like attitude gave him plenty
of reasons to push himself to be a better person. As
time passed, he had a great effect on her, encouraging her to read the Bible
and seek the Lord in a mighty way. Amazingly, she exercised an equally strong
influence over him, too. He said she taught him by example how to handle
frustration with grace, and to share without wondering what he might gain
from the experience. In the end, they each blessed one another more than
either one could know. < ; ; > < < ; ; > < < ; ; > < < ; ; > < The
break-up, as might be expected, came the day of the party, and it was to
prove difficult for them both. Her fourteenth birthday was the climax moment,
but small fissures had been developing in their relationship for weeks before
then, as Christa’s slowly changing perspective on being a teen became
increasingly apparent. Just
about that time, Eric came on the scene. A tall, good-looking fellow, the
young man was both handsome and charming. He was in Patrick's scouting class,
and had confided a few sexual sins to Patrick, in confidence, asking help
from his leader for overcoming these vices. Now, seeing him with Christa,
following her home from school, and finally getting her to let him carry her
books, Patrick was nervous. At
26, it wasn't often that Patrick had much to worry about. He had a growing
medical career, a great place to live, in the household of his mentor, who
had made him feel like one of the family, and he had a great church, too. The
Colby clan had been good to him, letting him be a part of their lives, and he
was proud of the trust they had in him. But with Eric coming to Christa's
14th birthday party, and with her plan to accept his proposal to go steady,
Patrick had found himself in a bind. Patrick
knew that Christa would see this as her chance to get her first kiss, but he
wasn't so sure Eric was planning to stop there. With all the self-image
issues Christa had, Patrick was afraid that Eric might be able to pressure
her into doing more than she might want to do. As a friend to both of them,
he didn't want to speak badly of Eric, but he was literally terrified of what
might happen. Patrick
chose to take the matter in prayer before God. Yet this time, when he prayed
he stumbled over his words, his emotions keeping him from praying as he knew
he should, requesting mercy and grace for Eric. Instead, he wanted to call
down some sort of catastrophe on this threat to Christa's purity. "What
is wrong with me?" He couldn't even think straight. Asking the Holy
Spirit for wisdom in this situation, Patrick prayed, "Lord, you know
Christa--her quirks, her talents, and her strength of character. Please keep
her from making a mistake." Breathing
a sigh, he continued, "Lord, help her to know what to do about this
relationship with Eric. Yet, Lord, I don't believe this boy is right for her.
In fact, I know he's not ready to be around any girls right now." Then,
kneeling, he added, "I don't know what else to do--in spite of all my
advice, he insists on pursuing her. I want your guidance to know what to
do." Of
course her father already knew that Eric was interested in Christa, but
Patrick couldn't come out and betray the boy's confidence by saying anything
the boy had told him. Yet, Patrick could not stand by and do nothing, not
after all he knew. This situation was affecting him deeply, so Patrick prayed
hard about how he should approach Colby. Eventually,
he talked to Dr. Colby. "Sir, I'm worried about Christa and Eric."
Colby looked up, clearly interested in Patrick's opinion. "Is there any
reason I might have to worry about him?" Patrick quietly nodded, adding,
"I can't get into it in detail, but I think he shouldn't be dating right
now." Colby nodded, but then appeared to dismiss the matter, shaking his
head. "I
am sure Christa can handle it. Have you warned her, too?" Colby answered
that indeed, he had, but she hadn't been willing to take him seriously.
"Well, then, we'll just have to be more careful not to leave those two
alone together, until she listens to reason." Recognizing Patrick's
silence as a quiet disapproval, he added, "I won't forbid her to see
him. It would only make her think I don't trust her judgment, and I want our
relationship to be based on mutual respect." Looking
directly at Patrick, he said, "Mandy and I raised her right--she'll do
okay." Patrick smiled, then. Of course she was a great girl. It would be
fine. For the next few days, Patrick was busy. Still, he often prayed for
Christa. Along with those prayers, he continued to nightly ask God for help on
behalf of his future wife. "Lord,
you know I've been reluctant to look for or think about a wife, and I still
don't feel ready to pursue a relationship, but please prepare the woman you
have for me. Keep her safe and help her to wait for me, as I've waited for
her. Give her wisdom, strength, courage, and patience to walk with me as my
wife." Continuing
his prayer, he often tossed himself across the bed, preferring the prostrate position
to the kneeling one he had assumed earlier. "And Lord, I love you."
He would give himself over to worship once again, feeling a lovely stillness
and peace invade his heart. Often, he would end it with, "And Lord, keep
both Christa and Eric on the right path." |
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