“You’re the one with the problem, Renee,” Katie popped off.
Then Christy said firmly, “The way I see it, Renee, you’re the loser. You see, I can become like you anytime, not that I want to. But you can never become a virgin again like me.”
Christy thought Renee was going to slap her, but she spun around and marched off.
Katie and Christy sat back down and exchanged looks that said, “Can you believe what just happened?” Christy felt yucky inside. She was normally a private person, yet during the past few days she’d yelled at Rick in a parking lot, and now she’d blasted Renee in public. This was not the way Christy wanted to handle her relationships.
Katie kept muttering about Renee and how she acted like the world revolved around her. Christy closed her eyes and wished all this confronting and criticizing would just go away.
It took several days before all the uncomfortable feelings started to go away. By the week’s end, it turned out to be a good thing that Christy had to work Friday and Saturday. The routine of the pet store helped keep her preoccupied and made her feel more emotionally stable.
The store was busy all day Saturday. Christy sold twenty-five tropical fish to one man who said he had a six-foot aquarium at home. On her break, Christy cashed her check and went to the jewelry store to make another payment on her bracelet. The check had been very small since she hadn’t worked the previous Saturday.
“I only have twenty-one dollars to put toward my bracelet this week,” Christy explained to the salesman. “I’ll have the usual amount next week. I hope it’s okay.”
“Yes, it’s fine. I checked with Jon, and he told me you’re a dependable employee.”
Christy smiled her thanks. “So after this payment, how much more do I owe?”
The man scribbled on a piece of paper. “At this rate, you could have it paid for by Thanksgiving.”
“Good,” Christy said, remembering that Rick had said he would be home at Thanksgiving. Maybe, just maybe, Todd would be home for the holiday too. “I’d like to have it back on my wrist by then.”
When work ended, Christy had to swing past the library to return her poetry book. The night before she had copied the poem “Twice” into her diary and thought again of how she had felt that morning on the beach when she offered her heart to Todd and he set it down, telling her it was not yet “ripe.”
I wonder what she was like, the Christina who wrote that poem? I wonder who the guy was who broke her heart? It’s weird to think she lived more than a hundred years ago yet the same things she felt are what I’m feeling now.
Christy was a few blocks from the library when she noticed she was driving right by the park Rick had taken her to. It was after six o’clock, and the playground was empty. On impulse, she pulled into the parking lot, parked the car, and made her way through the sand to the empty swings.
At first she sat in a swing, just rocking back and forth slowly, etching circles in the sand with her tennis shoes.
A gentle autumn breeze rustled the trees, sending a flurry of dancing leaves into the air. Several of them fluttered down to Christy’s feet. The once-green leaves had changed to a smear of oranges, yellows, and reds.
“We’re changing, that’s all. We’re both changing.” Todd’s words from that morning on the beach came back to her as she picked up one of the leaves and examined it more closely.
The tree isn’t dead; it’s just changing. There will be new growth in the spring. Maybe that’s how it’ll be for Todd and me.
Christy let the leaf go. A puff of wind caught it and carried it spinning through the air until it landed on the grass.
“Father,” she prayed in a whisper, “You know how much thinking I’ve been doing this past week. I keep coming to the same conclusion. I need to fall in love with You. I need to be content with just You as my first love. I’m not ready for a steady relationship with any guy until I’m first secure in my love for You.
“I want to love You with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind. I want to be more in love with You than I’ve ever been in love with anyone or anything. What did that poem say? ‘All that I have I bring. All that I am I give. Smile Thou, and I shall sing but shall not question much.’ ”
As she prayed, Christy was slowly pumping her legs out and back. Without realizing it, she had gained altitude and was swinging pretty high. When the swing went forward, she hit a spot where the evening sun sliced through the trees and shot a beam of golden light on her face.
Up and back, up and back. Each time she swung forward, the sun shone on her face.
“The Lord make His face to shine upon you …” Those were Todd’s words—his blessing.
In an amazing way, it was coming true. Christy felt as if the Lord’s face was shining on her. And now that she thought about it, God had given her His peace.
What was that last part of Todd’s blessing? Something about loving the Lord above all else.
For the first time all week, a smile found its way to Christy’s lips. She pushed herself higher and higher in the swing until she felt the exhilarating rush of the wind through her hair. Then pointing her toes out straight and leaning back in the soaring swing, Christy sang out a spontaneous love song to the Lord of forever as her heart filled with hope.
Can’t get enough of ROBIN JONES GUNN!
Book 1: Summer Promise
Fourteen-year-old Christy Miller has the dream summer ahead of her in sun-kissed California, staying with her aunt and uncle at their beachfront home. Aunt Marti loves to shop, and those surfers are cute—especially Todd. Christy promised her parents she wouldn’t do anything she’d regret later, and some of her beach friends are a little wild. But Todd and his “God-Lover” friends are giving Christy a new image of all things eternal. Can this summer live up to its promise?
Book 2: A Whisper and a Wish
Christy’s family has moved to California just in time for her sophomore year of high school. But they’re not in Newport Beach, where she spent the summer. Instead they’re an hour and a half away and Christy has to start all over making friends. Despite an embarrassing escapade at a slumber party, things are going pretty well … until some midnight fun leads to a trip to the police station. Does God really hear every whisper? Does He know our every wish? Then why is it so hard to know who your friends really are?
Book 3: Yours Forever
Christy is back at Aunt Marti and Uncle Bob’s house on the beach for the entire week between Christmas and New Year’s … and Todd is in town, too! The cute surfer completely captured Christy’s heart last summer, and she’s eager to spend every possible minute with him. But soon Christy and her aunt are barely speaking, and it seems like all her friends are mad at her, too—including Todd! Is he hers or isn’t he? And why would God let things get so tangled?
www.ChristyMillerAndFriends.com
Book 7: True Friends
When Christy finds herself on a ski slope in Lake Tahoe in the arms of a handsome ski instructor, she is suddenly pulled into the “in” crowd, while Katie is left out. And when Katie discovers some of the kids are up to no good, she expects Christy to help expose them rather than support her newfound friends. Can Christy and Katie patch up their damaged friendship?
Book 8: Starry Night
When Christy’s ex-boyfriend, Rick, seems interested in Katie, Christy and Katie’s relationship changes. Then an old friendship takes on new meaning, and Christy wonders why she never before saw Doug as the prince he is. All of these relationships collide, leaving Christy wondering what is happening. Will she end up counting stars with Rick or Doug?
Book 9: Seventeen Wishes
Working as a camp counselor is not how Christy envisioned spending her summer. Before long, she is up to her ears with kids who won’t obey her, camp rules to remember, and an embarrassing incident that makes her the camp joke. Then a moonlight canoe cruise with a handsome counselor leads Christy to make some decisions about her future and trust that God knows what’s best for
her. What will she be wishing as she blows out the candles on her birthday cake?
Book 10: A Time to Cherish
Juggling the stress of not having enough time with Todd, trying to understand Katie’s relationship with Michael, and making Doug happy forces Christy to evaluate what’s most important to her. Can Christy find a way to keep her friendship with Katie even though they’re not in agreement on much anymore?
Book 11: Sweet Dreams
Christy is relieved her senior year is over. She and Katie have made up, and Christy’s dreams of growing closer to Todd are coming true. Suddenly, Christy finds herself having to make what might be the most difficult decision of her life—one that could end every sweet dream she ever possessed. Will Christy find the strength to do what she knows is right?
Book 12: A Promise Is Forever
On a European mission trip with her friends, Christy can just see herself traveling across different countries and talking to new friends, like Sierra Jensen. But when tensions among the group set in, memories of Todd constantly swim in Christy’s mind. Then she’s sent to Spain alone while her friends travel elsewhere. Will Christy face her fears of the future? And can she truly trust that God has great things planned for her even when all seems lost?
COME TO GLENBROOKE …
A quiet place where souls are refreshed
Join Jessica, Terri, Lauren, Alissa, Shelly, Meri, Leah, and Genevieve as they encounter love, life, and a growing faith in the small town of Glenbrooke.
Read excerpts from these books and more at
WaterBrookMultnomah.com!
You already know Christy.
Now meet her friend Sierra!
The Sierra Jensen Collection
Excerpt from book 1—
Only You, Sierra
Sierra Jensen gazed out the train window at the cold, wet English countryside. In an hour she and her friends would be back at Carnforth Hall with the other ministry teams that had spent the past week in various European countries. Endless pastures, frosted with winter’s ice, flashed past her window. Sierra sighed.
“What are you thinking?” Katie asked, uncurling from her comfy position on the train seat next to Sierra. Even though Katie was two years older than Sierra and they had met only two weeks ago, they had become close during the week they had just spent together in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
“About going back to the States.” Sierra smiled her wide, easy smile at Katie, but she was really looking past her. Across the aisle from them, their team leader, Doug, was sitting next to his girlfriend, Tracy.
Katie folded her arms and settled back against the upholstered seat. “I’m not ready to go home yet. I’d like to come back. Maybe next summer.”
Sierra noticed Tracy tilt her heart-shaped faced toward Doug’s, giving him a delicate smile that, by the look on his face, melted him to the core.
Katie looked over her shoulder to see what had distracted Sierra. Turning back to Sierra, Katie leaned forward and whispered, “Don’t they just make you sick?”
“Katie,” Sierra said in a hushed voice. “I thought you guys were all best friends. Why would it make you sick to see those two together?”
“It’s just … well, look at them! They’re totally in love.”
“I know.” Sierra cast another glance at the couple, now talking softly and looking deeply into each other’s eyes. “I can’t imagine ever being in Tracy’s place and having a guy look at me like that.”
“Are you kidding?” Katie’s bright green eyes did a quick head-to-toe scan of Sierra. “Have you ever looked in a mirror, girl? First, you have the hair going for you. You have great hair! Wild, blond, curly. Very exotic.”
“Haven’t you noticed?” Sierra tugged at a curly loop of her long hair. “Straight, sleek hair happens to be in right now.”
“Oh sure, this week. Wait a few days. Everyone will be running out for perms so they can look just like you. And your smile happens to be award-winning. Fantastic clothes. And I don’t ever want to hear you complain about your body.”
“What body? I’m shaped like a tomboy.”
“Better to be shaped like a tomboy than a fullback.”
“You’re not shaped like a fullback,” Sierra protested.
“Okay, a halfback.”
“You’re both beautiful,” Stephen, the German guy on their team, inserted into the conversation. He was sitting directly across from them and had appeared to be sleeping.
Sierra blushed. He was the oldest one of their group, and his beard added to his older appearance.
“Why do women find it a sport to criticize themselves to their friends?” Stephen leaned forward. “You both are gorgeous young women on the outside and fantastically beautiful here—” he patted his heart—“where it really counts.”
“Then you tell us why all the guys aren’t falling at our feet.”
“Is that what you want, Katie?” In an uncharacteristic move, Stephen tumbled to the floor and bowed at their feet.
Sierra burst out laughing.
“Get out of here!” Katie said. “You’re making this a joke, and I’m serious.”
Stephen returned to his seat, a satisfied little grin across his usually serious face.
“You’re a guy. Tell us what you’re attracted to in a girl,” Katie said.
Stephen glanced at Tracy, then back at Sierra and Katie. “Well,” he began, but it was too late. His unspoken message seemed clear.
Katie threw her hands up in the air. “I knew it! You don’t have to say anything. You men are all alike! You all say it’s the personality and what’s on the inside that counts. But the truth is, your first choice every time is the Tracy type—the sweet, helpful, cute ones. Admit it! There’s little hope in this world for the few individualists like Sierra and me.”
“On the contrary. You’re both very attractive. To the right man, you will be a treasure. You just need to wait on God.”
“I know, I know,” Katie said. “And until then, we have our own little club, don’t we, Sierra?”
She and Katie had formed the Pals Only Club at the beginning of their trip. She slapped Katie a high five and said, “P.O. forever!”
“That’s right,” Katie said. “We may have lost Tracy, but it’s you, me, and Christy from here on out.”
“You women do not need a little club,” Stephen said. “Perhaps a caveman with a big club might be helpful …”
Instead of laughing at his joke, the girls gave Stephen a tandem groan and twisted their expressions into unappreciative scowls. He folded his arms against his chest, closed his eyes, and pretended to go back to sleep. But a crooked grin was on his lips.
“Come on,” Katie said. “Let’s get something to drink.”
Sierra followed her down the rocking aisle that led to the back of the train car. They passed through the sliding doors and headed for the compact snack bar at the end of next car. After buying Cokes, they stood to the side by the closed windows.
“Guys like Stephen really bug me,” Katie said. “First they’re all sweet and full of compliment, and then they make stupid jokes. You never know if they’re serious about all the nice stuff or not. Enough talk about guys. Let’s talk about something else.”
“It’ll be great to see all the other teams tonight and hear about everything that happened to them.”
“Yeah.” Katie agreed. “I can’t wait to hear about Christy’s week in Spain.”
“I still can’t believe they pulled her off our team at the last minute and sent her all the way to Spain after the rest of the Spanish team had already left. I don’t think I could have done what she did, traveling all by herself for two days and then joining up with a team of people she barely knew.”
“It’s like I kept saying,” Katie said, making a muscleman pose, “she is Missionary Woman.”
Sierra smiled. “I felt as if I was just getting closer to her, and then they shipped her off on a moment’s notice. It must have been even harder for you to see h
er leave like that, since you guys have been best friends for so long.”
“I’m sure it was a God-thing.” Katie finished her drink and tossed her can into the trash can.
Sierra thought about how much had happened during their week of ministry at the church in Belfast. Sierra and Katie had worked with the children, had performed in a drama group, had gone out street witnessing, had prayed with teenagers when they said they wanted to give their lives God, and had visited some elderly women of the church who treated them to tea and cakes. It had been a life-changing experience for Sierra, and she was glad Katie had buddied up with her.
“You know,” Katie said as they headed back to their seats, “I’m sure God had a reason for taking Christy off our team. If nothing else, it let me get to know you, and I’m really glad for that.”
“I am too,” said Sierra. “I’m just starting to feel depressed now that it’s almost over.”
“Not so fast! We have two more days before we have to leave,” Katie pointed out.
“Next stop is ours,” Stephen said when they reached their seats.
Sierra fought off the sadness that crept in when she realized the next time she boarded a train in England it would be to go home. Something caught in her throat every time she thought about returning to the States.
She hadn’t been able to talk about it to Katie or anyone else. Maybe she should. Whenever she mentioned her situation, it had been with her usually cheerful, adventuresome spirit. No one knew that deep down she was nervous, knowing that everything in her life was going to be different when she returned home.
About the Author
Just like Christy, Robin Jones Gunn was born in Wisconsin and lived on a dairy farm. Her father was a school teacher and moved his family to southern California when Robin was five years old. She grew up in Orange County with one older sister and one younger brother. The three Jones kids graduated from Santa Ana High School and spent their summers on the beach with a bunch of wonderful “God-lover” friends. Robin didn’t meet her “Todd” until after she’d gone to Biola University for two years and had an unforgettable season in Europe, which included transporting Bibles to underground churches in the former Soviet Union and attending Capernwray Bible School in Austria.
Christy Miller Collection, Vol 2 Page 39
