Love,
Christy
The last person she wrote was Alissa. For some reason she felt freer to tell Alissa about all the trouble she had gotten into in Palm Springs. She also told Alissa about the Bible verse that Tracy had written in the card to her and how reading that little bit of God’s Word had comforted her when she needed it most. Then she wrote:
You asked why I would make such a big deal about promising my life to Jesus if He were dead like Buddha or Mohammed. The thing is, Jesus isn’t dead! Yes, He died on the cross, but then He came back to life, and He’s still alive today. I can’t explain it, but He’s living inside me. He’s as real as any person I know. I don’t know Him as well as I want to, but we’re getting better acquainted. I’ve always prayed—you know, talked to God. But now I’m starting to read my Bible, which is like listening to Him.
Maybe you could find a Bible and start reading it or find a good church you could go to there in Boston. I’ll start praying that you’ll meet some other Christians who are strong like Todd was and that they’ll be able to explain all this to you.
Love,
Christy
Setting all her letters on the floor beside her bed, Christy slipped under the cool, crisp sheets. She propped her knees up and balanced Pooh Bear. She felt clean and fresh and invigorated, as though everything were in order. She was ready for a fresh start at school tomorrow.
“Okay, Pooh. Repeat after me. No, no, no, no! When in doubt, chicken out. No, no, no, no …”
The next morning Janelle caught up with Christy in the hall. Janelle’s dark, tousled hair looked like a garland of wild black orchids around her head.
“Guess what!” she squealed breathlessly. “Greg asked me to homecoming Friday night! Can you believe it? And I didn’t even get to try out my plan to get him to go with me.”
“That’s great! But what was your big plan, anyhow?” Christy remembered how Janelle’s plan had included Rick, and for some reason that still captured her curiosity.
Janelle didn’t answer. Her dark eyes had taken on an exotic glaze, indicating that her mind had flown to parts unknown. Christy knew she wouldn’t be back for days.
After school Christy flipped through her locker combination and began yanking her books out when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and accidentally knocked into the person, spilling her books all over the floor.
“Oops! Sorry!” Christy said before she saw who it was. She stood at eye level with the shoulder of a blue and gold letterman’s jacket. Her gaze shot up to the guy’s face and looked into the chocolate brown eyes that could only belong to Rick.
“Hi!” she said with a giggle. “Did I hit you? I didn’t mean to … I mean, I didn’t see you.…”
“You ever consider going out for track?” Rick teased. “You could throw a mean discus.”
Christy blushed.
“Here,” Rick said, scooping up her books and handing them to her with a smile. “Looks as though you’ve got a busy week ahead of you.”
“Not exactly,” Christy said.
“You just like to look smart, right?”
Christy felt as though she were blushing on top of the first blush. Her cheeks must have looked candy apple red.
“Are you going to take time out from all your studies to go to homecoming on Friday?” Rick asked, leaning his arm casually against her locker.
Christy lowered her eyes. “No, I’m not going.” She hoped he wouldn’t ask why. It would be so embarrassing to admit that she was on restriction.
“Not even going to the game to see us trample Vista High?”
Christy looked up hesitantly and shook her head.
“How about this?” Rick suggested in his deep, strong voice. “How about if I pick you up after the game and take you to the homecoming dance?”
Christy’s clear, blue-green eyes opened wide in disbelief. He’s actually asking me out! What should I say?
“Rick …” Christy tried to find the words. “I would really, really like to go out with you. But you see …” She took a quick breath. “Well, I’m not allowed to date until I’m sixteen.”
Immediately panic seized her. Will he think I’m a baby? Did I ruin everything by telling him that? She looked down at the books in her hands and then slowly back up at him.
Rick didn’t move. The corners of his mouth were pressed into a warm grin. “Maybe that’s one of the things that intrigue me about you so much.”
Christy’s eyes opened wider as she gazed at him more intently.
“It’s your honesty. I think the most beautiful girls are the most innocent ones.”
Christy couldn’t believe her ears. Her heart raced. This is the kind of thing a girl dreams of having a guy say to her! Did he really mean it?
“So,” Rick said, pulling his arm back and shifting his books to his other hand, “when’s your birthday?”
Christy laughed. “Not until July. July 27th.”
“That’s only—what?—eight, nine months away? For a girl like you, I could wait that long.”
Christy didn’t know what to say. She wanted to throw her arms around him and hug him. She wanted to tell him that was the most wonderful thing anyone had ever said to her, that she thought he was the most fantastic guy on the face of the earth. But absolutely no words came out of her mouth. She wished something bright and clever would pop into her mind, but all she could do was smile and swallow hard and smile some more.
“You going to church Sunday?” Rick asked.
“Yes,” Christy said, finding her voice. “My whole family is. My dad said this morning that he thought it was time we found a good church, and I told him how much I liked yours.”
“Good. Well, I have to go. I’ll see you Sunday, if not before.”
“Okay. Bye!”
Rick smiled over his shoulder as he started to leave. Suddenly he turned and said, “By the way, can I call you sometime?”
“Sure!”
“You’re not too young to accept phone calls?” he teased.
Christy felt the blush returning to her face. No guy had ever made her blush so much.
“No.” She laughed along with him.
“Good,” he said, taking long-legged strides backward. “I got your number off the card from church. I’ll call you sometime.”
Christy floated home. For the next hour and a half she relived the conversation over and over in her mind—everything Rick had said, the way he’d said it, how she had reacted.
Janelle had said he was a smooth talker, and boy, was he! Christy thought it was wonderful. Todd would never say those kinds of things to her. Rick had actually asked her out. It was like a dream. Why did she always have to turn red, though? The next time she talked to Rick she would be more confident—definitely. More outgoing, too.
David came in from riding his bike and looked at Christy as she lounged on the couch, gazing out the front window. “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
“What are you doing?”
“Just making a few wishes.”
David walked away, shaking his head. The phone rang, and Christy sprang from the couch, but David had already grabbed it.
“Hello?” he said. Then, “Yeah, she’s here.”
Christy grabbed the phone from him and, covering the mouthpiece, said, “Who is it, David?”
“I don’t know. Some guy.”
Christy’s heart bounced into her throat as she put the phone to her ear. Very confidently she said, “Hi, Rick?”
“Rick?” The male voice on the other end responded.
Christy fumbled through her memory to identify the vaguely familiar voice. “Hello?” she said quickly.
“Is Christy there?”
“This is Christy.”
“Hey, Christy, how’s it going?”
“Todd?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, how’s it going?”
“Todd! I can’t believe it’s you! How are you?” Oh no! I
hope he didn’t notice that I called him Rick!
“Pretty good.”
“How did you get this number?”
“I called your uncle.”
“Oh. Where are you?”
“Florida. At my mom’s.”
“What … I mean how … I mean … well, it’s just that I’m surprised to hear from you because you never wrote or anything.” The instant she said it she regretted it.
“Yeah, well, I’m not much of a writer. Not like you. Your letters are incredible. I feel like I’m right there talking with you. So, what’s been happening? I haven’t heard from you in a while.”
Christy felt herself relaxing and visiting comfortably with Todd the way they’d talked long hours on the beach last summer. She gave him a quick summary of the disastrous weekend.
He listened intently and said, “Friends can either lift you up or really drag you down.”
“I sure learned that,” she said. “I’ve made some big decisions about taking a stand and saying no to people and things that are bad influences on me.” She thought Todd would be proud of her decision.
“Sounds cool.”
There was a tiny pause, and then Todd said, “Have you started saying yes yet?”
“Yes? Yes to what?”
“Yes to the Lord.”
Sometimes Todd’s way of thinking was not exactly Christy’s way of thinking. “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” she said cautiously. She hated to sound dense around him, but she loved hearing his thoughts.
“When I first became a Christian, I was saying no to everything: No to drugs, parties, my old friends, everything. Pretty soon I was a total loner. I felt as though I were the strangest creature on the face of the earth.”
“You? I can’t believe that,” Christy said.
“Well, then I figured out I needed to start saying yes to something. I mean, no is a good place to start, but being empty is no way to live. So, I started saying yes to God’s way of doing things. That’s when I found out that His way of doing things is usually the opposite of my way of doing things.
“Anyway, I made a bunch of good friends who were full-on Christians, and before I knew it, instead of all the empty holes from what I’d said no to, my life became really full of all the stuff Jesus was teaching me to say yes to.”
“I see,” Christy said, trying to understand what he was saying.
Todd probably read her confusion, because he added one of his famous stories. “It’s like that boat ride to Hawaii I told you about, remember?”
“Of course I do. I’ll never forget that!”
“Okay, let’s say you’re on the boat. It’s this awesome cruise ship with everything you need already on board. I didn’t say everything you want, but everything you need. So, you get on board with all these heavy suitcases and bags of junk that you lived off of back on shore. You with me?”
“Go on.”
“You try to get into your assigned room, but you can’t get through the door because your arms are too full. So you go on deck and watch everybody else swim and eat and have fun, but you’re hating life because you’ve got your arms full of all the old junk and you can’t do a thing.
“That’s when you say no. No to the old stuff you’re still carrying around. You dump all that garbage overboard. You see what I’m saying?”
“Yes, I do.”
“But then you can’t just stand there and keep saying no when the good stuff comes. Like if they ask if you want to eat at the captain’s table or play volleyball, you don’t keep saying no to everything just to be safe. You’ve got to learn to make good choices and say yes to the new stuff that God brings to you.
“You see what I mean? There’s stuff you have to say no to, but that’s only a tiny part of it—the first step, really. If you want to enjoy the cruise, you have to start saying yes. Yes to reading your Bible and going to church and getting close to some strong Christian friends.”
Christy took his words to heart. “Todd, I don’t know how you come up with these great illustrations, but I love them. You’ve helped me understand Christianity and what it really means more than anyone else. I really like your stories.”
“Yeah, well, I figure Jesus liked stories too. He told a lot of stories. Have you read the book of John yet?”
“No.” The awful truth was she hadn’t read much from the Bible he had given her at all. But she planned to start reading a little bit every day, and she’d decided that even before he called.
“I like John. It’s one of the Gospels, you know. And it’s full of great stories that Jesus told.”
“I’ll start reading it tonight,” Christy promised.
There was an awkward pause. Christy scrambled for another topic. She loved listening to Todd, and she didn’t want him to hang up. Not yet!
“You haven’t told me what’s new with you,” she said. “How’s everything in Florida?”
“Oh yeah,” Todd said. “The reason I called was to tell you my mom’s getting married again.”
Christy didn’t know how to respond. “Really?”
“Their wedding is in December, and they’re moving to New York.”
“You’re moving to New York?”
“Not me. My mom and her boyfriend. I’m moving back with my dad. To Newport Beach.”
“You’re kidding!” Christy practically screamed into the phone. “When?”
“Christmas vacation.”
“Todd, that is so great! I wondered if I’d ever see you again, and here you’re moving back to California!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. The thing I’m looking forward to the most is going to the beach some winter morning and cooking breakfast. Shawn and I did that a couple of years ago. We burned the eggs, but the bacon turned out pretty good.”
“That sounds like fun,” Christy said.
“There’s nothing like the beach in the winter. I almost like it more than in the summer. In the morning it’s totally deserted except for a few hard-core surfers and about a million seagulls.”
“Todd, I’m so excited that you’re moving back here! I can’t wait to see you again.”
“Yeah. It’ll be good to see you, too. Hey, I have to go. Do me a favor and practice making scrambled eggs, will you?”
“Okay. Why?”
“So that when we have breakfast on the beach, we can have some decent food.”
Christy laughed. “Okay. I’ll practice every chance I get.”
“Good. Oh, and hey, start saying yes to Jesus too. He’s the best friend you’ll ever have.”
“I know He is. I will. Thanks. Bye, Todd.”
“Later, Christy.”
She waited until she heard his end of the line click and the dial tone hum in her ear. Then she hung up and headed straight for her bedroom.
Her pesky little brother stood by the kitchen doorway. “Who was that?”
“That was a wish come true,” Christy said. She impulsively grabbed David and planted a big kiss on his cheek.
“Yuck!” David quickly wiped off his cheek and called to their mom, who was cleaning out the refrigerator. “Mom, Christy’s kissing me! Tell her to stop it.”
Christy laughed and said, “Sorry, David. I couldn’t help myself. I’m just so happy.”
Mom appeared behind David with a droopy stalk of celery in her hand. “What’s the problem here?”
“Nothing,” Christy said before dancing off to her room.
“She kissed me!” David said.
“She kissed you?”
“Don’t worry,” Christy called over her shoulder. “I can almost guarantee you it will never happen again in your lifetime.”
As Christy closed her bedroom door she heard her brother say, “Why is she acting like that?”
Christy didn’t wait to hear her mom’s explanation. She twirled around twice before flopping onto her bed, still grinning from ear to ear. Then, scooping up Pooh Bear, Christy hugged him tight and laughed out loud.
Todd is movin
g to California! Rick actually asked me out! This is one of the most amazing days of my life. After this weekend I thought my whole life was falling apart, and now look.
She thought of Todd’s story about the cruise and about saying no to all the old stuff so you can start saying yes to all the new adventures God has ahead.
Christy tilted her smiling face upward. You really do go ahead of me, don’t You, God? You’re working everything out. You promised You would never leave me, and I believe You because You’re right here with me, this very minute, aren’t You? I know You are. And You will be with me—forever.
Christy squeezed her eyes shut, and into the sacred silence that filled her room she whispered one quiet word: “Yes!”
To my favorite man of God, my husband,
Ross Gunn III.
We are His forever.
“See, Katie! I told you he wouldn’t be here,” fifteen-year-old Christy Miller whispered, standing stiffly in the corner of the gym.
“Trust me, Christy. Rick told me he was coming to church tonight to play basketball. He’ll be here.” Katie’s copper-colored hair swished as she quickly glanced over her shoulder, checking the entrance.
“Well, even if he does come I’m not going to give him this Christmas present. It was a bad idea.” Christy slipped the small gift into the purse slung over her shoulder.
“No, it wasn’t!”
“Yes, it was, Katie. I hardly know Rick, so why am I chasing after him to give him a present?” Christy felt her face getting hot. She felt hot all over. Quickly running a finger over each eyelid, she asked, “Is my eye makeup all smeared?”
Katie looked into Christy’s distinctive blue-green eyes. “No, not at all. I can’t even tell you have any on.”
“Maybe I should go in the bathroom and put on some more.”
“Christy, stop with the Barbie Beauty Shop, will you? You’re a natural beauty—and Rick knows it.” Katie put her hand on her hip. “As long as you’ve known Rick Doyle, you’ve been running away from him. Now that he’s finally showing some interest in you, why don’t you stand still long enough for him to catch you?”
Christy Miller Collection, Volume 1 Page 27
