Tommy Nelson's Brave Girls Confidential

by Travis Thrasher

Mom nodded and asked her to sit down at the table.

  This wasn’t going to be good.

  Something awful was about to happen. Glory knew it. Dad was home. Her sisters weren’t around.

  She felt like running back to her room, locking the door to keep them from saying whatever it was they were about to say. Instead, she sat across from her parents and heard them say the words that changed everything.

  The next day her sister Emma was driving Glory to dance class because their mom had a headache.

  “I can’t believe it!” Glory shouted.

  Glory felt like a ping-pong ball being whacked over and over again. One minute she felt sad, then the next she felt angry. All because of her parents.

  “Why do they have to get a divorce?” Glory asked.

  “I don’t know, Glory,” Emma said, keeping her eyes on the road. “Parents divorce all the time.”

  “You don’t even sound sad.”

  “I don’t know how to feel,” Emma said. “I’m just tired of them arguing.”

  Glory would have asked them why herself—if she were talking to them. She hadn’t spoken to her parents since they broke the news two days ago. Now Dad was gone on another trip. Lucky for him. Mom kept trying to talk about it, but Glory didn’t want to.

  “You can’t be angry the rest of your life,” Emma said.

  “I can try!” Glory proclaimed. “Why didn’t they tell us sooner? Why are they just giving up?”

  Both Emma and Mary had tried to talk to Glory and help her understand. Although her oldest sister seemed not to care, Mary explained it was for the best. Glory didn’t want to hear any of it.

  She would never understand. There would never be a good explanation.

  The following Sunday, the last thing Glory wanted to do was go to church, but Mom made them go anyway. Dad was still out of town. Glory wondered if he was ever going to come back home.

  Glory didn’t feel like hugging her friends or even talking with them. She hadn’t told any of them yet and didn’t know how. She tried to imagine how she might break the news. It seemed impossible. What would she say? “Hey, like my ponytail? Oh, and hey—my parents are getting a divorce.”

  No. She’d keep the divorce a secret for now.

  “Are you okay?” Honor asked her during Sunday school.

  “I’m fine,” Glory said.

  The Bible story that morning was about Elijah. He was a prophet who became discouraged because the people of Israel wouldn’t listen to him and continued to worship idols. Elijah thought he was the only man of God left, so he hid in a cave, afraid for his life. God told him to get ready because He was about to pass by him.

  After powerful winds and an earthquake and even a blazing fire, Elijah still hadn’t heard from God. When he finally did, God’s voice was gentle and quiet and told him what he should do next.

  “Are we still meeting at your house for our first small group, Glory?” Honor asked after Sunday school.

  Glory could tell Honor and the other girls were wondering why she was so quiet. They couldn’t come to her house, though. What if they came and noticed that her dad wasn’t living there? They’d know then that something was wrong.

  Glory started to make up an excuse, but she couldn’t utter a word. Inside, she felt the tears coming. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

  “What’s wrong?” Gracie asked.

  Faith said nothing, but gently put her arm around Glory’s shoulder.

  All three girls surrounded Glory. With everybody else gone, Glory felt safe with her friends listening carefully.

  “My parents . . . they’re getting a divorce.”

  Glory felt like she’d just laid down something heavy—it was such a relief to tell her friends the truth. Gracie, Faith, and Honor all encouraged her, saying how sorry they were and promising they would be there for her.

  “We don’t have to meet at your house this week,” Honor said. “We can wait if you want.”

  But Glory had changed her mind. “No, please come. I really want you to.”

  “We’ll make it fun, I promise,” Faith said.

  Glory smiled, feeling thankful she had such good friends.

  Before her friends arrived, Glory watched a video on her tablet. The video showed Glory walking up to the front door of her house. When she’d opened it, party guests waiting inside yelled, “Surprise!” Glory had jumped and turned back to her parents, her mouth open in shock. It had been her tenth birthday.

  The day was so awesome. Her parents had secretly invited everyone from her class over to celebrate her birthday. There’d been cake and presents and so much laughter.

  Watching the video now on her tablet, however, made Glory sad.

  She noticed for the first time how her parents didn’t stand or sit near each other. They weren’t even talking to each other. She could see how things had been between them now, and it made her cry.

  Glory never thought much about her parents arguing all the time. She just assumed that’s what parents did.

  Putting away the tablet, Glory knew she had to be strong. Her friends were all coming over soon. The smell of fresh brownies filled the air. She put on her black shirt with the words “Girls rock and rule!” on the front.

  All of a sudden, she remembered something from the Bible. She couldn’t wait to share it with her friends.

  For the girls’ first official small group meeting, Mom served delicious homemade brownies. The girls talked with her for a while in the kitchen and then gathered in the sunroom to talk about their lesson on Elijah.

  When it came time for Glory to talk, she shared what she’d discovered.

  “I think Elijah wanted God to do something really big and dramatic,” Glory said. “Which I get because, well, I can be dramatic at times.”

  They all laughed, knowing it was true.

  “But God wasn’t in the drama. He was like a whisper.”

  Honor nodded. “You’re right. Remember our Bible verse, Psalm 46:10? It says we need to be quiet and just know that He’s God.”

  “I think that’s what I need to do, even though I want to yell. Or cry,” Glory said. “But it’s hard. And scary.”

  “It was hard to trust God when I moved,” Gracie said.

  “I’m glad we have the Bible. And that we can ask God to help us be brave,” Honor said.

  Faith’s face lit up. “That’s what we should call our group!”

  “What?” Honor asked.

  “The Brave Girls,” Faith said with a grin.

  “Ooh, I like that,” Gracie said.

  “Me too,” Honor said. “What about you, Glory?”

  Glory paused for a moment. Then a smile filled her face. “I love it. We can be brave together.”

  Dear God, I trust You. Help me be still and know that You are in control, even when I’m sad or mad. Thank You for making me brave. Amen.

  Talk About It

  1.How would you react if you were in Glory’s shoes (or boots)?

  2.Who can you go to when bad things happen?

  3.What does God want you to do when you feel sad or angry?

  4.How can you become a Brave Girl?

  DISCOVERING THE TRUE MEANING OF FRIENDSHIP

  Hope’s Snub

  “Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be frightened. The Lord your God will go with you. He will not leave you or forget you.”

  —Deuteronomy 31:6

  Hope, watch out!” Britt laughed and took Hope’s hand, pulling her toward the safety of the cabin porch. “He’s lighting the first one!”

  Together they watched as Britt’s dad set off fireworks. Streaks of yellow soared into the sky, and colorful explosions blasted over their heads.

  “It just keeps going!” Hope yelled in surprise.

  Hope had never seen fireworks like this in person. Her uncle would sometimes light firecrackers and smoke bombs back home on the farm, but fireworks on Fourth of July at the lake were way cooler.

 
When the blasts finally stopped, Hope stared at the sky, still smiling. Britt laughed and nudged her. “Come on—let’s see if there are any cookies left.”

  The two ran to Britt’s cabin, where Hope would be sleeping over that night. Britt was Hope’s best friend. Or more like Hope’s best lake friend, whenever Hope visited Aunt Sarah.

  “There’s one left,” Britt said when they reached the kitchen. “Want to split it?”

  “Yeah!” Hope said. “Friends forever?”

  “Forever,” Britt echoed.

  They’d been together for four days straight, riding scooters and filling water balloons and finding turtles and eating Popsicles. When they said good-bye to each other the following day, Hope gave Britt a hug.

  “I hate that you have to go home,” Britt said.

  “I’ll be back soon,” Hope said.

  “Okay. By then my dad’s boat will be fixed. We can go tubing!” Britt said.

  “Tubing, yay! Promise?”

  “Promise,” Britt said.

  Two weeks later, Hope came back to Aunt Sarah’s cabin at the lake. She could hardly wait to go tubing with Britt.

  The first sign of trouble came when Aunt Sarah said, “It looks like Britt’s cousin Riley is staying at the lake this weekend.”

  Hope remembered seeing Riley with Britt at the lake before Hope and Britt became friends. They’d never talked to Hope then, but surely things would be different now.

  Hope and her twin brothers grabbed their gear and headed toward the water. Hope quickly spotted Britt and Riley. She called out to her friend, “Hey, Britt!”

  For a second Britt turned around, but then she kept walking to her family’s boat. It looked like Britt had invited Riley, not Hope, to go tubing.

  “Britt must not like you anymore,” one of the twins said.

  Hope loved her brothers, but sometimes they were rude.

  “She just didn’t see me,” Hope said. But she wasn’t so sure.

  Later Hope was riding a scooter down their lane when she saw Britt and Riley walking up ahead, talking and laughing. She noticed how much Britt and Riley looked alike. They were both tall and pretty.

  Hope felt left out—and very ordinary and not pretty. As Hope slowed down to talk, the girls wouldn’t look at her and walked right by her. Hope couldn’t believe it. There was no hug, no “Hi, Hope!” and no “Let’s ride scooters together!” Britt really was ignoring her.

  Hope went inside her aunt’s cabin, even though she wanted to be swimming with her friend.

  “What’s wrong?” Aunt Sarah asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Surely you’re not bored already! It’s the lake! Have you seen Britt?”

  “She’s busy with her cousin,” Hope said.

  “Well, Violet just got here. Why don’t you go say hi? Maybe she will want to play.”

  Violet was another girl who came to the lake sometimes. She was nice, but Hope thought she was a bit weird. She laughed about silly things and hardly ever played outside. She liked to stay inside and read. Hope thought reading was the worst thing in the world, especially since the letters looked all mixed up to her sometimes and seemed like a whole different language.

  “I’m sure Violet would love to see you,” Aunt Sarah said.

  “Well . . . okay.” Hope headed outside to find Violet.

  Hope found Violet reading on the porch of her cabin.

  “Hi, Hope!” Violet shouted, dropping her book as she hopped to her feet.

  “Hi.”

  Violet had been coming to the lake with her dad since her parents divorced. Hope noticed that Violet’s once-long hair was short now and cut in lots of layers. There were even purple streaks of color in it.

  “Like my hair?” Violet asked.

  “Uh, sure,” Hope said.

  “I cut it off to give to someone with cancer. My dad got angry ’cause I did it myself, but it was for a good cause. Want to play a new game I downloaded on my tablet?”

  Hope looked out to the lake. She wanted to be out there. Swimming and tubing and laughing and having fun. Doing all those things with Britt. But she couldn’t.

  “Okay,” Hope said, following Violet inside the cabin.

  Hope didn’t really like being indoors playing on the tablet. Violet must have noticed, because she told Hope about something else that could be really fun.

  “Want to check out my new scooter?” Violet asked.

  “I love those,” Hope said, and her smile widened.

  The purple scooter was faster than any kind Hope had ever ridden. She didn’t own one herself, so it was a blast to ride. Violet seemed more excited to see Hope’s reaction than with the scooter itself.

  “You’re good at riding it, Hope. I’m kind of afraid to ride it,” Violet admitted.

  “It’s easy to balance,” Hope encouraged. “Here—try it out.”

  For the rest of the afternoon they took turns riding the scooter. Violet laughed every time Hope raced down her lane, swerving back and forth as if she were going to crash. Violet’s laughter made Hope feel good.

  Hope stayed for dinner with Violet and her dad, and afterward they went to the playground. They were having such a good time that Hope didn’t think about Britt at all.

  Then Britt and Riley showed up, and once again, Britt didn’t say a word to Hope. Violet said hi, but the girls ignored her. Instead, Britt and Riley whispered and laughed, obviously making fun of Violet’s hair.

  Why is Britt acting so mean? Hope wondered.

  When Hope saw Riley walk away, leaving Britt swinging by herself, she decided to say something. As Hope walked toward the swings, Britt hopped off, heading after Riley.

  Hope’s eyes burned. She no longer wanted to play or even be at the lake. She told Violet she had to go back to see her aunt. But what she really wanted to do was go home.

  Later that night, Aunt Sarah handed Hope a phone. “Your mother wants to talk with you,” she said.

  Hope missed her parents, especially Mom. She could tell her anything.

  “How’s it going, Hope?” her mom asked.

  “Okay,” Hope said, but she couldn’t hold back her tears. She felt silly, but thankfully her twin brothers weren’t around to laugh at her.

  “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

  So Hope told her mom all about Britt.

  “There are plenty of other things to do at the lake besides hanging around with Britt. Sarah told me you’ve been playing with Violet.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You don’t sound excited about that,” Mom said.

  “It’s just—she’s so strange, Mom. You should see her hair. She cut it all up.”

  “Why’d she do that?”

  “I guess to give to someone with cancer.”

  “Hope, that’s a wonderful thing to do.”

  “But she did it herself,” Hope said. “It looks awful.”

  “Let me ask you something. Was Violet mean to you?”

  “No.”

  “Did Violet say hi to you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Friends—true friends—don’t ignore you,” Mom told her. “They always say hi. And they always stay your friend, even when other people they like are around. So let Britt have fun with her cousin. She’s missing out on spending time with the coolest person at the lake.”

  Hope knew Mom was just trying to make her feel better.

  “I don’t feel cool,” she said.

  “You are more than just cool, Hope. You’re an amazing girl. You should be having fun and not worrying about anybody else.”

  “I just don’t know what I did,” Hope said. “Why is Britt being so mean to me?”

  “People can be that way sometimes. All you can do is be strong and not let her steal your joy.”

  Hope cried a little more. “But it’s not fair!”

  “I know, Hope. Just remember that there’s Someone who will never stop loving you and never leave you,” Mom said.

  “I know—you and Dad.”<
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  “Not just us, Hope. I’m talking about God. Even when we ignore Him, God never ignores us. Pray for courage. And remember that God made each of us to be exactly the person He wants us to be. Even if some of us might be a little strange.”

  Her mom’s words helped Hope feel much better.

  Before bed, Hope did what her mom said and prayed. She asked God to help her be brave and not let Britt and Riley steal her joy.

  The next day, Hope felt stronger, even when she saw Britt and Riley playing at the lake. Hope and Violet went on a pontoon ride with her aunt and fished for a while.

  When they docked after they returned from fishing, Hope saw Britt’s car driving away with the all the family’s luggage strapped to the roof and the bikes strapped on the back. Britt was leaving the lake for the summer without saying a word to Hope. That made Hope sad. She could have at least said good-bye, Hope thought.

  Violet gave Hope a big hug before leaving.

  “Thanks for playing with me,” Violet said.

  Maybe Violet didn’t get asked to play much. Maybe that was why she stayed indoors a lot. Violet didn’t have anybody to play with outside. Or anywhere, really.

  “It was a lot of fun,” Hope said. “I loved riding the scooter with you.”

  “Do you want to borrow it for a while? Take it home?”

  Hope couldn’t believe it.

  “Are you serious?” she asked.

  Violet smiled. “Sure. Bring it back when you come next week?”

  “Sure! Thanks!” Hope cried out. “Can’t wait to see you again.”

  Hope realized that Violet was a true friend.

  Hope wondered if she would find more true friends. She was going into a new class at church, and some girls at the church seemed really nice. Hope didn’t know them yet, but maybe they’d turn out to be as friendly and kind as Violet.

  God, thank You for loving me so much that You sent Your one and only Son to die on the cross for me and for everybody else. Help me accept others who are different from me and forgive others who are mean to me. Help me be a good friend and be loving like You are. Amen.