A Future and a Hope

by David Mathews

  Today, his plan was to recruit Kelli and Allison to organize a party for her after she finished work at the Pet Palace Saturday night. He figured Edwards would be the perfect place for a surprise birthday party, and hoped the girls could come up with some good ideas, the likes of which seemed to elude him. One thing was for sure, though. He lacked the skills needed for planning and organizing any kind of social event. His past attempts to do so had rather confirmed that fact.

  Caleb was unloading the contents of his backpack into the recesses of his already overcrowded locker when Ellie approached him.

  “Good morning, Caleb.”

  He glanced up at her. “Oh, hi, Ellie. Ready for your English test first period?”

  “I’m ready for anything today.” The lightness in her voice caught his attention. There was an unusual sparkle in her eyes, and a poorly disguised grin on her face. Something seemed different about her.

  He gave her a quizzical stare. “Everything okay?”

  “Just fine,” she replied, breaking into a smile. “Things couldn’t be better.”

  “Well, you’re sure in a good mood today,” he exclaimed. He put a finger to his temple and looked at the ceiling as if deep in thought. “Let’s see, now. When I last saw you yesterday afternoon, you were in a more . . . reflective mood. Why so cheerful all of a sudden? I wish I had your enthusiasm this early on a Monday morning.”

  Ellie laughed, “Well, you should have. You, of all people.”

  “What are you talking about?” She just stood there smiling secretively at him. “Well are you going to tell me what’s making you so happy, or am I going to have to guess? After all, I’m just a guy, you know. I can’t read your mind.”

  Ellie flashed a secretive grin. “I’ll tell you at lunch. Meet me in the Senior Suite, okay?”

  Without waiting for his reply, she flipped around lightly on her feet and floated off to her own locker, leaving Caleb shaking his head in bewilderment.

  Throughout the morning, he tried to figure out the cause for Ellie’s cheerfulness. Had she received her UGA acceptance letter, or better yet, a positive response to her academic scholarship application? Perhaps she’d been offered an art scholarship. It had to be one of those three.

  At lunch he excused himself from their group of friends and went out the side door of the cafeteria into the courtyard. It was nearly full of seniors today. He found Ellie sitting alone at one of the tables and plopped his tray down beside her.

  “Okay, now can you please tell me the good news?” he pleaded. “I haven’t been able to concentrate in any of my classes, thanks to you.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ellie laughed. She didn’t look too sorry. “I did it, Caleb. I finally did it.”

  “Did what?”

  “I became a Christian last night!” She beamed.

  In Caleb’s seventeen plus years, rarely had he been left speechless. He stared at her as if she had just walked on water.

  “Well, aren’t you going to say something?” she prompted, with a chuckle.

  All he could do was parrot her previous announcement. “You became a Christian last night.”

  “Yes!” she continued excitedly. “After you left, I had a long talk with Miss Cora, and then I went to my room, and I prayed and asked God to make me one of His children.”

  “Wahoo!” Caleb shouted, as he simultaneously pumped his fist in the air.

  The seniors at the surrounding tables stopped and stared at the source of the explosion. Laughter rippled across the courtyard. Even Ellie was tickled by his spontaneous reaction.

  The other students gradually resumed their conversations.

  “Ellie, that’s wonderful. No, that’s fantastic!” He could barely contain himself. “Do you know how long I’ve been praying for this?” She shook her head. “Since soon after I first met you.”

  She blinked in surprise. “Really? That long?” Ellie placed her hand over his as gratitude welled up in her eyes. “And you didn’t give up on me. Thank you for caring so much. I’ve never known that kind of love.” She paused and smiled sweetly. “Until now, that is.”

  “So, what finally prompted you to give your life to Jesus?” he wanted to know.

  “Well, it was for the right reasons,” she assured him. “I think I finally realized how much God really loves me, and how much I really need Him. I wasn’t going to say anything about it just yet, because, you know . . . of what we talked about yesterday.” She grinned shyly. “But I couldn’t help myself. I just had to tell you.”

  “Well I’m glad you did. This is the best news ever. Does Miss Cora know?”

  “Yes, I told her this morning before I left for school. And do you know what she did? She gave me a big hug, and then danced a little jig right there in the middle of the kitchen.”

  “I wish I could have seen that.” Caleb tried to capture the image in his mind. “You know what? I think you ought to tell Kelli and Allison. And the rest of the kids at church. They’ve all been praying for you, too, you know. They’ll be just as happy for you as I am.”

  “I hope they don’t react quite as . . . as enthusiastically as you did.” She laughed at the sheepish look on his face. Then she grew serious. “Caleb, do you suppose my mother knows what I’ve done?”

  “Somewhere in the Bible it says there is joy in heaven when one sinner repents, so I expect she’s heard about it by now.”

  “And now I know for sure that I’m going to see her again someday.” Ellie had a happy, faraway look in her eyes.

  “Yes, you are. I’ll get to meet her, too. And you can meet Cal. We’ll all be there together.”

  Before he knew what was happening, Ellie leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. One of the students at the next table gave a wolf whistle, and another let out a “Wahoo!”

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized. A red blush colored her cheeks. “I didn’t plan to do that. Honest. It’s just that I’m so . . . so happy. I hope you didn’t mind.”

  Normally, under similar circumstances, Caleb also would have blushed. Instead, he grinned impishly as he touched the spot where her lips had made contact with his face.

  “I didn’t mind that at all.”

  Following their shift at the Pet Palace that weekend, Caleb and Ellie drove to Edwards to meet up with the Saturday night crowd. Ellie looked forward to their usual good time involving tasty, but not-so-good-for-you food, fun music, and high-spirited talk. When she walked through the double glass doors into the diner she was pleasantly blindsided.

  In the back corner, spanning several booths, hung a large banner bearing the words “HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, ELLIE!” along with streamers and blue and white balloons. About a dozen kids, mostly from the church youth group, awaited her arrival.

  They presented her with a birthday cake baked by Kelli and Allison. It had her name and the number 18 on it. Along with several cards, the group gave her a professional artist’s easel and a nice leather case for storing her art supplies.

  Ellie fought back tears as she thanked them.

  “You all have no idea what this means to me,” she said in a choked voice. “This is one of the most wonderful days of my life!” She dabbed at her eyes before she turned to Caleb and wagged an accusing finger at him. “Are you responsible for all this?”

  Caleb held up both hands and declared his innocence. “Hey, don’t look at me. I just came up with the idea. They’re the ones who took it and ran with it.”

  Sunday morning during the youth hour, at the urging of Tony and Amanda, Ellie shared how she had given her life to Christ the previous Sunday night. And during the invitation following the morning worship service, she went forward to publicly profess her newfound faith.

  Caleb was amazed at the boldness with which she openly shared her testimony. It was as if her shyness evaporated in those moments. Several other people publicly surrendered their lives to the Lord before Pastor Murphy closed the service and dismissed the congregation with prayer.

  Caleb’s parents invi
ted Ellie to join them for Sunday dinner, and she accepted graciously. Following a delicious pot roast dinner prepared and served by his mom, Caleb drove Ellie back to Miss Cora’s. The two of them relaxed on the porch swing, enjoying the moment but not saying much. After a while, Miss Cora came out of the house with a tray bearing a plate of gingersnap cookies and two glasses of sweetened sun tea.

  “Mind if I join you out here?” she asked in her usual sweet way.

  “Of course not.” Ellie motioned to the empty wicker rocking chair. “You don’t have to ask. It’s your house.”

  Miss Cora placed the tray on the little round table between them, sat down in the rocker, and helped herself to a cookie.

  “I know. But I also want to respect your privacy. You live here too, you know.” She gave Ellie a knowing little wink, and then changed the subject. “I sure did enjoy your testimony at church this morning. I felt like jumping up and shouting ‘Glory, Hallelujah!’” She chortled under her breath. “But I restrained myself.”

  Caleb and Ellie laughed.

  The widow grew serious. “Miss Ellie, have you given any thought to being baptized?”

  Ellie shook her head. “Um . . . no, not really. I’ve seen people do it before, but I’m not sure what it’s all about. Is it something I’m supposed to do? Now that I’m a Christian?”

  Miss Cora smiled. “Why don’t we have that nice young man sitting next to you answer that for us? Caleb, would you care to tackle the question?”

  Caleb grinned self-consciously. “I’ll do my best, but I’m sure you could answer it much better than I can.” He drew a breath. Lord, help me say the right thing, he prayed silently. “Ellie, when you accepted Christ last week, you became a new person. I guess you could say the old Ellie is gone, and the new Ellie has taken her place. Right, Miss Cora?”

  “Go on. You’re doing a fine job.”

  “Well, baptism is a public declaration that you are identifying with His death, burial, and resurrection. When you’re placed under the water, that symbolizes that your old life is dead and buried with Him. And when you come up out of the water that symbolizes that you have been raised to a new life in Christ.”

  “What happens if I don’t get baptized?” Ellie asked.

  Caleb looked to Miss Cora for help.

  “Your salvation and eternal life are secure, no matter what,” the elderly woman emphasized. “Nothing can separate you from the love of God. In fact, in First Peter we’re told that your eternal inheritance is guarded by Almighty God. Baptism isn’t a requirement for salvation. But it is necessary if you want to be an obedient child of God. It’s one of the first steps you should take to publicly declare your love and devotion to the One who transformed your life. Your identity is now in Christ Jesus. You don’t belong to yourself anymore. You’ve been bought with a price. Therefore, you are to glorify God in your body and spirit, which belong to Him. First Corinthians six, I believe.”

  “I want to do the right thing. But I think I’m going to need a lot of help. I really don’t know much at all about how to be a good Christian.”

  “Don’t worry, my dear.” The old woman leaned forward and patted Ellie on the knee. “You’ve got God’s Word to light your path. And the Holy Spirit to guide you in the truth.” She paused and winked slyly. “And then there’s Caleb, here. Seems to me he’s done a pretty good job of helping you along so far, wouldn’t you say?”

  Ellie glanced warmly at Caleb, and then returned her landlady’s smile. “Yes he has. I think he’s pretty amazing.”

  “Well what do you know? I do believe you’ve made him blush.” Miss Cora cackled with obvious delight. She picked up the tray and held it out to Caleb. “Care for another cookie?”

  “Miss Cora?” Ellie addressed the diminutive white haired woman who sat on the chintz print sofa knitting an afghan.

  It was Monday morning, the week of Christmas. School was out for the two week winter break, and she had been up in her room reading.

  The elderly landlady looked up from her knitting. “Yes, my dear? What is it?”

  Ellie walked over to the sofa. She carried her white Bible in one hand and a printed brochure in the other.

  “I found this pamphlet stuck between two pages in the back of my Bible. I never noticed it before now.” She handed the folded paper to Miss Cora. “What do you make of it?”

  Miss Cora slipped on her reading glasses and studied the brochure. Her eyebrows raised as she read the front. Removing her glasses, she looked at Ellie.

  “You say you found this in your Bible? The one your mother gave you?”

  “Yes. It’s from a crisis pregnancy center. What would it be doing in my Bible?”

  Miss Cora didn’t answer. She replaced her glasses, and studied it again.

  “Look on the back,” Ellie urged her. “There’s a handwritten note to someone named Katherine. What do you make of it?”

  The old woman turned the brochure over, held it closer to her face, and read the note. She inhaled sharply. “Can it be?” she muttered under her breath. “Can it really be?” She glanced up at Ellie over the rims of her glasses. “What did you say your mother’s name was, again?”

  “Katherine Thompson. Do you think that note was addressed to her?”

  Miss Cora didn’t reply. Instead, she stared at Ellie in a way that made her uncomfortable.

  “Miss Cora? Are you all right?”

  Miss Cora broke into a broad smile. “The good Lord be praised. I should have known. I should have known.”

  “Known what?” she pressed, feeling like she’d missed something very important.

  The old woman looked tenderly at her. “You look so much like your mother.”

  Ellie’s jaw dropped. “My mother? You knew my mother?” She tried unsuccessfully to connect the dots. “But how . . . how’s that possible?”

  Miss Cora motioned for Ellie to sit down beside her and she complied as if in a trance.

  “Yes, sweetheart. I knew your mother. Very briefly, but I knew her.” She handed the brochure back to the confused teen. “That note was addressed to your mother. The reason I know that is because I’m the one who wrote it.”

  Ellie was astounded.

  “Look at it again. Can you make out the signature?”

  She squinted at the handwriting. “Mrs. Williams?”

  “Yes, that’s me.” Miss Cora chuckled. “My penmanship never was very good.”

  “But how did you know my mother? And what was she doing with this pamphlet?”

  “Miss Ellie, I’ll tell you all of what I remember. Do you see the address on the front? That crisis pregnancy center is located in Chesapeake, Virginia. I used to volunteer there once a week when Henry and I lived in Portsmouth. He was a Communications Officer stationed in Norfolk at the time. Your mother came to the center one day. She was from a small town south of Chesapeake somewhere.”

  “Hickory!” Ellie interjected excitedly. “She lived in Hickory.”

  “Yes, that sounds familiar. I remember she was a very beautiful young lady. And very scared. She was still in high school then, and about your age, I think. She’d just found out she was pregnant, and wasn’t sure if she should keep the baby or terminate the pregnancy.”

  “You mean, she wasn’t sure if she wanted me?” Ellie was hurt by the news.

  “I don’t think it was that,” Miss Cora assured her, “so much as it was the fact that she was young, unmarried, and without a family support system. At the time, she didn’t think she could properly care for or provide for a child.”

  “I didn’t know any of this!” Ellie was incredulous. “What else can you tell me about her?”

  “Well, I met with her several times after that, to encourage her to keep the baby. I seem to recall that she was leaning toward an abortion, but she had some reservations about it. I wrote that note to her the last time she came in. She said she’d think about it. I never saw her again after that.”

  Ellie read the note out loud:

&nb
sp; “Katherine, all lives are precious in the sight of God, both the born and the unborn. You may not understand it now, but He wants you both to be His children, and He has a plan for your lives. Please read these two Bible verses before making your decision: Deuteronomy 30:19, and Jeremiah 29:11. I will be praying that you choose life—eternal life for yourself, and physical life for your baby. No matter what happens, always remember that GOD LOVES YOU! ~Mrs. Williams”

  Ellie looked up at Miss Cora. The woman had a faraway look in her eyes, which were brimming with tears.

  “Miss Cora? Miss Cora!” Her voice jolted the white-haired lady out of her thoughts.

  “Miss Ellie, I must confess that I’ve sometimes wondered if my volunteering ever made much of a difference. Results aren’t always immediate or visible. Perhaps it’s a lack of faith on my part. In any case, I’ve learned that I’m to be faithful in doing what God has called me to do. The results are up to Him.” Her face became radiant and she squeezed Ellie’s soft hand with her wrinkled one. “And now He has been gracious enough to allow me the joy of seeing that my labor has not been in vain.” Miss Cora raised her hands over her head. “Hallelujah!”

  Later that afternoon, up in her room, Ellie set up the easel given to her as a birthday present.

  She began a pencil sketch of a little girl sitting on a porch swing beside her mother. Standing behind them, pushing the swing, was the transparent, nearly invisible figure of a gentle-eyed, smiling, bearded man in a long, flowing robe.

  Underneath the picture, in beautifully scripted calligraphy, were the words of Deuteronomy 30:19. “ . . . I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.”

  The week of Christmas crept up on Caleb like a cat creeps up on a mouse. Silently, and without warning. He’d been so fixated on Ellie’s move to Miss Cora’s, and so joyous over her decision to become a Christian, that he’d all but forgotten his favorite time of year.

  The town’s holiday decorations, the tree in the living room, and the upcoming church Christmas program, had not garnered his attention or stirred his enthusiasm like they usually did every December. The holiday seemed to have simply materialized on his radar screen straight out of hyperspace.