by T. M. Meek
As Alex crawled into bed, Meredith began to tuck her in. She decided to ask Alex about her old window frame. "I noticed you brought your window frame for your playhouse with you. I'm not sure there's enough room in our backyard to build a playhouse in."
"It's okay. I didn't plan on you or Uncle Samuel building it for me at your house," Alex reassured.
"Then did you want to still keep it here in your room? There's room in the garage for it if you want me to put it there."
"No. No. I'd really like to keep it here in my room, if that's okay."
"That's fine with me. What are you going to do with it here?" Alex remained quiet since she didn't want Aunt Meredith to laugh or make fun if Alex told her how she imagined the window as a means of seeing heaven's view if life, so Alex decided to test the water, so to speak, to see what Aunt Meredith might think by asking her a question.
"Someone at the party asked me a question tonight that I didn't want to answer. What do you do in a situation like that? You know? When someone asks you something and you're not sure you want to talk about it yet?" Meredith wasn't sure if Alex was trying to change the subject or not but since Alex's question felt sincere and it certainly sounded more important to answer, Meredith decided to help Alex feel like she could find a friend in Meredith then by trying to answer her question.
"Who asked you a question you didn't want to answer?" Meredith asked with patient concern. She tried not to lead Alex too much in the process.
"The lady Uncle Samuel is working with. Linda."
"What did she ask you?"
"I was looking at some of her pictures of angels and she sort of asked me what I believe about them."
"Did you not want to answer because you didn't really know what to believe? Or was it because you just don't know her very well? Or was there some other reason you didn't want to answer?" Alex hesitated and then thought of a better question to ask her as she pulled her blanket up to get warmer.
"What do you do when you know in your heart that God has given you special information that's only for you and someone else wants to know about it, so they ask you a question for the sole purpose of getting you to talk about it?"
Meredith could see that this question was exactly as Alex felt and so she decided to help Alex learn to protect her own privacy if Alex really felt she had something sacred to keep between just her and God. As she sat down on the edge of Alex’s bed, she moved over to give Meredith some room. Meredith studied Alex’s face and tenderly swept her hair away from her niece’s forehead before answering.
"First of all, just remember, that anytime a person ignores you when you say ‘no’ to something, then that means they are trying to control you. Now sometimes that's a good thing. For example, when parents need to teach their children about safety. So when a parent tells a child to stay out of the street so they don't get hit by a car, when a little child, such as a two-year-old, says no to the parent, the parent must seek to control their child for their child's safety. So that's when it's a good thing to ignore someone when they say no.
“Now let me give you an example of when it's a bad thing. Unfortunately there are some adults who will ignore a child who says no and that can be dangerous because if a child feels its right to say no to an adult who is seeking to control them by ignoring the child who says no like with stranger danger then that is not an adult you should trust. Some adults even do this with other adults and it's not good then either. So just remember, anytime you say no to someone about something you honestly feel is right to say no to, and if that person –– whether they are an adult or another child –– if they keep pushing you to do what they want you to do, then they are seeking to control you and that's usually a bad thing. Now, the good news is, that when you say no because you feel it's right to do so and the other person listens, and respects you by not making you do something you think is wrong, then that person is usually a good person and is more trustworthy since they are being respectful of you when you say no. If they don't push you to do something you feel is wrong, then that's a good thing. Understand so far?" Alex nodded yes.
"Now to get to the part of your question about special information from God that you feel is just for you. Let me ask you, have you ever read the bible?"
"Not the whole thing! That's a big book!" Alex gasped in shock.
Meredith chuckled. "I guess what I should've asked was if you've read any of the bible. Have you ever read anything in the New Testament about Jesus' teachings?"
"I've read a little," Alex replied more relaxed now that Meredith wasn't actually requiring for Alex to have read the whole bible and know it all by memory.
"Well there's a scripture in the book of Matthew 7:6 where Jesus teaches us to be careful with how we share sacred things of God and who we share sacred things from heaven with. Sacred things like special information as revelation of God needs to be handled the way God says since He is the one providing it. It's his information, it's His property such as a sacred temple, and He is the one we should follow since He created it. It basically says not to cast your pearls before swine because the swine, which are pigs, might just trample your pearls and show no respect for them. So the pearls are symbolic of those things you feel are a sacred gift to you from God, such as special things that are good that you have learned of the Lord, and the swine, or pigs, are a symbolic of people who are not clean spiritually and who probably don't want to be clean, and people like that are people that you shouldn't trust to show respect or appreciation for the things of God. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah."
"Some people will make fun of God's teachings or will treat divine truths with skepticism and even criticize or insult and mock those good people who are putting their faith in Christ. So you have to be careful who you share your beliefs with and how you share them. You have a better chance of being treated with kindness and belief by those who really want to be close to God and open to His teachings, just as you have a better chance of being made fun of or criticized by those who don't care about God and don't feel they have any need to repent."
"But what if I don't want to answer a question and someone thinks I'm hiding a secret, but I'm not actually hiding a secret? You know?"
"Just remember that a secret is usually when we've done something we feel is wrong and so we try to hide it out of guilt. But sacred things are different. Sacred things are often holy things of God that God wants to keep protected away from those who are insincere."
Alex was deep in thought. "Can I ask you a personal question? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to." Before Meredith could tell Alex yes, Samuel was heard entering through the back door and they both were distracted momentarily as he entered.
"It's me. Samuel," He hollered out. He usually did this anytime he came home and he knew Meredith was in a room where she couldn't see if it was him or not. That way she knew it wasn't an intruder. Both of them would do this as a means for added safety at home. This was one of the few times using a loud voice was okay to do at home. Another time it was permitted was in the event someone needed to yell out for help in an emergency. He then shut and locked the door before he headed back towards the bedrooms.
Meredith went over to the doorway so she wouldn't need to yell loudly. "We're here in Alex's room." She smiled at him and then went back over to sit again on Alex's bed. Samuel walked over and stood in Alex's doorway and gave Alex a tired smile having finally returned home from the office party. He had arrived home only about a half an hour after Meredith and Alex had arrived home. Meredith picked up where they left off.
"You can ask me your question if you'd like," she said to Alex as she gently brushed some hair out of Alex's eyes.
"What do you believe about God? I mean, what do you believe about how to tell when someone is sincere and will respect sacred things of God and not make fun of it?"
Meredith thought deeply for a few moments and then replied, "That's a very good question."
"I'd even say that's a rather profound qu
estion, Alex," Samuel said in surprise as he was very impressed with Alex's spiritual maturity.
"Definitely," Meredith nodded in humble agreement.
Samuel sat down on Alex's bed close behind Meredith and suggested, "You could tell her what you told me about the two young men at the airport. Remember? September 11th?" Samuel remembered to turn the ringer on his phone down to low now that he was home and would be asleep soon. He then spoke to Alex. "Your Aunt Meredith was stuck in an airport on the day that the United States was attacked by terrorists back in 2001. There were several large United States commercial passenger planes that were hijacked by terrorists and flown into important U.S. buildings so all of the airports were closed down across the country to keep other terrorists from hijacking more planes. Your aunt Meredith was supposed to fly out to her Cousin Nina's wedding but once they arrived at the airport, they were told no planes were allowed to fly out so everyone needed to wait until they decided it was safe for passengers to fly again."
"I waited for about eight hours, just stuck at the airport with about ten thousand other people..."
"Ten thousand? That's a lot of people," Alex said in shock.
"Yeah. We were all crammed together and we couldn't leave for security reasons. So as I waited, I couldn't help but to overhear a small group of people nearby talking about their beliefs about God. The thing that surprised me the most was that it was two young men who were teaching about three or four adults. I mean, the two young men couldn't have been older than maybe nineteen or twenty at the most, and they were well dressed wearing a suit and tie, they wore clean haircuts, no facial hair, I couldn’t see any body piercing or tattoos. They just looked so mature. So pure – like spiritually pure and wholesome. They looked absolutely trustworthy. These two young men were teaching about God with a kind of peaceful happiness about them that really made them stand out. They taught about so many different things that gave so much hope and comfort at such a difficult time. I wrote as much of it down in my journal as I could," Meredith then looked at Samuel and asked, "Should I go get my journal? Or do you remember which story it was I told you about that you think I should share with Alex?"
"Remember about the king who lived over a thousand years ago or two thousand years ago and the missionaries he met and how he said he'd give everything away if he could learn what they knew?" Samuel gently recalled as he helped Meredith remember the story she heard.
Meredith's eyes lit up in excitement as she suddenly remembered the story. "Right! Yes! Thank you," she smiled and clapped her hands. "This is the coolest thing, Alex! You're going to love it!" Alex was wide-eyed in anticipation and eager to hear the story. Meredith began.
"The young men in the group at the airport were teaching from a book about a story it's a true story about a king that lived over two thousand years ago. He was extremely wealthy and ruled over a lot of people and he owned a lot of land. He had a son who ruled over some of his people in a different part of the land under his dad's kingdom and the son met some missionaries who visited his land and he was so impressed with how much they knew about God and the great questions of life, that he became a better man. Now his father, the king, eventually met the missionaries. The king was so impressed with the positive changes he saw in his son that he wanted to learn from the missionaries too. So the king asked these missionaries, who were young men, to tell him about the Spirit of the Lord and what it means when God teaches that those who repent will be saved and those who don't repent will be cast off and ousted at the last day. There was one main missionary who answered the king’s questions. The missionary answered the king’s questions by asking the king about his own beliefs. He asked the king if he believed in God. The king said, 'if you say there is a God, I'll believe you.' The missionary was really glad to hear this and he said to the king: 'There definitely is a God and He created all things. Do you believe it's true?' And the king said he believed him and he wanted the missionary to tell him more about it.
“Once the missionary could see that the king was sincere and that he would believe what he would teach the king about God, the missionary began teaching about the creation of the first humans, Adam and Eve, by reading scriptures to the king. He read to him about how mankind was created in the image of God and how God gave commandments and that transgression was the cause of mans fall. The missionary continued to read the scriptures to the king about the creation of Adam and Eve and how their fall from grace brought about a carnal state of being for mankind and how God had already put a plan in place for redemption through Jesus Christ. This plan was outlined by God even before the world was created. This plan of redemption would be available for all who would believe in Jesus or “Christ” with real intent. And now that man was fallen which means to be separated from God that only the suffering and death of Christ could fix the problem. Only Christ could overcome death by resurrection and that He does this so that all of us can be resurrected when we die and we'll receive a perfected body, just as Christ did through His resurrection. And all of this so that we can return to live with God again as well as be reunited with our departed loved ones after we die if we so choose it."
"What did the king think about it?" Alex asked intrigued. Samuel was just as eager to hear as well since it had been awhile since Meredith had shared it. Meredith continued.
"Well, the king was so excited about such good news about Christ's role and the blessings God already had planned for those who believe, that the king asked the missionary, 'What must I do so I can have this eternal life you just told me about? What must I do so I can be born of God and get rid of this carnal side of me, this wicked spirit out of my heart and replace it with God's spirit so I can have joy and not be ousted at the last day?' The king then said something that really surprised the missionary. The king said: 'I will give up everything I own even my kingdom so that I can receive this great joy.' Now the missionary could see that the king was willing to give up his riches, but the missionary knew that it's just as important to give up bad habits and poor choices that make us spiritually weak, so he said to the king, 'If you really want this great joy through Christ, you may have it but only if you will bow down before God and repent of all of your sins. You've got to bow down in faith before God and pray to Him with a belief that you will receive that great joy and salvation. If you'll do that, then you'll receive what you hope for.'
“As soon as the missionary said this, the king bowed down before the Lord on his knees, and he said a prayer with powerful emotions of sincerity. He said, 'Dear God, this missionary has told me about you, and if you really exist, if what he said is true, will you please help me know it's true? Will you make yourself known to me? And I promise to give up every one of my sins so I can know you and so I can be raised from the dead and saved at the last day.' As soon as the king had finished saying these words, he collapsed as if he were dead."
Alex gasped. "So did he die? Did he die? What made him collapse?" Alex asked eagerly.
"She's getting there, Alex. Be patient," Samuel smiled.
"After the king collapsed, his servants who were there quickly ran off to tell the queen what happened to the king. So when she came in and saw the king collapsed on the ground, she was furious because she thought that the missionaries had killed her husband. Immediately she demanded that the king’s servants should kill the missionaries." Alex was wide-eyed in shock but decided to not ask any questions and let Aunt Meredith finish the story.
"But the servants knew it wasn't the missionaries fault because they had seen what made the king collapse. They also had seen one of the missionaries work a miracle earlier to help the king’s son and they believed the missionaries were good young men who had the power of God with them so they didn't dare lay a hand on any of them. The servants even pled with the queen. They said, 'Why would you tell us to kill these good men when one of them is more powerful than all of us combined? We would die trying!' Now this really scared the queen because she thought some evil curse might come upon he
r so then she said, 'Go call everybody! Call everyone in the kingdom to come kill these missionaries!' Now when the missionary who taught the king saw that the queen was set on killing him and his missionary friend, and because he knew the whole reason they were there was because the people in the kingdom were really hardhearted, mean and wicked, and because he had hoped to help them to become good people by learning of God, he knew that if the people of the kingdom got together at the orders of the queen, that a huge fight would break out and the missionaries didn't want any contention. So the main missionary who taught the king, stretched out his hand and raised the king up and said to the king, 'Stand up.' And the king of the people who mistakenly believed might be dead, stood up."
"The king didn't die?" Alex asked.
"Nope. The king stood up in full health and strength," Meredith replied.
"Cool!" She smiled in awe over his miraculous recovery.
"The queen and the servants were amazed to see this. And the king walked up to the people in the room and he began to teach them what the missionary had taught him and everyone in his house including the queen became converted to the Lord," Meredith smiled.
"Wow!" Alex said astonished.
"My favorite thing about that story is that it's true," Samuel said.
"So based on that example of the king, how can you tell when someone is sincere about wanting to learn about God?" Meredith asked Alex.
Alex thought for a few moments and replied, "He didn't make fun of the missionaries. He was willing to believe."
"That's right. Were there any other things that showed the kings sincerity?" Meredith asked.
"He was willing to do what the Lord asked. He was willing to repent by giving up all of his sins," Alex said as she thought more.
"Even his favorite sins he gave up. Because we all have certain sins we don't like to give up. But he was willing to give all of them up. And start completely over with his life. Become a new person," Samuel coached.
"You're both right," Meredith smiled.
"And most importantly, he prayed to God in faith that he really would be saved and feel happy after giving up all of his sins," Samuel added.
"Yeah," Alex smiled.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Meredith said.
"Very cool," Alex agreed. “So he was willing to give everything he had to God.”
“That’s what the missionaries did. I overheard one of the people ask the missionaries at the airport if they were expecting any money for teaching them the Gospel. The missionaries said ‘no’ and told them why. The missionaries had already earned their own money to pay for their own needs so they could preach the Gospel of Christ full-time for free for two years. They had also already done like the king in that they gave their all to know the joy that comes from knowing all of the saving principles of the Lord’s gospel and doing what the Lord asks.”
“They don’t charge any money to be ministers? Wow!” Samuel was really surprised. “You know, come to think of it, no where in the bible does it ever say anything about Christ charging money or asking for donations to preach either.” He thought more deeply and added, “I guess he must have done like the missionaries. He earned his own money in advance to pay for His three year ministry. He was, after all, the best carpenter in the history of the world. Certainly he earned good money offering the best service.”
“That makes sense,” Meredith nodded.
"What else did you hear those guys talking about in the airport? Anything else about God?" Alex asked eagerly.
"Well, we were all stranded for several hours, so yes. I heard a lot more of some very good stuff."
"Will you tell me about it?" Alex asked.
"Most definitely. But right now it's bedtime. So we’ll talk about it some other time," Meredith said as she gave Alex a kiss goodnight.
Samuel then kissed Alex on her forehead and mussed up her hair. "By the way, did you get all of your homework done today?" He asked.
"Yep! Aunt Meredith checked it." Meredith nodded it was true.
"All right then. Goodnight Alex," he said as he and Meredith began to leave her room.
"Uncle Samuel?" Alex asked.
"Yeah?"
"Speaking of homework, would it surprise you a lot to know that a single adult has to earn well over fifty thousand dollars per year just to barely survive? That's just to keep their head above water for one adult no pets, no spouse and no debt can be truly afforded. Does that surprise you?" Alex wondered.
"Not really. But it took me several years of living on my own away from my parents before I started figuring that out. That's part of the reason your aunt Meredith and I moved into a smaller home after finishing the renovations on our last home. Does that income estimate you're talking about have something to do with your school project?"
"Yes, indeed," Alex said in a mock dignified tone. Samuel scoffed.
"If you start thinking about that stuff, you'll never get to sleep," he jokingly warned.
"Goodnight, Alex," Meredith said as she kissed her adorable little niece on the cheek.
"Yes. Goodnight, Alex. Try and get some sleep," Samuel smiled somewhat tired.
"Goodnight," Alex yawned.
Meredith and Samuel left Alex's door slightly open and she could hear them walking down the hall towards their bedroom. She heard them turning off various lights along the way. As they started up a conversation, Alex found it hard not to listen. She got up out of bed and stood near her door to listen.
"You know what surprises me more than the idea of needing to earn over fifty thousand a year to survive?" Samuel asked Meredith.
"What? The fact that she's even thinking of these things at her age?" Meredith guessed.
"Exactly," Samuel retorted. I mean, what kind of kid worries herself with those kinds of problems? That's not something most people even start thinking about until they're in their twenties or thirties," he scoffed. "Some people don't even figure that out until they're in their fifties or sixties."
"Some people never figure it out and that's why they struggle all of their lives financially," Meredith shrugged.
"Well, that's not normal. I mean, do we have a kid who any day now is going to sprout a bleeding ulcer over this stuff? Shouldn't she be thinking about normal kids stuff like if we're going to let her wear makeup or have a pet?"
"You know, it was just a couple of centuries ago that kids her age were mastering farming skills or some other family business because they taught their kids as early as possible to take responsibility to learn and do all that they could to become financially self-reliant through honest efforts. So I'm not so sure she's going to get an ulcer over all of these financial facts of life she's learning about. And I say that primarily because she's young. It's not knowing what she knows early enough that increases the chances of ulcers. Now that she's learning to create her own financial game plan for her later success as an adult, so long as she has the right hope she needs to succeed, she's not as likely to have ulcers. And besides, if she does have any ulcers, it'll be from having to tip toe around Dex back home – not from making mature financial plans now so she can be in a better position to recognize the right choices about money when she's an adult."
Samuel sighed and shook his head. He knew what Meredith was saying was true. Meredith continued.
"Okay. So she's smart. Her particular kind of 'smart' may not be normal, but it's a good thing."
"She's not just smart, she's extremely smart," Samuel warned. "She's got an intellectual appetite for information I'm not sure how to feed."
"Well, remember I told you what the principal of her last school said to Francis and I when we met to transfer Alex to another school?" Meredith asked.
"I think when you first told me, you gave me a few highlights but we didn't have time to discuss it all. What's coming to mind?"
"Her principal was obviously a woman who paid close attention to the feedback of her teachers because at least three of them had approached her at various times with reports that
said they felt Alex needed to be in more advanced level courses."
"You mean, like where Alex skips a grade ahead of her class?"
"Or skips two grades. Possibly more."
"Wow!" Samuel was astonished.
"They said they tried to tell Francis and Raylene but nothing ever happened. Nothing was done about it. The school wanted to have Alex tested, but since there was never any follow through by Raylene or Francis, Alex stayed in the grade she was in."
"Well, he may be a negligent father, but not me. If Alex is a student with special needs intellectually that we can help meet to feed that obvious appetite she has for advanced intelligence, I say we feed it and let her reach her full potential. That really ticks me off that Francis hasn't been a more involved father for Alex and Glade," Samuel said with a huff.
"Or Dex. Because Dex might not have become such a bully if he felt more of his Dad's love and attention," Meredith added.
"I'd also like to know why Raylene sleeps so much. That's not like her and it's been going on too long. I just can't help but to see Francis as the problem there too. Doesn't he care about the happiness and well-being of his wife?" Samuel asked hotly. "Did you ever get her to talk to you about what happened? One day she's fine and well as an active wife and mother, always taking care of her kids a fantastic mother and then suddenly she's down for the count and sleeping nearly all day and night? Not available for anyone not even her own children?"
"Look, you know she stopped returning my calls years ago. I don't know what to do. And if I think about it too much..." Meredith fought back tears. "I love Raylene. She's my sister. Even if she's never really liked me, I still love her. But I've tried so many things that I just don't know what else to do. And now since we have Alex we're really blessed to have the opportunity to care for her. Since I'm not sure what to do for Raylene, let's not focus on that. But, thankfully, there is something we can do for Alex. So let's focus more on what's truly within our ability to influence for good rather than what isn't right now." Samuel nodded in agreement and hugged Meredith.
"We're tired. It's late. I'm sorry if I said something that upset you," he said.
"Oh, it's not your fault. I'm so happy to have Alex here and maybe we can help her get the right help at school now that she's with us," she smiled. They broke and she wiped away a tear.
Samuel sat at the edge of the bed and began to take off his shoes. "So, what do we do? Obviously we'll need Francis and Raylene's approval if we help advance Alex in school," he said in tired frustration.
"I've already got it.” She said as she grabbed her toothbrush in the bathroom. “We took care of that in our meeting with Principal McDougal at North Ivy. For whatever reason, Francis didn't want Alex to be a part of those discussions. She waited out in the hall while he essentially put the decision in my hands. I just haven't figured out a way to talk about it yet with Alex. I didn't want her to experience too much change all at once since she had just moved to a new school, essentially got a new family, losing Glade, her pets, and her friends all in one day," Meredith said as she put toothpaste on her toothbrush.
"Well, you let me know when you decide to talk with Alex about being tested and possibly moving her up a grade and I will be there to support both of you one hundred and fifty percent," Samuel said with loving determination. He then walked over and gave Meredith a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Part of me just wants to let her make new friends and adjust to living with us. Maybe we should let her finish out the year and then advance. That way she can at least finish the Triple-C since she’s so excited about it. But I’ll talk to her eventually and I'll let you know," she said. She then began to brush her teeth.
Alex leaned back against the wall in her room next to her bedroom door and she let out a tired sigh. She overheard everything. It wasn't much of anything new since she had already had various teachers over the years ask her after class if she would like to be in a classroom environment that would best suit her needs for higher education and accelerated graduation. Although she expressed some excitement with her teachers over the idea of taking classes that really challenged her, she wasn't sure of what changes might be required of her or if she'd be able to keep her friends. But unlike other times when Alex's teachers would talk to her about it, since they always had trouble getting the needed meetings and basic support of Alex's parents, it had all been just talk so far. Now it seemed Samuel and Meredith were actually committed and capable of turning all of that talk into action. Alex was at least grateful that Meredith was sensitive to her need to not have too much change occur too soon. The idea of her skipping a grade let alone multiple grades scared her as most older kids weren't always nice to younger kids. That was a lesson she learned all too well both at home as well as at her last school as she sought to protect other kids from bullies that were often older.
And if Alex were skipped into high school, she knew that kids grow taller and stronger in high school and that would be a hard environment to defend herself in –– especially for issues of jealousy which Alex felt was usually at the root issue of most school fights anyway. Some students were already mean to Alex because they thought she was more attractive than they were. So some other students would also be jealous to know young Alex was smarter than them. That could be two ironic strikes against her among classmates and that would make it all the more uncomfortable.
She quickly hopped into bed and pulled the sheets up over her chest. "Try to get some sleep," was the suggestion she remembered Uncle Samuel said to her just a few minutes earlier. But how could she sleep now when the change of being removed from her new friends and forced to be with others who were not her age could happen anytime like a social bomb that suddenly drops from the sky with little or no warning?
Chapter 10: The Meano-trio