Mac followed Mom through the heavy glass door. Mom smiled at the receptionist sitting behind a small brown desk, and then she walked straight ahead into a big living room kind of room. Mac’s eyes opened wide. She had never seen so many older people in one place before.
G.M. carefully washed out her paintbrush in the jar of water that sat on the work table close to her elbow. She turned around to look at Joseph. “What?” she asked. “I don’t like this Bible story,” Joseph repeated. “I thought God was supposed to be fair.”
Outside, the sun was shining brightly. Trevor sighed. He couldn’t believe that he really had to pull weeds instead of playing basketball with Matthew across the street. He was sure he was the only boy in the neighborhood who would be on his knees in the garden instead of shooting hoops.
By Linda Porter Carlyle Joseph Anderson Donetti let the screen door bang behind him. He walked across the porch and stopped at the edge with the toes of his sneakers hanging over. They almost touched the tops of the perky daffodils blooming below. Joseph was proud of those daffodils. They were the very first flowers
Hannah Maria Estevez held her breath. She looked from Papa’s twinkling eyes to Mama. Baby Paulo banged his spoon on the tray of his high chair, but Hannah didn’t even hear him. Would Mama let her go? Would Mama really let her miss a day of school when she wasn’t even sick?
Joseph Anderson Donetti stared at G.M. “You look funny,” he said. G.M. blinked. “What do you mean?” she asked grumpily.
Joseph Anderson Donetti sat in the pew between Mom and G.M. His stomach felt nervous and fluttery. He could see the back of Mac’s head two rows in front of him. Mac sat quietly between her parents. Even her bouncy red curls were still.
By Linda Porter Carlyle Hannah Maria Estevez sat on the floor, her back against Mac’s couch. She held up a flash card. “49!” Mac said promptly. Hannah grinned. “You’re getting really fast,” she said encouragingly. She held up another card. It read, “3 X 12.” “36!” Mac responded instantly. She untangled her legs from the
Joseph quickly dialed Mac’s number. “Pastor Chuck just called and asked if we could come over to his house,” he said excitedly as soon as Mac answered. “He said he has a special project he wants us to help him with. G.M. said she would drive us over.”
“So now we’ll go outside, and Mrs. Benson will show us the sheep she brought along with her to church today,” Pastor Chuck said. He grinned. “I know that we are all used to seeing sheep from a distance. We see them grazing in pastures as we zip by on the road,” he went on. “But I thought it would be fun—since our Sabbath School lesson is about sheep—to have Mrs. Benson come talk to us and let us actually meet a sheep.”
