Friendships Ch. 06

Once they got their book and a library card, Sarah was about to call for Amy, only to see the research librarian going into the depths of the children's section. The twins explained to the librarian that all three had their horses and they could teach anyone.

"We want to know how to take care of our horses best, and how to see when they are sick. We want various kinds of books so we can read each other's books." They were all smiles when they left.

The girls in town liked canaries; hamsters were popular with the boys. One five-year-old boy got a rabbit. The four-year old's got fish. They were all starting to show their individuality.

Dr. Daisy called a meeting for all the children in the club; it felt good to be back. "Children, owning a pet is a big responsibility. You need to check on them every day, just like Mommy and Daddy check up on you. If you overfeed your pet, you will make it sick. Some of your pets will have some jobs that are too hard for you to do. I will ask your Mommy and Daddy to see if they can do those jobs if you do yours. It is your pet; you need to take care of it, not other people.

"I think you can all show Mommy and Daddy that you can take care of your animals. Sometimes you will have to ask your Mommy or Daddy if they think there is something wrong with your animal if you think they are not acting right or not eating their food as they should. Then you can bring it to me, and we can see what the matter with it is.

"Some of your animals will need check-ups with me."

Daisy called up some of the parents whose children owned fish and told them, "Instead of getting one fish in a tiny bowl, they should get a ten or fifteen-gallon wide tank and have at least ten fish. Also, they should get two sucker fish as they will help clean the tank. With more fish, your child will interact with them more, and he or she will think you trust them enough to take care of more fish.

"Timers are great for your lights, so your fish can set up a day/night cycle. Full spectrum lights imitate the sun."

Today was Saturday, normally the clinic is closed, but not today. All the children with their new small animals lined the waiting room awaiting their check-ups. Dr. Daisy was examining a canary, "What a pretty bird. What is her name?"

"Chipper Dr. Daisy, that is how she is in the morning."

"Not me, I have to program my coffee pot at night, so my coffee is hot when I walk downstairs in the morning."

The little girl giggled.

"Taking care of a bird is easy. You can leave food on its tray; 'Chipper'will eat just a little at a time. Make sure you change its water once a day. You need to cover the cage at night, so the bird knows it's time to sleep.

"Cleaning the cage is easy, just slide it out and clean it. Ask your Daddy to get some newspapers for you to use. Let me know if it is not acting right. Here is a checklist of what we discussed.

"Remember, don't leave her cage door open and the outside door open at the same time."

The little girl giggled again.

Dr. Daisy preferred to talk to the children one on one; she would talk to the parents later. She wanted to impress on the child just who is going to take care of the animal. She gave the children the instructions on how to care for the animal.

On and on the day, went, Daisy was exhausted by the time the last one left; at least all the children know they have healthy pets.

Daisy couldn't wait for supper. Sarah made Daisy her famous stew; no one knew the exact recipe as Sarah never made it the same way twice. It was the best stew in the county.

For three days, worried owners looked in on their sick horses. Miss Sarah's early actions cut down on many of the symptoms, but horses were still getting sick; 'Sky' had it worst of all. Daisy assumed it was because she was the youngest.

Amy was spending all her free time with 'Sky.' The twins approached Sarah, "Miss Sarah you said 'Sky' was one of Amy's jobs, well she is sick. We want to do food prep and the dishes so Amy can spend time with 'Sky.'"

"Well girls, I see you have a very valid point. She will probably be so worried about 'Sky' that she would cut herself." The twins had a plan; they got Miss Sarah's approval; why didn't she think of it?

The twins got to take their food first; Mr. Moe had a stack of blankets, Mr. Larry had the milk, and Miss Sarah had Amy's food. One of the twins said, "You didn't think we were going to let you sit out here all night by yourself, did you?"

It was the best thing Amy heard all day. "You want to stay with me all night?"

"We are friends; we do everything together. Friends should be friends in the good times and the tough times. If they don't help you in the troubled times what kind of friends are they? We are here until God makes 'Sky' better."

The other twin said, "Hey, didn't Miss Krynn say she sang religious songs in the clinic so the people with the sick pets would get better? Do you think 'Sky' would get better if we sang some?"

Amy prayed, "God, Miss Dawn said you would help people who pray to you. 'Sky' is so very sick and so are a lot of other horses. Can you come down and heal them all? I love 'Sky,' and all the other owners love their animals too. Amen."

"Amen," said the twins. One twin started off the song, and the others followed.

"Jesus loves me this I know,

"For the Bible tells me so,

"Little ones to him belong,

"They are weak, but he is strong.

"Yes, Jesus loves me

"Oh, yes Jesus loves me

"Yes, Jesus loves me for the Bible tells me so."

"He's got the whole world in His hands,

"He's got the whole world in His hands,

"He's got the whole world in His hands,

"He's got the whole world in His hands."

"He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,

"He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,

"He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,

"He's got the whole world in His hands."

"He's got the sun and the rain in His hands,

"He's got the moon and the stars in His hands,

"He's got the wind and the clouds in His hands,

"He's got the whole world in His hands.

"He's got the rivers and the mountains in His hands,

"He's got the oceans and the seas in His hands,

"He's got you, and he's got me in His hands,

"He's got the whole world in His hands."

"He's got everybody here in His hands,

"He's got everybody there in His hands,

"He's got everybody everywhere in His hands,

"He's got the whole world in His hands."

Daisy was stumped, all the lab tests were ok. She knew Amy would blame herself if 'Sky' died.

Sarah was worried. She spent all her adult life building up this ranch. She was not going to have a worm take it all away from her.

At 1:00 AM Amy said, "Did 'Sky' just move, or am I seeing things?"

A brief time later a twin said, "She moved her head!"

Amy was screaming, "GO 'SKY,' YOU CAN DO IT!"

The twins were shouting, "COME ON GIRL, A LITTLE MORE NOW!"

"Amy, give me that apple."

Amy pleaded, "Come on girl, eat the apple."

Amy held 'Sky's' head on her lap as she fed 'Sky' some food.

'Sky' struggled to stand up, the girls ran out of the stall.

Amy said, "'Sky' I love you, please stand up."

By now the people from the house started to come in.

Amy was in anguish; every movement was a struggle for 'Sky.'

It was then when 'Apache' made his presence known.

With much prodding from 'Apache,' 'Sky' staggered to stand up. Amy walked a very weak 'Sky' to her food bucket and dropped an apple in it. Soon she was eating her feed and drinking water.

At the call of 'Apachethe other horses knew they had to fight to stay alive. The hands started giving food to all the sick horses to make them strong enough to stand.

Sarah started to make phone calls to all the owners. It was the first time they didn't mind having their sleep interrupted.

Daisy and Sarah were heroes for their quick thinking at the beginning of the crisis.

The girls knew better; it was after Amy prayed for all the horses to get healed. The girls held hands in a circle thanking God for healing the horses. Amy and the twins now had firsthand experience with God and how faithful He can be.

"Miss Molly, how do you keep track of what God does for you? When my friends were with me in the stable, we decided on singing Christian songs as Miss Krynn does at the clinic. I decided I should pray out loud to God so he could heal 'Sky' and the others, then He did."

"Well Amy, my Mommy got me prayer and questions books to ask God questions and to show me how faithful he is. Would you like to see the beginning of my first one?"

Amy nodded her head.

Soon both were on their hands and knees looking at the book.

"It is pretty simple. You pray to God to get guidance. Let's, say your Mommy is sick; you want to pray for her right?"

Amy nodded, "I love my Mommy."

"Here in the middle you write what the prayer is about, on the left you put the date with the year, sometimes it takes a long time to answer a prayer. Then over to the right of the prayer, you put the date when God answers the prayer, put a yellow marker on the top of it. Then thank God for answering it. Let me show you an extra special one."

"You prayed for Miss Daisy's friendship? Why is it red and triple underlined?"

"It means it was triple urgent. It was a very troubled time for us; none of the kids played with each other. Look how long it took to answer it."

"Over a year? None of the kids played together?"

"The sad thing it should not have happened at all. There were too many people saying things they didn't mean at the wrong time to the wrong people. It got out of hand."

"I am sorry you had to go through that Miss Molly. Do you think I could get my books and markers?"

"Sure Amy, you realize you are now starting to ask God questions. He is starting to soften your heart."

"How long will that take Miss Molly?"

"Amy, you can't use our calendar for that, it is on God's timetable. He doesn't mess things up as we do."

After the meeting, Amy was all smiles. She was going to see how faithful God was to her. Miss Molly's book was all yellow. She hoped God would work in her life like that.

At the end of the week, Molly gave Amy and the twins sacks. They all opened them quickly. All the books had their names on them. They had two prayer books, two questions books, a family and friends' bookmarked general and a sickness book.

Molly said, "Remember to leave spaces in your questions book to write the answers. In the 'Family and friends' book, you write something you would always pray for like 'Keep Mommy and Daddy safe.' You do not put that in your prayer book. If Mommy is sick, then you put that in your prayer book so you can praise God when she gets better. Just like you praised God when 'Sky' got better."

Amy said, "Miss Molly, this God thing is very confusing."

Miss Sarah said, "Don't forget your Sunday school teachers. They are going to tell you a lot of things you don't understand. Ask right then for an explanation and if you don't understand it, ask again until you do understand. Remember, if you don't understand it, most likely, most of the other children don't understand it."

"It will help your teachers to know how to prepare for your class. They will need to ask God for how to answer all your questions. You will be helping your teacher out so they can find the truth about the same things they want to teach the truth to you.

"If you promise me that you will ask questions about everything you don't understand, I will call the teachers and tell them what to expect. After all, how do you know what God is trying to tell you if you don't understand what He is trying to say."

At suppertime, Sarah asked Penny, "Time for report cards for Amy, what do you think?"

Penny said, "To be fair, I should include the twins, they showed discipline and determination when getting their certificates. They showed friendship by being together when 'Sky' was sick. They had faith in God when they prayed to God to heal all the horses; we had no clue what the problem was. They have shown teamwork by doing all their jobs. They are more mature and responsible now so they can take on harder tasks and still succeed."

Mama chimed in, "I agree, they take on new challenges and find a way. They may not do it the same way as you or me, but who is to say which way is best. There is a good chance that they have a better idea, age has nothing to do with it. If they can think of a better way at age six, then what will happen when they graduate college."

A hand commented, "They are very friendly, they help out if they can. Except for washing the dishes one time, they have kept their word. That one time they went to keep a friend company. I think all of us at this table would drop everything if they had to go to be with a friend, even cancel important meetings."

Miss Sarah said, "I think that earns them a Skype call after supper."

To Amy's surprise, it was the last owner of 'Sky', Amy did all the introductions.

One twin just blurted out, "Miss Dawn taught us how to ride, but she tricked us. When we went to test day with Mr. Hank, we worked hard, and they told Miss Molly, Miss Anna, and Miss Elsa to finish us off. We did not know what that meant, but we worked until Mr. Hank told us we passed. We all got thick envelopes and were told to open them up at the same time.

"When I put them together I saw that all of us got 'Expert teacher,' Amy got Honors.

"We almost. . . She . . ." Amy could not complete her thought, and she broke down sobbing on her friend's shoulder.

"Ma'am, we almost lost Sky; a lot of the horses got sick, but Sky had it the worst. All three of us stayed up all night in the stable, that's what friends do."

Then the other twin said, "Then Amy prayed out loud to God, and we sang Christian songs, just like Miss Krynn does at the clinic. God saved all the horses and later we all held hands to thank Him for healing 'Sky' and the others."

Mr. Jacob had the only church in town. Once he heard Francine was Catholic, he went to see her. He invited her to come to his church. He reassured her that if she had any questions at all to call him or Noel, any time of day or night.

Francine called her mother in France to get her opinion of going to a Protestant church. After much thought, her mother replied, "Francine, does it matter if there is just one church there or ten churches there? What is important is there one God. I think your priest would agree with me. The decision is yours only. Do you want just to study the Bible yourself or do you want to study it with people who might have different viewpoints?

"Yes, we have some differences in our beliefs, but we agree on all the major tenants of Christianity. He seems open to discussing any confusion that you have."

"Mama, what if he wants to shove his Theology down my throat?"

"Francine, first, a good pastor would never do that. Second, tell him up front what you believe. Third, don't take his word for it, make him back up his claims with scripture. You can't argue with scripture Francine."

"Thank you, Mama, you, of course, are right. They seem like fine upstanding people. Noel is very easy to talk to and that I should talk to her. I guess I should go once with my Bible and look up all the verses they cite during the sermon if any.

"Child, he gave you an invitation because he wants you to check him out. He wants you to scrutinize him. He gave you a twenty-four-hour phone number for you to ask him or his wife questions. Those are signs of a good pastor."

"Oh Mama, I almost forgot to tell you the good news. Molly and Krynn had a concert at the concert hall; it was full of surprises. The second half was a Disney hoedown. Molly is a 'Musical Ambassador' for them. Everyone had a fun time. Mr. Conductor presented both Molly and Krynn with Disney concert certificates, which means if they practice and perform it here they can sing it with Disney.

"After the concert, Krynn said she knew a French woman that had a better voice than she did. Then the conductor wanted me to sing our National Anthem, of course, I cried all through it. Then he said, "Instead of tears, focus that energy into my voice and to show how proud I was for my country.'"

"I guess he liked it; he called for a camera to film me. He wanted me on Facebook and YouTube. Then he sent the master copy to the Euro Disney music director. He analyzed it for a long time and could not find a flaw in the song. Every member of the troupe, conductor and music director wants to practice with me. Watch me on Youtube.

"Molly wants to do a concert there. The first week is to see you so we can relax before we go to Disney, then we all go to Francis and Celeste's inn, and then we do our concert with Disney.

"Mama, this is the Molly we rang church bells for when she became a Christian."

"Francine, how do they know..."

"It is a long story, Mama. Miss Marie got everyone to fly here when Molly's Dad got hit by a car. The odd part was, they got over twenty people here from all over the world, without a single call, text or post."

"Give my love to Papa for me."

The following Sunday armed with her Bible, Francine went to Mr. Jacob's service. She had very low expectations, and she had a chip on her shoulder about the church.

When asked where she went to Church she replied, "I am a French woman, and I am Catholic. I have not gone to any masses since I got to college."Francine, you are more than welcome here, anytime you wish. Here is the bullet point sheet for the sermon; sometimes Mr. Jacob goes overboard with the scriptures. This way you can study the scripture at home."

Francine looked at the sheet. Mr. Jacob went all over the Bible to support his claims, using the Old Testament and the New Testament.

It happened that Sunday was 'Communion Sunday.' It was natural for Francine to do an altar call when Molly saw this she nudged Daisy and Krynn to join her. Sarah, Dawn, Mama, Penny, Amy, and Betsy joined them. Joy and David joined them later. As the line grew, the whole church joined them, row by row.

At dinner time after church Francine said, "I am sorry everyone. I now realize you do not do altar calls. I apologize."

Molly said, "Nonsense, I felt no pressure in going down front, and I do not think anyone else did either. They all wanted to come, even people in wheelchairs. I had the same communion and had the same personal prayers. The only difference is where I was when I had communion.

"Francine, we have a different belief system, but we both believe that the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ our Lord. All Christians believe that He died on the cross for all of our sins and ascended into heaven on the third day. God works on a personal level, that is why I became a Christian. The Protestants have their religious ceremonies, and the Catholics have theirs. I don't know what yours are Francine, but you are my friend."

"You know what Molly, that is what Mama said. When I came to Christ, it was my best friend who was helping me in my quest for years. I guess God had to tell her it was time. There was no big ceremony, just a simple prayer of faith."

"The same for me, but I had Daisy next to me; boy does she have a grip. I found out later that Miss Sarah told her, 'That we had a special bond, hold on tight to Molly and never let go. The world will try to tear you apart, but don't let it'."

"Molly, what were all the dolls and bears doing in church? You even had a doll."

"Francine, I got that doll after the flood when I was four, and we lost everything; most of the houses were in the river. Miss Joy almost drowned, Miss Mei gave her bear, named 'Bear.' That continued the 'Bear family.' Miss Joy realized all us kids did not have a comforter; all the kids got a choice of a Teddy bear or a doll. I just lost my favorite doll in the flood.