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You wouldn’t think Christian people would say bad things about each other. But they do. At Eric and Pammy’s church, some of the kids gossiped a lot. Usually it was silly stuff but sometimes some of the kids acted snooty to some of the other kids in the Sunday School class even though Mrs. Wallace the teacher talked to them a lot about Christian unity and loving each other. Gossiping is not love, that is one thing the kids knew. But it happens.

Then a gossip got started that was really really awful. Pammy heard it from Nicola. Nicola leaned over after Sunday School and whispered, “You know Erin? Well somebody at school saw her with an older boy and…..” she continued to whisper things in Pammy’s ear that just couldn’t be true.

Erin was a good girl and the rumor suggested she was being very naughty with a boy. Well Pammy didn’t repeat the details but she told her brother Eric about it and Eric was very worried.

“Erin is one of our closest friends and she loves Jesus with all her heart. This kind of rumor could ruin her reputation and hurt her really bad.” But the rumor kept spreading and soon it got to Erin. The day Pammy say Nicola whispering in Erin’s ear, it just crushed her inside to see what happened. Erin burst into tears and ran from the Sunday School room and didn’t come back for weeks.

Both Pammy and Eric felt awful about it. But they didn’t say anything even though they both imaged how Erin was feeling all alone at her house thinking everybody thought she was such a sinful girl and she wasn’t. That night Eric had a dream.

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“Who needs him, he’s such a loser.” Roger responded to his friend Steven when the subject of Danny came up.

“That’s a pretty harsh thing to say about your brother.” Steven responded. Roger knew it was harsh. He thought back when he and Danny were kids. Danny, the older by a year and a half, was always the guy who could “fix anything”.

Oh, how mom and dad bragged on Danny when he fixed the washing machine or the lawnmower of unclogged a drain in the kitchen. At first, Roger tried to learn to do what Danny did but it never worked out.

Finally, in high school, Roger found his gift and like his own dad, it was the gift of gab. He won competition after competition in speech, debate and other forms of speech giving. He seemed to have a natural ability to talk to people, give speeches or just get people to see things his way or rally to his cause. It served him well as he moved into a sales career whereas Danny built a very successful auto mechanics business around his skill.

But sadly, for all the success the brothers had their dislike of each other kept them apart. Danny never understood by talking was a good skill and Roger thought being able to tinker with machines or pipes or wires was a geeky way to be.

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Maggie liked watching big storms. So when the rain was really pouring down that night, she sat in the front room with the lights off and watched it safely in her house. Suddenly she saw a small figure walking into their cul-de-sac. It was a girl. She had no coat on and the rain was soaking her hair and dress completely. It was clear she was crying.

“Mommy come quick.” Maggie cried out and when mommy saw the poor girl, she rushed out onto the porch. Maggie came out with her and as she looked more closely, she suddenly recognized the girl. “Oh Mommy, its Angie!” Angie was Maggie’s best friend ever and they had been like sisters since kindergarten.

“Go get her Maggie.” Mommy said wisely knowing that if Angie was upset, seeing her dear friend first would be the best thing. She watched her daughter rush to the street and embrace her friend and then lead her back to the porch. As the girls approached, mommy went inside and got some blankets to dry Angie.

“I ran away Maggie. I am so cold.” Angie said as Maggie brought her to the house.

“Come in. You will get sick out here.” Maggie said in tears so afraid for her friend. Angie came in and quickly mommy and daddy were there drying her hair and warming her. Mommy gave her some of Maggie’s warmest things to wear for a while and daddy got some of the hot soup they had enjoyed at dinner and the whole family sat with her and made her feel safe and loved as she recovered. Angie just looked at Maggie’s mom and dad in amazement as she sipped her soup and finally the shivering stopped.

“Why don’t you two girls go to Maggie’s room and play so you can settle down.” Mommy said noticing that Angie wasn’t talking much with the adults around.

“Why did you run away?” Maggie asked right away when they were in her room.

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“THE SON OF THE KING IS LOST!” The cry went out from runners on horseback who galloped through every street, every village, every field and forest of the kingdom with the terrible news. Young prince Roger was missing. The King was frantic to find his only son. Posters showing his face were up on every tree and wall that could bear his image. The reward as more than most peasants could even count much less inherit and the search for the child royalty was the all that the people of the kingdom could talk about.

Even in the beggar’s village, the anxiety for the lost prince was noticeable. While the poor, the homeless, the sick and the outcasts that were citizens of this village were often too absorbed with survival and finding safe and peaceful places to sleep and eat, the thought of their beloved prince being lost, stolen or dead was heartbreaking to them. The prince was the darling of the kingdom. At only twelve, every boy wanted to be him, every girl his future bride and every parent his future in laws..

Godfrey lived in the beggar village with his uncle Sven although he rarely saw his Uncle because he was often off finding food for them or trying to get honest work. So Godfrey had time in the village to make friends and even play, like the other boys and girls of rich people could do. To a beggar a rich person is just someone with a real mom and dad, a house to live in, clothes that were clean and new, a school to go to and enough to eat not to mention presents at Christmas.

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Paul did not want to go on the mission trip to Ghana. He was absolutely terrified of going. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Olson had gone on many such trips and knew the joys that came from the hardships and especially the joys of sharing Jesus with people who wanted to know him so very much. So they made him go even though he pouted and looked very afraid all the way over on the plane no matter what mommy and daddy said to comfort him.

When they arrived and got settled, everything Paul was afraid of turned out to be true. He hated it all. They didn’t have a nice hotel room to stay in. They had a hut. The food was weird and hard to eat and made of things American kids don’t eat. The people looked funny, didn’t speak English and they even smelled strange to Paul. None of the events or work assignments they got were fun to Paul and he felt sick a lot because he didn’t like the food and didn’t sleep well. Noises in the night there were so different from home.

So Paul just stayed in his hut every day as his parents went out and ministered to the people of the village. No matter how many wonderful stories he heard of God’s miracles and the fun they were having getting to know the people, Paul was stubborn and he would not leave his hut. He just sat there day in and day out and played with his Rubik’s cube. He loved that toy. It was very good for keeping his mind off of his surroundings and trying to solve it which he never did.

One Thursday morning, Paul got up and ate with his parents. He noticed that either they were starting to serve American food or he was getting used to the stuff they cooked here because he kind of liked it and ate lots more than usual. Right on schedule then, Paul’s parents left to start the day’s work of building homes and buildings for the new church, teaching the people and working on Bible translations. Paul went to his bed and looked for his Rubik’s cube to start his day too.

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“Hannah, come outside.” Hannah’s best friend Betty called up to her. Hannah slipped downstairs.

“What is it? It’s the middle of the night.” Hannah said shivering a bit from the cool night air..

“Its Lorenzo, he’s run away, we have to help them find him!” Betty said with deep concern and worry in her voice. Lorenzo was a neighbor of Betty’s who lived several houses down. Many times when Hannah was over, they found Lorenzo wandering the streets or in some strange place, just not being home. He told them things were not good there because his new step dad was mean to him but the girls didn’t know what to do.

“How do you know he ran away?” Hannah whispered.

“Officer Duncan and Youth Director Cindy came over and told my dad. Dad works at the youth center and they have been trying to help Lorenzo.” She told her friend. It was true that Lorenzo had come to Officer Duncan several times. The kind policeman wanted to help more but Lorenzo would not trust him completely. Youth Director Cindy had even tried to come over and visit Lorenzo at home but when she got there, usually Lorenzo was mysteriously “not here.” So all of the people who could help him most were frustrated because Lorenzo seemed to avoid them.

“I know where he is.” Hannah suddenly said snapping her fingers. “Sabines woods! He said he goes there sometimes because other people are afraid of it.” Hannah remembered as Betty nodded knowing she was right. “Let me get some clothes on and we can go look for him.”

The girls entered the woods fearfully. It was so dark and their little flashlights didn’t help much. “Lorenzo,” they tried to call out while whispering at the same time for fear they would wake up something nasty in the woods. “Lorenzo, its Hannah and Betty, come on, come home with us.” They huddled together and whispered.

“I can take you to him.” A voice said firmly and the girls yelped with surprise. They looked around and didn’t see anyone. “Up here sillies, on the branch.” And they looked up and there was a very large black bird looking at them and talking.

“Did you talk?” Betty asked fearfully. “I never heard a crow talk before.”

“Yes I did but don’t be afraid. I am here to help you. You are looking for Lorenzo I think. I know where he is.” The bird said.

“Oh please help us Mr. Crow, we are sorry we were afraid of you.” The girls said together.

“I will do it but first of all, I am a raven, not a crow. My name is Marvin the Raven. Come along then, I think he is with Grimley the groundhog. They were going to make tea. Marvin flew ahead but low and slowly so the girls could follow. Somehow a light came up the further into the woods they went so they could see without their flashlights.

“Hannah, Betty, what are you doing here?” They suddenly heard the happy sound of Lorenzo’s voice. He came running form a clearing that was just teaming with animals, many of them walking around on their hind legs, drinking tea and talking in a most sociable manner. Lorenzo ran to the girls and hugged them.

“Lorenzo, how long have you known about all this?’ Hannah asked hugging him back.

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Belinda liked doing chores with her mom during the summer. Because she was out of school, there was lots of time to learn to cook, clean, mend clothes, all the things she will need to know when she becomes an adult and has a family and house of her own. This week mommy announced there were going to go in the attic and see what was up there. As mommy unlocked the door and revealed the long staircase that went up to the attic, Belinda felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness because it seemed like a trip into the past.

They had great fun in the attic all day opening old boxes. They found a big box of Belinda’s old toys from when she was a baby and Belinda just giggled getting reacquainted with her old playthings. Mommy even said she could bring the box down to play with for a while and then maybe we would give the box to the church so the nursery could use some of the toys.

Belinda was trying on old hats from a truck from Grandma’s house when mommy suddenly found something. “Oh my,” she exclaimed “Belinda come look at this.”

When she got back, there she saw what mommy had found. It was a window right there in the wall of the attic. It had glass panes in it and a regular window latch so it could be opened for air. But it didn’t show the street outside which would be what you expect on that side of the house. It was showing something else.

“What is that mommy?” Belinda wanted to know. It was like a movie with people riding horses and wearing big cowboy hats riding around just on the other side of that window.

“I don’t know. It looks like a scene from the past, like the west because look, you can see the streets are all dusty and those people look like settlers who might have been alive back in the times of the west.” Mommy knocked on the window to see if it was real and to both of their shock, the people down in the western street looked up to see what that noise was.

“Mommy, it’s like they know we are here. It’s almost like this is a window in time, like a time machine.” Belinda said with excitement.

“I wonder if it will look back at other times. It sure would be fun to see David from the Bible fighting Goliath.” Mommy said and just like that, the window suddenly got very hazy. Then the fog seemed to lift and just like mommy said, they were looking out on a battlefield. They saw the young boy, not that much older than Belinda and he was facing a very tall man, much bigger than anybody they had seen.

“You did it mommy!” Belinda squealed. “There is David and there is Goliath.” She pointed out and in doing that; she accidentally knocked on the window. Both David and Goliath turned and looked.

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