Morning Cocoa
For more fun stories and links, visit my Morning Cocoa site!
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To read Renae’s fiction story at Brio Magazine,
click here.
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My Birthday
(Renae’s first published piece)
I have school on my birthday,
The most important day of the year.
I have school on my birthday,
And that’s no reason to cheer!
I should let H.I.S.D. know -
I guess they didn’t hear
That I have school on my birthday
The most important day of the year!
–published in Durkee Elementary School newsletter
January, 1978
Fourth Grade, Mrs. DeShazo’s class
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Scroll to the bottom of the page for some cool links!
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Matthew 5:44 “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Rebecca walked upon the scene just as Andrew, the class bully, shoved James. “Hey, stop that!” she cried, stepping in to defend her little brother. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re twice his size.”
Andrew shrugged and said, “He was bothering me. I don’t like little kids.”
“Well, find somebody else to pick on,” Rebecca said with more confidence than she felt. She took James by the hand and said, “Let’s go, James.”
They walked most of the way home in silence. Rebecca was fuming inside. But before long, James was humming and whistling as if nothing had happened.
Rebecca entered the house and went immediately to find her mother. James went straight for his Lego’s.
“Mom, Andrew Jones was picking on James, after school. I walked up just in time! He was being really mean. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t been there!”
Her mother dropped what she was doing, and listened to the entire story. When Rebecca had finished, her mother said, “Thank you for taking up for your brother, and thank you for telling me. I’ll call the school right now, and let them know what happened.”
Rebecca continued feeling angry throughout the evening. Though James seemed to have long forgotten the incident, Rebecca seemed to get more and more upset as the day wore on. She was sullen at dinner. She wanted to get even with Andrew.
Later that night, as Mrs. Smith tucked her daughter into bed, she questioned Rebecca. “Is the bullying incident still bothering you?” she asked.
“Yes. I just can’t understand why Andrew would be so mean to a little kid! I am so angry, I can hardly breathe. I want Andrew to pay for what he did to James.”
Mrs. Smith grew quiet. After a few moments she said, “I’m glad you are so protective of your brother. But I happen to know that Andrew is going through a very difficult time at home. I can’t tell you all he’s going through – you’ll just have to take my word for it. But he wanted to hurt James, because he was hurting.
The school is going to make sure he gets some help. But James has forgotten it, and you don’t need to let Andrew’s actions change who you are. If you do, if you try to get even with him, you won’t be acting any better than he did.”
Rebecca fought angry tears. “But how am I supposed to just let it go? I have to do something!”
Mrs. Smith took her daughter’s hand. “You can do something. You can pray for Andrew. And you can thank God that you aren’t in a bad situation which causes you to do mean, hurtful things.”
Rebecca thought about that a moment before saying, “Okay, Mom. Will you pray now?”
Mrs. Smith bowed her head. “Dear Father, Please be with Andrew tonight. We know he is hurting. Please help him to know that You love him. Help him not to bully anyone else. Thank you for sending Rebecca to protect her little brother today.
Amen.”
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Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.”
James sat on the bank of the pond holding his fishing pole. He watched the round, red and white ball float gently on the waves, the way Dad had taught him to. He knew that if the ball went under the water, he had a fish. Then, he was supposed to yank hard, and start reeling in his line.
“How’s it going over there, Son?” Dad asked him.
“Nothing yet,” James replied. “Are you sure there are fish in this pond?”
Dad laughed. “Yes, Son, there are plenty of fish. And when they are ready, they’ll bite.”
James kept staring at the red and white ball. This fishing trip reminded him of the lesson he’d learned in children’s church last Sunday. “Dad, do people eat fish bait?”
Dad laughed, and answered him. “Well, I suppose some of them do. Why? Are you hungry?”
“No,” James answered. “In church, Miss Linda told us that Jesus wants us to be fishers of men.”
Dad smiled. “That’s true. But we don’t catch people the same way we catch fish. What Jesus meant is that He wants us to bring people out of the world, to God, kind of like we bring fish out of the water, to land.”
“How do we do that?” James asked.
“Well, we do it the same way we catch fish. Only, we use different bait. We’ll catch these fish by using food they want to eat. But we catch people by using the one thing they all want and need more than anything – God’s love.”
“So we love people, and they will come to God?” James questioned.
“Well, not always,” said Dad. “It’s kind of like fishing. We just have to keep throwing the bait out there, loving them with God’s kind of love. Then, when they are ready, they’ll come to God.”
James thought about that for a minute, before feeling a tug on his line. He looked for the ball, but it had sunk beneath the waters. “Dad! Look! I have a fish!” He tugged, then reeled his line in. There, at the end was a wiggling, flopping perch.
Dad helped him get the fish off the hook and congratulated his son.
“I guess now I can say I’m a fisher of men and a fisher of fish!” exclaimed James.
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Proverbs 12:10 “A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal . . .”
Rebecca groaned as she pushed back the covers and sleepily climbed out of bed. “Annie, why do you insist on waking me up every single morning? Don’t you ever sleep in?” she asked her furry puppy. She unlatched the door to the puppy’s crate, and yawned as she shuffled to the back door. Annie scratched at the door as Rebecca fumbled with the locks. Finally, the door was opened, and the puppy rushed outside.
Shuffling to the kitchen, Rebecca groped her way in the darkness, finding Annie’s dish. She took it to the sink, rinsed it out, and filled one side of it with fresh water. Then, she found the large bag of dog food, reached in and found the scoop, and filled the other side of the bowl with the crunchy morsels.
Just as she set the dish in its place, she heard scratching at the back door. As soon as Rebecca opened it, Annie bounded in and kissed her master’s toes. Then, she ran into the kitchen and began lapping the fresh water. Rebecca stumbled back to her bed and pulled the covers up over her head.
Just as she was drifting back to sleep, she felt tiny paws land on her bed. Before she knew it, she was being attacked by puppy kisses, as Annie wiggled her way under the covers. Smiling, Rebecca cuddled the furry creature, and they both drifted off for a peaceful, early morning nap.
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Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”
Rebecca laughed at James’ antics. He was standing at her door, making goofy faces, and normally he would have annoyed her. But today, he was a welcome distraction. Today, she was supposed to be cleaning her room.
She leaned against her bed, surrounded by a pile of dirty socks and t-shirts and Barbies. Her dresser was piled high with art supplies and wrinkled notebook pages, hair brushes and ponytail holders, and several flavors of Lip Smackers.
Just then, Mom rounded the corner with a pile of clean, folded laundry in her arms. She saw Rebecca, just sitting there in the midst of her mess, and her face grew stern. But it was more than stern – it was disappointed . . . frustrated . . . hurt.
“Rebecca, why are you just sitting there? I have asked you three times to clean up this room! It would be one thing if you had done something, anything, but you haven’t done a thing! I don’t know what to do with you.”
Rebecca knew she deserved punishment. “Sorry, Mom. I just got distracted.”
Mom laid the clean laundry on Rebecca’s bed and sat down. “Rebecca, you have disobeyed me today. I know cleaning your room isn’t fun, but having a clean room is nice, isn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rebecca responded.
“I’m not trying to be mean by making you clean up your own mess. But the messy room isn’t even the most important thing. Can you tell me what is more important?”
Rebecca looked at her hands. “I disobeyed you,” she said softly.
Mom remained silent for a few moments. “That’s right, you disobeyed me, and that is a lot worse than a messy room,” she said.
Rebecca could feel hot tears welling up behind her eyelids. She hadn’t meant to be defiant. She just kept finding other things that seemed more interesting and fun than cleaning up her mess. But she could see now that her actions were disobedient. There was no other word for it.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” she said.
Her mother looked at her. “I believe you. But I still have to punish you. No television for three days. Now, if I help you get started, do you think you can finish?”
Rebecca stood to her feet and gave her mother a huge hug. “Yes, ma’am!” she said.
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I John 4:7 ” . . . Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
James bit his lower lip in concentration as he worked on the craft in front of him. Finally, he threw his crayon down in frustration.
Rebecca, who was fixing herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, looked at her brother. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t make a heart. I’ve tried and tried, and I just can’t make it turn out right. I’m trying to draw a heart so I can cut it out. I want to make a Valentine,” James’ voice showed his agitation. “I just can’t do it.”
Rebecca set her sandwich on the plate and walked to the kitchen table. “Look. Here’s a trick I learned when I was your age. You don’t have to draw the heart at all.” She showed him how to fold the page in half, and then how to cut a curved half-heart. Unfolding the page, she showed her brother.
James’ eyes grew wide. “Wow! That’s perfect! So that’s how you do it!”
“Yep,” replied Rebecca, and sat down beside him to eat her sandwich. The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, as James worked on his Valentine and Rebecca finished her snack.
Finally, Rebecca stood to return her empty plate to the sink. As she was leaving the kitchen, James stopped her. “Wait, Becca!” He held out the heart, now covered with colorful crayon dinosaurs and dragons. “I made this for you. I love you, Sister!”
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Philippians 4:11 “. . . I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
Rebecca was in a bad mood. She was grumpy, and she knew it.Today, nothing was going her way, and it just seemed to be getting worse and worse and worse.
“Hi, Rebecca!” Her friend, Rachel, sat next to her on the playground bench. “You seem kinda down today. Is something wrong?”
Rebecca took a deep breath, and then started spilling out her feelings. “I don’t like these shoes, but I couldn’t find my other ones this morning. Then, Mom made oatmeal for breakfast, and I hate oatmeal. I forgot my book report on the kitchen table, and now I will get a late grade. And today is kickball day in P.E., and I always get chosen last.”
Rachel said nothing, just listened quietly.
“And on top of everything else, my hair looks awful today.” Rebecca looked at her friend, who seemed to be trying not to laugh.
“Why are you laughing at me?” Rebecca demanded.
“I’m sorry,” said Rachel, trying to control herself. “I don’t mean to laugh! It’s just funny!”
“I don’t see what’s funny about my terrible day . . .” said Rebecca.
“Well, let’s see . . . where should I begin? First, I love those shoes. I’ve always wanted some like that.
Second, I love your mom’s oatmeal! I had it last time I spent the night with you, and she puts brown sugar and butter in it . . . I have dreamed about that oatmeal.
Next, You always make at least a 98 on your book reports. You’ll lose five points for being late, so that’s a 93. I would love to get a 93! I always get B’s and C’s, no matter how hard I try.
Who cares if you get chosen last for kickball – it’s not like you want to be a professional athlete, Rebecca! Your dream is to be a veterinarian.
And last, but not least, I love your hair!”
Rebecca sat, stunned at her friend’s words. She was speechless. Then, without warning, the two girls burst into a hilarious fit of giggles that lasted for the rest of the day.
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