Raising Faith (7 page)

Somehow Morgan managed to clean things up and get dinner started before Mom and Grandma came home.

“You go and rest,” Mom told Grandma. “I know you’re worn out from all those tests and things.”

Grandma didn’t argue, and Mom hung up her coat and then came into the kitchen to help Morgan.

“How did the tests go?” asked Morgan as she sliced a tomato for the salad.

“We won’t know for a few days.”

Morgan considered telling Mom about the frustrating afternoon she’d had, but she could tell that Mom was worried. No sense in making things worse. Together they finished putting dinner together, then Mom fixed up a tray for Grandma, and Morgan took it in to her.

“Oh, that wasn’t necessary,” said Grandma when she saw Morgan coming in with the tray.

“Hey, we can spoil you if we want to,” said Morgan. “You might as well enjoy it while you can. We’ll probably find out that you’re perfectly fine in a few days, and then you won’t get all this pampering.”

Grandma chuckled as Morgan set the tray in front of her. “You make a good point.” She slowly opened the paper napkin and set it on her lap. “So how is the sock sewing coming?”

“Okay,” said Morgan quickly. She knew there was no need to worry Grandma about her sock concerns.

“Your hair looks nice.” Grandma nodded her approval.

“Thanks.”

Then Grandma bowed her head and said a blessing, adding an extra line of special thanks for her granddaughter and asking God to help Morgan get enough money for the ski trip.

Morgan smiled. “Thanks, Grandma. I’m sure God listens especially closely to your prayers.”

“God listens to everyone’s prayers, honey.”

Then Morgan returned to her sewing projects. She decided to tackle the elf skirts first. Her plan was to get them out of the way so she could focus exclusively on socks, socks, and more socks. But by the time she finished three of the skirts, she remembered she still had math homework to do. And by the time she finished that, it was time for bed.

“Did you sign up for the ski trip yet?” Amy asked Morgan as they walked to school the next morning.

“Not yet,” muttered Morgan.

“Well, the office lady at your church told me that it’s filling up fast,” said Amy. “You better get on it.”

“Yeah,” agreed Carlie. “That’s what she told me too.”

“I will,” said Morgan. “I need to see how many pairs of socks have been sold at my mom’s shop. Things were so busy last night that I forgot to ask.”

“Are you going to church tonight?” asked Emily.

“Is it Wednesday already?” asked Morgan.

“Yeah,” said Emily. “And since I missed church last week, I’d really like to go.”

“I’ll let you know,” said Morgan. “My grandma hasn’t been feeling too great. It’ll probably depend on her.” Morgan had actually been hoping that they wouldn’t be going tonight, just so she could stay home and finish up her sewing projects. She knew that was probably wrong, but it was the truth.

“How are the elf skirts coming?” asked Carlie.

“Almost done,” said Morgan.

“Good,” said Amy. “Remember we’re supposed to try them on tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Emily, “I just remembered something, Morgan. The youth group was getting together before church tonight —”

“The wreath-making party!” exclaimed Morgan. “I totally forgot.”

“Me too,” said Emily.

“That sounds like fun,” said Carlie. “Can anyone come?”

“Of course,” said Morgan. “The reason for making the wreaths is to earn money for the ski trip — they’ll divide up the profits from the bazaar with whoever helps out.”

“Hey, maybe I can come too,” said Amy.

By the time the girls got to school, it was all worked out. Emily’s mom had the day off, so she could probably give them a ride to the church. “Just meet at my house a little before four,” Emily told them.

But when four o’clock came later that afternoon, Morgan was still sitting at her sewing machine, finishing up the last elf skirt. And when that was done, she started in on socks. She was just finishing up her third pair of socks when Mom called her to dinner. And after dinner, which Mom had cooked, Grandma announced that she wanted to go to church that night.

“You’re sure you’re up to it?” asked Morgan.

“I think it might energize me,” said Grandma as she put on her coat.

“Sounds like just the ticket,” said Mom.

As Mom drove them to church, Morgan tried not to obsess over the fact that she was way behind on her sock-sewing project. She knew that all she could do was to trust God. If he wanted her to go on the ski trip, he would have to make it happen.

“There are only three spaces left on the ski trip,” Emily told Morgan when they met in the foyer of church. “And there were a couple of kids at the wreath-making party who hadn’t even signed up yet.”

Morgan shrugged. “Nothing I can do about that.”

“But what if you don’t get to go?” asked Emily.

She shrugged again.

“You should’ve come to the wreath-making party,” said Emily. “It was really fun. Carlie and Amy got to know some of the kids in youth group, and it was pretty cool. And we made a ton of wreaths. If they all sell at the bazaar, there’ll be lots of money for the ski trip.”

“Good.” Morgan forced a smile to her lips.

They were in the sanctuary now. “Do you want to sit in front?” Emily asked hopefully.

“I guess …” Then Morgan followed Emily up to their favorite spot right in front of Pastor George’s podium. But even as she sat down, she felt none of her usual enthusiasm. And as they worshiped, she didn’t feel that old thrill. And that spark that normally ignited inside of her felt as if it was barely flickering at all. She knew that wasn’t good. But she wasn’t sure what to do about it. Finally, she did the only thing she knew — she silently prayed, telling God what was wrong, and then she asked him to help her.

“Are you going to work at the bazaar on Saturday?” Janna asked Morgan after church. “I don’t have you down
on the schedule yet.”

“And we missed you at the wreath-making party,” said Cory. “Where you been hiding, Morgan?”

“I had to do some things at home,” she told him.

“Well, we have Emily down,” said Janna as she looked at the clipboard. “She’ll be working from ten to twelve so she can make it to the parade at one. You could work with her if you want.” She winked at Morgan. “I’m guessing you’ll have all sorts of cool things to sell.”

“Yeah,” said Emily. “She’s making socks.”

“Socks?” Janna blinked. “What kind of socks?”

“Polar fleece socks,” said Morgan.

“Cool,” said Janna. “I might be interested in some of those myself.” She jabbed her husband with her elbow. “Cory might want some too. His tootsies can get awfully cold in the winter.”

So Morgan felt a little encouraged as they rode home. Maybe her socks would be a success after all. That is if she ever got enough time to sew them all. She knew that tomorrow afternoon was for trying on their elf outfits again — at least the skirts were finished now. Maybe her best bet would be to kick in the afterburners on Friday. She could stay up as late as she liked since it wasn’t a school night. She considered asking Emily to help her with the sewing and cutting, maybe even to spend the night, but then she remembered Emily’s babysitting gig on that same night.

“How many pairs of socks have sold at your store?” Morgan asked Mom as they went into the house.

“I forgot to check,” Mom admitted. “But Maureen said it’s been slow.”

“Oh …”

“Things should pick up this weekend. What with the Christmas parade, as well as people counting down the shopping days until Christmas.”

“And there’s the bazaar,” Grandma reminded her. “You do plan to sell socks there, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Morgan. She just hoped she’d have some socks to sell. She was tempted to get the ones from Mom’s shop, but then she would miss out on the traffic in town. She was also tempted to stay up past her bedtime to sew, but she knew that Mom would not approve. Besides, she was tired. And she was tired of sewing too!

The next day, Chelsea’s mom picked up all five girls after school. They went to Chelsea’s again to try on the outfits, along with the skirts.

“You did a wonderful job on these skirts,” Mrs. Landers, told Morgan as the girls lined up on the stairway, posing for a photo. “You girls will be the cutest thing in the whole parade. Now let’s get you by the Christmas tree.” The Landers’ Christmas tree was huge, reaching up to the peak of their high ceilings. Morgan couldn’t imagine how they’d gotten it into the house. It reminded her that her
family didn’t have a Christmas tree yet. Usually, Grandma took care of that, but with her feeling so rundown these days … maybe Morgan should take up Carlie’s offer to go into the woods with her dad to get a tree on Sunday.

“All right,” said Mrs. Landers, “You girls know where the staging area for the parade will be. And you need to be there by 12:30. Hopefully it won’t rain, but just in case, you might want to dress warmly underneath the costumes. We don’t want anyone getting hypothermia.”

“Looks like we’ll have to wear our elf outfits to work at the bazaar, Morgan,” said Emily.

“Maybe that’ll help to sell things,” said Amy.

“Now if anyone needs a ride,” said Mrs. Landers, “I’m going back to town in about fifteen minutes.”

“Not that you all have to leave yet,” said Chelsea. “Anyone who wants to hang here is welcome.”

“I have to get to the restaurant,” said Amy.

“And I’m babysitting again,” said Carlie.

“I’ll stick around,” said Emily. “How about you, Morgan, why don’t you stay too?”

“I need to go home and sew socks,” said Morgan.

“You
sew
socks?” asked Mrs. Landers.

“They’re polar fleece socks,” Emily explained.

“Oh, what a good idea,” said Mrs. Landers. “I might like some of those for myself.”

“My mom has some at her shop,” offered Morgan hopefully.

“Cleopatra’s, right?”

“Yes,” said Morgan. “Eight dollars a pair.”

“I’ll make a point to stop by this weekend.”

Morgan felt hopeful as Mrs. Landers drove the girls home. Still, she felt slightly jealous that Emily stayed behind. It was nice of Emily to invite Morgan to stay too, but it would’ve been nicer if Emily had come home with them and maybe even helped Morgan with her sock project. Still, Morgan hadn’t asked Emily. And why would Emily want to help Morgan when she could stay at Chelsea’s and just hang and have fun?

Morgan thanked Mrs. Landers for the ride, told Amy and Carlie good-bye, and then went into her house. As usual, Grandma had
Oprah
on, but she was fast asleep in her recliner. Morgan tiptoed past her and went straight to her room and her sewing machine. Her goal was to get four pairs of socks finished before dinnertime. And then she had a pile of homework to do. She had barely started the second pair of socks when she heard a tapping on her door. “Come in,” she called without looking up from her sewing machine.

“Morgan,” said Mom in a quiet voice. “I need to talk to you.”

Morgan glanced at the clock by her bed. It wasn’t even five yet. “You’re home early,” she told Mom as she turned around in her chair.

Mom sat on her bed. “It’s about Grandma.”

“What?”

“We got the test results back.”

Morgan frowned. “Is it bad?”

“Grandma has some very serious problems with her heart.”

“Oh no …” Morgan felt a lump growing in her throat. “What does that mean?”

“It means that unless she has surgery … well, she could have a heart attack … and it could be fatal.”

“So, is she going to have the surgery?”

“Yes. Of course. But in the meantime, she needs to really take it easy. You and I will have to do everything around here. I know you’ve been helping already, but with Christmas coming … well, you know how Grandma loves this time of year. She gets so busy with her baking and crafts and decorating and everything. But we cannot let her do that.”

“Right.”

“If it was up to me, I’d say we just cancel Christmas altogether this year.” Mom scowled. “I know I sound like Scrooge.”

“We can’t cancel Christmas.”

“I know … and Grandma would be so sad if we did. No, we need to try to do as much as we can of the things that she usually does. She’s already mentioned the fact that
we haven’t put up lights yet.”

“I’ll do that,” said Morgan.

“And she wants a tree.”

“I can go with Carlie and her dad on Sunday and get one in the woods for only five dollars.”

Mom blinked. “Really, you can get a tree for five dollars?”

“With a permit.”

“Great.” Mom actually smiled now. “I’m so thankful we’re in this together, Morgan.”

“When will Grandma have the surgery?”

“Next week. They’re trying to get her scheduled now.”

“Is the surgery dangerous?”

“All surgery is a little dangerous, Morgan.”

“But she’ll be okay?”

“Yes, I’m sure she will.” Mom looked at the pile of unsewn socks. “How’s the sock-sewing business coming?”

“Slow.”

“Oh, I did check on your socks. It looks like five pairs have sold.”

Morgan frowned. “That’s all?”

“I thought that was pretty good considering how slow it’s been.”

“But that’s not even enough to pay for my deposit on the ski trip.”

Mom stood up and ran her fingers through Morgan’s curls. “Well, here’s the good news: I’m not going to make
you pay me back for getting your hair done.”

Morgan brightened. “Thanks, Mom.”

“And I’ll go ahead and pay you for the socks you’ve sold. That’s forty dollars. And I’ll advance you the other ten. I’m sure we’ll sell more socks this weekend. In fact, I’m hoping you’ll have some more ready for me soon. Your basket was looking empty.”

“I’ll bring you everything that’s leftover from the bazaar.”

“Great. I’m going to start dinner now.”

“How about if I put up the Christmas lights?”

“That would be fantastic. The lights and decorations are in those red and green storage bins out in the storage shed. You might as well bring all of them to the back porch so we can start going through them.”