Carrie was a bright and happy young child. She studied hard in school and always got good grades. She was kind and helpful to the other students who were struggling to learn their lessons . Carrie’s parents took her to church every week and she was an active participant in the children’s Sabbath School class. Her father was a missionary and Carrie often accompanied him to Bible Studies. She had learned to love Jesus and was eager to learn more from her Bible. Carrie had many friends in school and in church.
One day her father announced that they were moving to a different part of the country to help out another church that was in much need of a missionary. It was hard for Carrie and her brother to think of leaving their friends behind, but they were happy to support their father in his ministry and welcomed the challenge to make new friends and share the gospel with new and interested souls.
When the school year was over, the children and their parents carefully packed all their material goods into boxes. Soon enough it came time to leave.
The children, although sad to leave their friends behind, were filled with excitement at the prospect of a new adventure.
After several days of driving, they arrived in their new city, and found their new home. It was close to the church they would be helping out. The house was nice and spacious and it was not long before they were all settled in.
On their first Sabbath, the family was welcomed warmly. There were not many members. The seats were half empty and there were no children their age. Carrie and her brother were very disappointed.
Their mother still conducted the Children’s Sabbath school class with her two children. She tried to make it as interesting as possible, but she could read the disappointment all over the faces of her children. In the closing prayer, Mother prayed that more children would attend soon and that her two young children would be missionaries among the new friends they make at school and in the neighbourhood, inviting them to church.
This was a challenge that Carrie and her brother gave much deep thought about. As the summer wore on, Carrie still did not have any friends. Her brother had made friends with Billy, the boy who lived across the street, and some of his friends. Billy was nice enough but he liked to tease Carrie so she did not like to spend time with them. In fact sometimes Billy and his friends were quite mean to her. She was hoping to meet some girls her age but there did not seem to be any that lived close by. Her mother encouraged her to be patient and when they went to school she would meet some girls.
The first day of school finally arrived. The sun was shining brightly and the birds were chirping merrily in the trees outside Carrie’s bedroom window as if singing praises to their Maker. The sky was as blue as could be! “Today should be a good day,” said Carrie as she stretched out on her bed. However, she knew it was not going to be a good day much less a school year.
Normally, Carrie loved the first day of school. That is when you meet your new teacher, catch up with old friends you have not seen all summer and make new friends. It was supposed to be an exciting time. This time, though, she had no old friends to catch up with. She only had new friends to make. She had been praying that she could make some good friends at school this year.
Unfortunately, Billy was her age and there was a possibility of him being in her class. This she dreaded. She even dreaded being in the same school as him, but she had no choice. She really did not want to go to school this year at all, but she knew that was not an option.
Billy was as mean as a snake to her sometimes and, even though she knew why, she just did not understand it. She tried to be friendly to him but he made her summer miserable every time she saw him. It was not something she had control over. Quite the contrary…she had absolutely NO control over it and it made her terribly sad. So sad, in fact, that she did not want to even go outside to play for most of the summer.
Carrie slowly got up and walked downstairs to the kitchen, still in her pajamas. “Carrie Marie, whatever is the matter with you? You aren’t dressed for your first day of at your new school,” exclaimed Mother.
“Do I have to go, Mom?”
“Of course you have to go to school. Why, you are in the fourth grade this year. It’s going to be great! Aren’t you excited about making new friends and meeting your new teacher?” asked Mom.
“Can I just stay home today?” Carrie pleaded. “You can tell my teacher I’m dying of some dreaded disease that I got in a far away country or jungle or that I’m grounded for life for something awful l did over the summer and will never be allowed to go out of the house, not even to school.”
“Aren’t you being a little melodramatic?” asked her mother. “I cannot lie to your teacher and you have to go to school. Now go back upstairs, get dressed, comb your hair and come back down for your breakfast,” Mother scolded ever so gently.
Carrie did as she was told. She knew that the only way she would survive the day was if she prayed earnestly and asked Jesus to be with her. If it was not her faith in Jesus, she would definitely have resisted stronger, but she had learned to respect and obey her parents. When she trudged back to the kitchen, her mother was staring out the window. “Carrie, isn’t that one of your new friends, Billy Thompson, standing over at the bus stop?” asked her mother. Her mother had no idea that Billy was so mean to her and convinced some other kids in the neighborhood that she was weird and they should have nothing to do with her.
Carrie peered out the window. Sure enough there stood Billy Thompson, who was anything but her friend! “I guess so,” said Carrie matter-of-factly.
“Today won’t be so bad…you already know someone. Maybe he will be in your class at school,” said Mom. Oh great, that is just what she dreaded. Billy in her class making fun of her all day. Carrie plopped down at the kitchen table and picked at her breakfast. She was not hungry and would probably never eat again!
Finally, the bus pulled up. “Have a great day!” Mom said cheerfully as she handed Carrie her new backpack.
“If you only knew,” Carrie said, sighing. I’ll never have a great day she ever again, she thought to herself. As she walked to the bus stop she wondered what Billy would say this time. He had been making fun and harassing her all summer since they moved in. She did not have to wait long to find out. “Well, look what we have here…Spots!” said Billy as he laughed at her.
“Whatever,” sighed Carrie. By the time they got to school Carrie was more miserable than ever. Everyone on the bus was staring and pointing at her. Some were even laughing at her and whispering to each other. Why, oh why, did she have to have all these dumb freckles? She did not have just a few, she had them ALL over her face! She had more freckles than plain skin. A few would have been okay but she had what seemed liked hundreds of them, and everyone stared at her and made fun of her!
When the bus finally arrived at school everyone jumped off and ran inside, leaving Carrie all alone. Not one person even talked to her and when she would walk by someone they would just point at her and whisper. How was she ever going to get through the day, much less the whole school year? When she walked into her new classroom her worst fears were made a reality. There he sat in the first seat of the very front row…mean old Billy Thompson. She could not believe he was in her class!
Just my luck, she thought as she headed to the back of the class to the very last seat behind everyone. Carrie figured if she sat in the very back no one could make fun of her, at least during class time. “Hey, Spots, looks like we’re in the same class! This is going to be a great year!” said Billy laughingly, as she went to her seat. When she got to her desk all she could do was put her head down and cry to herself! To make matters worse, Billy, and now the whole class, kept singing “Spots, spots, Carrie has spots!” She was miserable and just wanted to die! Carrie prayed to Jesus to help her endure the torment and survive the day. She did not want to come back ever. She would gladly walk the 5 km to the next closest school if need be, but she did not want to
come back.
Mrs. Smith, their new teacher, was standing at the front of the class with her back to the children, writing on the board. Finally, she turned around and looked at the class. “That will be enough, class!” Mrs. Smith admonished. It suddenly got deathly quiet. Not a sound from anyone. Everyone just stared at Mrs. Smith. Carrie still had her head down on her desk not really paying attention to what was going on and did not really care. “You must be Carrie,” said Mrs. Smith, who was now standing beside Carrie’s desk. “I really like your freckles!” exclaimed Mrs. Smith. Carrie lifted her head. She beamed from ear to ear with the biggest smile she ever had. She could not believe what she was seeing! Right there in front of her was her new teacher with the most freckles she had ever seen on anyone’s face. Why, Mrs. Smith had as many freckles as she did!
“Thank you,” said Carrie. “I love your freckles too.“
“Not everyone has freckles, you know,” said Mrs. Smith. “My mother always told me my freckles were a gift from God and the more you have the more you are blessed. She also told me to be proud of who I am because God made me special, that I was the only one of my kind.”
“I think I am going to like the fourth grade!” said Carrie. She realized it does not matter what other people say about you, and especially your appearance, it only matters what you think of yourself and what God thinks about you. Suddenly Carrie started feeling better about her “spots.” Billy turned back around and sunk down in his chair. Carrie knew that he would not be bothering her anymore.
After school Carrie went and sat beside Billy in the bus on the way home. He was very sorry for the things he had said and asked her why she was kind to him after he had been so mean. She must hate him. No, Carrie had forgiven him. After they got off the bus, Carrie and Billy had a long conversation. She told him all about Jesus and His love and forgiveness and she invited him to church.
The next Sabbath Billy was the first young person to attend Children’s Sabbath School along with Carrie and her brother. He became a faithful attendee and invited more and more of his friends and soon the Children’s Sabbath School was a lively, large and energetic class. It all started when Carrie was willing to forgive Billy.
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvelous are Thy works.” Psalm 139:14. God made you a very special person. Regardless what others think of you, God loves you very much.
Sometimes we do not understand why people are unkind to us, but God wants us to learn to forgive them and to trust in Him. After the trials, great blessings can come and we will be glad that we went through the trials.
God has a lesson to teach us about faith and trust and He has greater blessings to give, if we are patient during the trials. Let us all thank God for our trials and believe that He is right beside us through every difficulty.