The young man pulled his polished black car onto our front
lawn, the loud double tail pipes of his sporty vehicle announcing his arrival.
He didn’t go to the door but waited in the car. The most
beautiful redhead in our family, however, still was getting ready. Four of us
five sisters had red hair, and three of us were covered with freckles. Joan
didn’t have a freckle on her—and she had blue eyes!
So it wasn’t all that unusual for her to have a beau, but
this fellow must have had a lot of confidence. Even I, the youngest of the
eight siblings in our family, noticed his cockiness.
About age 9 or 10, I peered into his car window. “Hello,” I
said, watching his fingers dance on the steering wheel.
“Why hello!” he said, probably seeing a chance to rise above
the boredom waiting for his gal. “How are you this fine day?”
“Good,” I said with a smile. “Sorry Joan isn’t ready yet.
She takes for-ev-er to get ready to go anywhere.”
“That right? I was beginning to worry she had a problem.”
I laughed. “Oh, she has problems all right.”
The guy began asking me riddles, and then he told two or
three simple jokes.
I laughed and laughed. “You are really funny. You know what
my Daddy calls you? “Tee Hee, and I don’t think Joan likes that name. She said
you’re too silly.”
His smile disappeared, but then Joan slammed the screen door
and ran to the car.
Years later I confessed to Joan what I said.
“He never asked me out again,” she said. “I always wondered
why.”
She wasn’t that surprised that I’d passed on the negative
things she said about the guy, and she wasn’t even surprised I passed on what I
heard, because I was the family tattletale.
No wonder when I became an adult the career I chose was
reporting for a newspaper. I’d been a reporter all my life!
DO REPORT THE NEWS?
Every Christian has good news to share. Acts 1:8 says when we're filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be His witnesses. Having the opportunity because of Jesus to live forever is good news! But others need to know so they can accept Him.
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