This Little Fright of Mine

“Hey, Rachel, I’m having a party at my house this Friday night,” my friend Sarah called to me as we passed each other in the school hallway between classes. “I hope you can come! We’ll play games and maybe watch a movie.”

“Uh, great!” I said, pasting a fake smile on my face. “I’ll have to see if I can make it. I might have something going on already.”

Pressing through a crush of students toward my next class, I mentally kicked myself. You practically lied to Sarah. You don’t have to check your calendar. You know right now you’re not going to her party during Sabbath!

I’d decided long before that going to parties with my friends from public school wouldn’t help me get closer to God on Sabbath. But Sarah didn’t know that. Neither did my other friends. I’d told them that I went to church on Saturday, but I’d never explained that Sabbath meant so much more than spending a few hours in church.

Whenever my friends invited me to a social event on Sabbath, I always came up with a weak excuse. “I’m doing something with my family” was the most common one. That was mostly true, since my family did spend a lot of time together on Sabbath starting Friday night.

Thinking up excuses was hard, but it seemed easier than launching into a Bible study. It’s already obvious enough that I’m different, I told myself. I don’t swear; I don’t wear skimpy outfits; I bring homemade veggie burgers for lunch. My friends would never understand my beliefs anyway. Some of them aren’t even Christians.

As I settled into my seat in English class, I pondered my dilemma. This is ridiculous, I scolded mentally. You’ve gone to this school for three years, and you still haven’t told your friends something so important? What kind of witness is that?

That night I was still thinking about Sarah and her party. It’s time to stop making excuses, I resolved. I’m going to tell Sarah the real reason I’m not coming. But I was sure I’d never have the courage to do it in person. So I decided to write a letter explaining why and how I kept the Sabbath.

Whenever my friends invited me to a social event on Sabbath, I always came up with a weak excuse.

Hunched over my desk in my bedroom, I stayed up late working on the letter. It had to sound just right. I explained that according to the Bible, Sabbath is an entire day set aside for God, and it goes from sundown on Friday night till sundown on Saturday night.

Please, God, help this to make sense, I prayed.

Folding up the lined paper, I decorated the outside with funny sayings and drawings, as Sarah and I often did when we wrote notes to each other.

When I finally went to bed, I tossed and turned, wondering how Sarah would react. She’s going to think I’m hopelessly weird, I worried.

The next day at school I waited until the very end of the day to find Sarah. That way I wouldn’t have to face her right away after she read my bombshell.

“Here’s a note for you,” I said, forcing a casual grin to hide my anxiety. Then I hurried to catch my bus.

Sarah and I had no classes together, so over the next couple of days I didn’t see much of her. My uneasiness grew each time we passed each other in the hall. She hadn’t said anything about the letter. What did she think?

Finally Sarah spotted me after school and handed me a note as I rushed toward the door. On the bus I carefully unfolded the paper, my heart pounding.

“It’s OK that you can’t come to my party,” Sarah’s letter said. “Actually, I respect you for sticking with your principles. I’d love to hear more about your beliefs sometime.”

I took a deep breath as relief washed over me. Thank You, God, that she still wants to be my friend, I prayed silently. I guess I shouldn’t have worried so much.

A few weeks later Sarah met me before school. “I’m having a party this weekend,” she told me. “I planned it for Saturday night instead of Friday night so it won’t conflict with your Sabbath. You can come then, can’t you?”

“Of course!” I said, a genuine smile spreading across my face. “I’ll be there!”

Sarah grinned back. “Great! I really wanted you to come. See you then.”

As I hurried off to class, I felt a warm glow knowing that Sarah had made special plans just to include me—and let me stay true to God. In fact, I could think of only one bad thing about the whole situation: I should have let my light shine a lot sooner!

Discussion Question:

Tell about a time you felt nervous or fearful about sharing your beliefs. What was the result? Do you feel more confident about witnessing now than you did then? How can you become more bold or excited about sharing your faith?

*This article is adapted from a story published in Guide, October 1, 2005. The author has refreshed it for the Adventist Review.