The Greatest of These is Love

Short Stories: The Greatest of These is Love

I wrote this story when I was 15. It won first place on the area and regional competition and third on the national level.

Summary: When Joleene's parents are killed by a drunk driver, she must live with her aunt and uncle and their adopted daughter. Joleene finds life with her relatives unbearable, and then a tragic accident occurs.

The Greatest of These is Love

The trip east was long and tiresome, with plenty of time to reminisce. But ever since my parents were killed in their car accident, I did not want to think. Oh, I tried to think of other things, but I couldn't. It wasn't fair. Why did my parents have to die and not the drunkard who hit them? I had loved my parents and they had loved me, too.

Now, I would have to stay with my Uncle Troy and Aunt Meg. Those were the last people with whom I wanted to stay. It's not that they aren't decent folks. It's that they have some old-fashioned ideas about God and praying to Him. Sometimes it's hard to understand them. They act so serious about religion and pretend that God is real. It doesn't make sense.

I was pondering over these things when Uncle Troy interrupted my thoughts.

"My, you sure are thinking deeply! I called you several times, Joleene, and you didn't answer."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Well, I thought maybe you might be getting bored from riding in the car. Maybe you'd like to hear about Aunt Meg and Carrie."

"Carrie? Who's Carrie?"

"She's our daughter," replied Uncle Troy.

To my complete surprise, I found out Carrie was adopted. She was only seven years old and was looking forward to having a big sister. I was shocked and upset. Just what I needed---a tag-a-long. At that moment I wanted to close my eyes, click my heels together three times, and be back home again; but I knew that was impossible. I would have to do my best to bear it.

After awhile, I grew weary listening to Uncle Troy. I told him I felt tired. After all, I really did feel tired. Uncle Troy said he understood and was quiet.

Soon, I drifted off to sleep, but I revived at the sound of someone's voice. It was Uncle Troy again.

"We're home!"

Puzzled, I answered, "Already?"

"Well, you slept several hours."

I opened my eyes wider and looked around. All I could see were trees and fields. Then I remembered Uncle Troy saying they were twenty-five miles from the nearest town. I hadn't believed him until he said that twenty-five miles was better than fifty miles. Now, I knew he was telling the truth. I then looked in the direction of the house. It was rather pretty, but I had already decided that I was not going to like living here.

I climbed out of the car while Uncle Troy got my luggage and started walking toward the house. About halfway there, the kitchen door swung open and Aunt Meg came running toward us with Carrie following right behind her. The next thing I knew, I was in Aunt Meg's arms. She hugged me and told me how glad she was to see me, but I didn't pay much attention to her.

I looked past Aunt Meg to Carrie who was looking straight back at me with her big brown eyes. She was an unusual sight, not at all as I expected her to be. She had red hair which was supposed to be braided, but most of her hair was hanging out of the braids. I could tell she had braided her own hair. Freckles covered her face and arms, and her smile showed several missing teeth. She wore no shoes, and both her hands and feet were dirty. Also, she was rather short for her age. To top it all off, when Aunt Meg introduced Carrie to me, she called me Jo instead of Joleene. I detested the name Jo.

As the four of us walked toward the house, my heart sank. Maybe I could live with a sister, but certainly not with Carrie. The rest of the day, we all talked and got acquainted. I was beginning to enjoy myself, and all seemed to be going well until we got into a discussion about my parents' death. I said that I did not understand why my parents had to die. As I expected, Aunt Meg interrupted with her "God's will speech."

"You know," began Aunt Meg, "We don't always understand why God does certain things; but we can know that God does things to fulfill His plan and His will."

"You mean, God allowed my parents to die to fulfill His will?" I angrily shouted. "What kind of a God is He to have somebody's death as His will?"

"Well", continued Aunt Meg, "Romans 8:28 reminds us that all things work together for good to---."

"That's enough of your preaching," I demanded, rudely interrupting her sermon.

"How can I love a God who doesn't love me?"

"Honey, God does love you and wants to be your Savior," added Aunt Meg.

"How can someone be my Savior who couldn't save my parents? Three years ago when I was fourteen, you were at our house. You quoted a verse that said something like nothing was impossible with God and then you said God wants us to have the best in life. Well, God didn't care how much I loved them or needed them because He let them die. Don't you realize that the best thing in life for me was my parents!"

Crying, I ran back to my room, slamming the door behind me. Perhaps, my response was a little rude, but Aunt Meg had no right preaching to me.

I did not come out of my room anymore that night, and I do not think Uncle Troy or Aunt Meg expected me to either. I knew I had hurt their feelings. I could tell by looking at their faces, but pride and anger kept me from saying the two little words, "I'm sorry."

After that incident, Uncle Troy and Aunt Meg seemed much more amiable. They did not preach at me or force me to go to church. They even allowed me to use their car once in a while. Everything seemed all right again, except for Carrie.

Carrie knew Bible verses and songs and either she sang songs or recited Sunday School verses. No matter how many times I told her to be quiet, she seemed to forget. Just like she kept forgetting I didn't like the name Jo.

Carrie's cheerful countenance exasperated me. I wasn't always kind to Carrie and often hurt her feelings, but she kept singing and smiling.

I finally realized that I was being an insensitive, hardheaded individual. After all, Carrie did have the right to sing all she wanted, and her songs were not that bad. I would have to do my best to endure them.

Carrie was a very sweet girl. No matter how I treated her, she was very kind and loving and tried to help. The more I tried to avoid her, the more she clung to me like a shadow. For some unknown reason Carrie actually liked me. Her persistent love carefully penetrated my cold heart.

Slowly, I began to realize how much I liked Carrie and enjoyed being with her. I began to see her as a true sister. I was also getting accustomed to having Uncle Troy and Aunt Meg as second parents. Oh, once in a while they would try to bring up a discussion about God, but I quickly let them know that I was not interested.

One day Carrie begged me to take her on a picnic. Because I had not been on a picnic for a long time, I finally consented. We quickly packed two lunches and grabbed our jackets as we walked out the door. We took a trail on the edge of the woods about a mile or so up the road. Following the path, we came to a place to stop and eat. Carrie was all excited.

"Aren't these woods beautiful, Jo? Oops! I mean Joleene."

"Yes, they are," I laughed. "And you can call me Jo if that's easier for you. Never mind what I said before."

"Jo, do you know who made these woods?" Without hesitation, Carrie answered her own question. "God did. In fact, God made this beautiful world for us to live in. He sure loved us so much to do all this for us; but I love God because He sent His Son to die for me so I can go to heaven. When I go to heaven I want to see Jesus first and thank Him."

Carrie paused momentarily to catch her breath before continuing again. "Jo, do you love Jesus? Mommy says you don't. She says that's why God sent you to us."

"Carrie I think we'd better go back to the house."

"Why?" asked Carrie with a confused look about her. "I thought we were going to have a picnic."

"Don't ask any more questions. It's just too damp out here and I'm tired."

The walk back to the house was very quiet. Carrie, who is usually loquacious did not say a word. She was so disappointed, and I felt sorry for her; but imagine my own little sister trying to convert me. Probably Aunt Meg told Carrie what to say. Aunt Meg knew she couldn't get through to me, and no doubt, she thought Carrie could.

"Well," I thought to myself, "I can tell her this one thing, if she thinks she can convert me, she's wrong."

The whole way back to the house, I mulled over Aunt Meg's underhanded plan, and my anger intensified. When Carrie and I finally arrived at the house, I rushed through the door into the kitchen. I was furious and Aunt Meg noticed it.

"Calm down, Joleene. Why are you so upset?"

"Don't act so smart, Aunt Meg! You know why I'm angry."

"No...I don't understand."

"Yes, you do. You knew you couldn't convert me so you thought you would let Carrie do it, and you told her what to say."

I looked over at Carrie. She looked worried, upset, and confused. "As for you, Young Lady, close your mouth and be quiet. You'll stay out of trouble that way."

With that, I ran out the kitchen door and got into Aunt Meg's car. As I backed out the driveway, I glanced up at the house. In the yard was Carrie looking straight at me, tears streaming down her face. She was hurt, but even through her tears I could see her love for me, Normally, that would have dissolved my anger, but I was too stubborn to give in. Thinking out the situation alone would help me.

The longer I drove, and the more I thought about the whole situation, however, the more upset I became--not at Aunt Meg or Carrie--but at myself. I had not been fair at all. I had given neither Aunt Meg nor Carrie a chance to talk. Maybe Aunt Meg had nothing to do with this at all, and Carrie was sharing what was on her heart because she loved me.

I started to weep uncontrollably and had to pull the car over. When I finally felt better, I decided to go home. I had been away for nearly hour.

On the way home I started thinking of my parents' death, the day I came to live with my aunt and uncle, and the first time I saw Carrie. I started crying again and it was hard for me to see, but I decided to keep going. I was nearly home--the house was just beyond the bend in the road.

As I rounded the corner, I thought I saw someone on a bike. Too late, I slammed the brakes. With a sickening thud, I hit the biker. My body froze as it heard a piercing scream and saw a small body and bent-up bike flying through the air. I came to my senses and lunged from the car.

I knew before I even saw her that it was Carrie, and I knew she was terribly hurt. I trembled as I ran to her. There lay Carrie, once very active, but now motionless. Her mangled body was bleeding badly. I started screaming for help.

"No! No, God! This can't be happening. First, my parents and now Carrie. Carrie! Oh, Carrie! Please hear me." No response.

In the distance, I heard the faint wail of an ambulance siren. Aunt Meg must have heard the commotion and called 911. I stayed by Carrie's side until the ambulance arrived.

After Carrie was in the ambulance, Aunt Meg and I walked home while Uncle Troy moved the car. Several minutes later, we were all in the truck heading for the hospital. In the truck, I explained everything to Uncle Troy and Aunt Meg and begged their forgiveness. Then, Aunt Meg prayed that God would do His will in Carrie's life.

About twenty minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. The doctor came out and told us that Carrie had lost an excessive amount of blood and her chances of living were very slim.

"I hate to break this news to you," whispered the doctor. "But, I doubt she'll even live through the night. She's unconscious now, but you may go in to see her."

I got this sickening feeling in my stomach. How could I bear to see active little Carrie lying so still and dying, especially since it was all my fault?

When I entered the room I started to cry. I could not believe that this was my own little Carrie. She looked so different. Her once rosy cheeks were pale, and her smile was gone. I could not stop weeping as I walked to her bed. I did not know whether she could hear me or not.

"Oh, Carrie!" I swallowed the lump in my throat. "You were such a happy girl, smiling all the time. You always treated me kindly, no matter how I treated you. I hurt you so many times, and I--I never said I was sorry...Well, I am sorry, especially for ruining your life."

Tears streamed down my face as I continued. "Carrie, you have made me realize that I do need Christ as my Savior. I--I want you to know you're the best sister a girl could have."

To my astonishment, Carrie half-opened her eyes and looked straight at me. Those same eyes that had hurt in them when I last saw her, now had love emanating from them.

Then she whispered four words, "I--go to--Jesus, and with her next breath she passed from death unto life.