Shadow of His Wings

By Rebekah Mitchell

Shadow of His Wings is a book of twenty faith-based short and longer stories for tweens (between children and teens). The stories are built on tried and true scriptural principles and concepts. The book is fiction, but it is not false. It is like little snapshots of life.
The stories all have different characters, settings, and lessons. For example, Productive Fear is a story about Mark who wants to help Tony begin to care about his schoolwork. Mark tries praying several different ways until one day Tony opens up to him about his problems. Mark decides then and there he will help Tony in any way he can.
First Step is about Brian who is a bully who goes too far and injures another student. He is disturbed when he discovers that the boy is in the hospital pending surgery, and he takes his first step toward change: he listens to his mother as she tries to help him to rediscover God in his life.
The story Lackluster Love is about Kristie who doesnt understand her friends lack of love for Jesus. Her mom tells her to pray about it. Kristie does, and her friend begins to change. Kristie wants to know what changed her friend, but her mother tells her not to ask but to pray about it again. After prayer, Kristie discovers Sandy and her family were not really saved. It makes all the difference once they turn to the Lord.
It would take a lot of time and space to tell about all twenty stories. All of the stories are different. Some of them are centered around boys, and some are centered around girls. Both girls and boys should enjoy them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 8, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449704599

Rebekah Mitchell

Rebekah was born Mary Rebecca Mitchell (Becky) in Beaufort, SC where she still lives on Lady’s Island. She received a BA in speech/drama at Columbia College and a BS in elementary education at Winthrop College. She worked as drama coordinator for the Department of Leisure Services for the City of Charleston, SC. She helped initiate “The Child in Everyone,” a mini-festival for Spoleto festival, an annual arts event in Charleston. She taught fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in the classroom and creative dramatics lessons to 5-12 year olds.

Book preview

Without God

PRODUCTIVE FEAR

Proverbs 1:7 (King James Version): The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Mark 12:30–31 (New International Version): Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.

It was the first day of spring, and the weather was as close to perfect as it gets. It was a beautiful day for throwing Frisbees, riding skateboards, walking, playing ball, or whatever you liked to do outdoors. The sun was shining like a bright new coin in the sky—the sky being an indescribable blue you rarely see. The grass was newly mown with that fresh smell that fills with happy memories. Butterflies were fluttering here and there.

But this lovely day, we had to be in class.

Our teacher, Mrs. Hincher, was going to be explaining our new projects. Frankly, I wasn’t sure which would be more appealing —being outside with butterflies and sunshine or inside hearing about our new project. I find all of life, even schoolwork, interesting, but it really was beautiful outside.

Class, you need to turn to page 375 in your social studies book. You will find a list of topics for your new projects. I would like for you to choose three, put them in order of your liking, and turn them over to me tomorrow so I can decide what to do if two people choose the same topic. I will make the final decision At that point. Are there any questions?

When will the project be due, Mrs. Hincher? I asked.

That’s a good question, Mark. The projects will be due eight weeks from Friday, which is May 5, she replied.

How long do they have to be? Tony asked.

"Thank you for asking that question, Tony. As usual they must cover the topic. Probably the final report will range anywhere from six to twelve handwritten pages or you may use a computer and type it. Plus the required illustrations which would be three.

What kind of illustrations, Mrs. Hincher? Margaret asked.

Thank you, Margaret. I would be happy to receive illustrations by hand, photocopy, cut from magazines, or anything at all that will create a dialogue between your paper and your pictures. In other words, the pictures must enhance your project.

Demond raised his hand slowly. He looked unsure of himself.

Demond? Mrs. Hincher asked.

What does ‘enhance’ mean?

There was a low ripple of laughter throughout the room.

Class, it’s never a mistake to ask about words we do not understand. Then she added more pointedly, Is it, class?

The class sounded repentant as it answered a simple, almost to a person, No.

I have been telling you this all year. Let’s be more supportive of someone who has the nerve to speak out. Demond, come by my desk at the end of the day. I will have a surprise for you.

As a body, the class groaned. Demond perked up in spite of our rudeness. Mrs. Hincher was always getting us back when we embarrassed someone who needed to understand a new word. Demond would get a piece of chocolate for our disrespect.

"Now back to ‘enhance.’ It means, Demond, the pictures you choose must explain your paper or show some aspect of your topic. Linda chose a bow that would make her look prettier, one that would enhance her natural beauty and the dress she is wearing. It would make her and her dress look better. Your pictures should make your paper look better.

"Never be sorry for widening your vocabulary, class. The words you use say a lot about who you are. At your age, you should hear many words which are new to you. You already know ‘always ask’ is my policy, but I have given out more than twenty surprises this year. I’m wondering if you will ever learn this lesson.

Oh, there is one more thing you might want to know. There is a point system for this project. Lewanda, please pass these out for me.

As the papers were given out, Mrs. Hincher continued speaking. You will get ten points for a proper outline, ten points for neatness and creativity, twenty points for illustrations, and sixty points for the body. There are a lot of details for this project. I want you to ask any questions that come to mind. It might help someone else.

Mrs. Hincher? My hand went up.

Yes, Mark?

"We don’t even know how to make an outline."

True, but please don’t worry. When have you ever been given an assignment at Praise Christian Academy without full knowledge of how to complete it? We will cover outlining in plenty of time for you to get all ten points, Mrs. Hincher said, smiling at me. Class, I want you to remember something very important. Let’s all listen to something special from the Bible, Proverbs 1:7.

She brought out that old familiar book from which she read to us every morning.

It tells us in the book of Proverbs, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ Let’s all be wise and not leave this project off until the final two weeks. The sooner you begin researching after I return your topic tomorrow, the better your paper will be. Let’s live in the productive fear of the Lord and try very hard not to leave everything up to the last minute. I promise you will be sorry if you let it slip. This project counts as one third of your social studies grade for this nine-week period. I’ll be praying for each and every one of you.

The class brightened at the thought that Mrs. Hincher would hold us before God in her prayers. The whole atmosphere seemed charged with some kind of electricity. I was surprised. This class normally did not like new projects.

Somehow we made it through science kind of charged up, but math slowed things down on the surface. If anybody was like me, they were holding a spark dear to their hearts. It was exciting to me to think I would be obeying God by doing a good job on the assignment for my teacher.

After school, Tony and I were walking to the bus when he broke out laughing and said, Mark, did you hear old Hinch? She thinks we’re all going to work for eight solid weeks to do a good job getting some dumb project together. What a laugh! I bet I could get an A working for three weeks with my eyes closed.

I remained silent but played back in my mind what our teacher had said about the fool despising wisdom and instruction. I was ready to begin working that night. Although I didn’t have my topic yet, at least I could spend some time narrowing it down. Tony was hard to believe, hard to understand. Since right before Christmas he had been unhappy, and now he was reckless. Three weeks. Boy, he was crazy.

You don’t listen very well, Tony. Do you even remember what she said about being stupid?

"She would say anything to get us to slave for her, Mark. I’m not afraid of God or old Hinch. What’s to be afraid of? There’s your bus!" He cracked up laughing as I got on the bus, shaking my head.

Lord, help Tony with whatever has changed him this way. The thought went through my mind: that kid is in trouble, and nothing I do or say will turn him around. I wondered what it could be. I decided I would pray about it.

The next morning Mrs. Hincher took up our three topics. She had made her choices by the end of the day. Only two people had to change their topic. I wasn’t one of them. Emily Olsen preferred snakes to processed cheese, but Mrs. Hincher assured her Dick Trader would do a wonderful job with the topic. David Simpson had chosen presidents of this century, but Mrs. Hincher knew his father was a professor of history and gave him his second choice, which was the continents. Dottie got presidents of this century. I got France. Tony got something about credit cards. Everyone seemed pleased with their topic.

Mrs. Hincher gave us a list of places where we could go do our research. I didn’t realize there were six libraries in our small town. This project was a lot more interesting than the one Mrs. Ard gave us last year, but we are a year older, too. Last year everybody had the same topic and we only used the school library. Maybe they got more complicated as you went along. Anyway, I was thrilled to be learning something about France.

Every day Mrs. Hincher reminded us of our projects. I love the spring, and I was working on my project every chance I got. Tony kept bragging every day that he had not started, and I kept praying all the more for the Lord to set a fire under him.

Finally I broke down and reminded him of the reason we should work hard on these projects. Tony, didn’t you hear Mrs. Hincher say this report will be one third of our social studies grade? I asked.

Tony pretended to be really impressed with what I said, but then he laughed and said, Mark, you’re a fraidy cat. Believe it or not, I don’t have any extra time for this stupid project. So forget it, man.

I started to contradict him, but it was obvious he wasn’t listening to a word I said. God wasn’t answering my prayers. I decided to stop praying for the fire to start up under Tony and started praying he would seek God’s help. I knew he was expecting an A because I have seen his report cards. But he was acting like a fool according to Proverbs, and I didn’t see how he could do it in the time he said he was going to do it.

Why doesn’t he have time to work on his project? I wondered. What is keeping him from working on something this important? If there was something I could help with, I sure hoped to find out. I would pray about that, too.

The weeks passed with great speed. I found I could enjoy both the spring and my project. Tony kept bragging. I kept him in my prayers. It is God’s will for us to pray for those who do not know Him. For a while now I had been asking God to give Tony the longing to know God and to seek Him for help. Tony still hadn’t told me what was wrong. It occurred to me I might have the wrong approach. I would pray for God to get Tony to tell me what was wrong.

Then one day Tony started bragging that he was going to put out the best project in the class in just two weeks. I quit reminding him what Mrs. Hincher had said. He was too hateful. He was extreme. I started avoiding him, but just until the Spirit moved me back in his direction to handle a little more abuse.

Tony had something against God, and I was beginning to pick it up through brief conversations with him. One day he opened up, as I had been praying he would; I was stunned.

It seems his mother took them to church every Sunday when he and his brothers and sister were small. She taught them to pray, bought them their first Bible, and took them to Sunday school.

Then one day, right before Christmas last year, she took off with a man who worked for the church. She left them with a father who spent his money on alcohol and beat him and his brothers and sister anytime he felt like it.

Tony told me he had not prayed since the day she left, and the reason he didn’t get to work on his project was because he was in charge of his three brothers and sister because he was the oldest. He was in charge of everything.

They are my responsibility now. I don’t have time for much schoolwork at home.

I was completely floored by him telling me this. I tried to put myself in his shoes, but the harder I tried, the less it seemed to work. I just almost couldn’t believe what he had told me.

The reports were due week after next. He hadn’t even started. Suddenly it didn’t seem all that important. Although I knew it would count for one third of his grade, and I knew he was proud of his grades, it seemed like nothing compared to what his mother had taught him about God by leaving with that man.

I opened my mouth just one last time. Tony, these grades will follow you all through life. Will you do me a favor?

What?

Will you start tonight?

I’ll start tonight on one condition.

Which is?

"Never tell anyone what I just told you. I don’t even know why I told you. Okay, Mark? That stuff about my family is really private."

You’ve got my word, Tony.

I know I can trust you, because you really do believe in God.

"You can believe again, Tony. Even though you don’t want to believe it, God loves you. He really honestly does. He died for you, and if you ask me, He is pretty upset with your mom and that man from the church. You have no idea how much He loves you. Tony, God is good. I’ll bet if you’d start praying, things would begin to change.

Can I help out with your brothers and sister so you can finally work on your project? I asked tentatively.

Tony looked bewildered.

Can I? I insisted.

"I can’t let you do that. It’s my responsibil—" His voice trailed off.

I want to help.

It’s too much.

After I arrange things with my mom, I will go home with you after school until things change. Your brothers and sisters should be helping you, too.

Tony covered his face with his hands and walked away. He turned back and said in a muffled voice, I’ll start as soon as I can. He continued, I’ll start in fifth period study hall. Then he walked away, so I wouldn’t see the rest of the tears.

I sat down and thought. I was gripped by an emotion I couldn’t identify. Whatever grade he got on this project didn’t matter. Tony had a friend for life in me. I was completely floored. I had no idea his mother had left them like that or that his father was an alcoholic.

I felt hot tears running down my cheeks. I pulled out my handkerchief and wiped my face. I lowered my head in prayer. I couldn’t believe it, but I knew I would always be changed by his disclosure. I had prayed hard for Tony to get his life back on track. And to think I had started by praying for productive fear.

ANNA DID BELIEVE

John 15:18 (The Amplified Bible): If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.

Acts 14:22b (The Message): Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.

ANNA

Katy called me today. She said she lost the gold locket her grandmother gave her. The part that surprised me is her father told her to pray about it until she found it. She said he told her about losing a special pocketknife once. He told her that he prayed for a week and found it in a place he had already looked twice. Frankly, I think it sounds kind of weird and kind of spooky. If something is lost, how can it show up in a place you have already looked? These people are strange.

She told me all the places she had looked and I figured out the truth. Her father made up that story to get her to believe in this Jesus. Her parents hid it from her so they could build up her belief in a dead man. They will put it where she can find it after a while, and Jesus will get the credit. Poor Katy, to think her parents would deceive her that way. She already follows the guy. She worships Him.

I’m Anna, and I don’t believe one word of this story Katy has started telling me about some man named Jesus who is supposed to be God and died on a cross and came back from the dead to save me from my sins. My parents don’t ever talk about any of that, so I can only believe it’s a lie. I just can’t figure out why Katy actually believes the crazy story. She has been talking more about it since she joined Stars at her church. That group for ‘tweens must be really mixed up. All they do is read the Bible and sing and talk about you-know-who.

Oh, and they have some sort of service project. It sounds boring to me.

KATY

I have known Anna since the third grade and now we are in sixth grade. We have been best-buds through it all. We have had a few fights, but they have never lasted long. I hadn’t been such a good witness, so I poured it on pretty fast. When I started trying to tell her about Jesus, our relationship cooled. I’m not giving up by any means (I pray for her every day), but she has started keeping an emotional distance, which hurts.

Anna, my best friend, and I are at odds because I lost MeMa’s necklace. I cherish that necklace. I’m following my father’s advice and praying for the Lord to help me find it, but all the static I get from Anna is spoiling my prayers. I go to pray and