Agape Christian School

By Tammie Griffith

It is still early in March 1996, when there are no cell phones or computers for a person to meet online. You have to meet someone in person. Laura Riley is singing in church, and after the service is over, she meets Richard Jones. He tells her she sang a beautiful song.

She does not know her twin, Lisa Riley, has met Ryan Jones, Richard Jones’s twin brother. They start dating, and after a few dates, they go on a date with his twin brother, and she meets him with her twin sister who has come to town.

Laura cannot believe that Richard also has an identical twin or that her sister likes him too!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890434036

Book preview

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Agape Christian School

Tammie Griffith

ISBN 979-8-89043-401-2 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89043-402-9 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-89043-403-6 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Tammie Griffith

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

About the Author

Chapter 1

Laura was trying to hurry to get ready for church. She was singing in church today. She wanted to practice before church during Sunday school. She was singing Amazing Grace. She wanted it to sound perfect for the minister. She ate her oatmeal as her Doberman, Samson, was eating his breakfast. When she was done, she washed, rinsed, dried, and put away her dishes. She let Samson out for the day, and she shut and locked the door.

She went into her bathroom and brushed her teeth. She looked inside her closet for a dress to wear to church. She picked her green suede dress. She hurried and put it on and went back to the bathroom to braid her hair. When she was finished with her hair, she quickly grabbed her purse and went to the garage and started her car.

She opened the garage and drove out of it. She shut the garage down and drove off down the street. She drove off to the church. When she arrived at the church, she went into the chapel to practice her song with the choir director. The minister came into the chapel and asked if she was ready. Laura said, That is why I am here, to practice. The choir director started playing the song on the piano, and Laura started singing her song. They practiced a few more times before it was time for church to begin.

Laura took a seat on the first pew and waited for her name to be announced to sing. When the minister announced Laura Riley singing Amazing Grace, she stood up and walked to the pulpit as the choir director walked to the piano. Laura began singing Amazing Grace.

When the song ended, she walked back to the pew and sat down again. When the minister said the ending prayer, she got up and walked outside to shake his hand. She walked outside and heard someone say, That was a beautiful song, and you have a lovely voice. Laura turned around to see a tall and handsome man standing there; she thought to herself that he was very good-looking. He was thinking that she was a very pretty lady up close.

Laura answered, Well thank you, may I ask what your name is?

My name is Richard Jones, he answered her.

Laura shook his hand, feeling a jolt of electricity, and walked over to the minister and shook his hand and walked to her car.

She heard, That is one beautiful car, behind her. Laura turned around to see Richard Jones behind her; he was thinking that it was a beautiful car for one pretty lady.

Laura replied, My father gave it to me as a high school graduation gift, and he rebuilt it himself.

Richard said, That was one heck of a gift.

Laura said, Yes it, was. She said goodbye.

Richard said, Goodbye to you, Laura Riley. He had felt the jolt of electricity also.

Laura drove home and opened her garage and pulled her car inside and shut the garage down again. She went into her condo and went to the sliding glass window to let Samson inside. She went to the refrigerator and took out some sandwich fixings and made herself a sandwich.

When she was done, she poured herself some iced tea and sat at the table. She said her prayer over her lunch and began to eat. When she was done with her lunch, she washed, rinsed, dried, and put her dishes away.

Laura went into the living room and turned on the television set to see what was on television for this afternoon. The phone rang, and Laura went to answer it in the kitchen.

It was Lisa; she said, So how did it go, big sister?

Laura replied, It went great, I even got a compliment from a new guy at the church.

Lisa said, So was he cute or what?

Laura answered, Yes he was very cute.

Lisa said, I am glad that it went well. I know that I was really nervous last week when I sang alone in church.

Laura said, This is the first time either of us had to sing alone, I was very nervous also.

Laura went back into the living room to relax; she had several hours before a movie she wanted to watch started. She went into the hall closet and got a one-thousand-piece puzzle out to do.

She went to the dining room table to do the puzzle. She took it out of the box and spread it out to start doing the outer edges first. She went to the refrigerator and got herself some iced tea and walked back to the table. It took her two hours to do the puzzle by herself. She took it apart and went back into the living room to watch her movie starring Dorothy LaMour. The movie was over just in time to heat herself some leftovers from last night to eat. She made sure to feed Samson and sat down to say her prayer before she ate her dinner.

When she was done, she washed, rinsed, dried, and put away her dishes. She went back into the living room again to see what else was on the television to watch. She found another Dorothy LaMour movie coming on in ten minutes for her to watch. When it was over, she turned the news on to see what the weather would be like tomorrow.

Monday morning, she woke up bright and early to start her day. She let Samson outside and started making her breakfast. She decided on having a bowl of Wheat Chex for breakfast. She walked over and filled Samson's food bowl and made sure he had water to drink. Then she let him inside to eat his breakfast also. Laura sat down to do her devotions and read her chapter in the Bible that went along with it. When she was done, she said her prayer for her meal and began to eat her breakfast. When she was done, she washed, rinsed, dried, and put away her dishes and let Samson outside for the day.

Laura went into her bathroom and brushed her teeth and went to the closet to pick out a dress to wear. She picked out her blue dress with white flowers on it and quickly put it on and went back to the bathroom to braid her hair. When she was done, she got her bag of graded papers and purse and walked out to the garage. She opened the garage, and as it was opening, she started her car. When it was finished opening, she backed out of the garage and shut it down again. She backed out of her driveway and drove off to the school.

Laura arrived at school at 7:00 a.m., plenty of time to have herself a cup of tea before her first students showed up. Laura put the graded papers in each class slot then she put the new assignments Using Adverb Clauses in their slots. Her study hall period class arrived at 7:10 a.m. At 7:15 a.m., the principal came over the loudspeaker, saying, Please stand and bow your head for prayer. After their prayer, he led them in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. When they were finished, Laura had them get out anything they needed to get done before class started. When 7:30 a.m. rolled around, the kids who had other classes left, and her first class arrived at 7:35 a.m. She had them get out any homework and turn it in. She had her student helper pass out the graded papers to each student and the new assignments for the day Using Adverb Clauses. Once they had their new assignments, she went over what adverb clauses were, and they read the chapter round-robin. Class went quickly, and so did the rest of the day.

Before long, Laura was on her way home. By 2:30 p.m., she stopped by the grocery store on the way home to get her shopping done so she could make her dinners, lunches, and breakfast for the week.

When she arrived back at the condo, she opened the garage and drove inside. Once she was inside, she closed the door down and carried her groceries inside and put them on the counter and then let Samson inside.

Laura sat down at the table after putting the groceries away and started grading her papers from the day. She made notes to make sure she went in early tomorrow to get her lessons copied and all the paperwork copied.

When Laura was done grading her papers, she changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and went into the spare room and went on the Lifecycle for twenty minutes then got her shower. Laura got out of the shower and put on a pair of sweatpants and another T-shirt to relax in. She made sure Samson had food in his bowl and water to drink for his dinner. Then she went into the kitchen and made herself a bean and cheese burrito to eat for her dinner and sat down at the table. She said her prayer for her dinner, and then she began eating her burrito. When she was done with dinner, she washed, rinsed, dried, and put away her dishes.

Laura went into the living room and sat down to see what was on the television. There was a movie from the '60s on and an older movie after that, so she sat back to watch the movies before it was time for bed.

When the movies were over, she turned off the television and went into the kitchen to open the sliding glass window to let Samson outside for the final time of the night. When he was done, she let him back inside, shut the door and locked it, and turned off the light. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put on her pajamas. When she was done, she knelt beside her bed and said her nightly prayer, and after she was done, she crawled into bed.

Laura had a dream about the guy she had met after she had sung in church. He was very good-looking, broad-shouldered, and had dark-green eyes and nice thick brown hair. She had noticed that he was very tall and muscular to boot. Wow, he was very nice to look at. Laura wondered if she was going to see him again at church. In her dream, she was dating him.

Laura woke up on Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. and went into the kitchen to let out Samson and started to make her breakfast and make Samson's breakfast. She made herself some oatmeal for her breakfast, and when it was done, she put a lid on it, and she sat down to do her devotions and the chapter in the Bible that corresponded to it. When she was done, she ate her breakfast. After breakfast, she washed, rinsed, dried, and put away her dishes and let Samson outside for the day.

She went into her bathroom, brushed her teeth, and went to see what she was going to wear for the day. She picked out her red dress with black flowers on it and put it on and went into the bathroom to braid her hair. When she was finished, she grabbed her purse, her lunch bag, and a bag with the graded papers inside it. She went inside the garage and opened it up and got inside her car to start it up while the garage was opening up. She drove outside the garage and closed it down again and backed out of the driveway and drove to the school.

When she walked back to class, she just had enough time to make herself a cup of tea and put the graded papers in the class slots, then she put the new assignments Diagramming Adverb Clauses for the student helpers to take out and pass out to the students. At 7:10 a.m., they arrived, and she had them get out anything they needed to work on. At 7:15 a.m., the principal came over the loudspeaker and said, Please stand. He led them in prayer and the Pledge of the Allegiance to the Flag. After they left, her first period students arrived. When they sat down, she had the student helper pass out the papers and gave her the new assignments Diagramming Adverb Clauses for the day to pass out to the students. Laura went over what diagramming adverb clauses were, and they read again round-robin, then Laura told them what to put down on their paper as examples.

First period flew by, and so did the rest of the day until lunchtime. At 11:20 a.m., she got her lunch out of her refrigerator and put it inside the microwave to heat it up. When it was done, she took out her water and sat down at her desk to say her prayer for lunch and began eating it. She rinsed her dishes inside her sink and put them inside her bag. She went to the bathroom before her fifth period students arrived. She gave the new assignments to the student helper to pass out, and the students started on their work.

Before she knew it, it was already time to go home. She walked to her car and unlocked it and got inside. She drove back to her condo and parked her car inside the garage and closed the garage again. She went inside and sat at the table to grade the papers she took home.

Laura went into her bedroom and changed into shorts and a T-shirt and went into the spare bedroom and used the Lifecycle for twenty minutes and then got a shower. After her shower, she put on another T-shirt and sweatpants. When she was done, she let Samson inside and made sure he had some dinner and made herself some dinner. She made herself macaroni and cheese. When she was finished with her macaroni and cheese, she dished up some and put the rest in two microwave dishes for her to take to school for her lunch.

After she finished that, she put the pan in a sink of soapy water and took her plate to the table and sat down to say her prayer over her dinner. She poured herself some lemonade to drink with her meal. When she was finished with her meal, she washed, rinsed, dried, and put away her dishes. She went into the living room to see what was on television. She found a movie that was starting in half an hour. She went inside the kitchen to get herself some lemonade and came back into the living room and sat down to watch the movie that was starting. She watched the movie that was over at 8:30 p.m. and looked for another to watch until it was bedtime. She found another movie to watch until 10:00 p.m. and watched that until it was time to go to bed.

Laura went inside the kitchen and let Samson outside the sliding glass door one last time for the night. When he was done, she let him back inside for the night and turned out the light and locked the sliding glass door. She went inside the bathroom, brushed her teeth, got her pajamas on, and knelt beside the bed to say her nightly prayer and crawled into bed.

She woke up nice and early on Wednesday to let Samson outside then went into the kitchen to make her breakfast. She decided to make herself some eggs and toast. She made sure that Samson had some food and water. She made herself some orange juice and cooked her eggs and toast for breakfast. She put the toast in the pan with the eggs to keep them warm.

Laura walked to the table and did her morning devotions and read the corresponding chapter in the Bible. When she was done, she said her prayer for breakfast. She then put her eggs and toast on a plate and took it to the table. Laura went to the refrigerator to get her orange juice and poured it into a glass and took that to the table. She ate her breakfast and took the dishes to the sink and put soapy water in the sink and did all her dishes, rinsed, then dried and put them away.

Laura went into her bathroom and brushed her teeth. She then went to the closet to see what she could wear. She picked out her sunflower dress and the sweater to match. Laura grabbed her purse and went into the kitchen to grab her container of macaroni and cheese. She also grabbed a bottle of water to take for lunch. She went into the garage and started her car as the garage was opening. When the garage had opened all the way, she backed out and closed it again. She backed out of the driveway and drove off down the street.

Laura arrived at the school at 7:00 a.m. and went to her classroom after checking her mailbox and made herself some hot tea. There was just enough time to relax before the kids started arriving. Laura put the graded papers in the slots for each class. She also put the new assignments Distinguishing Between Adjective and Adverb Clauses. She then opened the door at 7:10 a.m. for her students. At 7:15 a.m., the principal came on and said, Please stand. He led the school in their morning prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. This was her study hall period. At 7:35 a.m., when her first period arrived, she had the student helper pass out the graded papers then the assignments for the day. They were going over Distinguishing Between Adjective and Adverb Clauses. Laura told them what they were, then read round-robin, and Laura gave them examples of them.

Laura continued this for each class that arrived for the day. At 11:20 a.m., she got her lunch out of her refrigerator and put the macaroni and cheese in the microwave to heat it up. When it was done, she took it out and said her prayer for her lunch and ate it. She went to the bathroom before the fifth period arrived. The rest of the day went rather quickly. Before she knew it, 2:30 p.m. rolled around, and it was time to go home.

Laura walked to her car and unlocked it and got inside. She drove off toward her condo and stopped to get herself a chef's salad at Wally's, then she drove on home. She opened the garage and drove inside and shut it down again and got out of her car to go into the condo.

Chapter 2

She then sat at the table with her papers and started grading them. At 4:00 p.m., when she was finished, she let Samson inside and went into her bedroom to put on shorts and a T-shirt to use the Lifecycle in the spare room. After she did twenty minutes, she went into her bathroom to get a shower and change into another T-shirt and sweatpants.

When she was done, Laura went into the kitchen and made sure Samson had some food and water. She then got herself some lemonade and sat down with her chef's salad and lemonade at the table to say her prayer for her dinner, then she ate her salad and drank her lemonade. She washed out her glass and her fork, rinsed them, dried them, and put them away.

At 6:00 p.m., her phone rang, and she answered it, asking, Who is this?

This is Richard Jones, he replied.

Laura asked, How did you get this number?

Richard said, The minister gave me a church directory.

Laura said, Why would he give you a church directory?

Richard said, Because I asked him about you. He handed me the directory so I could call you.

Laura said, Okay what do you want?

Richard said, I would like to ask you out on a date.

Laura asked, When would you like to go out, Richard?

Richard said, How about Friday night?

Laura said, It depends on what time you would like to go out. I have a meeting at 3:00 p.m. that lasts at least an hour or two.

Richard said, How about 5:00 p.m. then?

Laura said, I guess that would be okay, but you do not know where I live.

Richard said, I do have the church directory. I just have to look up the address.

Laura replied, I will see you then. Goodbye, Richard.

Richard said, Goodbye, Laura. See you soon.

Laura went into the living room and turned on the television set. She found a movie from the '60s to watch. She turned that on and sat back to watch the movie. After the movie, she turned off the television and went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas, and knelt by the bed to say her nightly prayer. Afterward, she crawled into her bed.

On Thursday morning, when she got to the school, she put the graded papers in their slots and the new assignments inside their slots. She went over what the Placing Adverb Modifiers, were and then the class read the chapter round-robin style. This went on throughout the day until it was time to go home.

Before Laura knew it, Friday had arrived, and she got the graded papers inside their slots and the new assignment Using Adverbs Correctly I into their slots. When the day was done, she went to the meeting she had scheduled on her calendar to attend, and it lasted until 4:30 p.m.

She drove home and let Samson inside to feed him and get a shower to change her clothes. She got dressed and went back into the bathroom to braid her hair. When she was done, she let Samson out again until she came back from her date.

Richard arrived right on time at 5:00 p.m., and she answered the door and let him in. She got her sweater that matched her dress and got her purse.

Richard asked, Wow, you look beautiful. Are you ready?

Laura replied, You don't look too bad yourself. Yes, I am ready now. Where are we going?

Richard replied, We are going out to eat at the Pizza Parlor. I hear it has lots of games to play to keep us entertained for a few hours.

Laura said, Yes, it has lots of things to keep us entertained for a while.

They arrived at the Pizza Parlor, and Richard asked, What would you like to eat?

Laura replied, Pizza, of course. Hawaiian pizza.

Richard said, Okay, one Hawaiian pizza coming up. What do you want to drink?

Laura replied, I would like to have iced tea.

Richard went to the counter to order a Hawaiian pizza and a pitcher of iced tea at the counter. When their number was called, Richard went to get the pizza, and Laura went to the drink counter to get the pitcher of iced tea and glasses with ice. Richard took her hand to say a prayer for their dinner. They both felt the jolt go through them. They ate their dinner while they were talking about what they liked to do for fun.

After they were done with their dinner, they disposed their plates in the trash and put the glasses and pitcher back on the counter.

Richard asked, What games do you like to play?

Laura replied, I like to play Skee-Ball.

They walked over to the change machine, and Richard gave her five dollars in change and said, Let's go play then.

They played Skee-Ball for a couple of hours. They each won four games, and Laura laughed, saying, You are pretty good at this game.

Richard said, So are you, it seems.

Laura said, This was a lot of fun.

Richard said, Yes, it was. I really enjoyed playing Skee-Ball again.

They walked outside to Richard's truck, and he opened the door for Laura to climb inside.

He drove back to Laura's condo and walked her to the door. He gave her a hug, and they both felt a lot of electricity with it.

Laura said, Thank you for the lovely evening. I had a great time. Goodnight, Richard.

Richard replied, I had a great time also. Can I take you out again sometime?

Laura said, Yes, I would like that, Richard.

Richard said, Well, goodnight, Laura. See you soon. Richard thought if they hugged and felt electricity, what would kissing her be like.

Laura opened the