Lillian's Journey to Jesus

Unexpected visitors

The next day at noon I went to Lydia's for tea. Mother told me to take my bonnet but I couldn't resist taking it off. The light smell of Citrus fruits made my stomach growl. Freshly fallen autumn leaves crunched under my feet, I looked up into the open sky and thought "what's the purpose of ones life?", I pondered on that thought the whole walk. I finally reached the house and knocked on the front door. William opened the door. "Lydia invited me to have tea with her today" I said. "Oh, come in." He said. I thought about asking him what he thought the purpose of ones life is, but just as I was getting the nerve up to it, Lydia came in. "Hello Lillian! I'm so glad you came! I'll go make the tea, I have some cookies too!" "alright!". "Well, I'll leave you two to talk, I'm going to work the field a while." William said when Lydia came back from the kitchen. "Alright" Lydia said, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and he left. Lydia was someone I looked up to, someone I wanted to be like. She wasn't selfish, she was kind, caring, considerate, wise, and a true lady! There were so many questions I needed answers to, questions about God, questions about why we're all here, what the purpose of our lives are. These questions were always on my mind, my family claimed the catholic religion, but Mama and papa barely talked about God, i wondered if Lydia could answer my questions. "Lydia," I said, holding my cup of tea and watching it swirl in my cup, "what do you think about God, what do you know about God?" I asked, I began to get nervous, but I was anxious for an answer. "Well, my family was catholic, I went to one of those fancy churches as a child, but to be honest, I... I don't know", she responded, her face looked as if I had brought an old memory back. She stared off into the distance, I thought she must have been questioning herself too. I took a sip of tea, it was warm and rich, it reminded me of a cold winter day. "Winters coming" I said. "Yes, maybe we can work on Christmas presents together" she said, suddenly snapping out of her daze. "Yeah, that's a good idea!" I said, I began thinking of present ideas. "I think I might make mother a shawl, a knitted one, what do you think?" I asked, "that sounds great! I don't know what I'm going to make William" she said. I began thinking, "how about knitted gloves, or socks?" I said, hoping she'd like the idea. "Yeah, that's what I'll do, how about we start next week?" She said, "sure!" I said. We talked a while after our tea was gone. I made my way back home at noon. On the way home I thought about what I might make Lydia for Christmas. There was a cool breeze in the air, winter was approaching quicker than we expected. "Your just in time! We're making cookies!" Mama said when I came in. Genevieve was mixing the dough. "What kind?" I asked. "Sugar cookies!" Genevieve said with a pleasant smile, Genevieve was a overall good sister, but she was a little selfish and inconsiderate sometimes. We were laughing and having a good time when we heard a knock at the door, mother opened it, there was a family of five, a little baby on her mothers hip, a boy about my age or a little older, maybe 15, a year older than I, and a little girl, her father was holding her. "This is the first house we saw, ma'am, please help us" the man said, desperate. my mother stood there, frozen. The little girl was covered in blood, we didn't know how the accident happened, but we all knew it was serious. The family looked less fortunate, like they'd been traveling a long time. My mother told Genevieve to fetch the doctor and welcomed the family with hospitality. "Good lord, come in!" She said, she led them to a room upstairs. I just stood there, wondering what was going to happen. Mama did all she could before the doctor got there. The man said that they had lost their house and didn't have any money, so they decided to travel to Louisiana. they heard the prices for land weren't expensive, and the crops did well. He said they let Molly, the little girl, sit in the front seat of the the wagon with them, they said she begged and begged and they finally gave in, the horses started going insane and she fell of and was trampled by the horses. I felt so sorry for them, all of them looked worried, I could understand why, but you could see the hope in their eyes, as if they trusted in something, as if they knew everything would be ok. "Fetch some water, Lillian" mama said. I rushed downstairs and out the door to the well. I tried to hurry, but the bucket weighed me down. As soon as I got to the room mama dipped a rag into the cool water and patted the little girls face. She moaned. Genevieve and the doctor bust through the door and rushed up the stairs. The doctor was in there a long 3 hours, most of us waited outside. They all held hands and prayed. I didn't know much about this family, but there was something about them that I liked. After a couple of hours, the doctor came out, with good news! "She'll be fine" he said, relieved. The family rejoiced! And we did also. Mama and papa talked for a while outside. They came back in and made an offer to the family. "Sir, I would like to make an offer to you, my wife told me your story, and we need all the help we can get to bring in the sugar crop before planting season. In exchange for helping me, you'll receive food and board, and pay. It would only be temporary." Papa said. The man looked at his wife, she nodded "yes", they both smiled, he shook hands with papa and said "thank you, sir, we really appreciate this!"