Saving Maggy Grace

Five

"David, can we go to church today?"

It was five o'clock in the morning. Maggy and I were watching the sunrise together like we did on most mornings. On the day that she asked me this she was going on eleven years old. Her hair was still ratty and blonde, she was still skinny, but graceful, and her eyes were still grey and blue.

It was not customary for us to attend church. I had not been raised in church and I did not consider religion a necessity. I spoiled Maggy, though, and anything that she wanted, she got.

"Of course we can, Maggy."

By nine o'clock she was dressed in her nice white dress and Mary Janes. We walked down to the Pentecostal Holiness Church that was a block from our hill. We were greeted by the pastor as we walked into the small brick building. We received several stares as we made our way into the sanctuary, all of which were ignored. Maggy picked out a seat in the fifth pew and she stared in awe at the stained glass windows until the service started. She was so mesmerized by the choir singing that she did not notice the glares we were receiving. She was so enraptured by the sermon that she never once noticed that no one had wanted to sit in same pew as us.

When the pastor called for offering, Maggy looked up at me. I hesitantly gave her a couple dollars and she gleefully placed them into the offering bowl as it passed. I noticed a rather large woman in a rather large yellow hat roll her eyes at Maggy as she placed the money into the offering. I hoped that Maggy was too busy being a "cheerful giver" to notice.

After the service was dismissed I stood uncomfortably in the foyer while Maggy used the restroom. When she was finished, she met in me in the foyer and grabbed my hand before we left the building. I didn't dare to look at the members of the congregation as I walked out of the church holding the delicate hand of an almost-eleven-year-old girl.

As we walked down the street to get lunch, Maggy told me about a young girl that she met when in the restroom.

"She said that I'm welcome to come to the kids service on Wednesday night. She said that there'll be prayer, and then games and food. Do you think I could go, David?"

She looked up at me with pleading eyes. I couldn't help but say yes.

She smiled real wide at me as we climbed the steps to Ms. Syzmor's house. Ms. Syzmor was a local favorite. People came from all over to get her famous chili hot dogs. Maggy admired Ms. Syzmor's trinkets while I bought a can of chili and a package of hot dogs from her. She bid us a good afternoon and we waved as we walked back down to the street and started the walk home.

As we sat at our kitchen table eating Ms. Syzmor's hot dogs, Maggy said to me, "David, I think that I like Jesus."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah...Pastor Henry said today that even if we do a million things wrong, Jesus will still love us. I think that's wild." She looked down at her hot dog, and then looked back up at me. "Would you still love me even if I did a million things wrong?"

"I'd still love you even if you did a billion things wrong."

Wednesday evening came, and Maggy was more than excited for the children's service at the church. Sunday afternoon she made me dig through old boxes to find my Bible and for the rest of the day she read it. She woke up early Monday morning to read more and she didn't stop reading until noon. Tuesday, she read from three in the afternoon until nine o'clock at night. She told me that she was studying for children's service so she wouldn't be behind. She told me all about every story that she read. She read about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors, Moses and the Children of Israel, David and Goliath, Esther and the King, and Daniel in the Lion's Den. By the time I was walking her down to the church on Wednesday evening, she could recite almost every story, verse by verse, from memory.