It was Sunday morning again. Allison was already up and bustling. She was dressed in a blue Sunday frock. She was making eggs for breakfast and was fixing a meal for Riley to eat later. She was bringing a corncake she had made from dried corn from last year's harvest to the potluck. Clayton was taking care of the animals and making sure they were properly fed.
Allison set her and Clayton's breakfast on the table and gathered Riley's to give to her. She knocked on the door and a mumbled voice responded, "Come in."
"Sorry if I woke you up," Allison said apologetically to the girl who struggled to sit up and smoothed down her messy hair.
"Oh it's fine. I'm starving! What is for breakfast today?"
"Eggs and bacon. I didn't have much time to make anything fancy. I also have some cold sandwiches covered here for your meal later."
"It will be great. Thank you," she responded.
"You're welcome. Now you have fun and try not to be too sad while we're gone," Allison said and smiled.
Riley smiled back, "I'll try. Now you go and have fun too. And talk to that cute preacher of yours!"
"Riley!"
Riley just giggled and waved her away.
"Go on now, don't be late."
"G'bye, see you later."
Allison smiled as she left the room. In the hallway she bumped into Clayton who was coming out of his room. He was dressed in his nice clothes.
"Sorry, sis. Didn't see 'ya there," he said.
"It's fine. You look handsome. Trying to catch a certain lady's eye?" she asked curiously.
He smirked and said, "No. Are you trying to catch a certain man's eye?"
She blushed, "Maybe. What's it to you?"
He laughed as he took her arm and led her to the kitchen. She hustled him to the table where they both sat down and ate their breakfast. When they were finished, Allison grabbed up the dishes while Clayton went to hitch up the team to the wagon. Soon they were on their way to church. After a short while they arrived at the school building with wagons parked in front. Clayton got down and came around to help Allison.
Leaving the corncake in the wagon for later they ascended the steps. Allison saw her friend Justice sitting next to Oakley and moved to sit next to them. They smiled at her and gave her polite hellos. Clayton went to sit next to Jesse and Lloyd. Allison noticed that Becky and Bryce were sitting next to each other as well as their families.
Rev. Dave stepped up to the front and the talking hushed.
"Good morning, everyone. I hope you have all had a wonderful start to this beautiful day. Let us begin our service by singing some hymns."
The congregation stood up as hymnal books were passed around. Once everyone was ready the singing began.
"I am Thine, dear, blessed Jesus, all Thine,
All of self now to death I consign;
Gladly, gladly all I have resign,
That salvation in its fullness be mine.
Glory, glory be to Jesus, I'm saved!
Glory, glory be to Jesus, I'm saved!
'Tis a blessing that my heart long has craved,
Glory, glory be to Jesus, I'm saved!
All the riches of this world I forsake,
Every tie that may now bind me I break;
No reserve now to myself will I make,
Though I pass through the flaming fire at the stake.
I give up all sinful pleasures and mirth,
Everything, yes, that would bind me to earth;
What will all these fleeting pleasures be worth
When the flames of God's wrath shall break forth?
To these vows I ever firm will remain,
Giving all, still, I have things to gain;
Though by friends I be rejected and slain,
With the King in all His beauty I'll reign."
After singing a few more hymns, everyone sat down again. Rev. Dave braced his hands against the pulpit, preparing himself to speak.
"My topic today is respect. What does respect mean? Simply a courteous regard for people's feelings. Or an attitude of esteem for another person. In the Bible, it says, 'Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.' in 1 Peter 2:17. This means to show respect for all people, to love the brothers and sisters of God's family, and to respect God. So if the Bible says to respect all people, and to respect God, why don't we follow it? We, as Christians should follow God's instructions that he gave us through the Bible. Think, why don't we respect all people? Maybe because we feel like they are not worthy to be treated with respect. Or, have you ever heard the saying, "respect has to be earned?" But why do we think people aren't worthy? Maybe it is because that person has treated you badly, or has spoken badly of you. But it all comes down to one thing: they have sinned against you. They are not worthy of respect because they have sinned. But, then again so have you, so have all of us. Tell me this, are we then worthy of respect?
"And who are we to judge who is worthy or not? God is the judge of sin and worthiness, not us. Perhaps you fall under the second category, you believe respect should be earned and that is why you have not given it. I tell you this, if you think that that person has done nothing to earn respect, look again. Look at their life, what they have gone through, what they have done for you or for others. Are they not worthy? If you still cannot respect them, look at yourself. What have you done or what are you doing that is disrespectful? We cannot judge others without first judging ourselves.
"I believe this is why God tells us to respect all people. We should respect a person no matter what they look like or what their position is in the world. Children respect your parents, but parents also respect your children. We should love all of the brothers and sisters in God's family. And above all we should respect and honor God."
Allison thought for a minute. I guess that makes sense. People don't respect others for the wrong and sin that thy have done, but we are all sinners and should not be the judge of worth. This would be an important lesson to remember.
☼
At the potluck later Clayton and Allison sat on their picnic blanket and chatted with their friends. Jesse and Lloyd were there as well as Justice and Oakley.
"Can you believe that Becky is getting married tomorrow?!" Oakley exclaimed.
"No! I'm so happy for her," Allison said.
"Me too! I need to find myself a husband," Justice said in all seriousness.
"There are plenty of men out there, don't you worry," Allison said.
"I know, but I haven't found the right one yet."
"I haven't either. But I know we both will."
"Look, Becky's coming this way!" Oakley pointed out.
Sure enough Becky walked towards the groups. She was practically glowing because she was so happy.
"Hello, Becky! You look beautiful," Allison said.
"Hello ladies, thank you Allison, so do you!"
"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Justice asked.
"You bet I am! I can't wait for you all to see my wedding dress. I worked so hard on it, it seemed to take forever!"
"I'm sure it's absolutely stunning," Oakley told her.
"You probably have a lot of work to do. Would you like any help?" Allison offered.
"I think everything is under control, but thank you for your offer."
"You're welcome."
"It was nice to see you again, but I have to get back. You know what my mother is like. Have a good evening!" Becky said as she left.
"I think Rev. Dave is looking at you, Allison," Oakley whispered.
"Really? Why would he be looking at me?" Allison asked, astonished.
"Probably because he thinks you're pretty. Maybe he wants to court you," Oakley responded.
"I don't know about that."
"Then we will have to wait and see," said Justice.
☼
Clayton and Allison arrived at home and jumped off the wagon. Clayton began to unhook the horses and Allison went inside of the house. She reached up to untie her bonnet and then hung it on a peg by the door. Then she made her way to Riley's room. She knocked on the door and opened it after Riley gave the okay.
"Hi, Riley, how are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm well, thank you," Riley said.
She was working on her sewing again. She already finished quite a few dresses.
"That's good. I just wanted to let you know that Clayton and I will be going to my friend Becky's wedding tomorrow. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Allison said sheepishly.
"No, no, it's all right. I'll be fine on my own."
"I'm glad to hear it. On Tuesday the doctor will stop by for another visit and he'll tell you if you are well enough to start moving around. Then he'll come back a few days after that."
Riley nodded, "Thanks for telling me."
"I've been thinking you probably want to freshen up, so how about I wash your hair for you?"
"I would love to feel clean again! Thank you," Riley said.
"Then I will be back," Allison said and left to go to her bedroom.
She searched her vanity and found some hair soap, then she found some towels. Allison went back to Riley's room.
"I brought some rose scented hair soap and towels. I'm going to use the basin to wash your hair in," she told Riley.
Riley nodded and sat up more. Allison set down what she was carrying on the bed. She snatched up the basin and pitcher of water. Riley made room on the bed for Allison to sit. She placed the basin under Riley's head, then she poured water over her hair until it was wet. Next she began to lather the hair soap on Riley's head.
"Have you been in any pain at all?" Allison asked.
"No, none at all."
"That's great! I'm sure you'll get a good report from the doctor."
"Yeah."
Once Riley's hair was scrubbed she poured more water on it to rinse it out. When the soap was all gone she wrapped a towel around her hair and moved to the window to dump out the water. After she did that, she started to towel dry Riley's hair. Then she set aside the towels to get washed later.
Allison took the brush that was on the nightstand and brushed Riley's hair in even, smooth strokes.
"This makes me remember when my mother used to wash and brush my hair when I was young. Did your mother ever do that?" Allison inquired.
"No, she never did," Riley's voice was cold.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Riley said nothing.