The Gift of Hope Read Online Free Page A

remember the boy who had to wear his mother’s bathrobe because he lost his costume. What was his name?”
    “Gordon, Gordon Groton. Now that you remind me, I still have a few reservations about sending costumes home with the kids. What do you think?”
    “Leave it up to the mothers. I’ll take a dozen or so home with me just to be safe. Diane Hughes won’t mind laundering a load too. Maybe she can be in charge of the sheep’s’ fuzzy little capes.” She picked up a boldly striped green and brown robe and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t remember them smelling musty last year,” Stacy said.
    “It’s probably because the church had a water problem in the utility area of the basement last fall.”
    They didn’t have long to chat before several other mothers, including Diane, arrived with small children in tow. Hope had a chart, and she wrote in each child’s name as he or she was assigned a role and a costume. Hope got so involved in the casting, she scarcely noticed when Anna arrived and stood patiently waiting for her part.
    “I don’t want to be a shepherd,” one of the older grade-school children protested. “Girls didn’t take care of sheep in the Bible.”
    “No,” Hope agreed, “but our sheep are preschoolers who need to be watched. I know fifth-graders can be trusted not to lose one.”
    “I guess,” the critical girl agreed.
    Hope was in the midst of handing out speaking parts to a few older children who would act as narrators and read from the Bible when her day took a turn for the worse. Harriet walked in with her granddaughter and made a beeline for the table where Hope was standing.
    “I’m so glad Mary wears a blue robe. It’s Emily’s best color,” Harriet said, nudging her granddaughter closer.
    Hope had thought long and hard about a kind way to tell the girl she was too big to play Mary. Not only was the costume much too small, she would tower over Keith, the boy she’d selected to be Joseph.
    “You’ve done a really good job playing Mary for several years,” Hope began, trying to be as tactful as possible. “Don’t you think it would be nice to give someone else a turn? I thought maybe it would be fair to let Anna be Mary since it’s her first Christmas here.”
    “My grandma said I could be Mary,” Emily insisted, her apple cheeks turning a bright rosy pink as she began to cry.
    Hope knew the easy way would be to give in, but it really did seem unfair to let the same girl play the part year after year.
    “I was a shepherd when I was your age. It’s a really important part because you’ll have to make sure our little sheep don’t get scared or wonder off.”
    “Boys are shepherds!” Emily protested in a high whine.
    “Oh, dear,” Stacy said beside her, sympathetic but as helpless as Hope to stop the flow of tears.
    Harriet shushed her granddaughter to no avail, then turned to Hope with a stern face. “You’ve hurt her feelings. There’s no reason why Emily can’t be Mary. It’s only a children’s pageant.”
    “We talked about the costume.…”
    “I’m sure the hem can be let out. I’d do it myself, but sewing isn’t my thing. Maybe Emily’s mother…”
    “I’m sorry, but Anna will play Mary this year,” Hope said, trying to sound firm but kind.”
    “I really don’t mind if she does it,” Anna said in a soft voice.
    “She doesn’t care!” Emily howled, wiping away a tear streaking down her face.
    “Reverend Langdon, don’t you think it’s cruel to take away a part Emily has played for several years?” Harriet asked.
    Hope looked up in surprise because she hadn’t realized the minister was in the room. She didn’t want to look like a tyrant in his eyes, although she didn’t know why his good opinion suddenly seemed so important.
    “The costume was made for a smaller child,” she explained, speaking to him and trying to ignore the storm of protest from Harriet and her granddaughter.
    “Emily, I remember the children’s choir singing