A Long Time Ago

Grace and Alicia got off the bus and walked to Grace's front door. "Our church is having a kids' festival on Saturday," said Grace. "We'll have crafts and food, and the high schoolers will perform a drama about Jesus's death and resurrection. You want to come?" "Nah," said Alicia. "My parents say church is made up of people who believe in silly things. Besides, I think it's crazy to think that something that happened so long ago makes any difference in people's lives today." Alyssa quickly changed the subject. "What topic did Mr. Larsen give you for your history project? I got Armistice Day. Mr. Larsen said that was the day World War I ended. What did you get?""The Lusitania," said Grace. "Mr. Larsen said that was a British ship that was torpedoed right before the war. I don't know much about it, but I think my parents have a picture of it." Grace's mom greeted them when they walked in. "Did you get your project topics today?" she asked. "Alicia got Armistice Day, and I got the Lusitania," said Grace. "Don't you have a picture of that around here somewhere?""I do," Mom said. "Because you know what, Grace? If the Lusitania hadn't been destroyed by a torpedo, you wouldn't be here!"Grace was puzzled. "What do you mean?""Your great-great-grandfather's first wife was sailing from New York to England to visit her very ill father. She was on the Lusitania and lost her life when it went down. A few years later, your great-great-grandfather married again and your great-grandmother was born, followed by my mother and then me and then you. None of us would've been here without the Lusitania sinking. Life would've been very different for our family if that event hadn't happened.""Wow," Grace said, "I didn't know that." Then she thought of something. "Alicia, you said a long-ago event couldn't make a difference in our lives today, but that's not true! Just like the Lusitania changed lives in our family, Jesus's death and resurrection changes lives too! What He did changes everything, because now anyone can be forgiven for their sins and have a relationship with God.""I never thought about it like that," said Alicia. "Maybe I'll go with you Saturday after all." –Linda Weddle