Field trips were supposed to be pleasant, permitted excuses away from school, but here was Ms. Fern on the bus sneakily trying to edge in characteristics of amphibians to the general conversation. It was something only Ms. Fern could do, without most people realising it. Suzy loved school work and Ms. Fern was a nice lady and all, but right now she was in her own little world.
She was finally out of the classroom coup, in the freedom of her games wear at the back of the big air-conditioned bus. As far as being a child went, this was the life. Snacks would have to wait for their assigned stops, as well as meeting up with Jennifer, her best friend, who was not so lucky to get a seat in the back of the bus too. Chatter filled the bus as Ms. Fern moved on to another topic. Suzy felt there were at least 30 reasons to be excited for this trip. For the past 30 days she had been counting down with one reason a day. Of course, most of them involved being out of school and looking at her favourite creatures ever – zebras! They were not allowed to walk with their tablets or phones, but Ms. Fern promised to take one photo of each child outside the enclosure of their favourite animal, as long as the zoo staff said it was alright.
They had one more stop before the zoo, the Federation Park. As they dis-embarked, Ms. Fern took the opportunity to talk about wars that were fought and what was gained and lost. Suzy’s eyes connected with Jennifer and as she moved closer to her, Ms. Fern’s voice drifted off.
“Hey, let’s go to the top of that rock over there Suzy.”
“Jenniferrr! Did you forget we’re supposed to stay together with the group?”
“C’mon Suzy, it’ll be fun. Besides I’m sure we’ll get really great selfies there.”
Jennifer was the rebel of the class. She already broke one rule bringing her camera phone, and she was bound to be found out and sentenced to detention before the end of the day. Surely no further trouble could come from breaking another rule. Besides, Suzy could not let Jennifer wander off on her own, who knew what she might do.
Suzy and Jennifer scattered off in the middle of Ms. Fern’s outdoor history session. The climb to the top was easy, and they did get a cool photo or two. Time to descend. Suzy easily skated down first and said “Ok Jenn, your turn.” Jenn had a rough tumble, falling landing on a bushy area further off.
“You ok?”
“Yeah”
“You look like you’ve been through a war. We better go to the bathroom first and look like people again.”
The girls tip-toped around Ms. Fern at the entrance of the park’s bathroom and re-joined the rest of the troop coming out on the bathroom break.
“Oh good Suzy there you are, we’re going to see the zebras next you know.”
Suzy smiled. This time she would agreeably listen to Ms. Fern as she told stories of adventures mingled with biology as they were both zebra lovers. The bus got moving again and in less than ten minutes they arrived at the zoo.
Suzy found Jenn and they walked as a pair. Jenn kept scratching her hand. It was starting to get a bit red.
“Jenn, you ok? Want me to get some kind of first aid cream from Ms. Fern?”
“Nah, must be the stupid bush. When Ms. Fern asks about it, that will be too many questions to answer,” she laughed.
They arrived in front of the zebra enclosure and as Suzy was watching the animals interacting with each other, she entered her own world again, this time without Jenn or Ms. Fern. Her happy thoughts were interrupted by a child screaming, “Ms Fern!!! It’s Jennifer!”
Jennifer was starting to look a bit swollen all over, her lips were thicker than she remembered and she was breathing heavily. Jenn’s hand was definitely red and prominent.
“Where could this have come from? Children to the bus to once. Emergency – we’re going to the hospital.”
It was a quick drive to the nearby hospital. Suzy contemplated not telling Ms. Fern the truth, then she realised that was unwise. During the jerky ride, Suzy described the escapade, how Jenn landed on the bush and how the bush looked. Ms. Fern wanted more info – were there purple flowers or yellow ones, as she tried to figure out the cause of the severe allergic reaction.
Fortunately, Ms. Fern who had allergies of her own had given Jenn the allergy pen injection before leaving the zoo. Ms. Fern hurried behind hospital attendants carrying a worried Jennifer in the stretcher. She emerged about 15 minutes late, “Class they said Jennifer would be ok. Suzy can I have a word with you in private.”
Suzy went quietly and ashamed. She was happy Jennifer would be ok for she had given them all a scare. However, she knew what was coming next.
“Suzy, I’m very disappointed in you. Do you realise you helped your friend get in trouble, lied about it by not telling me anything and when it was almost too late, the situation blew up? Jenn could have died…”
Suzy was crying now, tears streaming down her face. Ms. Fern was right. Suzy was now paying the consequences of those actions, including nearly losing Jenn. Missing her favourite animals were secondary and paled in comparison.
“Ms. Fern, please forgive me.”
“I do Suzy.” She continued, “But you must remember there are consequences for each action, and some actions cannot be reversed. When you are doing the right thing, you never have to worry because God is pleased with you, and you can boldly pray to Him for help.”
Her scowl was coming out now, “But when you do the wrong thing and refuse to admit it or to be genuinely sorry, you can suffer for a long, long time. Both in this life and afterwards.”
She was holding Suzy’s shoulders which were shaking with sobs, “Suzy now is a good time to ask God to help you stop doing bad things and stand up for what is right.”
Suzy understood what Ms. Fern said. Her actions endangered Jennifer and ruined the whole class field trip. If she served God as Ms. Fern suggested, she would do things that pleased God. Even when she messed up and genuinely said sorry, God would help her and take away the wrong in her life.
Ms. Fern called all the parents to collect their children from the hospital’s waiting room. She couldn’t get onto Jenn’s dad and her mom worked miles away and would not reach soon, so Ms Fern would wait with her. As Suzy waited for her parents to arrive, she thought about the punishment she would receive for her part in the incident, but she knew from now on she would be different because God was living inside of her. Once they were back in the classroom coup tomorrow, she would have to explain to Jennifer that things were going to have to change for the better. Suzy was now a child of God.
Reflection:
Do you want to be a child of God? It’s simple. Say:
Lord Jesus, I believe in You. Thank you for dying for my sins. Please forgive me and live in me for the rest of my life. Help me learn from my mistakes and not do bad things. I love you Lord Jesus. Amen.
If you said that prayer, Jesus is now living inside of you. You are a child of God – welcome to the family. Tell a friend about what you did.
