Page 19 of There I Find Happiness

“It’s about Norma Jean.”

“You’ve been a good friend to her.”

“Yeah.” Sally didn’t want to go into Norma Jean’s history. Not that she thought that would change the way Miss Lana treated her, she just...didn’t want to get into it.

“I tried to set Norma Jean up with Peter. You know, Franklin’s brother.”

“Yeah. He’s a nice fellow. Funny, and a little bit goofy, especially when he’s next to his brother. But I’ve heard he’s a hard worker and he’s doing his best to make a profit out there on that farm of his.”

“Yeah, well, he needed an accountant.” She stopped. “But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

“I’m sorry. I interrupted you. Just keep talking, and ignore me.”

“It’s okay. You can interrupt me anytime. I just... I thought Peter and Norma Jean would be good together, and Norma Jean seems to have fallen head over heels in love with him.”

“Peter is rather handsome.”

“Yeah,” Sally said and bit her tongue from saying anything more. He was exactly the kind of handsome that flipped her stomach and made her toes tingle. “But I don’t want to be interested in him, because Norma Jean is.”

“Is Peter interested in her?”

“He doesn’t seem to be. He said he wasn’t. And he acted like he wanted to pursue a relationship with me. And his brother told me about the accountant position that was open on his farm. So I kinda thought that maybe his brother wanted us to get together too. Or he just knew I needed a job.”

“It is hard to tell with men. Usually, they are kinda clueless about setting people up, but I’ve certainly known guys who could get into that kind of thing.”

“Well, anyway, Norma Jean keeps pushing between Peter and me, and...”

“You pushed back?” Lana guessed.

“No. I gave up. I gave in and gave her what she wanted. She wanted to dance with Peter at the Beach Bash, and I walked away from her, even though I wanted to dance with him. And when I went to Peter’s office to volunteer for the job, as Peter was hiring me, Norma Jean came in and demanded the job. And I gave it to her.”

“You gave it to her? Wasn’t it Peter’s to give?”

“I told him that I didn’t want it anymore, and she could have it.”

“I see.”

“I know it seems kind of weird, but Norma Jean and I have been friends since kindergarten.”

“She’s not always very nice to you.”

“No. But I don’t want her friendship and the way she treats me to influence the way I treat her. I mean, isn’t that what Jesus said? That we’re supposed to be kind to everyone? We’re not supposed to worry about how they treat us. And I can put some buts in there, but Jesus didn’t give us any buts. He said we were supposed to be kind, even to people who are unkind to us.”

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”

“Exactly. I don’t think that Norma Jean is my enemy exactly, but isn’t this me living what Jesus said?”

“You know, maybe I can learn a few things from you. Because before you pointed out that verse, I was going to recommend that you stand up for your rights and don’t let Norma Jean push you around. But if you’re going to live that verse, you’re absolutely right. You give and keep giving, even if people are, what the world would say, taking advantage of you. You’ve never heard Jesus in any of his teachings say don’t let anyone take advantage of you. Here, he’s basically sayingdolet people take advantage of you. Isn’t it crazy how that goes against what so many Christian teachers teach?”

“Maybe that’s what’s making me doubt everything. Or maybe it’s because Peter’s a really great guy, and I kind of feel like maybe... I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind ending up with someone like that, you know?”

“He would be a wonderful person to end up with. I have not heard anything but good things about him. He’s a hard worker, honest, and he loves Jesus. There’s really nothing else he needs.”

“Yeah. That’s exactly what I was thinking and why I was kind of castigating myself for not fighting a little harder for him or at least for the job anyway, you know?”

“I think you did the right thing. I know that that’s probably not the advice that anyone else in the world would give you, but I think that being kind to people who are not kind to you and giving up your way for someone else, for what they want, is clearly what Jesus teaches.”

“Sometimes Jesus’s teachings are hard. I wish I could just do what I want, rather than feeling guilty for not doing what he says.”

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