Raising Faith Read Free Page A

“Maybe you’re right … maybe I better not try to do this.”
    “Hang on,” said Emily. “You can’t give up that easily.”
    Morgan stared at her friend in surprise. “But I didn’t think you were going to go, Emily.”
    “I never said that.”
    “But you worried about the cost.”
    “Yeah, and you kept telling me to have bigger faith. What happened to your faith, Morgan?”
    Morgan blinked. “I still have it. I just didn’t want to be too pushy … in case some of us couldn’t go.”
    “Well, I’m not ready to give up,” said Emily with a stubborn smile.
    “Really?” Morgan felt a trickle of hope again.
    “Me neither,” said Carlie. “I might even see if I can do some babysitting for my mom again. There’s a whole week of no school right before Christmas. My mom might pay me to watch my little brothers so that she can get somethings done before Christmas.”
    “So, it’s settled?” asked Morgan, still feeling surprised.
    “Everyone who wants to go on the ski trip, raise your hand,” said Amy.
    Everyone’s hand, except Morgan’s, shot into the air. Then Morgan sheepishly raised her own hand.
    “This is going to be so cool,” said Carlie. “I can’t wait.”
    “I’ll get the sign-up forms for everyone tomorrow,” said Morgan. “I’ll bring them to the clubhouse after school.”
    “When do we pay our deposit?” asked Amy.
    Morgan considered this. “I guess whenever you can.”
    “I’ll bring a check for the whole thing tomorrow,” said Chelsea.
    Morgan nodded. “Okay …” But even as she said this, she wondered whether the check could be refunded if things didn’t work out. Cory hadn’t said anything about that. But it might be pretty weird if Chelsea was the only one to come up with the full payment for the ski trip — and she had to go all by herself. Of course, Chelsea would probably refuse to go alone. And her parents probably wouldn’t even care if she didn’t get her money back. Morgan couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be that rich.
    “Will boys be there?” asked Chelsea suddenly.
    “Boys?” Morgan considered this. “Well, yeah, sure. The youth group is both guys and girls.”
    “What are we going to wear?” asked Carlie. And that’s when Chelsea started giving them fashion tips on winter wear.
    “I’ll bring some magazines,” said Chelsea. “That’ll give you guys some ideas of what’s cool right now and what’s not.”
    “That reminds me,” said Morgan. “My grandma has a pattern for socks.”
    “Huh?” said Chelsea.
    “Polar socks,” continued Morgan. “We can sew them and sell them at the bazaar.”
    Chelsea frowned. “You’re going to
sew
socks?”
    “Yeah, I think so,” said Morgan. “I’m going to experiment with it. See how long it takes, how much the fabric costs … and if it seems profitable or not.”
    “Hey, I’m not too proud to sew socks,” said Emily.
    “Me neither,” said Carlie.
    Chelsea shrugged. “It might even be fun.”
    “I don’t know,” said Amy. “I think I better stick with waiting tables for now.”
    “I’ll practice with the sock pattern,” said Morgan. “And if it works, we can set up a workshop here at the bus. The church bazaar is less than two weeks away. We don’t have any time to waste.”
    “Speaking of two weeks from now,” said Chelsea. “My dad told me to see if you guys want to be in the Christmas parade.”
    “Doing what?” asked Amy with suspicion.
    “Just riding on the bank float,” said Chelsea, and then she giggled. “Dressed as elves.”
    “Elves?” Carlie frowned. “Like tights and pointy shoes?”
    “Yeah. Dad will provide the costumes.”
    “I think it sounds like fun,” said Morgan. “I’ll volunteer to be an elf.”
    “What about the church bazaar?” asked Emily. “Isn’t it the same day?”
    “I don’t think we actually have to be at the bazaar,” said Morgan. “I bet we just have to get our stuff there and set things up. My grandma does the