The Virtuous Daughter Magazine Fall 2017 edition Cherish | Page 48

The Adventures
of Tyra Lessly

It was the beginning of autumn.
School was in session and everyone
was anticipating Thanksgiving break.

Everything was as it should be,
but for Tyra Lessly, this season of life
was to be a learning season.

For one thing, she was involved
in lots of school activities. There was
choir, volleyball, the Thanksgiving
play, and this year Tyra was helping
to put on the school’s annual art ex-
hibit. Her schedule wasn’t open till
after Thanksgiving.

Secondly, she was having a
hard time try ing to figure out how to
squeeze God into her daily routine.
It seemed all there was to life was
school and full schedules. Finding
time to nurture her relationship with
God was proving to be more difficult
than Tyra thought it would be.

“I think it would be good for
you to slow down a bit,” said her fa-
ther to her one evening. “Take some
time to be with the family and to
grow closer to God. Then maybe He’ll
show you where He wants you to be.”

“But Dad,” Tyra complained, “I
don’t have time to slow down! I have
choir practice every Tuesday night
and volleyball every Wednesday. And
now we have play practice on
Mondays after school and I haven’t
even started on my part for the art
exhibit! Not to mention school every
day and all the homework I have in
the evenings!”

“Listen,” her father said, holding
up his hand in the air, “I know you
have a lot going on right now, but
maybe you need to say no to some of
these activities.”

A look of protest came into
Tyra’s eyes,

“Dad, I can’t! All of these things
are too important to me! I can’t back
out. What will everyone think of
me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean—er—“ Tyra stumbled
for the right words, “just
that everyone will think I’m some girl
who over-commits and goes back on
her word.”

“Trust me, Tyra, as long as God
is the main thing you cherish in life
instead of your activities, no one will
think that of you.”

Over the next couple of weeks,
Tyra kept herself very busy. She put
her whole heart into the things she
was involved in, but every now and
then her father’s words would creep
into her mind and she would start
to feel guilty. But what could she do
about it?

“Hey, Tyra!” Tyra turned
around to see her English
teacher, Mrs. Hall, running across the
parking lot to catch up with her.
Words by Valerie Yoder \\ Illustration by Carrie Yoder
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