Nathan, a teenage boy, walked into the lounge room at home and switched on the T.V. He switched over to his favourite show and tried to concentrate on what was going on. But he was unsuccessful. The only thing on his mind was the gorgeous brunette girl, Amelia. He has tried everything under the sun to get her attention; pulling off daring stunts, trying to make her laugh with his silly jokes, offering to help her out with school work,  and even working out at the local gym. Nothing seemed to work.

Nathan had fancied Amelia for almost 2 years now, and he was beginning to get sick and tired of the lack of attention she was giving him. It hurt him so much every time one of his plans failed. He knew that he would have to do something about it soon or else he’d drive himself mad.

He picked up the remote and switched off the T.V. He suddenly thought of a plan. Valentines Day was a couple of days away and he knew exactly what he’d give her. He rushed over to his room and walked towards his desk. He pulled open his top drawer. A small heart-shaped card was sitting on top of the other junk which he had collected in the past few months. He picked up the card and smiled to himself.

“This year I’ll definitely give her the card” he thought as he sat himself down at the table and pulled out a pen. Before he began, he pulled out some scrap paper on which he would practice on. Paper after paper was scrunched up and thrown in the bin. After almost 100 tries he gave up and went to find his older sister, Rachael. He knew that she’d be able to help him.

When he finally found her in the kitchen, Nathan approached her and asked her if she was free for a minute. Rachael finished drying up the dishes and went to sit beside her brother on the couch.

”Rachael, I need help. You’re a girl and you would know. What do I write in a card I want to give to a girl I like? I want to write something that would express how I feel about her but not sound so immature.”

“Hmm” Rachael thought for a minute. “Nathan, can I ask you something?”

“Sure”

“How frustrated do you feel when you spend so much time trying to do something nice for this girl, and she doesn’t even acknowledge it?”

“Very! It almost kills me every time! Why?” he asked growing curious

“Well I want you to think about this. I’ve seen you try so hard to get that girl’s attention almost every day and it seems to me that every time you fail, you become heart-broken. How do you think Christ feels when he spent his life trying to get your love and to save you from the bonds of sin and you don’t even give him 10 minutes of your time every day! Imagine Nathan, that girl you’re trying to impress, you only spent your time and effort on her, and yet you almost drive yourself insane when she ignores you. Christ gave you his life! How do you think he feels?” Rachael said.

Nathan thought for a minute about what his older sister had just told him.
”You’re right!” he whispered. Suddenly he felt increasingly guilty.
”Nathan, there is not point in feeling guilty about it now.” She said knowing how her brother felt. “What you have to do is fix up the situation. Instead of spending time on that girl, don’t you think Christ is more deserving of it? What has she ever done for you that is deserving of your time and efforts?”

What Rachael had said really affected Nathan. He got up from the couch and thanked her for opening his eyes to something he had never thought about before.

He ran into his room, found the card and tore it up. He threw the torn up pieces into the bin and made a vow to never spend a single second of his time on Amelia and rather save it for Christ, his redeemer!

Maria Sawiris