A Touch of Faith

As she hiked up the last of the metal  stairs to the fifth floor of her apartment building, Mary thought to herself, “Just a couple more steps to go.” She could not wait to plop down on her comfy couch and close the door to the rest of the world. For such a social, caring girl, it was unusual for her to want to be alone. Mary loved people of every kind. No matter their race, age, looks, status, or religion, she befriended them all. She didn’t judge people, and she would give the shoes off her feet to help someone in need. But days like today were becoming a little more common, which really bothered her.

Mary walked through the door, threw her keys on the coffee table, and laid her coat on the arm of the couch. She dropped herself backward into her overstuffed couch, making a whoosh-like sound; it mimicked her mood, as if to give out a big sigh. She grabbed the remote and pointed it toward the TV. With her finger over the power button, she froze, staring at the blank screen. Her mind took her back to a memory from fifth grade, and she lowered the remote to her side.

She remembered carrying her violin case to the band room, worrying about how she was going to face Mr. Stilp. The truth was that he was a rigid, bitter man with very little compassion for children—or anyone, for that matter. Looking back, it was a mystery why he had ever wanted to work with children. He didn’t even seem to like them. As she walked to the band room, she wondered how on earth she was going to break the news to him that she had no desire to keep taking lessons.

Mary’s parents had always encouraged her to explore new things. If she didn’t like something, she could always move on to something else.

“You’ll never know unless you try,” they’d always said.

Mr. Stilp could not have disagreed more. “Once a quitter, always a quitter,” he  scolded her after she broke the news to him. “You are setting the tone for the rest of your life. You will never be successful at anything if you quit every time things get hard. If you walk out that door, you will always be a quitter in my mind.”

If that was some kind of pep talk to convince her to stay, it had sure backfired. Mary couldn’t have left the room fast enough. She  was trembling inside as she walked down the hall.

Mary was snapped out of her trance by the familiar ringtone of her phone. It was her best friend, Susan.

“Mary, what happened today? I stopped in, and you weren’t there. Tim told me you quit.”

It was not as if it had been some big career opportunity. She had been a clerk at a gas station. In the beginning, Mary thought it sounded like a fun job. She could meet different people each day and get to know the regulars; even if it wasn’t that challenging, at least she wouldn’t get bored. Truth be told, on most days she really liked it.