Faith

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Rick dropped Ashlyn off at school, then hurried to the lab. He was anxious to tell his boss, Dr. Joe Dollar, that his lemonade invention worked and that the lemonade had a very good taste. He and Ashlyn had tasted some of the lemonade before leaving the house, and Rick had added extra sugar to his. He had been up almost all night and wanted the extra sugar to help him stay awake at work. When he told Joe about his invention, Joe was delighted and told Rick that he wanted to come over the next day after the lab closed and see how it worked. Rick agreed that would be fine. It would be exactly two hours after he left the lab to pick Ashlyn up from school and go home, so that would work out perfectly. Joe accepted Rick's invitation.

Rick had no trouble having a lot of pep in the morning, but by the lunch hour, the effects of the sugar wore off, and as he was eating his lunch in the lab's cafeteria, he started to doze off when he heard Mari's voice say, "Hey, Rick, I just wanted to congratulate you on your machine working."

Rick opened his eyes. "Thanks, Mari," he said. "Joe's coming over tomorrow to look at it."

"I know. He told me," Mari said. "I bet Ashlyn was really excited."

"She was. We both had some of the lemonade this morning. I put extra sugar in mine to help me stay awake. I was up almost all night putting that thing together. I sure had a lot of pep and energy this morning, but now I am so tired," Rick said, yawning.
"Being a scientist AND a single dad is a lot of work."

"I know what you mean. With me trying to juggle cooking and picking Emmy up from school and helping her with her homework and doing my science work, I have been up late trying to do my experiment." Mari's experiment was finding out how many different colors she could make water. She had a fascination with water, because when she thought of it, she thought of God's Holy Spirit, our Living Water.

Rick stared at Mari. She was a very beautiful woman with a very strong resemblance to Angie Harmon. She had the same dark brown hair, brown eyes, and lovely smile. She was very sweet, and they had been there for each other after their spouses died. Rick's wife, Vera, had died from a brain aneurysm two years ago, and Mari's father, Hank, had died in a plane crash on the way home from a business trip shortly after Vera died. He looked at her intently and asked, "Mari, I have been wanting to ask you this for some time. You're such a nice person, and I find you very attractive. Would you like to go to the movies with me?"

Mari was flustered. She did find Rick attractive, with his short, neatly cut black hair, handsome smile, and clear glasses. She also knew that he was an atheist, and since she was a Christian, she would be unequally yoked if she dated him. She remembered what the Bible said about being unequally yoked, so she said, "I'm sorry, Rick, but I can't."

Rick was hurt. "Why not?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. I think you're a nice guy, but to be honest, I think...well, I think we should just be friends," Mari said. Not knowing how to explain what she meant without hurting his feelings more, she left the table.

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