Elena ran to the back where her mother was doing laundry. “Mother, “ exclaimed Elena, “I got the part in the Christmas play at school! Ms. Katy chose me to be the lead in the play!”

“Oh, Elena! I’m so proud of you,” responded her mother as she set down the laundry.

“I’m gonna start on it right away! I will memorize it so I do the best I can!” Elena seemed to be filled with happiness as she said that, but her mother added, “Make sure you finish your chores and homework. I don’t want you to do poorly in school because of it. But I trust you will do an amazing job.”

Elena quickly finished her chores, such as feeding the horses, chickens, and goats, and milking the cow. She then finished her homework and went straight away to practice her part. 

“And so now, to remember that Christmas is about joy!” Elena read out loud as she practiced. She also couldn’t help but wonder what she was going to wear. She had the two plain dresses that she wore at school and her satin blue dress for church. But she couldn’t think about what to wear for her part. Her blue dress was already two inches short for her, and she couldn’t wear her school dresses. She would have to find something to wear. 

                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 days later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elena hurried to school, hoping nobody would say anything to her about what she should wear for her part. Yesterday had been miserable. Ms. Katy had asked her if she had found something that she was going to wear. Elena said she hadn’t, but that she would. She would bring it the next week. After school, however, when she asked her parents if they could buy her a dress, they said they couldn’t. Elena’s father had just gotten two weeks off of work because they weren’t getting any business. So all the money that they had, was going to go to food and other necessities for the next two weeks. They had run out of oil for their lamps and would have to buy some more. As sorry as Elenas’ parents were, they couldn’t do anything. So, she would have to tell her teacher she couldn’t do the part. 

For the next few days, Elena prayed and prayed, hoping that something would happen and that they would get the money to buy the dress. But, the day came when Elena would have to tell Ms. Katy that she wouldn’t be able to do the part.