Free The End is Now by Rob Stennett Page A

I was crazy. And so now they’re still going to be here when the school gets destroyed.
     Everyone is going to die.”
    Principal Morris cracked open the door. Behind the principal was the guidance counselor Mrs. Heller, Sergeant Mike, and two
     other police officers. Amy suddenly wasn’t sure what was going on. Things were more serious than she suspected.
    “May we speak in private, Mrs. Henderson?” Principal Morris asked.
    “I’ll be right back, honey,” Amy said, kissing him on the cheek, and walked into the office.
    As Amy sat down, she felt unprepared to deal with the principal and all those people in his office. Not that this was a new
     feeling. For most of her parental life Amy had felt unprepared. She felt that she didn’t have the right advice, she hadn’t
     gone to college, and she couldn’t afford the fancy school supplies that all the other parents seemed to buy their kids.
    But when her kids came home with good grades — no, make that
great
grades — Amy smiled. She felt vindicated. She felt proud her kids had risen above adversity and bad circumstances to succeed.
     That is, until one day, she started realizing what sort of adversity her kids had overcome.
    Will and Emily had come from a (lower) middle class home. They had young parents who’d never been to college. Parents who
     were just kids themselves — who weren’t prepared to be parents when this whole thing started. Will and Emily were succeeding
in spite of
her and Jeff’s faults. This revelation was bittersweet. Amy realized her kids were doing what she couldn’t. They were walking
     in God’s best plan for their lives. They had the perfect balance of work and play and spirituality in their lives. They were
     both walking towards a bright future.
    Unfortunately, Amy had long ago abandoned God’s best plan.
    She actually didn’t even know God had a best plan until she turned fourteen. Once she turned fourteen she was allowed to go
     to youth group. It was the most exciting thing she’d ever experienced. Youth Group was nothing like Kids Church. It was so
     much better. From the second she walked in she heard Christian rock music blaring on the speakers and there were cool lights
     and they gave her a WWJD bracelet.
    Then when the service started, Pastor Colby started to speak. He was so cool. He had ripped up jeans, a flannel shirt, and
     a goatee. His sermon talked about “God’s best plan for your life,” and he used a lot of funny stories to make his points.
     He also talked relevant pop culture types of things like when he said, “If you take all the words to every Boyz II Men song
     ever written, that only begins to describe God’s love for us.”
    That’s a lot of love, Amy thought.
    And then Pastor Colby talked about how God loved her so much that he had a perfect plan for her. God knew what we were supposed
     to do even before we were born.
    And as Pastor Colby was talking, Amy realized what God wanted her to do with her life: He wanted her to be a missionary. It
     was the special thing God had placed in her heart so she could change the world. She would build huts and hold those crying,
     perfect-looking African babies. She’d dig wells and give people fresh water. She’d give shots and medicine to the sick, and
     at the end of the day she’d teach the Bible lessons to the villagers while the sun set. As she taught she’d look into the
     African people’s faces and their bright eyes would be smiling and grateful to Amy for bringing the truth. And then, after
     Amy finished her lesson, she’d lead everyone in a final song and she’d glance just beyond the village as the zebras and elephants
     and lions gathered around to hear the sweet music.
    For the next three years she studied all about being a missionary, she learned about various organizations she could join
     to do overseas work, and she went on trips to Mexico with the Youth Group every summer. Mexico missions were okay — just not
     as glamorous as