Behind Her Smile (7 page)

She shook her head. “No thanks. I’ll just wait for my salad.”

Once the dinner arrived, Steve knew they’d need to hurry. They ate mostly in silence as the sun disappeared and the sky darkened.

“Any dessert tonight?” their waitress asked when they were finished.

Steve glanced at his watch again. “Better not. I’ll just take the bill, please.” After she’d handed it to him, he turned to Madison. “We can have some dessert during intermission if you’d like.”

She just smiled.

“So, how did it go?” Michelle asked, once she and Steve were alone in the kitchen later that night.

He shrugged. “Okay, I guess. We didn’t really get to talk much. She was texting with someone at the restaurant, and we had to eat pretty quickly to get to the theater in time.”

“Did she eat?”

“Some salad. And one bite of artichoke dip.”

“What did you think of that outfit?” Michelle asked.

“I think you know the answer to that one.” He paused and then asked, “Don’t you supervise her purchases?”

Michelle bristled, and her tone gave him a clear warning. “She’s not a little girl anymore, Steve. She doesn’t want me following her around in the shops. But to answer your question, yes, I do look at everything she buys with the money I give her. She claims this outfit is something she got with her own money.”

He shook his head. “I can tell you one thing—she was turning heads in the restaurant. I felt pretty uncomfortable walking through there with her. Either I looked like an older man taking advantage of a young lady, or like a father who had no control over his own daughter.”

Michelle nodded.

“It’s just so unlike Madison,” he added.

They both sat silently for a minute. Then Steve took a deep breath and placed his hand on Michelle’s. “We’ll get through this, babe,” he said. Then he asked, “Isn’t Caleb’s game at eight-thirty tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah.”

“We’d better get to bed.”

Michelle pushed her chair out and stood up. “Yep.”

As he followed her out of the kitchen, he thought about how simple their lives were when it was just the two of them. A night like this would have ended very differently, he mused as his eyes grazed the curves of his wife’s body. When they slipped under the covers in bed, he wrapped his arm around her and drew her close, and they fell asleep breathing in rhythm with each other.

Sunday morning, Michelle knocked on Madison’s bedroom door to make sure she was up for church. After no response, she pushed open the door to find their daughter sound asleep. “Wake up, honey,” she said, gently nudging Maddie’s shoulder.

“Huh?” came a muffled reply from the pillow.

“It’s past time to get up for church. Did you forget to set your alarm?”

Madison opened her eyes, glanced at the clock on the nightstand, and moaned. “I’m really tired. Think I’ll skip it today.”

Michelle sat down beside her. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. Just tired. I was up late last night.”

“If you’re not sick, I think you should get up and go. You can always take a nap this afternoon,” Michelle suggested.

Maddie shot her an aggravated look. “It’s not like I don’t go every Sunday. Can’t I just skip this one time?”

Just then, Steve peeked in through the open door. “Everything okay in here? Caleb’s asking about pancakes for breakfast, but it’s getting pretty late.”

Madison pushed herself up into a sitting position. “I was just telling Mom I’m really tired and would like to skip church today. Is that okay?”

Steve’s eyes met Michelle’s. She gave a slight shake of her head to indicate her disapproval.

“I’m kind of tired, too, Maddie. But I think it’s worth the effort to get up for church. You’ve missed Thursday night youth group twice this month. Don’t you want to stay connected there with everyone?”

She fell back onto her pillow. “Not really. Youth group’s not that fun now that Luke is gone.”

“What about your other friends?” he asked. “Most of them are still going. Like Lucy,” he added.

“It’s just not the same.” She pulled her covers back up to her chin.

Steve glanced down at his watch and then back at Michelle. She shrugged her shoulders and waited for his response. “Alright. But this can’t become a habit.”

“It won’t, Daddy. I promise,” Madison replied, as she closed her eyes and snuggled down deeper into the bed.

Michelle shook her head as they walked out of the room. She really wanted to talk to Steve, but there wasn’t time. If they didn’t hurry and get some breakfast for Caleb, they’d all be late.

“Can we have pancakes?” Caleb asked, as they entered the kitchen.

“Sorry, sport, but we’re running a little late this morning. Here’s some cereal,” Steve said, grabbing the box from the counter and pouring it into a bowl.

Michelle retrieved the milk and added it to Caleb’s cereal. “Eat up, honey.”

“Where’s the Mad Hatter?” he asked.

“Don’t call your sister that,” Steve warned.

“Why not? She’s always mad at me for something,” Caleb replied nonchalantly, as he plunged his spoon into his cereal and began eating.

Michelle raised her eyebrows at Steve, and he nodded. “I’ll talk to her about it,” he promised their son.

“So where is she? She’s going to make us late again, isn’t she?” he asked.

“Madison is staying home this morning,” Michelle added. 

“Why?”

“She didn’t sleep well last night,” Steve said.

“Do you want me to fix you some toast?” Michelle asked her husband.

“No. As soon as Caleb’s finished, we’d better go. I’ll eat after church.”

“Okay,” she replied, grabbing a banana from the counter to eat on their way.

After church, Steve made a point of catching Ben between conversations with other congregants. “Are you free tomorrow for lunch?” he asked. “I could use some advise about Madison.”

“Really? Sure. My schedule is pretty light tomorrow,” Ben replied. “Coffee Stop around noon?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

“Okay. See you there.”

“What was that about?” Michelle asked, when Steve rejoined her in the hallway, where she was signing Caleb out of his Sunday school class.

“I’m having lunch with Ben tomorrow. Maybe he’ll have some pointers about Maddie, and how we should be handling her these days.”

She nodded. “Good idea. I’ve been picking Kelly’s brain, too.” She paused, and then added, “I never really expected any issues with Madison during the teen years. Guess I was being naïve. But she’s always been such a good kid.”

“She still is, babe. We just have to learn new ways to bring that out in her.”

“I hope you’re right,” she replied, skeptically.

Caleb walked out of his class and joined them. “Look, Mom,” he said, holding up an oversized chocolate chip cookie. “Our teacher brought us treats today.”

“Maybe you’d like to share that with your old pop!” Steve said.

“No way, Dad. This one’s all mine,” he replied with a grin, as he took a giant bite. “Maybe if you’re nice, Mom will bake some for you,” he added with a sly grin.

“Maybe I will,” Michelle said, reaching over and taking Steve’s hand.

Steve was eager to meet with Ben the following day. It seemed a little awkward to be getting together with his best friend in more of a pastoral role, but he knew he needed not only friendly advice but godly counsel as well.

“So what’s up with Madison?” Ben asked, after they’d settled at their table with sandwiches and coffee.

“It’s a lot of things, actually,” Steve replied. “She’s really changing lately—in the way she dresses, her makeup—even the way she talks to us.”

“Sounds like a teenager to me.” Ben paused, seeming to study him. “You knew she’d grow up, right?”

“Yeah. Of course. But she’s losing her modesty and seems to be trying to emulate the super skinny models in the fashion magazines. She’s barely eating, and she runs everyday.”

Ben nodded. “It’s pretty sad how society pushes this whole image thing on young girls. And Madison—she’s such a beautiful girl, just the way she is. I’m sure you’ve told her that.”

“Yeah. Michelle suggested I take her out on a date night, and reinforce how special she is to me.”

“Good idea.”

Steve smiled, but his heart was heavy. “So, I took her out to dinner and the theater on Friday.”

“How did that go?”

“It almost didn’t. When Michelle saw what Maddie was planning to wear, they exchanged words. I thought Madison might back out of the whole evening.”

Ben nodded, listening intently.

“I just felt it was more important that we go out than to take a stand on her outfit,” Steve explained. “But I’ve got to admit, I felt a little funny walking through the restaurant with her in her high heels, off the shoulder sweater, and mini skirt.”

Ben sat back in his seat. “It’s hard to imagine Madison dressed like that.”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. She was really turning heads in the restaurant.”

“I’ll bet.”

“And then yesterday morning, she balked at going to church. She hadn’t even gotten up when Michelle checked on her to make sure she was ready. So we ended up leaving without her.”

“Is she still going to youth group?”

“She hasn’t the past two weeks. She says it’s not the same without Luke.”

Ben sighed. “Those two were pretty close. I know Luke misses her, too.”

“So what do I do?” Steve asked.

Ben looked him squarely in the eye. “Well, first, you pray. Both you and Michelle. You two pray together, right? I mean besides just before meals.”

“Sometimes. But it seems like we’ve gotten slack about that lately. No reason in particular. Just busy.”

“Yeah. I know. So that’s where you start. Get back into that.”

“Okay.”

“And break down the issues one-by-one,” Ben continued. “The dieting and running—those are health issues. It’s fine for her to try to eat healthy and to get exercise. But you’ll know if it starts turning into something more than that.”

“I think maybe it’s approaching crossing the line.”

“Then you need to address that. There are some great Christian counselors I can recommend if you’d like.”

“Okay. That would be good,” Steve replied.

“As far as the clothes and makeup go, you need to let her feel she has choices and understand that she’s going to want to dress like her peers. But that doesn’t mean you let her wear just anything she wants. She needs to understand the messages behind her clothes. As a man, and her father, you can explain to her the impact of some of her choices on the males she encounters. Lucy wanted to wear some tight, low-cut tee shirts this summer. She’s getting quite a figure, if you know what I mean.”

Steve nodded.

“Kelly pulled her aside and said, ‘What you are wearing right now is saying to the boys around you—these are available to you.’” Ben gestured toward his chest in imitation of Kelly’s moves. “It seemed to help Lucy get some perspective.”

“I remember how distracted I’d get in high school by what some of the girls were wearing,” Steve replied.

“Me too. They have no idea what is going on in a guy’s mind when they dress provocatively,” Ben agreed. “It’s a little awkward as a dad, but if
we
can’t help them understand this, who will? I mean I’m glad our wives are on board to intervene. But we don’t get a pass here.” He paused, and then continued. “So I get that you didn’t want to put a halt to your evening together, but next time I’d take the opportunity to say something. You may get a negative response, but we’re not called to be popular with our kids.”

Steve nodded in agreement.

“We have a small window of opportunity to communicate important truths to them. And while clothes themselves are not inherently bad, the messages they send can get our girls into situations they aren’t anticipating.”

“Yeah. That’s for sure,” Steve replied.

“And the youth group thing… I’ll have Lucy reach out to her about that. Maybe Madison will have some ideas of things she’d like to see the youth group doing. We’re always open to new ideas to make it relevant and fun for the kids without compromising truth. We’ve been thinking about putting together a short-term mission for the group. Nothing’s set up yet, but it’s a possibility we may take a group when Luke’s home next summer. He’d really like to be part of it. And since he and Madison are so close, maybe it will interest her, too.”

“That would be great. I think she’d really benefit from getting out of her comfort zone and seeing what God is doing in other parts of the world.”

“Exactly. All the kids would. I’m hoping Lucy will go, too.”

Steve nodded, and then glanced at his watch. “I’ve gotta get going. I have a meeting at one o’clock.”

“Okay. Let’s just say a quick prayer before you take off.” They bowed their heads, and Ben began, “Lord, we come before You now with our kids and all their needs. You’ve put us in an important position as fathers, and we don’t take it lightly. Would You please give us wisdom as our girls grow into teens and then adults? We especially ask for Steve and Michelle to know how to parent Madison through the changes she’s experiencing. Help them have the words to say, and give Maddie the ears to hear the importance of her health as well as how she presents herself to the world. Please tug on her heart and give her a renewed hunger for You and for fellowship with the kids in the youth group. And give our youth group leaders and me wisdom to know how to best minister to these teens. In Jesus’ name, amen.”