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Just Around the Corner Written By Sherry Brandon Characters: Abby (person); Reggie (puppet) Scene: takes place in two parts as Abby tries to explain to Reggie why bad things can happen to good people PART I (Abby enters and sees Reggie looking very sad.) ABBY: Reggie, what’s wrong? You look really down? REGGIE: I just don’t understand it, Abby. ABBY: (in a sympathetic voice) Understand what, Reggie? REGGIE: Why do bad things happen…to good people? I mean, Barry’s such a nice kid…he’s my friend. He doesn’t deserve all this. ABBY: What’s going on? REGGIE: Barry’s in the hospital. He’s real sick. The doctors say he’s gotta find someone to donate their kidney to him. That’s really major Abby, isn’t it? ABBY: Yes Reggie, it is. REGGIE: So I just don’t understand why such a bad thing could happen to such a nice kid. Barry is always in Sunday School and he’s always praying over his food in the school cafeteria. Why would God do this to him? ABBY: Well, first, Reggie, God never places sickness on anyone. Jesus carried our sicknesses on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to. All of the sickness in the world is caused by the enemy. REGGIE: Who is the enemy? ABBY: Well, the devil is the enemy, Reggie. REGGIE: Oh! I don’t like to talk about him! He scares me! ABBY: Reggie, there’s no reason to be scared. God gave us authority over the devil. We have the power to come against him now. So you have no reason to be afraid. REGGIE: So if God didn’t make Barry sick, why would He let the devil make him sick? ABBY: Sometimes there are other reasons that God lets things happen. Sometimes we have to go through trials in life in order to give God the opportunity to bless us around the corner. And that makes our faith in Him stronger. It’s faith that builds us up. REGGIE: So you’re saying Barry’s blessing is right around the corner? ABBY: God’s blessings come in a variety of ways. But He expects us to be patient and wait for HIS timing…which is very often different than our own. REGGIE: Hmmm. ABBY: The most powerful weapon we have on this earth Reggie is prayer. I think it would be a good idea if you’d go to the hospital and pray with Barry. This will help build his faith and also show him that you are going to be his friend no matter what. REGGIE: That’s a good idea, Abby! I’ll go do that right now! PART II REGGIE: (out of breath) Abby! Abby! ABBY: Yes, Reggie. I’m here. What is it? REGGIE: You were right! Barry’s blessing was just around the corner…just like you said. I went up to pray with him and just as I was leaving, the doctor came in with a kidney donor for him! He said it was someone just around the corner from his room! Can ya believe it? ABBY: Wow! Reggie, that’s wonderful! REGGIE: Yeah! And that’s not the best part! Barry’s folks were planning to get a divorce last month, but through this whole ordeal they’ve gotten close again and they decided to stay together! Barry was sooooo happy! ABBY: I imagine. REGGIE: So you were right Abby. I told Barry what you said earlier. He was so amazed! He said that if he hadn’t gotten sick, his parents would never have gotten back together. He’s actually GLAD that he got sick! Can you believe that? ABBY: So you see, God does work in mysterious ways. We don’t always understand why things happen, but God knows. He’s just waiting to pour out His blessings on us, just like He did with Barry. Just remember, Reggie, sometimes we won’t get our questions answered right away. We just have to be patient and wait for God’s timing. REGGIE: But you said that prayer and faith are what build us up in the meantime, right? ABBY: That’s right, Reggie. We have to give God time to work His miracles. So when you’re having a hard time, keep the faith and remember that God’s blessing is just around the corner. (back to the scripts page)