Dear Diaries
Synopsis: Two Christian families with similar difficult experiences. One
turns bitter, the other finds forgiveness, thankfulness, and evidence of God's
power.
Performance time: apx 12 minutes
Key
Words: Thanks, Thankfulness, Ephesians, Thessalonians
Characters: Little girl, 8 years old
Her dad
Little boy, 8 years old
His mom
Lucky Larry
Troubled Tom
(Each
character should have some sort of identification, such as a sign around their
necks, because it is very important that the audience be able to follow the
storyline, and there isn't much time for character development.)
INSTRUCTIONS:
(Try
this with spontaneous volunteers, and let them decide who gets what roles based solely
on the descriptions above. NONE of the readers should get to see ANY of
the scripts until they actually step up to the podium to read. It really works.)
Readers should act like they are writing (in their diaries).
Readers should NOT read the script until they move up to the podium.
Pay attention as to which character
is supposed to be reading, it can be confusing, and
Readers should NOT look at the other readers. Look down, or at the
podium, until your turn.
Each Section is divided by dotted lines:
.............................................................
[Reading tips—happy, sad, mad,
etc.—will look like this.]
(Generally over-acting is preferred.)
Example:
When you are finished reading your section of
script, leave the script on the podium and do whatever the final instructions
indicate...
[Final instructions to prepare
you for your next section
will look like this]
.............................................................
[Readers will begin the sketch
lined up behind two podiums:]
PODIUM
ONE
PODIUM TWO
Little
boy
Little girl
Boy’s
mom
Girl’s dad
Lucky
Larry
Troubled Tom
[As you finish your reading,
these final instructions will tell you to either sit down or where to get back
in line.]
.............................................................
Narrator:
The story you are about to see is true. Only the names, times, locations,
and details were changed. Any similarities to actual persons or events, have
been put there entirely unintentionally by the writer, but for a specific reason
by THE AUTHOR.
..................................................................
Little
Boy: 1
[very happy and proud]
Dear Diary. Today is my birthday; and I’m EIGHT
YEARS OLD! We’re gonna have lots of fun when my friends come over for my
party, and later we’ll have some cake and ice cream, and we’ll play some
games, and they can all watch me as I open my presents. Today is gonna be a good
day!
[go to the end of the line behind
Larry]
.............................................................
Boy’s
mom: 1
[very happy and proud]
Dear Diary. Today is my son’s eighth birthday. I
never thought anything could fill me with such joy like he does. God has blessed
us in a mighty way. I just can’t imagine what wonderful things the future has
in store for him.
[go to the end of the line
behind the boy]
.............................................................
Lucky
Larry:1
[feeling pretty good]
Dear Diary. Now I know why they call me "Lucky
Larry." I mean, with that last conviction, that judge could have put me
away, but the preacher stood up for me and told the court about how my life has
changed since I accepted Christ, and now here I am doing community service
instead of hard time. I even LIKE driving the bus for the homeless
mission. God is good, and he has given me a second chance, and I’m not going
to let him down! Gotta go!
[go
to the end of the line, behind mom]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Little
Girl: 1
[very happy and proud AND CUTE!]
Dear Diary. Daddy stayed home from work today and
he and Mommy are taking me to King’s Island for my birthday – did I mention
that I’m eight years old today. Daddy says I’m the cutest eight-year-old box
of trouble he’s ever seen.
I sure do love my daddy!
I’m so excited about our trip! I think I’ll go
wait in the car...
[skip out of the room]
.............................................................
Girl’s
Dad: 1
[very happy and proud]
Dear Diary. I can’t believe I took the day off
work to go to King’s Island. I don’t know what it is about that little girl,
but every day is better than the one before. I just can’t imagine life without
her. She’s the best thing God ever did for me!
[go to the end of the line behind
Tom]
.............................................................
Troubled
Tom: 1
[troubled, mad, upset, sarcastic]
Dear Diary. I can’t believe I’m writing in a
stupid diary! My counselor says it
will help my temper and that if I get in trouble again, I’ll be up the
creek... or did he say “Up the River?” Whatever!!
I think I’ll go for a walk and maybe see what’s
up over at the filling station.
[go
to the end of the line, behind Dad]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Little
boy: 2
[excitedly holds up ball and
glove]
Wow! Look what Mom gave me for my birthday. Come
on, Mom. Let’s go play...
[run out of the room]
.............................................................
Boy’s
mom: 2
[very sad]
And just like that he ran out of our lives, between
two parked cars and into the street right in front of a bus. The poor driver
never saw him until it was too late.
God may have given me more than I can bear this
time. But I must try to go on, because he is merciful and He will find a way to
work good from this.
[go to the end of the line behind
Larry]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Girl’s
dad: 2
[sad, angry, confused, angry,
mad, and angry]
Dear Diary. What’s this world
coming to?
How can my precious little box of trouble be gone? Eight-year-old girls
aren’t supposed to be killed by stray bullets from gas station robberies! I
hope they put that guy away and throw away the key! How could God let this
happen?!?!!?!?!!?
[go to the end of the line behind
Tom]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Lucky
Larry 2
[sad, but accepting]
Dear Diary. So much for that Lucky part. I did
everything I could to not hit that little boy. But one of the guys I was taking
to the mission had a bottle of booze hidden in his pocket. When I hit the
brakes, the bottle hit the floor and splashed all over me. Now, everybody thinks
I was drinking. Whatever happened to that second chance, God?
[Stay at the podium]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Troubled
Tom 2
[still angry, mad, and
unrepentant]
It’s not my fault that little girl was helping
her dad pump the gas. If she’d just stayed in the car, she would still be
alive and her dad would never have chased me down. And if the idiot clerk
hadn’t put up a fight, I mean come on; it was less than fifty bucks.
[Stay at the podium]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Lucky
Larry 3
TURN YOUR SIGN AROUND,
revealing a "prison" sign with numbering
[bewildered & humbled]
Dear Diary: I
would have thought it to be near impossible to find God in this mess, but He is
faithful. At my sentencing hearing today, the mother of that little boy asked
the judge for mercy. The MOTHER! She said she wanted to believe my
story and didn’t want to see another life ruined.
All the judge could talk about was all the mistakes
in my past, and said it was time to put me away, and he did. God was there, in
that woman; it’s just a shame that the judge wasn’t listening. Now I’m
going away for a long time, but I’ll always remember what she did.
[walk out of the room with your
head down]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Troubled
Tom 3
TURN YOUR SIGN AROUND,
revealing a "prison" sign with numbering
[still angry]
I really can’t believe they made that murder
charge stick. Looks like I’ll be old and gray before I ever get out of here.
My cellmate is some old wimpy drunk; I heard he
killed a kid. Maybe that’s why they put us together. I wasn’t too worried
about him until he started asking me if I was a “believer”. I said that what
I believed was that he better keep his Bible AND his hands to himself if he
doesn’t want any trouble from me.
[STAY at the podium]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Boy’s
mom 3
[sad]
Dear Diary: My
little boy would have been ten years old today. It has been so hard. I still
have times when I have to remind myself to breathe. My husband and I are really
trying, but the stress is getting to us, and to our marriage.
I prayed and prayed for God to use this awful thing
to His glory, but so far there’s not much glory, just lots of awful. It’s
been months now since I really prayed like I used to. What’s the point?
[back away from the podium]
[Do not look at the other
readers, yet.]
[Your next line is after
every one else sits down.]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Troubled
Tom 4
[sad, but thoughtful]
Well, Larry -- my cellmate -- up and died on me today. Right
here in the cell. They say it was a heart attack or something. What a waste
to die in jail for no good reason!
He wasn’t all that bad a guy, I guess.
Over the past 6 years, 10 months, and 14 days,
I’d gotten pretty used to his Bible reading and trying to convert me.
Actually, he’d been getting to me lately. He even got me to pray with him a
couple of times.
As he was dying, he made me make a couple of
promises: one was to tell that woman “Thank you” for believing in him, and the
other was to take his Bible to someone in that prayer group he went to on
Sundays. I guess I can do those, especially after all the things he did for me
the last 6 years, 10 months, and 14 days! I just wish I knew what woman he was talking about...
[go to back of line behind Dad]
.............................................................
Girl’s
Dad 3
[bewildered, but trying to
be angry]
Dear Diary: Can
you believe how incompetent those prison people are?! They scheduled a parole
hearing for today for that guy that shot my daughter. TODAY! Her
21st birthday!
My wife and I went, just like before, to make sure
they didn’t let him out. They didn’t, but there was something different
about him this time.
Someone from the governor’s office was there and
he came up to us after they took him back and said we should know that our
little girl’s killer is a candidate for a pardon.
I got furious, but he started telling us about the
prison ministry this guy has started and how several churches have made requests
that he be allowed to speak in their services. For the first time in 13 years,
it suddenly dawned on me that I never even tried to forgive this man. I
still don’t think I can, but I think I need to pray about it.
[sit down and pray about it]
.............................................................
MOM, watch Tom as he delivers this.
Troubled Tom
5
REMOVE YOUR SIGN
[pleased AND humbled]
Dear Diary: In
the 10 years since the governor let me out of prison, God has blessed me and my
ministry in so many ways, but today was completely unbelievable –- except for
knowing that God is the great healer.
I was giving my testimony in the Sunday morning
service today when this older gentleman and his wife just got out of their seats and
came up to me on the podium. Their faces were covered with tears, but I finally
recognized them... from the parole hearings.
When they were finally able to speak, they introduced
themselves as the parents of the little girl I had killed, and they were there
to praise God that he had given them the strength -- through my testimony -- to
forgive me. They had never even returned my calls, but today they returned my
love. Praise God.
Now, if I could just find that woman that Larry
asked me to say “thank you” to, it would bring so much peace to me. But the
Lord hasn’t worked that miracle yet.
[sit down]
.............................................................
.............................................................
Boy’s
mom 4
[bitter]
Dear Diary: We
had a special speaker in church this morning that brought back a lot of hard
memories. Some guy that had shot a little girl about the same time my son was
killed, apparently became a Christian in prison, and now he’s
some kind of hot-shot preacher. While he was talking, that little girl’s
parents came forward and put on a big show about forgiving him and had everybody
crying.
[suddenly not so bitter]
I guess they were all sincere, but it was hard
for me because... well, because those parents got so see how God has used the
death of their child. And that’s all I’ve asked for, just some little
indication that my son did not die in vain.
And I think I really tried to do the right thing. I
even stuck my neck out for that old drunk that killed my son, and all he ended
up doing was dying in jail for no good reason.
What a waste!
[sit down]
.............................................................
The
End
[ Up ] [ Dear Diaries ] [ Devotional ] [ Be At It ]
|