Farris's Birthday (with snippets!)

Farris Ebworthy (who is but an infant in Martin Hospitality) had his birthday on October 2nd! Just like last year, I practically forgot. Such a horrible author, I know. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have the words "Farris Ebworthy, Oct 2" in literal print for all the world to see. So since a dear reader reminded me of the event, I thought we should do a little celebrating to make it up to one of my absolute favorites.

Farris is really the best. I know you all only got to see him as a six-month-old (and younger) in Martin Hospitality, but trust me. He's turning out well. ;)

SO happy birthday to Farris. Even though you're fictional, who passes up a chance to party? A.k.a. enjoy all the party-related things like food. Or in this case presents.

I don't think I've publicly shared any official words from Martin Crossroads yet, so I thought it'd be a good idea to share some Farris-y snippets with you all today.

I'll be honest--I absolutely hate finding snippets to share. I think it makes me panic that if I can't find one line or paragraph that's good on it's own ... maybe the whole thing is rubbish. But I put myself through it anyway just for you and Farris.

The first snippet is when he's coming on five years old.

“Farris!”

            “Hi, Mama.” He walked the beam a few paces as if he were in gymnastics—something Gemma had considered to get his energy out and now set her mind against.

“What are you doing? Josiah, go get the ladder.”

“It’s OK, Mom! Watch this.”

He crouched before leaping off the beam.

For one heart-stopping moment, Gemma foresaw him breaking every bone in his body as he fell the twenty feet. A stall consumed him with nothing more than a rustle for the sound of impact.

Josiah made it inside first.

           She released a breath when she saw two arms and two legs poking out of a loose pile of hay. He is in so much trouble.

~~~

And the second snippet from when he's fifteen ... ish

Farris felt something stir inside him. Something beyond pity. He hadn’t thought about dying today. He didn’t have to worry about where his next meal was going to come from, and he knew the twins didn’t either. Together their fathers had harvested the most prosperous crop for miles this past fall. Want was the last thing on their minds.

            Hannah set her chin. “There are kids who die every day from things like hunger and thirst. That’s not even the sad part. The sad part is that most of them haven’t heard about Jesus. People here all know who He is and lots of them still walk away. But there? They don’t have a chance unless we help them. So how will you help?”

            An uneasy silence settled over the room. She curtsied and applause followed.

            “Where did she come from?” Ash whispered.

            Noah shrugged. Farris didn’t care where she’d come from. Through his speech and the rest of the day, he couldn’t get her gauntlet out of his head.

~~~

That gives you a pretty good idea of his personality! So excited to share him with you all. To close it all out, if I could pick one song for Farris, it would be this one.

What do you think is in Farris's future? I'm so excited to share him with you all!!