Sarah Schofield – författare

Excerpt:We broke through the surface and inhaled deep breaths. "e;Nice try, hon. Next time make sure I don't have a grip on you."e; He kissed the tip of my nose and removed his arm from my waist."e;Okay. I'll be sure and remember that."e; I swam backwards toward shore and Lucas followed. I came out of the river first and squeezed the water out of my hair while I waited for Lucas.Sasha and some of the other girls from the cheer squad were lying along the shore on towels like a bikini parade. She was propped up on her elbows watching the water, or more like Lucas, walking out of the water. "e;Hey, Lucas."e; She moved her sunglasses to the tip of her nose.Heeellllllooo. I'm right here and you are openly gawking at my boyfriend."e;Hey."e; Lucas combed his hands though his hair removing the water."e;Are you looking forward to senior year? Can you believe we're almost done?"e;"e;Yep."e; Lucas ran up to me and, without warning, lifted me over his shoulder and smacked my butt. "e;Let's go, babe."e;I wasn't expecting that and I squealed.He. Just. Smacked. My. Butt.Lucas trotted toward our table effortlessly and set me down. Then he grabbed my tote bag and removed the beach towels we had brought with us. He moved around like nothing slightly out of the ordinary had just happened.I didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if it was because of shock, excitement, or a mixture of both. I mean, he'd smacked my butt.He caught me watching him, cleared his throat, and slowly handed me a towel. He glanced to his right and then back at me.I turned my head and realized that Rachel, wrapped in a towel, was sitting at the table with a mini bag of Cheetos in her hand and a half-eaten Cheeto pressed between her index finger and thumb. Her wide-eyed expression meant that she'd seen the whole thing.

Excerpt:I looked past Gramps and saw my grandmother with her arms firmly crossed. She wasn't your typical grandma. You know, the kind with fresh baked pies sitting on the windowsill. My grandmother was... Well, she was more like a warden.I slowly approached her."e;Hello, Eliana."e; She awkwardly gave me a half-pat-on-the-back kind of hug."e;Hi, Grandma; thanks for taking us in."e; I tried to chisel through the ice."e;You're welcome,"e; she replied stiffly.My mom walked up beside me. "e;Hi, Mom."e;"e;Hello, dear. I have your rooms ready. I put Eliana in your old bedroom. You're in the room across from hers, just in case."e;I looked away and rolled my eyes. What did "e;just in case"e; mean? Was it "e;just in case"e; I got scared in the middle of the night like I was seven years old, or "e;just in case"e; I tried to sneak out like I was an unruly teenager? This was going to be a long year.We each grabbed a bag and entered the house. I opened the door to my "e;so-called"e; bedroom and sucked in the aroma of rose potpourri and moth balls. My eyes rounded at the princess palace with its frilly pink walls bordered by purple castles and a dozen--that's right--twelve porcelain dolls staring at me from a wooden shelf. If anything could scare me, those beady eyes could. I stood there flabbergasted and Mom walked in."e;Honey, we'll fix it later. Just start unloading your car."e;"e;You're sure lucky I love you,"e; I whispered.

Malawi is full of surprises for the first time visitor. Theologian Rodney Schofield and his wife Sarah Schofield in this book document their experiences of missionary life in Malawi.