Pastor Dee shifted her gaze to Mom. “Well, for starters, officially there’s no such thing as an accelerated Watcher program. When we have students with special gifts or needs, we give them individual attention—as I’ve been doing with Sarah Beth since she arrived. But beyond that, there’s no formal program to accelerate the curriculum. Quite honestly, there’s never really been a need, because even our most advanced students, like Corbin Worth, step into their roles as upperclassmen when their gifts and maturity levels are peaking at the same time. What I’m proposing for Sarah Beth is more like individual tutoring than an AP track at a traditional school. We will be learning as we go how best to serve her.”

“That makes sense,” her dad said.

“It does,” her mom agreed, “but still does little to quell my real concern.”

“That Sarah Beth will be thrust into more adult situations, into potentially dangerous situations, long before she is ready?” Pastor Dee said.

“Exactly. I’ve seen how you use Corbin Worth. As a mother, I’m not ready to put my child in such danger. And I’m not sure I would be regardless of her age,” her mom said, but her tone was different than usual. More curious than condemning.

“I understand. Every mother of every Green Beret and Navy SEAL no doubt feels similarly—”

“But their children are adults,” her mom interrupted.

“Yes, but they are still their mothers’ children summoned to service. If God has called Sarah Beth by giving her these gifts of the Holy Spirit, then He has summoned her to service as well. He’s summoned all of us. He’s called us to help, love, and support her on the path she must walk.”

“Mom,” Sarah Beth said, suddenly feeling very grown-up, “I know you don’t completely understand what it feels like for me, but I want you to. I want you to see that having all of this and not understanding it or being able to control it is so much harder . . .”

“And more dangerous,” Pastor Dee added softly.

Sarah Beth felt the weight of the words and agreed but didn’t want to scare her mother back into her old state of mind. She held her mom’s eyes, and they exchanged teary smiles.

I understand far better than you know, Daughter, her mom said.

For the second time, she wanted to ask what her mom meant by that, but Dad interrupted.

“Pastor Dee, Rachel and I have prayed about this a lot. As hard as it is, as parents, we believe that properly preparing Sarah Beth—helping her learn how to manage and utilize the gifts God gave her—as quickly as possible is the best way to keep her safe. However, operationally speaking . . .”