A Mother's Love

“Father, You’ve been my rock, or I would have never made it this far. My fortress. I don’t know that I’ve allowed You to be that, hiding myself away. And my deliverer…”

Maggie sighed. “Please, Father, be my deliverer. Deliver me from the fear of the night, the fear of being alone…and the fear of sleeping. Jake was right You never fail. If we would only turn to You immediately, instead of hiding away, we’d be so much better off.”

Maggie felt a peace. She noted the cat had stopped drinking, having gained her fill. Maggie moved the bowl back and stood, then went to fix a box for the litter. She hadn’t thought of litter, she was glad Jake had.

“Thank You, Father for sending this man my way. Help me to learn to trust him. And keep any disasters from befalling him because of our relationship.”

She finished the box, set it next to the cat and vowed to keep an ear open in case the cat had any problems in the night.

Maggie went to her room, changed into her orange nightgown and crawled into bed. For the first time in a long time, she felt, if not total peace, then a safety knowing there was someone nearby if she needed help.

The dancing brown eyes of Jake Mathison stayed before her face as she drifted off to sleep, thinking maybe things might not be so bad after all.

Chapter Six (#ulink_13323fda-d841-5144-b707-7f22496faec3)

Maggie had heard the old saying “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.” And after all she’d been through the past six months, she should have learned that lesson.

Jake was a nice man. He seemed like a jewel after what she’d experienced. But just because he said everything would be okay didn’t mean that it would.

Oh, Maggie thought it had gone fine this morning when she’d gotten up and dressed in her nicest pants and top that fit over her tummy.

She’d walked over to church and immediately met Gage and Jennifer, who had then introduced her to Max and Kaitland, who had a newborn in her arms and two twins hanging on her legs. Kaitland—or “Katie” as Max had called her—then took her and introduced her to her brother-in-law, Rand, and his wife Elizabeth, who had a small child in her arms.

And on and on it went, until the names had blurred together. She had been pulled into the midst of these people she had read so much about in the paper.

Maggie had reveled in it. She enjoyed the warmth and joking among them before church and the worship service. This wasn’t like her old church. They were freer in the way they worshipped, had all kinds of instruments and really seemed to enjoy church, unlike her parents, who saw it as an imposition.

And then Jake had stood up to preach. He looked wonderful in his nice pair of slacks and casual blazer.

And his preaching was different from what she had heard before. It was…powerful. Not condemning, not filled with dire predictions, but filled with love and hope and promise. Oh, he did touch on the negative issues, but those issues always ended with hope. That hope was Jesus Christ.

She liked Jake’s message. It touched her heart unlike any message she had heard in a long time. And she found tears running down her face as she listened. He said that no matter what your circumstances, Jesus was the answer. He had all the answers. He loved and cared and provided, maybe not in the way people expected but in His own way.

Her heart filled with joy at Jake’s words as she realized that God would take care of the problems.

At the end, they had an altar call and then church was over.