Her Mother's Hope

by Francine Rivers

  A flash of memory came of Hildemara racing home, terrified after Mr. Kimball had tried to rape her. But it occurred to Marta now, her daughter had kicked free of a grown man stronger than Niclas. She had been smart enough to run. Hildemara had shown real spunk that day, and at other times, too. She’d gone out and gotten herself a job. She’d said no to college and gone off to nurses’ training. She’d followed Trip from one base to another, finding housing in strange cities, making new friends. She’d crossed the country by herself and come home to help Bernhard and Elizabeth hold on to the Musashis’ land despite threats and fire and bricks through their windows.

  My daughter has courage, Lord!

  Despite appearances, and though Marta loathed to admit it, she’d always favored Hildemara a little above the others. From the moment her daughter came into the world, Marta had bonded fast to her. “She looks like her mother,” Niclas had said, unwittingly setting things in motion. All the cruel words her father had said about her appearance rose up inside her when she saw Hildemara Rose was plain. And like Elise, she was frail.

  But she wouldn’t stay that way. Marta decided that first frightening week she wouldn’t cripple Hildemara Rose the way Mama had crippled Elise.

  Now she wondered if she hadn’t pushed Hildemara too hard, and in doing so, pushed her away.

  Oh, Lord, can I bring her close again?

  Hildemara had Mama’s constitution. And now, it seemed she had Mama’s disease. Would she share Mama’s fate as well?

  Please, Lord, give me time.

  She covered her face and prayed. Oh, God, I wish I’d been more like Mama with her and less like Papa. Maybe I could’ve made Hildemara strong without wounding her. But I can’t go back now and undo the past. Hildemara Rose has no faith in me, no understanding. And that’s my fault, not hers. Does she understand I’m proud of her and her accomplishments? Does she know me at all?

  She can.

  Marta lowered her hands, drew back the curtains, and looked up at the stars. “Jesus,” she whispered, “will she be willing to meet me halfway?”

  What does that matter?

  Marta bowed her head. It was just her pride butting in again.

  Hildemara had worked hard and done well. She’d had her moments of despair when she’d wanted to give up, but she’d grasped hold when hope was offered and rose again. She wasn’t Elise. She might be depressed, but she wouldn’t give up. Not if Marta had anything to say about it.

  Hildemara might be quieter than Bernhard, who thought he could tackle the world, less self-possessed than fiery Clotilde with her quest for fame and fortune, not as intuitive and gifted as Rikka, who saw the world through angel eyes. Nevertheless, Hildemara had spunk. She had her own special gifts.

  Marta lifted her chin again.

  My daughter has a servant’s heart that should please You, Lord. Like Your Son, she’s meek, but no coward. She might be a broken reed now with the cold wind of death in her face, but You won’t allow her spirit to be crushed. You said it and I believe it. But give me time with her, Lord. I beg You. Help me mend my relationship with her. You know how I’ve fought against being a servant all my life. I confess it. I’ve always hated the very idea of it!

  A gentle breeze drifted in through the open window, as though God whispered to her. Marta wiped tears from her cheeks.

  “Lord,” she whispered back, “teach me how to serve my daughter.”

  * * *

  Marta got up early the next morning and prayed. She went out the side door toward the garden, leaving her journal open on the kitchen table. Walking around to the front of the big house, she knocked on the front door. When Donna opened the door, Marta asked to speak to her and Hitch together about something important. They both looked nervous as they invited her to sit at their table and share a cup of fresh coffee. Marta told them about Hildemara and that she had been thinking about the ranch and making some changes. Hitch’s expression fell.

  Donna gave him a sorry look and then offered a pained smile to Marta. “With your husband passing on and all, and your daughter needing you, it’s understandable you’d want to sell.”

  “I’m not selling. I’d like to offer you a contract to run the place. You tell me what you want. I’ll tell you what I need. And we’ll have Charles Landau put it all in writing so there will be no question about it.”

  Hitch’s head came up. “You’re not selling?”

  “That’s what I said.” She gave Donna a teasing look. “Better see that he cleans his ears.” She looked at Hitch again. “It may come to that, but if it does, you’ll get first shot at buying it. If you want it, that is.”

  “We don’t have the money,” he said glumly.

  “Knowing how hard you work, I might even be willing to hold the paper rather than have some banker come out the winner in the deal.” She looked between the two of them. “So?”

  “Yes!” Hitch grinned.

  “Please,” Donna added, face aglow.

  That settled, Marta drove to town to take care of the rest of the details.

  Then, on impulse, she drove to Merced and went shopping.

  * * *

  She wrote to Rosie that night and told her about Hildemara.

  I started thinking about Lady Daisy and our afternoons at Kew and tea in the conservatory. I think it’s about time I shared some of these experiences with Hildemara Rose. So I went to Merced and looked through all the stores and couldn’t find anything as fine as what I wanted.

  After hours of searching, I was discouraged. Actually, I was annoyed. I ended up in a little shop, but one look around and I was ready to walk out the front door. Fortunately, the proprietor cut me off. Gertrude! Swiss, from Bern! We talked for an hour.

  I’d completely forgotten why I’d come to Merced in the first place until we both noticed the time. She needed to close the shop, and I needed to drive home to Murietta. Before leaving, I finally got around to telling her what I’d been looking for and why. G went into her back room and came out with an old, dusty box filled with dishes. She said she’d forgotten all about them until that very moment.

  I am now the proud owner of a Royal Albert Lady Carlyle tea service—four plates, four teacups, and saucers! G also sold me some dainty spoons and forks, well worth every dollar she extracted from me. I will make all the wonderful sweets and savories for Hildemara Rose that I once served to Lady Daisy. I will pour India tea and lace it with cream and conversation.

  God willing, I will win back my daughter.

  A Note from the Author

  Dear Reader,

  Since I became a Christian, my stories have begun with struggles I’m having in my own faith walk, or issues that I haven’t worked out. That’s how this two-book series started. I wanted to explore what caused the rift between my grandma and my mom during the last years of my grandmother’s life. Was it a simple misunderstanding that they never had time to work out? or something deeper that had grown over the years?

  Many of the events of this story were inspired by family history that I researched and events I read about in my mother’s journals or experienced in my own life. For instance, when I was three, my mother had tuberculosis, just like Hildie did. Dad brought her home from the sanatorium and Grandma Wulff came to live with us and help out. It was difficult for everyone. A child doesn’t understand communicable disease. For a long time, I didn’t think my mother loved me. She never held or kissed me. She kept her distance to protect her children, but it took years before I understood what felt like rejection was actually evidence of sacrificial love.

  While thinking over the past, my husband, Rick, and I decided to take a trip to Switzerland, my grandmother’s homeland. Several years earlier, we had gone on a heritage trip to Sweden to meet many of Rick’s relatives on his mother’s side. I knew I wouldn’t have the same opportunity in Switzerland, but wanted to see the countryside with which my grandmother would have been familiar. We visited Bern, where my grandmother went to housekeeping school, and Interlaken,
where she worked in a hotel restaurant. When I mentioned to the tour guide that my grandmother had come from the small town of Steffisburg near Thun, she and the bus driver decided to surprise us. Taking an alternate route, they drove into Steffisburg and parked across the street from the centuries-old Lutheran church my grandmother’s family must have attended. Rick and I stood in front of the Steffisburg map for a picture before wandering the church grounds and sitting in the sanctuary. We walked up and down the main street, taking lots of pictures. It was a very precious moment for me. On the way out of town, we caught a glimpse of Thun Castle, another place my grandmother mentioned.

  Steffisburg, Switzerland

  Going through family pictures, I came across several of my mom and her siblings. The one below is my favorite. Mom is second from the left, giggling. Sig was the eldest, then came Mom, Margaret, and Elsie. The picture was taken on the farm in the Central Valley where Grandma and Grandpa had almond trees and grapevines. They dried grapes to make raisins. When my brother and I were young, we often spent a few weeks every summer on the farm, romping and playing and swimming in the irrigation ditches that ran along the back side of the property.

  The Wulff siblings

  Mom went away to Fresno for nurses’ training, then worked at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. My father worked part-time as an orderly. He told me with some amusement that he would go to Mom’s ward and ask for an aspirin. Nurses were not to date orderlies, but Dad eventually won Mom over. Not long after they were married, he was called off to war and served as a medic in the European theater. He was in the third wave into Normandy and fought in Germany during the final days of World War II.

  My parents enjoyed camping and wanted my brother and me to see as much of our country as possible. Every year, they saved vacation time and took us off on a trip to visit as many national parks as they could squeeze into two weeks. They often invited Grandma Wulff to come along. When my brother and I would doze in the backseat, Grandma or Mom would prod us. “Wake up, sleepyhead. Look out the window! You may never see this part of the country again.” Every few years, we made the trip from Pleasanton, California, back to Colorado Springs, my father’s hometown, to visit Grandma and Grandpa King. The photo below is one of the rare pictures of my family with both of my grandmothers. Unfortunately, Grandma King died when I was six.

  King family vacation; “Marta” on right

  I am blessed to have many wonderful family memories, many of which include Grandma Wulff. I knew there were times of stress and tension between my parents and Grandma, but all families have them. Most work through them. Sometimes minor disagreements can escalate when things aren’t resolved.

  No one but God can see into the human heart. We can’t even fully see into our own. My mother and my grandmother were both strong Christians. They both served others all their lives. Both were admirable women of strong character whom I loved dearly. I still love them and miss them both. I choose to believe my grandmother forgave my mom at the end for whatever hurt lay between them. I choose to believe she simply did not have the time or voice to say it. I know my mother loved her to the end of her own life.

  This book has been a three-year quest to feel at peace about the hurt between Mom and Grandma, the possible causes, the ways they might have misunderstood one another, how they might have been reconciled. Jesus teaches us to love one another, but sometimes love doesn’t come packed the way we want. Sometimes fear has to be set aside so we can share the past hurts that have shaped our lives, so we can dwell in freedom with one another. And sometimes we don’t recognize love when it is offered.

  Someday when I pass from this life to the next, I hope Mom and Grandma will both be standing with Jesus and welcoming me home—just as I will be waiting when my own beloved daughter arrives—and her daughter after her and all the generations yet to come.

  Francine Rivers

  Discussion Guide

  1. Marta certainly had a difficult childhood. What factors shaped her the most, for better or worse? How do those influences shape the woman she becomes?

  2. How does Marta’s relationship with her father shape her early beliefs about God and His expectations? How is it different from the way Mama sees God? What seems to make the biggest impression on the way Marta views God? Does that change throughout the story? If so, what causes that change?

  3. At the end of chapter 4, Marta’s mother gave her a blessing when she left home to make her way in the world. In what ways, verbal or otherwise, did your parents give you their blessing? If they didn’t, what do you wish they had said to you? In what ways did you—or do you hope to someday—do the same for your own children?

  4. It has been said that women often marry a version of their father. How is Niclas like and unlike Marta’s father? In what ways is Niclas both passive and aggressive? Marta sometimes seems to harbor resentment toward Niclas. Is that fair?

  5. Marta has a hard time trusting Niclas because of the way her father treated her mother. How do you think that makes Niclas feel? In what ways—good or bad—has your family of origin affected your marriage or close friendships?

  6. Niclas asks Marta to sell the boardinghouse she bought as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Is that an appropriate request? What do you think of the way Niclas makes the decision and communicates it to Marta? If you were Marta, what would you have done in that situation? Have you faced a similar decision in your marriage or family?

  7. Marta sometimes makes it difficult for Niclas to be the head of their household. Does Marta view herself as a helpmate to Niclas? Do you think he sees her in that way? How is he able to love Marta despite her sometimes-prickly nature?

  8. Why does Marta never tell Niclas—or anyone else in her family—that she loves them? How does Marta best show and receive love?

  9. In many ways, Marta is like the woman described in Proverbs 31. Which of the qualities described in that passage do you see in her? Which ones is she missing?

  10. After rescuing Elise from the Meyers in chapter 5, Marta tells her friend, “I swear before God, Rosie, if I’m ever fortunate enough to have a daughter, I’ll make sure she’s strong enough to stand up for herself!” How do Marta’s family dynamics come into play later in life when she has children of her own?

  11. Marta loves Hildemara deeply. Yet of all her children, Hildemara probably feels the least loved. Why is that? Is treating children differently the same as favoring one over another? What challenges make it difficult to raise all the kids in a family exactly the same? How hard should parents strive to do so?

  12. Have you ever felt, as Hildemara did, that others in your family have unfairly received a greater share of love, financial provision, or some other valuable resource? How did you respond? What advice would you give someone in this situation?

  13. After Hildemara’s incident with her teacher Mrs. Ransom, Hildemara tells her father that she prayed and prayed, but her prayers didn’t change the situation. Niclas replies, “Prayers changed you, Hildemara.” What does he mean by that? Have you ever had a similar experience?

  14. Why is Marta so averse to Hildemara’s decision to attend nursing school? Does she ever change her mind about Hildemara’s chosen profession?

  15. For several months, Hildemara keeps Trip at arm’s length. Why do you think she does that? What makes her finally admit her love for him?

  16. Trip, like many men of his generation, has tragic, life-altering experiences in World War II. Have you heard stories from or about men in your own family who were similarly affected? Have any of your loved ones been involved in more recent wars? How has war affected your family?

  17. Tuberculosis is much rarer today than it was in Marta’s and Hildemara’s lifetimes. Yet life-threatening and chronic illnesses have never been more prevalent. How has your family been impacted by serious illness? Discuss the strain illness can place on family dynamics, regardless of the “relational health” a family may have at the outset.

  18. If you could change one thi
ng about the way you were parented, what would it be? And if you have children, is there anything you wish you could change about the way you’ve parented them? What is one step you could take in that direction?

  19. At the end of this book Marta is determined, with God’s help, to make a fresh start with Hildemara. Do you think she will succeed? Why or why not? How do you think Hildemara will respond? Is there hope for this relationship?

  20. If you could sit down with Marta and Hildemara, what would you like to tell each of them? Is there someone in your family you need to talk with about mistakes or misperceptions from the past that are still affecting you today? If you have unresolved issues with a loved one who has passed away, who might you talk with to try to reach some closure for yourself?

  About the Author

  Francine Rivers began her literary career at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in English and journalism. From 1976 to 1985, she had a successful writing career in the general market, and her books were highly acclaimed by readers and reviewers. Although raised in a religious home, Francine did not truly encounter Christ until later in life, when she was already a wife, a mother of three, and an established romance novelist.

  Shortly after becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Francine wrote Redeeming Love as her statement of faith. First published by Bantam Books, and then rereleased by Multnomah Publishers in the mid-1990s, this retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea, set during the time of the California Gold Rush, is now considered by many to be a classic work of Christian fiction. Redeeming Love continues to be one of the Christian Booksellers Association’s top-selling titles, and it has held a spot on the Christian best-seller list for nearly a decade.

  Since Redeeming Love, Francine has published numerous novels with Christian themes—all best sellers—and she has continued to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her Christian novels have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors, including the RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Gold Medallion, and the Holt Medallion in Honor of Outstanding Literary Talent. In 1997, after winning her third RITA Award for inspirational fiction, Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame. Francine’s novels have been translated into more than twenty different languages, and she enjoys best-seller status in many foreign countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa.