Eating the Fruit of Lies

by Sandra Thompson Williams

  “Now our job is to pray and believe God that this nightmare will be over soon.” At that instant, Pastor Taylor entered. He shook hands with Dennis Edwards and hugged Faye.

  “You know that Marie and I are here for you, don’t you?” he asked. “I’ve already instructed Rose to get the prayer chain started.”

  “How is she taking it?” Faye Edwards asked.

  “She’s in the room with him now. But she drove her own car because she thought she might stay late.”

  “She’s a sweet girl,” Faye Edwards said, not much louder than a whisper.

  “Well, I’m just going to hang out in this sitting room for a little while. I can’t stand just watching him. He looks so - so lifeless,” Faye continued.

  “I wish you wouldn’t use those words,” her husband said with a grim look. “That’s rather depressing.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said sarcastically. “I’ll try to brush up on my word choices. I wouldn’t want to upset you with a bad choice of words.”

  “Situations of this sort can be pretty intense and cause a lot of family strain,” Pastor Taylor said jumping in, hoping to prevent a fight. “Why don’t I say a prayer regarding God’s will,” he continued in his pastoral mode.

  “Oh, it’s God’s will that my son be healed alright,” said Dennis Edwards rather forcefully. “I won’t pray anything to the contrary.”

  Just as he stood up to make his point, Rose came through the door. Following her was a couple holding hands. Rose embraced Faye Edwards and Dennis Edwards and managed a little smile. Her face was streaked with black lines and her eyes were slightly puffy. Everyone knew she had been crying. I wanted you to meet this couple. David’s job told this lady what happened when she called to schedule her last appointment with him.

  “Hi, I’m Darlene. This is my husband Keith,” she said pointing to a man with a long facial scar who was using a crutch. We heard about David’s illness and felt like we had to come down here,” she said. “Otherwise people might never know,” she said smiling.

  “Know what?” Faye asked with a puzzled look on her face. “Keith, honey, why don’t you sit down,” Darlene said, pulling a chair closer for her husband.

  “David helped to save our marriage,” she said grabbing Keith’s cane and kneeling at his chair. “I went to see him recently for counseling. I was depressed, and had lost weight and was having problems on my job. He seemed to not only counsel me, but I felt like I was a personal case. As if he were a one man crusade sent from God to save me. I tried to resist at first, but I couldn’t help it,” she said looking directly at Dennis Edwards. “He was determined to get me back on track.”

  “And of course I had no idea any of this was happening,” Keith said. “I was feeling like a failure and blaming myself for past mistakes, while at the same time making a mess of my life.”

  “Although David is young, he seemed to have wisdom beyond his years,” Darlene continued. “He taught me one thing that I didn’t understand. Prayer is not a tool to be taken for granted. I was so hurt that I wasn’t really praying. I was more or less just complaining to God. David taught me about confession and facing my problem. Then I began to sincerely pray for my husband in spite of the hurt that I felt,” she said looking at her husband.

  “Then a few weeks ago, I was in a terrible accident,” Keith said. “It was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I experienced God in a way that I had not known before. In the time that I recuperated, I learned the basics about being a husband and father. I can’t begin to tell you how my eyes have come opened. I shudder when I think that this could have been the end of the Smith family,” he said shaking his head.

  “Smith, did you say, what did you say your names were again?” asked Pastor Taylor.

  “Keith and Darlene Smith,” Keith answered.

  “My God, I don’t believe it,” Pastor Taylor said, getting up quickly from his chair. “This is incredible.”

  “What’s incredible?” asked Sister Marie.

  “The fact that,”

  “Excuse me,” said a young man followed by a woman as he opened the door to the family waiting room. “I’m looking for the family of David Edwards.”

  “I’m his mother,” Faye said, speaking before anyone else.

  “I’m Dennis Edwards, David’s father.”

  “Hi, I’m David’s neighbor Michael. This is my wife Brenda. We just learned of what happened to David when we got in from work. I just wanted to come and give support after all that he’s done for me and Brenda,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” asked Faye.

  “Well we’ve only lived next door to him a short time, but he had us over for chili one night and planted some life changing seeds into my life. I never really got a chance to tell him what a difference it made for the way I was living and trying to survive in my marriage,” Michael said.

  “I’m not ashamed to say I saw a difference right away,” Brenda said. “I was impressed by the things Michael started doing differently. It’s all so strange, even the way we ended up living there. I really believe it was God’s plan.”

  “Let me tell you both something you don’t know,” Pastor Taylor said. “David was assigned to pray for you both before he met you. He told me so. I know it sounds incredible because I didn’t believe it either. He called off his plans to marry my daughter Rose, because he had a divine assignment to help you. Rose, I know I never told you this because I thought David just had marriage jitters. He said he couldn’t marry you until God gave him permission. It had nothing to do with his love for you. I repent before God and all of you for being blind to what he was trying to tell me,” Pastor Taylor said, pulling out a handkerchief.

  Rose got up from her seat and hugged her father. She wept and he hugged her ever so gently.

  The McCain’s and the Smith’s said their goodbyes and promised to keep David in their prayers and believe God for a miracle.

  “I think I’ll go back and sit in his room for a while,” Rose said.

  The room seemed so full of love with everyone there telling their stories. When the five left, a silence fell over the group.

  “We still haven’t had that prayer,” Pastor Taylor said. “Let’s hold...”

  The door opened again and when they looked up there were two young ladies there. No one knew what to think.

  “Hi Sister Marie,” one of the young ladies said warmly.

  “Clarissa? DeBorah? Hi! How are you? Who are you ladies here visiting?”

  “We heard about Brother David Edwards through the prayer chain,” DeBorah said.

  “Well that’s nice of you to come out here to see him,” Sister Marie said.

  “Not really,” said Clarissa. “Are you David’s parents?” she asked looking at Dennis and Faye Edwards.”

  “Yes, we are.” said Dennis Edwards.

  “I just want you to know that David along with Sister Marie helped to save my life,” Clarissa said. “Mine too!” said DeBorah.

  “I didn’t think you two even knew each other before our women’s meeting,” said Sister Marie.

  “Actually we didn’t,” said DeBorah. We were both referred to the counseling service by different people. I saw Clarissa several times as I was coming and going from the center. Then as strange as it sounds, we were the only single ladies invited to your group,” DeBorah said.

  “After that, we started talking to one another and discovered that we had a lot in common. We were both dealing with low self-esteem problems and we both were well, suicidal. After we talked, we found out why we didn’t like ourselves, thanks to David. He told us certain things in common. We were the fruit of the womb, created by God. To kill ourselves would be to destroy the very fruit that God had intended for a purpose. The more he talked, the more I understood that I had been listening to the lies of the Devil. We might be bruised, but we are still fruit and thanks to David we plan to have fruitful lives. The very fact that Sister Marie invited us to that luncheon, confirmed that
we were important to God,” DeBorah said.

  “We’re not going to take up your time, we just wanted to see David and let you know we are praying for him,” Clarissa said.

  Sister Marie went forward and hugged them both. Faye followed and they left.

  “Something is happening here for a reason,” Pastor Taylor said.

  “Dennis, did you realize the impact your son was having on other people’s lives?” the pastor asked.

  Dennis Edwards was all choked up. He did his best to keep his composure. “Pastor, can we pray now?” he asked, in a very humble but direct way. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to lead the prayer.”

  Dennis Edwards grabbed the hand of his wife and held it tightly. Sister Marie and Pastor Taylor completed the circle.

  “Dear God,” Dennis Edwards began, “forgive me for my selfishness and my pride and for what I did to my family. He took one of his hands and wiped the tears that began to flow like a fountain. “I’m sorry God,” he said wiping his nose with the handkerchief that Pastor Taylor placed in his hand, “for hurting my, my- wife and kids.” At that point he threw his arms around Faye and they both wept together.

  Sister Marie took her husband by the hand and nearly pulled him from the room. “Let’s give them some privacy,” she said. “They’ve got a lot of hurt to be healed and they don’t need us to witness the process. Let’s go check on David,” she said.

  On the way down the hall they nearly ran head on into Stephanie.

  “What’s wrong with my brother?” she said in a hysterical tone. “Where’s my mother and father? Please tell me something.”

  “Are you just finding out?” Sister Marie asked with amazement.

  “I’ve been on an all-day field trip. When I got home people kept calling and asking about David.”

  “Have you seen him?” Pastor Taylor asked.

  “Yes, sir,” but no one was around to tell me what’s wrong with him,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

  “I guess Rose must have stepped out,” Sister Marie said. “David had an allergic reaction to some medication he was taking. Right now he’s in a coma.” Stephanie clasped her hand over her mouth to keep from giving the loud outburst that she felt in her stomach.

  “Stephanie you’re going to calm yourself and go to his bedside. He needs to hear your voice,” Sis. Marie said.

  “Now Marie don’t disillusion the child,” Pastor Taylor said.

  “Honey, I’m not just saying that, I feel that within my spirit.”

  On the way to the room Rose met them as she left the ladies room. She gave Stephanie a hug and held on to her.

  They walked in the room and Steph took the seat closest to David. The others stood back at the foot of the bed. Stephanie took his hand and looked at Sister Marie. The nod that Sister Marie gave must have been all the reassurance that she needed to talk with her brother. She stroked his hand and told him stories of childhood memories. He was always there to help her and get her out of trouble. She reminded him that he said he would take her to the prom to keep all the guys away. Then she laughed and told him he had better wake up because someone else had asked her today if she had a date. She closed her eyes for a moment, when she felt a tug. She thought perhaps a jerk reaction was taking place while she stroked his hand. When she opened her eyes, she saw that David had actually gripped her hand loosely and was holding it.

  “Hallelujah,” Sister Marie said with tears of joy coming down her face. “Did you see that? Rose get the doctor. Honey, get Faye and Dennis, look - David is starting to wake up!” she said with enough excitement to scare everyone into action.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Dr. Payne didn’t really want to, but she found it necessary to put everyone out of the room while she assessed David’s condition. To describe their exuberance as joyful would be an understatement.

  While David’s eyes were still unresponsive, both his hands were moving and he was starting to breathe faster. The signs were all good according to the doctor. While he had been comatose for thirteen hours, she said she was surprised at the body movements and was sure he would gain consciousness at any time.

  Stephanie nearly fainted when her father came down the hall with his arm around her mother. She had to sit down because she thought she was dreaming. But she wasn’t. She wanted to cry but she couldn’t. Her emotions had all run away. Inside she was thrilled, but one side of her said it was only a dream. She couldn’t get up from the hall chair. She sat there until they came to her and lifted her into the circle of their world. One big hug. It felt so good. She thought she would melt.

  Thirty minutes later, Dr. Payne asked for the immediate family to join her in the room. They walked in and found David was looking up at them. His mother kissed him and his father kissed him too. Afterwards, his parents kissed each other. David looked confused. Then he smiled.

  “Mom,” he said.

  “David don’t try to say too much, you’ve been through quite an ordeal,” Dr. Payne said.

  “But I’ve got to tell you where I’ve been,” he said. “I was in a dark place and I was trying to find my way home. I could hear the demons rejoicing. They thought their plot had worked. Then they got angry because it was falling apart. Can I have some water?” he asked.

  His mother quickly poured him some water and helped him sit up to take a few sips.

  “The demons started coming after me. The demons kept telling Big D to get me. I found out that was Disease. They wanted to give me a disease. I kept running. Then I heard Aunt Tillie’s voice. She kept saying, ‘prayer warriors are always one step ahead of the devil.’ Whenever it seemed like they were getting close, I would hear her saying, ‘the blood of Jesus covers you David.’ It would give me more confidence to keep going. I just wanted to go home. Then finally I heard Stephanie’s voice. It was so real. She was singing that same song I heard her sing before. Then I understood this time what it meant.

  I guess I never told you about her song, the words are “From generation to generation thou hast been our dwelling place.” David paused for a moment because he was out of breath. Then he started talking again. “Will you now restore us with your mercy and your grace. Lord break we now all images that don’t reflect your love. We turn from selfish pleasures and seek thy face above. All of a sudden,” he said, “I woke up.”

  “See, King Josiah repented for his people and for the ways of his ancestors that had strayed from God. The books of the law had been lost for so long because little by little the ways of God were forgotten. After King Josiah repented on behalf of everyone, he brought out the books and they listened to the words of the Lord all day long. It was like a beautiful song. And that’s what Stephanie’s song is - we’ve found the words of the Lord again.”

  “That’s beautiful son,” Dennis Edwards said. “I want you to know that your mother and I have found the book that was lost in the temple. I decided I don’t want a counterfeit, I want the real thing. Thanks for leading me back to the light,” he said placing a hand on Faye’s shoulder.

  “Is Rose here?” David asked.

  She’s right outside,” his mother said. “We’ll leave while you talk with her,” she said. One by one they filed out the room and Rose was summoned to come inside.

  Rose came into the room and sat at his side. “How are you feeling?” she said feeling awkward but happy. He took her hand and placed it in his.

  “Rose, I - I know I hurt you in the past. I’m truly sorry for that. I didn’t know how to handle what I was going through.”

  “I wish you would have trusted me,” she said. “I’m sorry you went through so much alone,” she continued.

  “Well, I wasn’t totally alone. I had Aunt Tillie. I don’t know what I would have done without her. As soon as the current situations are over, I can resume my life, our life,” he said.

  “What situations?” she asked.

  “Well there are some people that- wait a minute,” he said. “I can cross one couple off my list.”r />
  “You can cross three couples off your list,” she said. “Keith and Darlene have reconciled and so have your neighbors Michael and Brenda McCain.” she said with pleasure.

  “How did you know about them?” he asked.

  “They came to visit you and told us how you had helped them.”

  “Then who’s the third couple Rose? Are you talking about me and you?” he asked.

  “No, I’m talking about your mom and dad. I know you’ve been praying for them too.”

  “How did?-” David began.

  “I understand a lot more than you give me credit for,” she said. “I went to help my stepmom clean out Aunt Tillie’s apartment. I didn’t tell her but I found a Bible that Aunt Tillie had left for you.” She pulled from her purse a small Bible covered with beautiful black leather that was well worn but in great shape. She pulled open the cover and read an inscription.

  “My dearest David, just like your name, you’re a mighty prayer warrior, a natural leader and seeking after the heart of God. May this small gift remind you always to seek the face of God, love his people and never be intimidated by any demon in hell. A prayer warrior is always one step ahead of the devil. Love Always, Aunt Tillie.”

  David took the Bible and rubbed his hand gently across the leather. “Rose,” he asked, looking up directly into her face, “Will you marry me?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  David was sure that the church could not have seen a more beautiful bride. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind as he watched her glowing like the eastern star as she came closer and closer to the front. He smiled at Stephen, who stood behind him as his best man. Stephen acknowledged the smile by nodding his head approvingly. Then he looked into the audience and smiled at Myra. Stephen couldn’t begin to explain his feelings of thankfulness.

  David felt as secure as a babe in the womb. He had his family in the same room at the same time, witnessing the most special day of his life. The pain of the last few years seemed only a vague memory. What was real was in front of him. His parents were seated together in church. He knew they weren’t perfect but he saw two individuals put aside their selfish desires in order for the will of God to go forth. Yet, to David, that was as perfect as any marriage could get.