By Wednesday, Richard found he was unconsciously paying more attention to the theme of the evening. The music room was next to the kitchen, and he could hear Lee Ann playing the piano while the choir director taught several groups of kids Bible songs, including, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ and ‘Lord, I Wanna be a Sheep!’” When the children who were in the Crafts Room ran outside for snacks, they were playing with handmade sheep marionettes, created out of cotton balls, string and popsicle sticks. Gracie ran up to Richard, proudly waving her own sheep puppet at him. “Look Grampa!”
Richard admired the little cotton ball creation, and then he tried out the little puppet, making it dance across the table. “Lord I wanna be sheep, buh buh buh baa,” he sang to her in a deep voice.
“Grampa!” Gracie exclaimed. “You know my song!”
“Yeah, I guess I do know it. I’ve been listening to you guys practicing it for three days now!” He admitted to her, laughing a little at himself.
Back in the kitchen, Richard had just finished washing the last of the bowls when the five minute warning bell rang for the skit. He found himself wiping his hands dry and following his fellow kitchen helpers out into the hallway behind the stage.
Once again, Steve was waiting there for his entry cue, along with several young boys and girls. Steve was obviously dressed as a shepherd tonight, complete with the big shepherd’s crook. The children were wearing sheepskin vests and had floppy black ears attached to bands around their heads. They sported cotton ball tails, and milled around the hallway giggling and ‘baa baa-ing to pass the time. Richard could hear the stage manager introducing the skit, but he could not make out the words. He cocked his head. “What’s with all the sheep stuff?” he asked Steve.
“Tonight we are talking about how Jesus is a shepherd to his people.” He nodded his head toward his restless flock of children. “We’re acting out the parable of the lost sheep.”
Richard frowned in confusion. “I thought you said your Jesus was all about fishing!”
The stage manager finished his speech and the audience clapped. Steve opened the stage door and his ‘sheep’ bounded onto the stage ahead of him. “Totally into fishing!” Steve agreed with a grin. “See you on the other side!” He dashed up the steps after his runaway flock.
Richard scowled. “What do fish and sheep have in common?” He grumbled turning away. But then, his curiosity got the better of him, and once again he slipped into a chair at the back of the hall.
Friday evening, Richard put away the extra juice bottles and leaned against the refrigerator door. The other ladies had already headed to the assembly hall. Richard had wanted a little time alone, and had offered to finish up by himself.
He contemplated the little vase of flowers he had collected over the course of the evening. The theme tonight was something about knowing a good plant by the fruit it produced. The students gave out flowers to anyone whom they thought was helping God. Richard had been surprised that as he had collected the dirty dishes after the 4th grade snack break, children had begun handing him flowers!
The first time it happened, he had laughed and handed the flower back to the girl. “I think you are supposed to give the flowers to someone who is helping God,” he reminded her.
“I know that!” She had retorted, unabashed. “Jesus wants us to nurture people. You’ve served us snacks every night, and you even clean up after us, even though you look like you don’t much enjoy it.”
“I don’t, do I?” Richard responded, suddenly feeling self conscious about his attitude all week.
The girl shrugged. “I don’t blame you for looking grumpy, I hate washing dishes too,” she acknowledged. “That’s why I think you deserve a flower. You took care of us every night, even though it wasn’t a very fun job.” Once again she held out the daisy, and this time Richard accepted it with a confused “thank you.”
“You have to put it in water, or it’s going to die,” she reminded him when he stuck it in his pocket. “Uh, right, I’ll take care of it when I get back in the kitchen,” he promised her. She gave him a bright smile and hurried after her class, which was heading off to the story room.
Carefully, Richard carried the flower back to the kitchen. Ellie, one of the other ladies working with him, smiled when she saw it. “How nice!” she exclaimed, and reached for small juice glass in the cabinet. She filled it with water and said, “This ought to be deep enough to hold it.”
Richard dropped the daisy into the glass and set it on the corner of his serving tray. After that, each time he returned to the kitchen, two or three new daisies would have joined the first one in the juice glass. Now as he leaned against the refrigerator, he held the glass in his hand and contemplated his rainbow bouquet. Why would anyone look at a grumpy old man handing out snacks, and think that somehow he was doing God’s work? He wondered, more confused than ever by the children’s’ gesture.
“Wow, pretty impressive!” Richard looked up to see Steve admiring his flower glass.
Embarrassed, Richard quickly set the glass down on the counter. “I think they just got tired of having to carry them around,” he said feigning an indifferent shrug.
“Not a chance!” Steve said seriously. “They’ve almost emptied four buckets worth of flowers tonight. The kids have had a pretty good time recognizing God’s servants all night long. They even started a vase for the cleaning lady, and an honorary one for their parents. And it was all their idea.”
Taken aback by the obvious thought the children had put into their project, Richard cast around for a different subject. His gaze fastened on Steve’s outfit. Instead of the traditional robes and beard of the last couple of nights, Steve was wearing patched overalls, work boots and heavy gloves.
“What’s with your clothes?” He demanded. “Isn’t t time for the skit? You look like you’re ready to clean the gutters.”
Steve glanced down at his outfit. “Oh yeah, I’m in the skit…can’t you tell that I’m supposed to be a gardener?” He asked a little concerned.
Richard’s eyebrows shot up. “I guess you could be, but I thought you were supposed to be telling Bible stories about Jesus.” He said, trying to ignore the tug of disappointment that instead of a story tonight, Steve would be giving a gardening lesson.
“Oh, it’s definitely a skit about one of Jesus’ parables,” Steve reassured Richard. “This one’s in the book of Luke, and talks about not giving up on someone just because they don’t seem to be responding. Sometimes you have to do more than stick a plant in the ground. The same goes for spreading God’s Word. In other words, if you don’t prepare the soil, how can you expect to get a good harvest?”
Richard crossed his arms over his chest and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “So now you’re telling me Jesus is a gardener, too?”
“The Master Gardener. Absolutely.” Steve replied without hesitation.
“Your Jesus can’t seem to settle down on one career,” Richard observed sarcastically.
Steve sighed. Richard just didn’t seem to get any of it. “Richard, Jesus only has one career: Saving souls. He just uses a lot of different methods to achieve the goal.” Steve spread out his hands. “Whether He’s fishing for souls, protecting and caring for the flock or preparing the soil in our hearts to receive the Word of God, it’s all just ways of letting us know how far he will go to bring us closer to him. That’s what the theme of this Vacation Bible School has been. How God finds us, and how we can help him with the soul harvest.”
Richard’s eyes met Steve’s. “And if we don’t happen to be part of this ‘soul harvest?”
Steve’s eyes never wavered. “You always have that choice,” he acknowledged quietly. “But he has one other career we haven’t talked about yet. It’s something you need to consider.”
“Don’t tell me, he’s also a gourmet cook on the Food Channel Network,” Richard quipped, a sarcastic note in his voice.
Steve laughed, remembering trying to explain the miracle of the bread and fishes
to Chuck at the beach one day. “A friend of mine once claimed that Jesus had the first fast food restaurant,” he replied, “but that’s not it. Jesus is also the King of Kings. One day he will judge the world and everyone will have to make the choice. Either follow the king’s laws, or be condemned and get thrown out of the kingdom.”
Richard’s face was blank for a moment, then his eyes widened and a look of incredulity spread over it. “Are you talking about hell?” He demanded angrily. “What you are telling me is that, I must either toe the line or I will burn forever in hellfire? Is that it?”
“When the judgment comes, only those who will grow in God’s New World will remain,” Steve said seriously. “Evil will be destroyed at last.”
“So you expect me to worship a God who will destroy me if I don’t do everything he says? He sounds like a thug!”
“Not a thug, a gardener,” Steve corrected. “If you plant a garden, don’t you have the right to pull out the weeds and clear away the dead wood? Don’t people make similar choices every day, about what they will and what they won’t allow to happen in their communities? We agree to follow laws everyday, or face punishment. Why should we get angry with the One who gave us everything we have, for doing the same thing?” Steve replied.
Richard stuttered, searching for a retort, when the sound of clapping signaled that it was time for Steve to go out on to the stage. “Excuse me.” Steve apologized, and picked up a bucket with a bare dead branch sticking out of the dirt. “Luke 13:6 - I’ve got a tree to revive.” He turned away from Richard and slipped through the stage door.
Richard stared after him in disgust. These Christians were insane!
“Luke 13, chapter 6,” he mimicked in an ugly tone. Well, he’d had enough. Instead of hurrying around to join the audience, Richard turned and stalked out the door. He was pulling in the driveway when he recalled that his bouquet of daisies was still sitting on the shelf in the kitchen of the church.
Richard was sitting in his recliner, flipping through the news channels when Gracie and Lee Ann cam home an hour later. He glowered at the screen, unable to find a program that could hold his interest. Lee Ann smiled at her husband in concern, as she set her Bible and purse down on the table. “You left early, are you feeling okay, hon?” She asked solicitously.
“Yeah, just great,” Richard replied moodily, punching the remote button yet again.
“Only one more night,” she reminded him with an encouraging smile. When he didn’t respond, she hesitated, and then looking at the brooding face, she wisely decided it would be better to leave him alone until he was ready to talk.
She stretched her arms. “I’m really tired,” she told him. “I think I’ll take a long hot bath tonight – maybe wait until morning to do my Bible readings.” When Richard didn’t reply she sighed and wished him a good night.
“’Night,” he replied indifferently, flipping at last to the weather and concentrating on their latest predictions for the weekend. Lee Ann hesitated a moment longer, then headed upstairs to help Gracie get ready for bed.
Richard watched the end of the local forecast, and then started flipping channels randomly again. When a T.V. preacher appeared on the screen, he moved his thumb to press the up button, but the preacher’s text, superimposed on the bottom of the screen, caught is attention. Luke 13:6. Almost against his will, he read the words along with the preacher and listened as the man spoke.
“And the landowner said, why waste time on that tree anymore? It never bears any fruit. It just takes nourishment from the soil and never gives anything back. But the gardener restrained the landowner, saying, “Sir, give me leave to tend this tree. I will loosen the soil, spread manure and prune back the deadwood. If it still bears no fruit, then I shall destroy it.”
“Brethren, we live in the time of Grace. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross marks the beginning of His efforts to revive your lives. He is loosening the soil, feeding your soul and heart with the Word.” He lifted the Bible. “He will trim back the distractions in your life, to force you to focus on what is important!” Again, he shook the Bible at them, emphasizing the word ‘important’. “He wants to see what you will do! But it is still your choice. Will you produce good fruit? Or just take up space in the garden? You may be getting away with it right now, like a weed, flourishing among the flowers, but someday, my friend, the Master Gardener will return to the garden, and woe to you who have choked the good plants and thrived only for your own pleasure. The Bible is clear! Jesus will return, and on that day, he will clear away the deadwood and burn it in the fire! And who will stop him? It is his garden and he will do with it as seems good to him. None will stop him, because it is written that all will know him as Lord on that Day of Judgment! Every knee will bow before the King on the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord! Every tongue will confess before their God and King! To some, he will grant eternal life and a place in his kingdom, but to others, he will say “I never knew you,” and they shall be thrown into the pit. How will he know us, my friends? By the fruit we produce here on earth!”
Richard had heard enough. He turned off the television and sat there in the dark room. So this was what Steve had been telling him today. What were the chances that he would flip to a television preacher speaking about the same passage that he had so completely rejected only a few hours ago?
Restlessly, he stood and wandered toward the stairs, with half a mind to go up to bed, but bright splashes of color on the dining room table caught his eye. Lee Ann had brought home his bouquet of daisies. But next to it was Lee Ann’s bouquet. Every night she had worked with the children, teaching them, laughing with them, patiently playing the songs on the piano over and over again as the children learned the words and tunes. Why should he be so stunned that her rainbow bouquet was stuffed into two huge glass jars? The evangelist’s words played again in his head. “He will know you by the fruit you bear.” His little glass of flowers that has so touched him looked pitiful next to Lee Ann’s huge collection. He will destroy the deadwood.
“I don’t stand a chance,” he muttered. His gaze fell on Lee Ann’s new study Bible. Hesitantly, he picked up the book, rifling through the pages. Names flashed by: Kings, Isaiah, Psalms, Matthew, Luke, Corinthians, Revelation. He flipped back to Luke, turning the pages slowly until he found chapter 13. He read the verses through, then went back and read it again from the beginning of the chapter. Frowning, he flipped back to the beginning of the book. Pulling out a chair, he sat down resolutely, and began to read.
Ch 26
Beth and Steve
“So what does Gracie think about suddenly having a real father?” Beth asked nonchalantly, as she stowed her air tank on the rack.
Steve pulled off his flippers, and then looked up at Beth. Her blonde hair fell in wet ringlets to her shoulders. She’d recently had it cut and styled in a way that really complimented her blue eyes. He’d forgotten how pretty she was.
Steve smiled and shrugged. “She doesn’t know yet.”
Beth stared at Steve, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “You’re kidding,” she said incredulously.
Steve shook his head. “We all agreed on that point. We don’t want to just drop it on her. They’d always told her I was dead, you see. Now, not only am I alive, I’m about to leave for Hanging Rock in a few weeks, and I can’t take her with me.” Steve sighed. “It’s complicated, but Richard and Lee Ann are arranging plenty of opportunities for Gracie and me to get to spend time together, and for right now, that’s enough.”
Beth whistled in amazement, shaking her head. “Wow. They’re moving slow enough. Why do you think they are holding off telling her the truth?”
Steve chose his words carefully, remembering again Deborah’s warning. He didn’t want to tell Beth that David’s lie had caused all of this. What if she was still in contact with him? That was a question he had chosen not to ask her back in May. Now, he wished he knew the answer.
“It was a bad time, right after the accident,” he told
her finally. “There were several misunderstandings on both sides that caused a lot of anger and hurt feelings. Once I left for college, I never really came back home, it was all just too painful. I thought that they hated me, so I stayed away from them when I was in town. So, of course, they concluded that I’d gone on with my life and didn’t care about the mess I left behind.” Steve laughed ironically. “If I hadn’t fallen off a cliff and then re-injured my leg, I might never have found out the truth.”
“And you believe the Bolton’s are sincerely happy that you finally do know the truth?” Beth asked, raising an eyebrow.
Steve nodded, wondering at her questions. “They actually seemed relieved. I think that they were worried about being able to raise Gracie down the road, especially when Lee Ann thought that she was dying of cancer.”
Beth was silent a moment. “What about David?” she asked at last.
“What about him?” Steve replied evenly.
“Well, you say that his parents were worried about Gracie’s future…but why? Wouldn’t they have let David raise her?”
Because he’s volatile, and restless, and he’s always deployed. They know it would be the wrong life for Gracie! Steve wanted to tell her. But he only said, “He loves the marines, and that’s a difficult enough life without saddling him with raising a child. He’s not even married.”
“That could change.” Beth sounded strangely defiant. The words hung in the air for several moments. She is waiting for him to return for her! Steve realized in dawning comprehension.
“Yes,” Steve agreed with her gently. “That could change, but that’s not the point now. I am her father. Not David. And I do want to be the one to take care of her.”
Far Country Page 22
