October Joy (Moments In Paradise 1)

by Melanie Wilber

  October Joy

  by Melanie Wilber

  October Joy

  © 2006 by Melanie L. Wilber

  Revised and Updated, 2013

  All Rights Reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination. Except for well-known historical and contemporary figures, any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.

  Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

  Also:

  Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

  October Joy

  Chapter Guide

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  EPILOGUE

  Dedication

  For anyone who has lost a loved one;

  Grace and peace to you, from God our Father.

  You will keep on guiding me with your counsel,

  leading me to a glorious destiny.

  Psalm 73:24

  Prologue

  “I love these new flowers,” Annika said, smiling broadly and looking over her shoulder at Joshua who had strolled into the kitchen. “How do You come up with these amazing new colors? What do You call that?”

  Joshua smiled. “I think I’ll call that one, Annika’s Delight.”

  She laughed. “You always say that.”

  “Call it whatever you like. I made it just for you.”

  Annika thought for a moment. Checking her Earth calendar, she saw it was the first day of October there. “How about October Joy?”

  “Appropriate,” Joshua said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean? Do you have some surprises for me this month?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Annika finished watering the flowers she had planted two weeks ago in the windowsill of her cozy cottage overlooking the Crystal Sea. She had been here for five years, but she still wasn’t used to how fast a seed could turn into a beautiful bounty of flowers, nor the amazing shapes, patterns, and colors Joshua could come up with.

  “Is the mail here yet?” she asked.

  “I didn’t hear the doorbell, did you?”

  “I know. I know. First things first. I’m coming, I just had to see if these were as amazing as when they started to bloom yesterday.”

  Grabbing some fresh strawberries from the bowl on the counter and some warm bread Joshua had made before she’d gotten out of bed this morning, Annika took her plate to the parlor and sat down in the comfortable chair across from Joshua. He did have a bit of a twinkle in His eye this morning, and she wondered what He was up to, but He would tell her--all in due time.

  “How were your Joy-Sightings yesterday?” Joshua asked.

  “Joyful.” She smiled. “What else?”

  He waited for her to get serious with Him. And she wanted to, but those flowers had already overloaded her joy quota for the day. What did He expect? She reminded herself Joshua had to bear the sorrow of those still living on Earth, and she knew hearing about her happiness would add to His, so she shared every detail.

  “Ryan gave my sweet Tabitha a purity bracelet. It is beautiful, and her eyes were shining like I’ve never seen before, even more than when her daddy gave her that brand new flute for Christmas last year.”

  Joshua smiled and nodded like He remembered both occasions well, from her perspective here and from His there among her precious loved ones.

  “Is Tabby going to marry Ryan?” she asked, just in case Joshua was in the mood to tell her a secret. He had told Erika a secret once, so she always asked if it was something she really wanted to know.

  Joshua smiled, and she knew she wasn’t getting that out of Him, at least not today. She would keep asking, but for now she moved on to her other Joy-Sightings--events happening on Earth of special interest to her, and also those she had been a part of here in Paradise.

  On Earth, Andrew had been at her grave site, and she met him there. He looked well. At peace. He brought her pink roses. Maybe that’s why she had been so anxious to see her latest flower variety in full bloom. They were a shade of pink too. October Joy Pink. She couldn’t describe it any other way.

  “I know I ask you this all the time, but Andrew’s going to be all right, isn’t he?”

  “He’s fine, Annika,” Joshua said, but there was that twinkle in His eye again. Yes, He was definitely up to something.

  She asked Joshua to take care of her family every day, and He always promised He would. She believed Him, but she also wondered how they were doing on any given day. She couldn’t always know that. Some things were not for her to see, Joshua said, but the happy-endings and victories following times of great sorrow or strife--she was always invited to observe those moments at the Great Window, her private view into the lives of her loved ones and anything else Joshua wanted her to see. The good stuff. The stuff that brought delight to her soul. And she went there at least once every single day, so it was impossible for her to dwell on anything negative. Joshua was too powerful and faithful for that.

  When she finished restating the events Joshua had been beside her to see, she had a familiar feeling of being glad she had taken time to share them. For Him and the joy He received from her happiness, and for herself and the double joy of sharing things with Joshua. She never got tired of it.

  He shared His thoughts with her then, and she was overtaken with the feeling of His infinite love for her. A love that had brought her into existence. A love that had blessed her with a wonderful earthly life. A love that made her aware of His constant presence, even when He had been invisible to her on the Other Side. And a love that brought her to this place of complete restoration, unhindered love, unstoppable peace, and unending joy.

  But He kept her guessing every day. What Joy-Sightings would she see today? What invitations would be handed to her when she opened the door this morning? Whom would she have bread and wine with here at her cottage? Whom would she be meeting at Starhaven or in the Meadow or on Jasper Island? She couldn’t wait to find out.

  “Before you get your mail today, I have something to tell you,” Joshua said. His voice was neither mischievous nor overly serious. “You better get an early start because you have a lot of people to meet. It’s going to be a busy month.”

  She smiled. “Does that mean I can get started?”

  He laughed. “Yes, Annika. Have fun, but don’t try to figure everything out today. It will become clear in due time, I promise.”

  She heard the doorbell ring. “Don’t say that,” she laughed. “Whenever you say, ‘I promise’, things get crazy
!”

  He laughed. “It will be all right, Annika. I promise.”

  Joshua didn’t lie about the volume of mail, that’s for sure. Sorting through the messages delivered by the sweet little boy who had been her morning messenger for awhile now, Annika tried to decide where to go first. She had some definite times she needed to be at places here in New Jerusalem, but she could go to the Great Window at any time.

  Often she went there first and then returned later in the day when she finished with her scheduled meetings, but she would be there until tomorrow if she did that. There were too many.

  She would have to stop by on her way from Erika’s cottage to Starhaven, catch another Joy-Sighting on her way back to have lunch here with Grandma and Grandpa, and then another on her way to Jasper Island to meet someone she didn’t know, a gentleman named Levi. If Grandma and Grandpa didn’t stay too long, that is. And she hadn’t seen them for at least a week, so she wouldn’t be anxious to let them go. Of course, if she was having a busy month, maybe they were too. Unless all the activity involved another branch of the family tree.

  No Pearly Gate invitations today, so that was a plus. Those always took forever. It was like trying to weave her way through a Fourth of July Parade, even with Joshua’s help. But she never wanted to miss one. Everyone had shown up for her Arrival: close family-members and friends who had gone on before her, and the hundreds she didn’t know but had somehow known her or Joshua wanted her to meet on her first day here. She had never imagined such a hullabaloo over her entrance into Paradise, but she would never forget that day.

  Joshua had carried her from the mangled car by the side of the road she couldn’t remember crashing, through the bright light a few paces away, and straight through the most beautiful doorway she had ever seen, made of a single pearl just like Joshua’s Word said. And then she heard the music coming over the Crystal Sea, smelled the fragrant aroma of the New Earth Gardens, tasted the sweet grapes and strawberries a beautiful little girl offered her, and then turned to see Joshua, who had been right there the whole time, but she suddenly thought to look and see who had brought her to this glorious Place.

  His Name had spilled easily from her lips. She didn’t know how she knew it was Him or to call Him that, but she did. And then she fainted right there in the Courtyard for all to see, but Joshua had brought her around soon enough, and His first words to her had been, “Don’t be afraid, Annika. It’s just Me. Welcome Home.”

  Chapter One

  Andrew Morgan drove into the long-term parking lot of San Francisco International Airport and found an empty space. Reaching for his phone that had alerted him to a text message a few minutes ago, he saw it was from Tabitha, and he smiled at her sweet words.

  Have a nice trip, Dad. I love you. Miss you already.

  He responded, saying he loved and missed her too, and he also sent a quick message to his oldest daughter, Grace. He hadn’t been up early enough to say good-bye to her this morning before she left for work, and he needed to remind her to pick up Tabby from school and take her for her driver’s test. Tabitha had begun her senior year of high school, was trying for her license today, and had started dating a boy late in the summer. From everything he could tell thus far, she was completely gone on him too. His youngest daughter was growing up.

  Tabitha hadn’t dated until Ryan Sutherland finally got around to asking her in mid August, something Andrew had suspected would happen sooner or later. Ryan was a good kid. If Tabitha had to be dating anyone, he didn’t think he could make a better choice for her. Ryan was the oldest of the four Sutherland boys growing up from young grade-schoolers when he had first become the pastor of Sunrise Community Church nine years ago to the teenagers they were today. Mild mannered, good-looking, polite, and extremely talented, Ryan was one of the student-leaders within the youth program along with Tabitha, and they had been friends before Ryan made his move.

  Andrew didn’t know if Tabitha had been waiting for Ryan to ask, and that’s why she had turned down other boys in the past, or if she simply hadn’t been interested in the others, but she was interested in Ryan. Very interested. And it reminded him of the way he and Annika had been all those years ago. They had met when they were fifteen, began dating when they were seventeen, and were married two weeks after Annika’s nineteenth birthday.

  They met at church also. Annika’s father was a hardworking, God-fearing man who had moved from the factories and city-life of New York, where his ancestors from Scandinavia had settled in the early 1700’s, to the lush plains of Iowa at the age of twenty to try his hand at farming, and he’d done rather well at it. People in those parts knew all about Tate Andriessen’s bountiful farmland once thought useless. And Tate knew without a shadow of a doubt his plentiful harvests had come from the Good Lord Himself during those early years and to the present day where he was still farming in his seventies alongside his sons and grandsons.

  Of Andrew’s three daughters, Tabitha reminded him the most of Annika, who had gone on to Heaven to be with Jesus five years ago now. Losing his childhood sweetheart in a fatal car accident had been the most heart-wrenching day of his life. She had been his sunrise every morning. The most gracious and delightful gift he had ever received from his loving Creator. He had seriously questioned God’s love that day, and many others since, but he had slowly accepted losing Annika as a part of God’s perfect plan for her, himself, and their five children. It didn’t make sense to his finite, logical mind, but he had learned to rest in the reality it made sense to God, and he could believe there were countless reasons why it was best, even if he couldn’t make sense of it most of the time.

  One thing he knew for sure: Losing Annika had brought him closer to his children. He had always been there for them and knew he’d been a good father. A loving father. But also a busy father. Busy with his church-life to the point of neglecting his wife and children at times.

  Annika never told him that. His children had never come to him and said, ‘I wish you would have been there more.’ But looking back, he knew it was true. He was much closer to Tabitha and his son Tate than he had been to his three older children during their teen years. He’d cut back on his workload so much at the church during the last few years, he was amazed anything got done, and yet the church had more than doubled in size in the last five years. Going from a modest number of two-hundred members to over five-hundred at last count.

  He had no explanation for it except God had chosen to bless them and make them a stronger light in the coastal community he and Annika had first come to nine years ago. And they hadn’t stolen sheep from other congregations in the area. All the other churches were mostly the same size as they’d been five years ago. The newcomers hadn’t come from other churches, but from within the town and surrounding areas. People who had grown sour on church for whatever reason in their younger years had realized they couldn’t live without God any longer and started coming. Liking the message they heard, the people they met, and the good programs for their kids that were nothing fancy, but adequate, had kept them coming.

  It had been good for his lonely soul. He’d grown weary of ministry without realizing it until Annika was gone, and then it really went from being his work to his burden. But God had taken that load from him. His congregation had been wonderful through it all. And his children had been amazing. The mere thought of one of them could bring tears to his eyes. He loved them very, very much.

  He was off to a Midwest pastor’s conference for a few days, but he rarely traveled away from them. Once earlier this year to Los Angeles, and now to Iowa. He couldn’t believe it was October already, but it would be a lovely time to visit his Midwest roots. There was nothing like a beautiful sunrise over a thousand-acre corn field.

  ***

  “Are you traveling for business or pleasure?” the man sitting next to Andrew asked after the plane had reached its cruising altitude somewhere above northern California.

  “Both,” he replied. “I’m going to a conference
, but I’m going to be seeing some family while I’m there.”

  “In Denver?”

  “No, I have a connecting flight to Des Moines after this one.”

  “What business are you in?”

  Andrew always loved it when strangers asked him that question. He could usually tell how often they attended church by their initial reaction. “I’m a pastor.”

  “Oh, is that right?” the man said, giving him a genuine smile and a light chuckle. “I had a feeling this was going to be a good day.”

  “You’re a pastor too,” Andrew said without having to ask.

  “Yes, that’s right,” he said, reaching out to shake his hand. “My name’s Jerry. Good to meet you.”

  “Good to meet you,” Andrew said, shaking Jerry’s hand.

  They had a good chat for the next hour about their respective ministries and lives. Jerry was an assistant pastor at a large church in Oakland, and he didn’t say his age but Andrew supposed he was about ten years younger than him based on the ages of his children and the amount of time he had been in his current position and previous ones--all in the northern California area. He was on his way to a conference too, only in Denver, and talking with him was refreshing.

  They had three pastors at their church now besides himself and were looking to bring on another to help them meet the needs of their growing congregation, but it was nice to talk to someone on the outside about ministry matters, especially someone who was part of a larger church so he could hear how they handled various challenges Sunrise was beginning to experience.

  That was partly why he decided to go this week. He’d been to other conferences since Annika had been gone, but mostly the same ones where he felt like he heard the same things over and over. When he’d been considering going to someplace new or where he hadn’t been for awhile, the Midwest conference in Des Moines had come to mind and stuck. He and Annika used to go every year, spending some of the time at the conference and also with her family while they were in the area. But he hadn’t been able to go without her. He and the kids had been back to Iowa to see the family every summer, but this was the first time he was going alone.