by Janette Oke
"Iffen yer good."
They both laughed.
"My, Clark," she said after a few moments had passed, "but don't thet first garden of mine seem like a long time ago?"
He looked at her, his eyes searching deep into hers. Then he reached over and took her free hand in his.
"Does it?" he asked. "Seems to me thet it weren't all thet far from yesterday."
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TWENTY-NINE The Legacy
Baby Belinda had been fed for the night. Marty and Clark lay with her between them, spending some time admiring the perfection of the tiny baby before they would tuck her into her own bed for the night. She hadn't fallen asleep yet and lay studying the faces she had learned to love. One of her hands firmly clasped a finger on her father's hand. The other tiny baby fist was knotted in the front of Marty's gown. And so she held them both. Not just with childish fingers, Marty thought, but with cords of love.
As Marty gazed at the baby lying between them, she thought again of Ellie. So much had happened to Ellie in such a short time.
"It's really somethin', ain't it?" she murmured. "I still find it hard to believe. It sounds like somethin' you'd read in a fairy tale or somethin'. Who would have thought any of ours would be left a legacy?"
"An' one of such size, too," agreed Clark. "Oh, true, Lane ain't startin' off a millionaire, but he sure has 'im a better start than a lot of young men."
"I trust 'im with it, though," said Marty. "It won't go to his head none. He'll be responsible and givin', and he'll put the money to good use."
"I been thinkin' a lot on legacies lately," Clark said, brushing one of Belinda's curls between his fingers.
"Like what?"
"Well, the kinds of legacies one can leave behind."
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"Kinds?"
"Well, there's the money kind. Everyone is familiar with thet. Not thet we all git one, mind ya--but at least ya hear of one now an' then, like happened with Lane."
Marty nodded in agreement.
"But there's other kinds, too."
Marty waited for him to go on. Belinda let go of her grasp on the gown and waved a hand that hit Marty lightly on the chin. Marty caught the small fist and put it to her lips.
"Take this here little one now--we gotta plan what we're gonna be leavin' her with. An' I'm not talkin' money in the bank. I'm talkin' character--faith ... love fer others ... an unselfish spirit ... independence ... maturity."
Marty knew where Clark's thoughts were leading them. She nodded silently.
"We've got a big job ahead of us, Marty. It'll be fun--but there will be work and care there, too."
"I was thinkin' the other day," admitted Marty, "here I go again! The diapers, the fevers, the teeth, the potty trainin'. Oh, Clark. There's so much ahead of us."
"Then it will be school, an' teachin' chores, an' friendships, an' 'fore we know it--beaus!" said Clark.
"It's kinda scary." Marty whispered.
"Scary?" laughed Clark. "Maybe. It'd be even more scary iffen we didn't have some pretty good examples before us." "Examples?"
"Our other kids. Not a rotten apple in the bunch."
Marty smiled, thinking of each one of their family.
"Sometimes I feel so proud of 'em," she admitted.
"Me too," he agreed with her. "Me too."
"Like Kate an' Clare. I was so afraid. So afraid they wouldn't be able to handle losin' thet baby. They wanted it so much, Clark. So very much. Yet not a trace of bitterness. They truly took it like real ... real mature Christians. They even seemed to grow sweeter
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an' ... an' wiser. I was so proud of 'em."
"An' Ellie," Marty went on. "The way she just stepped in an' took over when Nandry was havin' her hard time an' showed her where she was wrong without pointin' fingers or causin' hurt. Ya shoulda heard her, Clark. You'd have been so pleased."
"An' Nandry, too. I had me no idea she was carryin' all thet load of bitterness from the time she was a little girl. An' yet, when she saw her wrong, she ... she just asked the Lord fer His fergiveness."
Clark swung his daughter up into the air and then laid her on his chest. "Yep, little one, yer gonna have to learn 'bout fergiveness, too." Belinda just stuck her thumb in her mouth and laid her head down against her pa.
"Then there's Arnie," Marty continued. "At his age, an' already a deacon in the church, an' a good one, too. An' Clae an' Joe servin' in a church, an' Missie an' Willie startin' a church out there in their own home, an' our Luke studyin' to be a doctor."
"Ya know," she said thoughtfully and with a smile, "yer right, Clark. There ain't a rotten apple in the whole bunch."
"Luke. I'm thinkin' we chose his name well."
"Meanin'?"
"Luke. Luke the physician."
"Never thought on thet before. Guess we did name 'im well, didn't we?"
Belinda lifted her head and reached for Clark's nose with her wet little hand. He chuckled and adjusted her to better see her in the light.
"I'm afraid yer goin' to spoil her with all yer fussin'," scolded Marty.
"Spoil her?"
"She gits held an' rocked an' cuddled so much she'll git to think thet it's all thet her pa's got to do."
"I did it with all the others, too, an' you yerself just agreed there ain't a bad one in the whole bunch," Clark reminded her.
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Marty smiled. It was true. He had given a lot of love and attention to each one of the babies.
Clark turned serious. "What did we do right, Marty?" "Is it important?"
"I think so. We've got Belinda here. We can't afford to go wrong on this one, Marty." Clark kissed his baby on her forehead.
Marty thought in silence for a moment. "Fact is," she finally said, "I don't rightly know what we did right. We made mistakes--I know I did. Lots of 'em. God knows we tried to do what was right. Maybe thet's what He honored--our tryin'."
"Lots of parents try ... an' fail," Clark reminded her.
It was a sobering thought and one that Marty knew was true.
"We need faith, Clark," she said softly. "We need to really hang on in faith. God didn't fail us before--we need to trust 'im with Belinda, too."
"Trust 'im," echoed Clark. "Trust God--an' work an' spank an' train an' pray like we had it all to do on our own."
"Guess it all has somethin' to do with thet legacy ya were talkin 'bout. So much depends upon what we leave our children--not to 'em, but within 'em."
"Wish it was as simple as passin' on the family heirlooms." "Meanin'?"
"Ya don't just pass on faith. Ya have to pass on a desire fer 'em to find a faith of their own. Ya have to show 'em daily in the way ya live thet what ya have is worth livin' an' fightin' an' workin' fer. A secondhand faith is no good to anyone. It has to be a faith of their own."
"Thet's the secret," Marty agreed with feeling. "A faith of their own. I am so thankful to God thet each one of our children made their own decision to let God be in charge in their life."
"An' it doesn't stop there--it goes on an' on. They teach an' train our grandchildren, an' with God's help, they can teach our great-grandchildren. It can go on an' on, an' never end till Jesus comes back," added Clark.
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Marty smiled. "It's a mighty big thought." she said. She reached out a hand to touch the head of the baby Clark was holding. Their baby. "An' to think it all starts with a little bundle thet God himself cares to trust us with."
"No," said Clark, and his words were carefully weighed. "It starts long 'fore thet. It starts with a Father who loved us enough to send His Son. It starts with a man an' a woman determined to follow His ways. It starts when two people are willin' to give a child back to the Lord. It starts with all thet--but there never needs to be an end to it. It's the kind of legacy thet truly lasts."
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A FAMILY LEGACY OF LOVE THAT LASTS
Love's Unending Legacy
Marty and Clark Davis arrive home from a visit out west with daughter Missie knowing there are changes ahead for them. But are they prepared for the changes that already have taken place while they were gone?
Clare and Kate are eagerly anticipating their new baby, but what lies ahead will test their faith in ways they never expected. Luke wants to become a doctor, but his studies will take him far from home. Ellie has blossomed into a lovely
young woman, but is there a young man around worthy of her hand? And then there's Nandry, who seems to be blaming God for Clark's accident.
And What Secret is Marty Keeping From Her Family?
BETHANY HOUSE
PUBLISHERS JANETTE OKE'S legacy reaches far beyond the four-dozen novels she has written or the Christy Award, Gold Medallion, and other accolades she has won or even the publishing trends influenced by her writing success. It is best represented by the thousands of letters she receives from readers all around the world whose hearts and minds have been profoundly affected by her stories.
US $12.99 Fiction/Historical
ISBN 10: 0-7642-2852-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2852-0
www.bethanyhouse.com
