Measure of Grace (25 page)

Maggie’s eyes widened. “You … you—”

“Yes, honey! I’ve been in the family of God for almost two hours now! Pastor Bradford came to see Laura and led me to Jesus!”

Happy tears filled Maggie’s eyes. “Oh! Glory to God! That’s wonderful.” She bent down and kissed Martha’s cheek. “Shamus and I have prayed for this so many times!”

Laura said, “I’m so happy for her. Glenn will be too, when he finds out!”

Martha told Maggie that she was going to be baptized as soon as the cast was off, which thrilled her again.

Maggie had a passing thought that Stu would probably be out of jail before the cast could come off. “I’m so glad, honey. This is the best news I’ve had in a long time. I can’t wait to tell Shamus. Martha, we’ll be praying about Diana’s situation. The Lord will give you the solution, I know.”

Maggie prayed with her friends, kissed them both on the cheek, and headed for home.

The next morning, Pastor Sherman Bradford returned to the hospital for another visit. He was glad to see Martha rejoicing in her salvation, and after spending a few minutes talking to Laura, he turned to Martha and asked how she was feeling.

After saying she was feeling better physically, Martha shared her burden with him over Stu’s bad temper, explaining that he felt toward Jesus Christ, the Bible, churches, and Christians just like she had.

A deep frown lined her brow as she said, “Pastor, how am I going to bear up under Stu’s anger when he gets out of jail and learns that I have become a Christian and will be uniting with the church upon my baptism? I think you can understand my concern.

“Of course,” said the preacher, opening his Bible and flipping pages. “One of the blessings of being a born-again child of God as you are now, Martha, is that your heavenly Father is always with you to help you. Let me read a couple of verses to you. First, here in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul is going through great suffering. God speaks to him in verse 9 and says, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’ God’s grace would be sufficient for Paul, no matter what the circumstances, because God’s strength is perfected in His children in their weaknesses. This is one of the marvels of being a Christian.”

Clinging to every word, Martha kept her eyes fastened on him, waiting for more.

“The Lord is fully aware of your situation, Martha,” Bradford went on. “And He is fully capable of helping you to handle it. He says His grace is sufficient, right?”

“Yes, but Stu can get so mean, and there’s no telling what he might do.”

“Let me help you with this,” the pastor said, giving her an assuring smile. “Yesterday, you placed your full trust in the Lord to save your soul, keep you from ever going to hell, and to finally take you to heaven by His grace, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any doubts that He will keep His promises?”

“Of course not.”

“Good. Then if you can fully trust Him to save your soul, keep you from ever going to hell, and to take you to heaven by His grace when your life is over here on earth, can’t you trust Him to supply sufficient grace for your needs while you’re still here on earth?”

A new light showed in Martha’s eyes. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, Pastor. You’re right.”

“Don’t feel bad,” said Bradford. “Many Christians who have been saved for decades haven’t thought of it that way; or if they have,
they still have a hard time trusting the Lord with problems in this life. God is well able to meet this problem with your husband with the measure of grace you need. Let me read another verse to you.”

Bradford flipped forward a few pages. “I’m going to read Ephesians 4:7 to you. Keep in mind what I just said, and I repeat: God is well able to meet this problem with your husband with the measure of grace you need. Speaking of born-again people, it says: ‘But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.’ Because you belong to Jesus, He will meet every problem you bring to Him with the measure of grace you need.”

Martha smiled. “I understand, Pastor. Since I can trust the Lord to take me to heaven by His grace, I can also trust Him to get me through this life by His grace, come what may.”

“Right. Jesus told us we would have tribulations while here on earth, so we can expect to face many trials and hardships. But He is always with us, and His grace is sufficient to meet every need. Just trust Him for the measure of grace you need for each trial.”

“Thank you for showing me this truth in the Bible, Pastor,” Martha said softly. “I … I have something else to say.”

“Yes?”

“I want my children to be saved. Of course Dennis is too young, but the other four are old enough.”

“I’ll talk to them,” said Bradford, “and do my best to lead them to the Lord.”

Martha touched her temple, thought a few seconds, then said, “Tell you what, Pastor. Since their minds have been conditioned to disdain the Bible and its message by both Stu and me, it would be best if I talk to them first. I’ll tell them I’m saved, and how wrong I was to teach them what I did. I’ll let you know when you can come to the house and talk to them.”

“All right. I can see it would be best to do it that way. Now, before I go, let me say this: God’s ability to give the measure of grace we need doesn’t mean we throw caution and good sense to the wind. If you believe that you are going to be in danger when your husband gets out of jail, the church will provide a place of safety for you and the children.”

“I appreciate that, Pastor,” Martha said. “We have almost a
month. Let me see how things go between now and then, and if I feel we need a hiding place, I will let you know.”

The workload on the Morrow farm was heavy for the children with both of their parents away, but from oldest to youngest, they pitched in and did the chores, wanting to have everything in order when their mother was released from the hospital.

In the early part of that morning, Diana was busy, baking several loaves of bread while her siblings were doing the outside work. Deborah was sweeping both the front and back porches of the house, and the boys were at the barn. Diana was hurrying with the bread so it would be done before she and Derick needed to head for the hospital.

She was deep in thought, as always when there was a quiet moment, trying desperately to come up with a workable plan to get her safely away from the Richmond area without making a hardship on anyone who might offer help.

Suddenly a small, pitiful sound penetrated her thoughts. Her hands, buried in bread dough, came to a stop. Tilting her head to one side, she listened for the sound to come again. When there was nothing, she was about to chalk it up to her imagination.

Then she heard it again.

“Someone is crying,” she whispered to herself.

Taking her hands from the sticky dough, she wiped them on a nearby dish towel and headed toward the front of the house where the weeping was coming from. Stopping to listen every few steps, she soon found herself entering the boys’ bedroom.

She found her five-year-old brother sitting on the floor in a corner, sobbing. His head was pressed against his drawn-up knees, with gulping sobs escaping his mouth.

Diana wondered when Dennis had come in the house. She told herself it must have been when she was in the pantry. Hurrying to his huddled little form, Diana bent down, took him in her arms, and carried him to one of the beds. Sitting on its edge, she sat him on her lap and folded him in her arms. “Honey, what’s the matter?”

Dennis pressed his face against her shoulder and wailed loudly,
no longer trying at all to curb the flow of tears. For several minutes, Diana held him, gently rubbing his shaking little shoulders, speaking soft words in the attempt to quiet him so he could tell her what was bothering him.

When the sobs finally ceased, and only small sighs and hiccups were being released, Diana gently pushed him away from her shoulder, tilted his tear-stained face upward, and looked him in the eye. “Honey, what is it?”

“I … I’m s-sorry,” he said, stuttering through tears that were threatening to spill down his cheeks again.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“I d-don’t mean to upset you.”

“You haven’t upset me. Please. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

Lips quivering, Dennis said, “Diana, why is Papa so mean? And why does he hate all of us?”

Diana’s heart felt like it was turning over inside her chest.
How do I explain this to such a little child?
she wondered as she looked down into his expectant face.

“Dennis, listen to me. Papa doesn’t hate us. He is just—well, he’s sick in his mind. He has a very bad temper, and he doesn’t know how to control it. This is what makes him mean. But he doesn’t hate us. When Mama comes home from the hospital, we’re going to do everything we can to make things better.”

Dennis’s expression took on a deeper look of inward pain. “Is Mama really coming home?” he asked with his chin quivering and tears pooling in his eyes.

“Of course she is.”

“Are you just telling me an’ Deborah an’ Daniel she’s coming home to make us feel better ’cause Mama’s really dead?”

Diana looked at him with surprise. “Oh no. Dennis, baby, I promise. Mama is not dead. In fact, she is getting better every day and will be coming home very soon.”

“You really promise?”

“Yes.”

A broad grin beamed on his wet cheeks. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Mama will be just fine. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Oh boy!” Dennis said with elation. “I thought Mama was
dead. I want her to come home. I love you, Diana, but … but I need Mama to tuck me in and tell me a story at bedtime.”

“I understand, honey. And I love you. Believe me, Mama will be home soon to do just that!”

Giving his big sister a tight hug, Dennis jumped down from his perch on her lap.

“Would you like to help me make bread, honey?” asked Diana.

“Sure,” he said, taking her hand. Together they made their way toward their kitchen.

It was just past ten o’clock when Martha looked up to see her two oldest children enter the room.

When they had both kissed her and were told that she was feeling better, Diana noted Laura’s empty bed and asked, “Where’s Mrs. Thomas?”

“They have her in the examining room to check her over where they did the surgery. She may be going home tomorrow.”

“Oh. I wish we could take you home tomorrow.”

“It’ll be soon, now, I’m sure. I want both of you to pull those chairs up and sit down beside the bed. I have something very important to tell you.”

Eyeing their mother curiously, they sat down. Martha explained that Pastor Bradford had shown her from the Bible about heaven and hell, and how Jesus Christ had died on the cross of Calvary to provide salvation for sinners. To be saved, she must repent of her sin and receive Jesus into her heart as her own personal Saviour. When she went on to tell them that she had done this, they were shocked.

While Derick stared at his mother in astonishment, Diana said, “Mama, I’m surprised at this because you and Papa have always taught us that this is foolish fanaticism.”

“Well, honey, we were wrong. I see it so plainly now. All these years, we’ve had Christmas at our house, but we were missing the whole point of God’s Son coming into the world by a virgin birth. It wasn’t just to give the world a holiday. It was to provide salvation for all of us, because all of us are sinners before God. It’s so
wonderful to know that my sins are forgiven, and I will go to heaven when it’s time for me to leave this world.”

“I’m still stunned, Mama,” said Derick, “but I have to say that you have a sparkle in your eyes I’ve never seen before. I’m glad to see it.”

“Me too,” said Diana.

At that moment, there were pronounced footsteps, and all three looked up to see Dr. Bates enter the room.

Smiling, he said, “Hello, Diana, Derick. I’m here to check your mother’s condition. If she’s improved since I checked her yesterday, you can take her home tomorrow.”

Both young faces brightened as they left their chairs and moved them to give the doctor room to work.

Five minutes later, Bates smiled. “Just as I thought. She’s well enough to go home tomorrow. Is there someone who can look after her?”

“Yes, Doctor,” said Derick. “Us!”

“We’ll take care of her and give her all the help she needs, Dr. Bates,” said Diana, her own eyes sparkling. “We won’t let her do anything she shouldn’t do.”

“Sounds good to me,” said the doctor. “You can pick her up after nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Diana patted her mother’s cheek. “We’ll be here with bells on!”

The next morning, Dennis was sitting on the steps of the front porch of the house, where he had been since Derick and Diana drove away toward town. Deborah and Daniel were in the parlor, giving it a last minute touch-up in anticipation of their mother’s return. Dennis had his eyes fixed on the road, eagerly waiting for the first sign of the wagon and team. Twice, he had started to celebrate, but saw immediately that they were wagons belonging to neighboring farmers.

Suddenly there was movement on the road and a horse whinny. Dennis jumped to his feet and focused on the approaching wagon.

“Deborah! Daniel!” he cried. “It’s them! They have Mama in the wagon!”

Brother and sister joined him on the porch, and as the wagon turned off the road, the little boy jumped up and down, shouting, “It’s Mama! It’s Mama! Mama’s come home!”

Moments later, a smiling but obviously uncomfortable Martha Morrow beamed as she looked at her three youngest from the wagon seat. Dennis bounded off the porch as the wagon came to a halt near the porch and raced toward her. “Mama! Mama! I’m so glad you’re home!”

Hopping out of the wagon, Derick intercepted his brother, gripping his shoulders, and said, “Dennis, you wait right here. Mama’s arm is in a cast, and you must be careful not to hurt her.”

“I’ll be careful,” the child assured him, his eyes dancing. “I just need to hug her.”

Smiling, Martha allowed Derick and Daniel to ease her to the ground from the wagon seat. “Deborah and Daniel are next, but Mama will hug her baby first!”