Along Wooded Paths by Tricia Goyer

Author:Tricia Goyer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2011-12-05T20:00:00+00:00

The first thing Marianna did was to get Kenzie into warm clothes. The second, turn off the television.

Kenzie folded her arms over her chest, and her bottom lip popped out. “Hey, I was watching that.”

“I know, but don’t you want to help me make lunch?” Marianna stretched out her hand.

Kenzie shrugged. “I dunno how to cook.”

“Well, that’s perfect. I’ll show you.”

Marianna led Kenzie to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There were only a few items inside. She checked the cupboard and noticed there wasn’t much there. In fact there were more groceries in the bag than there were in Jenny’s kitchen. Marianna put the food away and then turned to Kenzie. “How about a piece of pumpkin pie?”

“We’re going to cook pie?” Kenzie clapped.

“Actually, no. The pie is already made. In fact, I changed my mind. Why don’t we cook another day. I’ll bring over some special things.”

Kenzie wrinkled her nose, and Marianna could see her disappointment.

She cut Kenzie a piece of pie and poured her some milk. Now . . . how to turn cleaning into a game? As she thought about it, something stirred inside her. Cleaning could happen another day too. What Kenzie would appreciate most was just time—time without the television on. Time to have Marianna’s complete attention.

“Kenzie, do you have any favorite games? Or toys? I thought we could play something while your mom slept.”

“Barbies?” Kenzie put down her fork and rushed to the small room just off the living room. She returned a minute later with two dolls in questionable attire. Marianna tried to ignore that for now. As she held the plastic figure in her hand she thought how different it was from the dolls she had as a child—the dolls Ellie had. Amish dolls wore simple dress and had no faces painted on their wooden bodies because Amish parents didn’t want their children to have a “graven image.”

“Hi, I’m Barbie.” Kenzie spoke in a squeaky voice as her doll bounced on the table. “What’s your name?”

Marianna did the same with her doll, making it look like it was walking on those strangely shaped pointy toes. “I’m Marianna.”

“Hi, Marianna. You’re a little Marianna just like the big Marianna.”

“Yes, I suppose I am.”

“Marianna.” Kenzie cocked her head. “Why do you wear that Easter hat on your head?”

Marianna held in her chuckle. She supposed Kenzie’s doll was talking to the big Marianna now.

“Well, it’s called a kapp, and every woman in my family wears one.”

“Is it to keep your head warm? To keep the snow from falling on your hair?”

“No.” She patted her kapp. “It’s pretty thin material. It doesn’t really keep my head warm.” How could she explain that the kapp was a prayer veil? They were supposed to “pray without ceasing” and “wear a covering on their head when they prayed”—hence, the kapp.

“It’s to make God happy.” Hopefully, that would suffice.

Instead of seeming satisfied, Kenzie scowled. “My mama doesn’t wear one of those. Does that mean she makes God mad?” Kenzie put down her doll and looked at Marianna.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.