Long Time Coming by Vanessa Miller

Author:Vanessa Miller
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: African American, Christian, Contemporary Women, Fiction
ISBN: 9781426707681
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2010-11-02T04:00:00+00:00

18

How is she doing?" Johnson asked when Deidre came through the door. He was standing in the entryway with a cup of hot cocoa in his hand.

"Are the kids asleep?"

"Yeah, I finally persuaded them to lie down about an hour ago."

Deidre looked at her watch."They didn't go to bed until eleven o'clock. Two of them have school in the morning."

"Tomorrow's Sunday, babe," Johnson said as he handed her the hot chocolate."Here. When you called and said you were on your way home, you sounded exhausted. So I thought if you drank this, you'd get to sleep faster."

Deidre gently touched Johnson's face with her hand."You're a prince. I don't deserve you."

"Aw, shucks, Mrs. Morris. You're making me blush," Johnson said jokingly.

She leaned in closer to him and whispered, "Let's go to our room so I can tell you about Kenisha."

Johnson followed Deidre up the stairs. When they were in bed, he turned back to her."Is she doing better?"

"They gave her some pain medicine, so she's a little loopy. But to be honest with you, it doesn't look good. The doctors said that her body is starting to shut down." A tear slid down Deidre's face as she continued, "The doctors don't think she'll last much longer."

Johnson pulled Deidre into his arms and held her.

"I don't know what happened, Johnson. I've been praying and believing . . . and then this. I just can't see God in this no matter how I look at it. This woman takes care of her children, and she wants the best for them. But she won't even live to see what becomes of them."

"We've got to stay in faith, Deidre. Keep praying even when it looks bad."

She pulled away from her husband."You say that, Johnson, and I have tried to believe this whole 'pray until something happens' mantra, but it gets harder and harder every time my prayers go unanswered."

Johnson wiped the tears from Deidre's face."God is in the prayer-answering business, baby. I believe that with every fiber of my being, but I also know that the Bible talks about the Heroes of Faith and how many of them died without receiving the promise, but still they remained in faith, believing that God was able."

"But why does it matter that God is able, if He won't help us?" Deidre asked, really needing the answer to her question as she lay her head on Johnson's chest.

Johnson leaned back against the headrest. He ran his hand through Deidre's hair, and then he began speaking in a slow, deliberate fashion."Remember the story of the three Hebrew boys who were thrown in a fire that was meant to consume them, just because they believed in God's ability to deliver them?"

Deidre nodded.

"What did they say, just before being put in the fire?"

In a matter-of-fact tone, Deidre responded, "They told the people that even if God didn't deliver them from the fire, as far as they were concerned, that changed nothing, because they knew that God could do it."

"Exactly!" Johnson exclaimed."And I believe the things we go through in life give us the opportunity to put our faith in God.

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