Love Comes Home and A Sheltering Love by Terri Reed

Author:Terri Reed
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2005-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Josh stared at the moon’s reflection wavering in the pool’s water. He felt like such a fool. Rachel had offered him his heart’s desire—her love—and he’d walked away. He loved her and she loved him. Why couldn’t that be enough?

Because deep inside, fear laid claim to his heart.

Fear that his love wouldn’t be enough. Fear that Rachel would one day walk away like his mother had. Fear that he couldn’t survive her departure from his life.

Father, why am I so consumed with fear?

He closed his eyes with weary pain. Fear wasn’t of God. God was love and light and hope. And yet, fear twisted in his heart.

Rachel’s words floated back to him on the evening breeze.

A wise woman once told me that happiness lies beyond what you think’s possible. You only have to have enough faith. God will take care of the rest.

Faith. It all came down to faith. Faith in God, faith in himself and faith in Rachel.

Faith’s being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

“God, forgive me for not having enough faith in You. Please, Lord, take my fear.” He whispered his plea to the night sky.

“Josh?” Rachel approached and stopped beside him.

He stiffened, bracing himself for her goodbye. He didn’t want her to say goodbye. But he wasn’t free of the fear. A touch, like the delicate kiss of a snowflake on his arm, drew his attention.

“Are you okay?”

Rachel’s sweet voice, so full of concern, wrapped around him. He tried to speak, to say he wasn’t okay, he’d never be okay without her, but the constriction of his throat muscles wouldn’t allow sound to travel from his body.

She withdrew her hand. “I’m not going to let you do this,” she said. Her voice now held an edge of steel.

He looked at her. In the moonlight shining on her beautiful face he could see traces of her tears. Tenderness filled him, crowding the fear until he thought he’d choke on it. She’d cried because of him. He didn’t want to make her cry, didn’t want to hurt her. He loved her.

Her voice softened. “You’re so full of anger and hurt. I can understand why you’re afraid to trust me, to trust anyone. What your mother did was wrong. She shouldn’t have abandoned you. But she made a choice and you have to live with the result of that choice.

“Now you have a choice, Josh. You can choose to hold on to the bitterness and the pain or you can forgive her.”

He drew back. Something ugly and hateful twisted in his soul. “For…give her?” He could barely get the words out. “You want me to condone what she did?”

Compassion and sadness filled her eyes, lighting the blue depths like beacons in the night. “Not condone her actions, forgive her actions. Those are two very different things.”

“No, they’re not. Not in my book.”

“In God’s book they are.”

“How can you say that?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Do you believe the Bible is truth?”

“Of course,” he said indignantly.

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