A Calling for Phoebe by Jenifer Carll-Tong

Author:Jenifer Carll-Tong [Carll-Tong, Jenifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Philo Se

24

Charm is Deceptive

"Wait up Pastor!"

Phoebe turned back toward the boarding house she had just left to find Wendell running after her.

"Is something the matter?" she asked when he had caught up with her.

"No ma'am. It's just that the days are shorter now and it will be dark soon. I didn't want you walking home alone."

Phoebe felt her cheeks grow warm as she was reminded of the last time a man warned her of walking alone at dusk. "That's sweet, Wendell, but I wouldn't want to detain you. I was planning to stop by Simmons store to pick up a few items."

"That's perfect!" he responded. "I need a few things myself. I'll go with ya – then I'll walk you home," he said firmly. He smiled easily and returned his focus on the road ahead of them. "I really enjoyed the devotions tonight."

Devotions at the boarding house were one of Phoebe's new responsibilities. After her handling of the ruckus between the boys, and the effect her words had on all the boarders, Mrs. Smith deemed it necessary for Phoebe to conduct a weekly study with her young charges. The last thing Phoebe wanted to do was to spend an entire evening once a week in a room full of single young men, but she did want to expand her ministry in Iron Falls. The look on Mrs. Smith's face that dared her to decline also helped her make the decision to comply. And, she'd reasoned, conducting the Bible study might help grow her little congregation. That, however, had not been the case.

"Thank you, Wendell. Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting through to the other boys. Besides you, Lester and Tommy are the only ones that attend church regularly."

A sheepish grin broke out across his face. "Yeah, I've been bribing them to come," he admitted.

"Bribing?" Phoebe asked in disbelief. "Surely you don't mean that you have been paying Lester and Tommy to attend church!"

"Oh, no ma'am. I've been bribing them with chores. I told them if they went to church with Granny Smith and me, then I would do their chores for that week."

"But Wendell, you shouldn't have to…"

"Whatever gets 'em in the door, Pastor. They gotta be there to hear from God. What was that scripture you preached from last Sunday – somethin' about the word of the Lord falling to Earth?"

"Isaiah 55… For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither..."

"That's the one. As I see it, God is calling me to bring as many to him as I can, so that they can hear His word preached. They may not act like it now, but God is changing those two – Tommy and Lester. But they gotta be there to hear it, ya know? Even if they aren't excited to be there like I am, that scripture there says that the Bible comes straight from God's mouth, and it ain't gonna just go back to heaven all empty. It's gonna do the work it's meant to do.

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