Promiseland by Dawn Miller

Author:Dawn Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

December 14, 1869 . . .

Lillie’s condition left her feeling poorly today, so Jessie and I decided to lend a hand, making sure a good fire was stoked and filling the copper tub on her stove with plenty of water to last the day before we got to our own chores. As we walked back from the stream a second time, I told Jessie about me and Willa’s talk, how I went out there to “hide from it all” and ended up hearing myself telling Willa to have faith in spite of my own faith feeling so shaky.

“Funny thing is,” I told Jessie, “I did feel a bit stronger after we talked.”

Jessie nodded. “Sometimes I think the Lord gives us others to think on so we can’t think on ourselves so much,” she said. “Did me good havin’ Rose come spend the night. Just before you two came, I was lying in bed, fixing to cry myself silly when the Lord spoke to me. He say, ‘Jessie, I ain’t give up on you, so you don’t give up on Me.’ ” Jessie looked over at me. “I say right back, ‘I’m just sad, Lord—but I ain’t gave up on You.’ Then I say louder, so the ol’ devil can hear, ‘I ain’t gave up!’ ”

Jessie shook her head a bit. “Next thing I know, I’m lying next to Rose, pattin’ her little back in the dark ‘til she falls asleep, and I say, ‘Well, Ye made sure I couldn’t give up, didn’t Ye, Lord?’ ”

We smiled a bit at each other, then Jessie said, “Good Lord sure don’t let us stay quitters long.” I saw her look at the cabins, her eyes trailing over the land, and it struck me that out of all of us, Jessie had the hardest road to walk. But she’d kept on walking. She turned back to me then, studying me with those large, soulful brown eyes of hers, and in them I saw a lot of tragedy, a little triumph, but most of all, I saw the will to survive.

“How did you ever get so strong?” I asked then, and she looked at me curiously.

“Why, I ain’t strong, Callie,” she said matter-of-factly. “The Lord’s strong for me. He know. Get as old as I am, ye get used to losin’ a lot of things in yer life. But I lose my faith, I lose me.”

I couldn’t help thinking, as I watched Jessie working by my side until nearly dusk, how much like old Joshua she was, fighting the giants of her life, pressing on with that enduring faith of hers . . . as if her spirit senses what’s over the hill even if her body doesn’t . . .

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