A Winter's Promise (25 page)

Then she heard Jenny say,
“. . .
and when He
died for
our sins and rose again,
all
our sins were paid
for, so
now when the F
ather looks at us—those of us who
have
accepted Jesus as our Savior and made
Him
Lord of
lives—He sees us covered with Jesus
’
righteousness. It’s
like we
’
re wearing a
robe of righteousness that cov
ers
all
the sins we
’
ll ever comm
it.
”

They talked a w
hile longer. Eventually Jenny must
have been confident that Emma
understood
what she
had said. She read w
here she had left off in the Bible the
night before, and then went on to
read in
Little
Women,
but Emma
’
s thoughts were like leaves i
n the
win
d.

It was only after she was in bed that tho
se thoughts
began to settle down enough for her to
put
them in order.

After Jenny left Tuesday morning, Emma began
thought sorting again. She tried to remember the verse
Jenny had read, but she was missing some of the words.
She took the Bible over to the window and hunted for
the first letter of John. Yes! There it was,
“
If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
”

Like a huge bubble, joy grew within her until she
wanted to shout,
“
I
’
m forgiven! I was wrong—God isn
’
t
like Ma or Pa or Al. God is like Jenny—or rather, Jenny
is like God, when it comes to forgiving. She forgives
right away! And when God looks at me, He doesn
’
t see
me and all I
’
ve done wrong. He sees me through Jesus—and He
’
s perfect!
”
She let out a gale of laughter that startled Albert.

He tugged at her apron.
“
What you laughin
’
at, Mama?
”

She picked him up and whirled him around.
“
I just learned something
wonderful!
I
’
ll teach you all about it,
but it will take a while. I
’
ll have to do it a little at a time.
”

She couldn
’
t wait for Jenny to get home. She couldn
’
t
wait for Al to get home. There were still many pieces to
fit in, she knew, but at least she was heading in the right
direction.

At noon, when the little ones were asleep and Albert
was contentedly playing, Emma slipped out to water the
stock.

Nature wasn
’
t presenting anything spectacular today.
No sparkling, fluffy new snow. No
“
floured
”
trees. Yet
each curve of snowdrift was a work of art, and the patch
of blue sky beautiful beyond words.
“
The cover
’
s off!
”
she shouted into the quiet air.
“
I don
’
t just see it—I feel
it!
”

She let the cattle out and followed them down to the
river, her heart singing. Soon it would be spring, and
the violets would bloom along t
he river
and the forget-me-nots would sprinkle blue all
along the south
side of
the house. The b
oys would whoop and holler like little
savages, and Ellie would patter
along the hard dirt
with
p
udgy bare feet, giggling instead of whining.
No
more crying at the window. On warm days
Emma
would take them down to the sandbar in the river, let them splash a
nd kick in the water to their heart’s
content. She
’
d even stick little Georgie
’
s feet in
the
wa
ter and watch him curl his little toes.

And Al would pull out more stumps, maybe
with a
team instead of the old ox, and soon there
would be
smooth fields, not just crops planted between th
e
stumps. Some
times Al would put his arm around her
shoulders and point out, again, where he plan
ned to
build the new house. And he wouldn
’
t have to
camp all summer. In the evening, they
’
d sit u
nder the
stars listening to the crickets and the murmur of
the riv
er, and she
’
d feel there was nothing she couldn
’
t
face as
long as they were together.

The cows were at the river wai
ting for their water.
She hurried down the path and ducked under
the fence
and hoisted up an icy bucket of water. As she
shoved it
toward the ox, the realization flooded her:
I
can pray
again! I can talk to God. He isn
’
t mad at
me like I
thought He
was! He isn
’
t frowning at me.
She began l
aughing and then laughed even more at the
startled cows.
Where would she start? So much to thank
Him for,
so much to tell Him....

Back up the hill she plodded behind
the poky old ox.
She shut the s
tock in the barn and stood with her back
against the barn do
or. The sun was warm on her face.

Emma closed her eyes.
Oh, Father,
she
whispered,
I m
issed You!

If you loved
this book
you’ll
want to read others stories in
t
he
“
Never Miss a Sunset
Pioneer Family Series
.”

Never Miss a Sunset

The second in the Pioneer Family series, set in the
very early 1900
’
s, this wonderful classic is told
through t
he eyes of the oldest Verleger daughter,
Ellen. Here is a story for the entire family; it will
help
build faith.

All things Heal
in Time

In
another story about this northern Wisconsin
family, Emma
faces great adjustments when a
daughter dies and she is faced with the challenges
of raising the infant grandaughter. A wonderful lesson in perseverence and overcoming.