Easter Blessings (20 page)

“Open the box, Em,” Greg whispered.

With quaking fingers, she lifted the box to her palm and raised the lid. Inside, a cluster of diamonds sparkled with fiery points in the soft light of the atrium. “It’s beautiful.” She raised her eyes, and her tear-filled gaze glinted as brilliantly as the gems clutched in her hand. “I love you, Greg, with all my heart.”

“And?” He waited, searching her face.

“And I’d feel blessed to be your wife.”

With his own trembling hand, Greg lifted the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger, then tilted her chin. “I even adore this proud chin of yours. So stubborn and determined.”

“And I adore those dimples of yours,” she said, pressing her lips against each cheek.

He rose and helped her stand, then entwined their fingers. “You’ve made my life complete, Em. You’ve helped me deal with my sorrow and filled my life with so many precious days.”

“I can’t even remember all the fears that crumbled away,” Emily said. “You’re strong and determined. My life is whole again, and, God willing, our marriage will be complete…with a family. It’s in His hands.”

Greg drew Emily to his chest, and she encircled her arms around his neck. When their lips met, joy wrapped around their hearts, binding them together forever.

Summer, three years later

E
mily took a deep breath, savoring the sweet floral scent that clung to the air. In the summer sun, her butterfly garden surged with color and fragrance. She snatched the last few determined weeds from the snapdragons, then made her way to the brilliant dahlia beds. For the past two years, she and Rose had traded tubers, and now both gardens blossomed with a profusion of those glorious flowers.

Her mind drifted to a few years earlier when she sat nailed to her wheelchair, refusing to trust. But Greg had changed all that. Not long ago, Pastor Ben had given a sermon on First Peter. She remember the gist of it. Flowers, grass and people die, but God’s promises live forever. The verse had given her blessed assurance.

Now, instead of eyeing the overgrown flower beds from the kitchen window, she walked daily along the garden path, free from pain and free from loneliness. God had given her more than she deserved, more than she could have imagined.

“Em.”

She turned, hearing Greg’s voice.

“Look,” he called, pointing to the garden path.

Emily lowered her eyes, and her heart surged with joy.

“Mama.” One-year-old Rachel sat on the path, her arms outstretched toward her mother, a butterfly fluttering in her hand.

Emily’s heart stood still as Rachel rose on her own and balanced on wobbly legs. The butterfly had long since parted, spreading its colorful wings against the afternoon sky.

Not so long ago Emily had spread her own unbound wings and the trip had been wonderful. From Death to Life. The remembered Easter message filled her heart.

Greg reached Emily’s side, grinning like a doting father. Arm in arm, they gazed at God’s gift, their lovely daughter. As always, Greg’s unyielding trust had been correct. With faith as tiny as a mustard seed, miracles could happen.

Emily’s miracle teetered from side to side, then lifted her foot and stepped forward, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Greg, Rachel took her first step,” Emily whispered.

Opening her arms, Emily took a step forward, but Greg grasped her and held her back. “Wait,” he breathed.

Rachel’s copper hair glowed in the sunlight, her small, chubby arms open to them, her face tilted upward with a wide grin.

Emily longed to run to her daughter’s outstretched arms, but waited.

Rachel’s foot moved again, and she wobbled two steps forward on shaky legs before Greg lost his own battle and scooped her up into his arms.

“She walked, Em.”

“And in the garden.”

Lifting her arms, Emily encircled the two most precious
people in her life and gazed into their smiling eyes. “Thank you, Father,” she whispered.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of color. She held her breath. A monarch butterfly settled on her shoulder, its wings outstretched…

Like Emily.