Waiting for Morning (44 page)

Three voices rang as one, reaching the end of the first verse and launching into the chorus: “Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness …”

The defeated and desperate around them lifted their eyes and listened until a worn-out woman in the corner stood on shaky legs and joined in. Hannah smiled at her and watched as a white-haired man farther down the bench rose to his feet and added his voice.

Another and another stood until there were ten people standing amidst fifty. Ten hapless, harried souls who, in that moment, found hope in the message. Finally even the hardest eyes around them grew noticeably softer.

“Morning by morning new mercies I see …” Hannah continued to sing, studying the strangers whose voices joined hers.
She saw pain there, suffering … and something deep within her told her they knew what it was to walk away from a loving God when life didn’t turn out like it was supposed to. They knew what it was to struggle with pain and anger, waiting for morning.

If she could, she would take each one and tell them they didn’t have to give up, that in Christ there really was hope. It might take months or even years but one day, as sure as every one of God’s promises was true, morning would come.

She held tighter to Matt and Jenny, warmth filling her heart. She was going to survive. God’s love had filled her future with bright possibilities.

Her voice grew stronger.

This was her song. It would always be her song. And some far-off day she would sing it in the presence of her mighty and loving Lord, with Tom and Alicia at her side.

She closed her eyes and with a full heart lifted her hands toward heaven, singing to an audience of One.

“All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”

Author’s Note

I hope you have gained much by traveling with Hannah Ryan through the truths of Lamentations. There were times—in the early stages of writing this book—when I thought about scrapping the idea, writing something simpler and easier to produce than a story about a family devastated by a drunk driver. Especially a faith-filled family like the Ryans. But I believe God has allowed me this time and place to produce fiction for a reason. People of faith have struggles, too. They hurt and die and are tempted. The characters in my books will likely always be dealing with more than a jilted love. They will be real people, dealing with real issues. And I hope, because of that, they will help you, the reader, grow in your faith.

I pray that the underlying message in
Waiting for Morning
was clear: bad things do happen to good people. And not all Christians respond to tragedy by falling on their knees and reaching for their Bibles. Sometimes we travel a long, dark night waiting for morning.

It’s like Jesus said when he assured his disciples, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

What assurance! What perfect peace! What a glorious morning awaits those who, like Hannah, learn to take their burdens to the foot of the cross.

If you have ever faced such a journey, it is my prayer that after reading
Waiting for Morning
you know you are not alone. Whatever you are facing today, God sees you, he loves you, and he has already won the battle for those whose faith is in him.

I’ve heard it said that all of us are either coming out of a trial, heading into a trial, or living through a trial. Drunk driving, car accidents, illness, financial struggles, relational breaks,
marital unfaithfulness … these are things that happen to everyone. The difference is how we choose to respond, where we find our strength.

Many of you reading this book already have that sweet fellowship with our Lord. For you I offer encouragement and ask you to pass this book on to someone who feels alone in his or her trial.

But for you who have not made a commitment to Jesus Christ, there is no better time than now. Accept his free gift of grace, buy a Bible, find a Bible-believing church. Otherwise when the trials come, you will have no morning to wait for.

May God bless you and keep you in his care and may his face shine like the dawn even in the darkest of days. Until next time …

D
ISCUSSION
Q
UESTIONS

1.    Was there a time in your life when you felt you were “waiting for morning”? Describe that time?

2.    What did you do to survive? What would you do differently based on what you know today?

3.    In what ways did you see God’s hand at work during that time? What good has come from it?

4.    Which character in Waiting for Morning could you most identify with? Which character could you least identify with? Why or why not?

5.    List as many ways as you can remember where God showed His mercy to Hannah in her darkest days. How has God shown His mercy to you in yours?

6.    Read Lamentations 3:22–23. What are the promises these verses deliver? Which one is most precious to you at this point in your life? Describe a time in your life when these promises could have helped or did help you.

7.    Jenny thought the answer to her problems was to end her life. What led her to believe that? When has the enemy of your soul whispered wrong solutions to you? What were the consequences?

8.    Which character(s) represented for Hannah God’s promise that He will never leave nor forsake us? How did those character(s) deal with Hannah’s anger toward God? How do you deal with the anger of hurting people?

9.    Ultimately the lesson in Waiting for Morning is one of forgiveness. Describe a time when you had trouble forgiving someone. How did you act toward that person, inwardly and outwardly? How did that make you feel? At what point did you, like Hannah, find peace in this situation?

10.    Oftentimes God uses outward situations or other people to help us get unstuck from a bad place, whether we need to forgive or obey or draw closer to Him. For Hannah, God used the police officer’s delayed message from Tom. What has it been for you? What was/is God trying to tell you about your life? Are you listening?

THE
FOREVER FAITHFUL SERIES

W
AITING FOR
M
ORNING
—
Book One

A drunk driver … a deadly accident … a dream destroyed. When Hannah Ryan loses her husband and oldest daughter to a drunk driver, she is consumed with hate and revenge. Ultimately, it is a kind prosecutor, a wise widow, and her husband’s dying words that bring her the peace that will set her free and let her live again. ISBN 1-59052-020-3

A M
OMENT OF
W
EAKNESS
—
Book Two

When childhood friends Jade and Tanner reunite as adults, they share their hearts, souls, and dreams of forever—until a fateful decision tears them apart. Now, nearly a decade later, Jade’s unfaithful husband wants to destroy her in a custody battle that is about to send shock waves across the United States. Only one man can help Jade in her darkest hour. And only one old woman knows the truth that can set them all free. ISBN 1-57673-616-4

H
ALFWAY TO
F
OREVER
—
Book Three

Matt and Hannah … Jade and Tanner—after already surviving much, these couples now face the greatest struggles of their lives: Parental losses and life-threatening illness threaten to derail their faith and sideline their futures. Can Hannah survive the loss of an adopted daughter? Will Tanner come through decades of loneliness only to face losing Jade one final time? ISBN 1-57673-899-X

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR …

Karen Kingsbury is an award-winning author and former reporter for the
Los Angeles Times
and
Los Angeles Daily News
. She is also a recognized author with the Women of Faith Fiction Club. Kingsbury lives with her husband and six children in Washington.

Excerpt from
A Moment of Weakness

May 1977

The children rode their bicycles into Tanner’s driveway, laid them on the pavement and flopped down on a grassy spot in the center of his neatly manicured front lawn. The discussion had been going on for several minutes.

“I still don’t get it. Where’d she go?” Tanner plucked a blade of grass and meticulously tore it into tiny sections.

Jade shrugged and gazed across the street toward the two-story house where she had lived for the past three years. “Daddy says she’s gonna meet us in Washington. That’s all I know.”

Tanner chewed on that for a moment. The whole thing sounded fishy to him. Mamas didn’t leave for no reason. And people didn’t move without making plans first. “Do you think she’s mad at you?”

“Of course she’s not mad. She loves me. I know it.” Jade tossed her dark head, and her eyes flashed light green. Tanner had never seen eyes like Jade’s. Green like the water of Chesapeake Bay.

“Why doesn’t she just come back? Then you wouldn’t have to move.”

“I told you, they already decided. We’re moving to Washington. Mama went on ahead of us, and Daddy says she’ll meet us there.”

“In Washington?”

“Yes, Tanner. I told you she didn’t
leave
me. She just needed some time alone.”

Tanner plucked another piece of grass and twisted it between his thumb and forefinger. “But she didn’t say good-bye, right?”

Jade sighed, and Tanner saw tears form in her eyes. “I
told
you, Tanner. She left early in the morning. Daddy said she probably knew I would be sad so she left before I woke up. ’Cause she loves me.”