NINE #2
“It wasn’t intentional, to be honest.” Her voice wavered, emotions still running high. She didn’t know how to explain.
Abigail sat quietly for a few minutes. “Sometimes God guides us, even when we feel like we are walking blindly. Thee is here for a purpose, I’m sure of it.”
Maggie gave a bitter laugh. “You haven’t spoken to Henry yet. I don’t believe in God. My destiny is to be wherever fate decides.” Even as she uttered the words, she felt a sharp stab in the pit of her stomach.
Abigail was unfazed by her proclamation. “He hasn’t discussed personal details about thee. But he did say that thee prayed for him when he was shot and that thee saved him.”
“I prayed to anyone who might be listening for a safe place to help him. That’s not the same thing.”
“And did God not answer your prayers? How many days had you traveled, not seeing a place to rest thy head? Does thee truly believe that the soldiers just did not miraculously find thee? A hand larger than what we can comprehend played a part in thy story.”
Maggie sighed. “Abigail… I don’t mean to insult you, but you wouldn’t understand. If God truly were protecting us, then He just picks and chooses when would be a convenient time for Him. I watched my mother place faith in Him day after day. And in the end, it did nothing but kill her.”
“May I tell thee a story?”
Maggie nodded hesitantly, unsure of which bible story she was about to receive. This woman truly was like her mother.
Facing the cross, Abigail began. “My mother and father were not very pleased when I announced that I would be joining the Society of Friends—becoming a ‘Quaker’—to marry Levi. Both of my parents were strong Christians, but Levi’s world seemed strange and foreign to them.
They only saw the outward differences, not looking within.
Oddly enough, Levi’s limp was never mentioned, though. Surely thee noticed?”
Unsure if this was a rhetorical question or how to answer, Maggie muttered, “Well…”
Her response didn’t bother Abigail. She explained, “His knee never quite healed right after he was stepped on by a horse as a boy. My mother and father just seemed to accept that as a trial of life. The one thing that didn’t help our case was that we would be moving away from them.
” Abigail’s voice trailed off and she absently picked a blade of grass from the ground, seemingly lost in memory.
Rolling the blade of grass between her fingers, Abigail continued.
“Levi and I had been married for several years and had not conceived, though we both wanted a large family. I prayed every day that that month would be the one that brought joyous news. And just maybe, when I wrote to my parents of their grandchild on the way, the bond would be mended. Month after month only seemed to bring disappointment. After a while, I was convinced that my parents may have been right. That God was displeased with me in some way. And I stopped praying. I became bitter, angry, and resentful towards Levi.”
Abigail’s face transformed into an unidentifiable expression.
“Then one day, I was working out in the garden, and something told me to stop and rest. It was a beautiful day, so I walked over to this spot and lay back to watch the clouds. But something strange happened… Rain began to fall all around me, but the circle where I was remained dry. Not a drop fell on me. I thought it was perhaps a mirage of some sort, but I watched the ground soak up the rain. Suddenly as it started, it stopped.”
She took a deep breath and looked up in memory.
“And then it came— the most vibrant rainbow I’d ever seen stretched over the entire yard.
God’s promise. He had not forsaken me, even in my unbelief.
I fell to my knees and wept, letting go of all the hate that I’d stored up inside.
I ran and told Levi all that’d happened.
We wept together and he forgave me. I wrote my parents and asked their forgiveness for disobeying them, and privately forgave them for sowing the seed of doubt in me.
They responded in kind, welcoming Levi with open arms. Nine months later, Elijah was born.
He brought us so much joy… God may not answer our prayers exactly how we foresee.
But if we live for His glory and find joy in following His will, we will find our true purpose. ”
It was a heavy testimony. But it was deeper than Maggie wanted to discuss. She didn’t want to offend Abigail, so she simply said, “Henry never mentioned that.”
Abigail chuckled. “He probably doesn’t remember much of it. He was only ten when Elijah was born, and even younger than that when Levi and I wed. But he’s always been very special to me. The baby of the family.”
Seeing Maggie’s look of disbelief, Abigail explained.
There was a fifteen-year difference between her and Henry.
Abigail was the eldest of five Farrow offspring and Henry was the youngest. “Mother never would confess, but I think she always yearned for a boy to carry on the Farrow name. After four girls, Mother almost lost hope,” Abigail joked.
“When Henry was born, he was the family's real-life doll. The little prince.”
Maggie was curious of their family dynamic. “Where’s the rest of your family?”
“Mother and Father died several years before the war. Mother passed first—it was a raging illness. She was coming back from helping deliver a baby and came down with fever the next day. We tended her as best we could, but her heart couldn’t withstand it.
A year later, we lost Father. I will always believe he died from a broken heart—he said he couldn’t live without her.
As for my sisters, born after me, there’s Ruth.
She married a minister. They left soon after they were wed to be missionaries overseas.
Occasionally, I receive a letter from her, detailing their whereabouts.
Next, there’s Evangeline—she trained as a teacher and moved out west. She found a husband there and has a large family of her own.
And the last of the sisters was Mary Beth…
She was named after our mother, Mary Catherine.
She died from Scarlet fever when she was a child. ”
“I’m sorry,” Maggie responded genuinely, thinking of the pain from losing a sibling.
“It was a long time ago. It just makes thee appreciate the family you have even more.”
Maggie stared off into the distance. What family did she have?
Abigail looked directly at her. “I haven’t asked Henry questions and I don’t intend to.
But it’s easy to see that thee is carrying pain.
Whatever may have happened is in thy past and we aren’t owed any explanation.
If thee has need of a friend, thee has one in us.
Take all the time thee needs, Margaret. We will be in the house when thee is ready to come back.
” Without further remark, Abigail stood and left her alone.
The promise both warmed Maggie’s heart and went straight through her breastplate, simultaneously.
All her life, she’d wanted to belong. To fit in.
When the last tie to someone on earth was cut, she thought she would never be loved again.
Was she truly finding that with a Quaker? The sister of a Yankee?
Maggie thought of Abigail’s story and the surety she’d found that God was there.
The soil surrounding the cross was rich.
It was a good track of land. Levi could harvest a decent crop here or expand the garden.
Instead, they’d dedicated this area to serve as a visible testimony… What strange people.
Clearly, they loved God. It was evident in their lives and genuine love for people. Their brother had brought a stranger to their doorstep, and they’d welcomed her, fed her, and clothed her without a second thought. No questions had been asked of her background or her character.
A piece of scripture popped into Maggie’s mind before she could stop it. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…”
Touching the cross resting beneath her blouse, Maggie knew what she had to do.