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Authors: Melissa Jagears
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that mean he didn’t have a bride already? But he’d written one, so he must have considered all the girls in town and found her wanting. So why kiss her the day before he left?
Did it mean anything? The racing of her pulse and the longings of her heart were pushing her to read into things when his words had been clear: A mistake. An accident. If he’d had any desire to make her his only girl, he wouldn’t have told her to go to school.
She needed time to think without his nearness clouding her judgment, so she shuffled over to her bed and sank onto the mattress.
Tucked up in a ball, she lay facing the window, a finger against her lips. The starlings in the catalpa tree twittered a sweet song, and the sun’s lemony rays burst through its fat, velvety leaves. The Founder’s Day celebrators would have a beautiful spring evening for dancing.
Did Dex really think she should go to school or was he only saying what he thought she wanted to hear? If she didn’t go, would he think less of her or more?
Open doors. Open doors. Would God really guide her through open doors? Momma acted as if disregarding her opportunity to attend school would be a sin.
She grabbed her Bible and ran her fingers down pages and columns and more pages in the New Testament looking for the word door .After flipping through several books, she scanned faster. She should memorize more.
The first passage she stumbled upon was in Acts. Paul and Silas stayed in jail despite the Lord opening the door with an earthquake. He’d even supernaturally unlocked their chains. And yet they didn’t leave, saving the lives of the soldiers who would have been punished for their escape.
No one’s life was in peril if she went to school or not.
But Paul and Silas had still ignored a door. So where did people get the idea that if God opened a door, they must go through?
She kept her finger moving over the columns until she hit upon another door in Corinthians this time. God opened a door for Paul to work in Ephesus, so he chose to stay and work though he wanted to visit the Corinthians again. So that fit her situation better. Frowning, she kept scanning.
A door opened for Paul to work in Troas, but he felt uneasy and went to Macedonia instead.
He ignored a God-opened door.
She dropped her Bible onto the bed and stared at the birds fighting in the branches. If Paul disregarded some doors opened by the Lord, was it wrong for her to consider opportunity as only part of the equation? Unless God commanded her, she had plenty of other factors to consider.
Mainly, Momma would regret that she didn’t go. No, regret was not a strong enough word for what Momma would feel.
Papa had said he wanted the best for her. Whatever that was.
Rachel dropped her head onto her embroidered pillowslip, running her fingers across her sister’s fancy stitching of two birds flying together, carrying a tied ribbon between them. How many times had she quashed a daydream about Dex’s gay green eyes hovering close enough to kiss her? He’d done so only a bit ago, the pressure of his lips still buzzing on hers.
But he’d told her to go to school.
Might he have pursued her these past two years if he’d known she’d abandon college for him?
Some had questioned her parents for wasting tuition on a girl “who already knew more than a woman needed to know.” A pretentious degree wouldn’t extricate her from beneath their roof.
But that’s exactly why Momma wanted her to pursue school. Only a man who loved her for who she truly was would bother to propose. Sound reasoning.
Rachel huffed. She had as many rationales to pass through the open door as not.
She slid her feet over the side of her bed. Would he consider marrying her before he left? He’d been writing a mail-order bride company after all, and since he’d said there was none but her, maybe she’d been wrong to assume he’d already chosen a bride. She ran her hand along the quilt’s stitching.
If he didn’t want to
Did it mean anything? The racing of her pulse and the longings of her heart were pushing her to read into things when his words had been clear: A mistake. An accident. If he’d had any desire to make her his only girl, he wouldn’t have told her to go to school.
She needed time to think without his nearness clouding her judgment, so she shuffled over to her bed and sank onto the mattress.
Tucked up in a ball, she lay facing the window, a finger against her lips. The starlings in the catalpa tree twittered a sweet song, and the sun’s lemony rays burst through its fat, velvety leaves. The Founder’s Day celebrators would have a beautiful spring evening for dancing.
Did Dex really think she should go to school or was he only saying what he thought she wanted to hear? If she didn’t go, would he think less of her or more?
Open doors. Open doors. Would God really guide her through open doors? Momma acted as if disregarding her opportunity to attend school would be a sin.
She grabbed her Bible and ran her fingers down pages and columns and more pages in the New Testament looking for the word door .After flipping through several books, she scanned faster. She should memorize more.
The first passage she stumbled upon was in Acts. Paul and Silas stayed in jail despite the Lord opening the door with an earthquake. He’d even supernaturally unlocked their chains. And yet they didn’t leave, saving the lives of the soldiers who would have been punished for their escape.
No one’s life was in peril if she went to school or not.
But Paul and Silas had still ignored a door. So where did people get the idea that if God opened a door, they must go through?
She kept her finger moving over the columns until she hit upon another door in Corinthians this time. God opened a door for Paul to work in Ephesus, so he chose to stay and work though he wanted to visit the Corinthians again. So that fit her situation better. Frowning, she kept scanning.
A door opened for Paul to work in Troas, but he felt uneasy and went to Macedonia instead.
He ignored a God-opened door.
She dropped her Bible onto the bed and stared at the birds fighting in the branches. If Paul disregarded some doors opened by the Lord, was it wrong for her to consider opportunity as only part of the equation? Unless God commanded her, she had plenty of other factors to consider.
Mainly, Momma would regret that she didn’t go. No, regret was not a strong enough word for what Momma would feel.
Papa had said he wanted the best for her. Whatever that was.
Rachel dropped her head onto her embroidered pillowslip, running her fingers across her sister’s fancy stitching of two birds flying together, carrying a tied ribbon between them. How many times had she quashed a daydream about Dex’s gay green eyes hovering close enough to kiss her? He’d done so only a bit ago, the pressure of his lips still buzzing on hers.
But he’d told her to go to school.
Might he have pursued her these past two years if he’d known she’d abandon college for him?
Some had questioned her parents for wasting tuition on a girl “who already knew more than a woman needed to know.” A pretentious degree wouldn’t extricate her from beneath their roof.
But that’s exactly why Momma wanted her to pursue school. Only a man who loved her for who she truly was would bother to propose. Sound reasoning.
Rachel huffed. She had as many rationales to pass through the open door as not.
She slid her feet over the side of her bed. Would he consider marrying her before he left? He’d been writing a mail-order bride company after all, and since he’d said there was none but her, maybe she’d been wrong to assume he’d already chosen a bride. She ran her hand along the quilt’s stitching.
If he didn’t want to
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