The Reluctant Bridegroom

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Authors: Gilbert Morris
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Spirit—for you will need much strength for what lies before you.” He noted her startled look and added hastily, “Oh no—I know nothing about you, except that the Lord has told me that you have a difficult path to walk, and He wants to give you a double portion of His grace. Will you ask Him for this?”
    Although she did not understand fully what he meant, Rebekah bowed her head and prayed, “Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit.” She prayed this several times as the reverend put his hand on her head and prayed with her. In a few minutes, she felt a wave of joy rush through her, and she lifted her hands and began to praise God as she never had before! She was not conscious of the crowds around her—only that God had somehow touched her in a way that she had never thought possible. She leaped to her feet, her hands lifted and tears streaming down her face, and for a long time she just stood there, saying “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Lord!” over and over again.
    Rev. Finney smiled at Mary, who was weeping freely for joy. “Sister—there’s a new name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!”
    ****
    By the last of February, the snow had melted, turning unpaved streets into rivers of mud and yards into quagmires. But the warmer weather cut down on the use of fuel, so Mary and Rebekah didn’t complain.
    Their lives had settled into a pattern. Mary went to workin the morning, while Rebekah stayed home and took care of Timmy and the house. She kept the house neat as a pin, and the baby filled her heart. Once she said, “Mary, I feel awful. You do all the work—and I stay home and do nothing.”
    “It’s God’s hand at work, Becky,” Mary had replied. “Don’t be faulting the way He does things.”
    The two of them went to the church almost every night; Rebekah had never known there was such joy in going to church. She had been apprehensive when she had first gone to pray for a young woman who was struggling with doubt, but the pastor insisted that it was the duty of all believers. The young woman had not been saved, but the following night, Rebekah prayed for another who was. Her work with the church became a joy to her, and she was happy.
    Mary came home one afternoon with a newspaper one of the women had given her. As she sat down to eat the meal Rebekah had prepared, Mary had a peculiar look on her face. “Well, Becky, at least now there’s always one thing we can do—to get husbands, I mean.”
    “Get a husband?” Rebekah looked up quickly, frowning. “What are you talking about, Mary?”
    “Look . . .” She held up a newspaper with Puget Sound Herald emblazoned across the front. “Look at this—no, I’ll read it to you.” She found a notice in the middle section of the paper and began to read aloud:
    “ ‘Attention—Ladies of the East! If you are seeking a new life, Oregon is your answer. The men outnumber ladies fifteen to one, so the situation is desperate! Many fine men who would make wonderful husbands are wretched for want of comfortable homes, and would lose no time in allying themselves with the fair daughters of Eve if they would deign to favor us with their presence!’ ”
    Rebekah laughed out loud at the last sentence. “He must have gotten that from a romantic novel, Mary! Nobody ever actually talks like that!” Then she cast an unbelieving lookat the paper. “Advertising for brides! I never heard of such a thing!”
    “Just you wait, now,” Mary said quickly. “He goes on to say as how a man named Asa Mercer came east last spring and got over a hundred women to go to Oregon. ’Course, he made a call for schoolteachers —but everyone knew that was just for the looks of things. Says every one of them women got husbands, soon as they got there.”
    “You’re not really thinking of going!” Rebekah stared at Mary in disbelief.
    Mary dropped her head for a moment, then looked up and said, “Who’d marry me in this place, Becky? And what about Timmy? You’ve seen what

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