that it?” She’d really hoped to have till the spring to start an all-out job search.
Holly Dillon sighed and put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “What Jim is trying to say is that if your references check out and if at the end of the year we all agree that Tabernacle Christian School is the place for you, you’ll be hired as a full-time teacher.”
Sarah blinked. “Oh. I hadn’t expected…” Her throat caught as tears welled up. Overcome with the sudden easing of so many burdens, she could only stare at him as more tears gathered and fell.
The pastor looked at his wife in a near panic but Sarah couldn’t stem the flow of her tears. Holly sighed. “Go,” she ordered him and rushed to Sarah’s side as the kind pastor beat a hasty retreat.
“I’m so sorry,” Sarah choked out. “I’ve chased your poor husband out of his own office. He’s probably not even going to hire me as a sub now.”
“Oh, don’t be foolish. That’s just Jim being Jim. You’d think after all these years in the ministry he’d be used to a few tears but he can’t handle crying women. Or children. Makes for chaos at home when someone gets hurt because he falls apart.” She handed Sarah a tissue and patted her back. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the job is yours. You have every right to a few tears with all Miriam tells me you’ve been through.”
Sarah wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “It’s just all been so overwhelming and now, in one day, it feels as if a pressure valve has been opened. I’m still worried about Grace but everything else has just fallen into place. And all because Kip Webster volunteered to fly us here. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank him.”
“Knowing Kip, he doesn’t expect your thanks. Helping you would be enough thanks for him. He wouldn’t see what he’s done as deserving of a lot of notice. He’d see it as being used of the Lord. He’s a wonder. So are his sisters. We’re all blessed to have them as members.”
“I certainly feel blessed by at least two members of the family.”
Holly laughed. “Listen to us. What’s really happening is we’ve been blessed by the grace of God. Without Him, Kip wouldn’t be the kind man he is; Miriam wouldn’t have been so willing to trust you as a renter; and Jim wouldn’t have even considered hiring you on their recommendation alone.”
Sarah nodded, but a knot of unease formed in her stomach so she said little else. She just wanted to get out of there with what was left of her dignity in place. She wasn’t a foolish watering pot. She stood on her own in the world and had survived disappointment and near abandonment at the hands of her parents on and off since she was seven years old. She’d survived heartbreak when Scott was killed. Fear and pain when Grace was born so small and helpless.
Holly said Jim Dillon had decided to hire her but she would never again count on life to work out for her. What was that old saying— The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. If it was true, He could easily wave His hand and somehow she’d find herself trying to survive in bad neighborhoods with, or worse, without Grace.
Sarah wished with all her heart she could go back to the hopeful, faith-filled person she’d been before Scott’s death and Grace’s birth. But she felt as if a wall had been erected between her and her Savior. It was perhaps the most desolate feeling she’d ever experienced and she didn’t know how to knock that wall down.
These days that hollow emptiness was always there inside her ready to claim her if she let it. If she took this position, she knew it would be harder to drift from day to day, putting one foot in front of the other, and keeping so busy she had no time think. Day in and day out she would be surrounded by evidence of His presence.
But she had no choice. This leg up was too beneficial to turn down. She had to accept the help of these strangers who had happened into her life. She was just too tired
Holly Dillon sighed and put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “What Jim is trying to say is that if your references check out and if at the end of the year we all agree that Tabernacle Christian School is the place for you, you’ll be hired as a full-time teacher.”
Sarah blinked. “Oh. I hadn’t expected…” Her throat caught as tears welled up. Overcome with the sudden easing of so many burdens, she could only stare at him as more tears gathered and fell.
The pastor looked at his wife in a near panic but Sarah couldn’t stem the flow of her tears. Holly sighed. “Go,” she ordered him and rushed to Sarah’s side as the kind pastor beat a hasty retreat.
“I’m so sorry,” Sarah choked out. “I’ve chased your poor husband out of his own office. He’s probably not even going to hire me as a sub now.”
“Oh, don’t be foolish. That’s just Jim being Jim. You’d think after all these years in the ministry he’d be used to a few tears but he can’t handle crying women. Or children. Makes for chaos at home when someone gets hurt because he falls apart.” She handed Sarah a tissue and patted her back. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the job is yours. You have every right to a few tears with all Miriam tells me you’ve been through.”
Sarah wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “It’s just all been so overwhelming and now, in one day, it feels as if a pressure valve has been opened. I’m still worried about Grace but everything else has just fallen into place. And all because Kip Webster volunteered to fly us here. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank him.”
“Knowing Kip, he doesn’t expect your thanks. Helping you would be enough thanks for him. He wouldn’t see what he’s done as deserving of a lot of notice. He’d see it as being used of the Lord. He’s a wonder. So are his sisters. We’re all blessed to have them as members.”
“I certainly feel blessed by at least two members of the family.”
Holly laughed. “Listen to us. What’s really happening is we’ve been blessed by the grace of God. Without Him, Kip wouldn’t be the kind man he is; Miriam wouldn’t have been so willing to trust you as a renter; and Jim wouldn’t have even considered hiring you on their recommendation alone.”
Sarah nodded, but a knot of unease formed in her stomach so she said little else. She just wanted to get out of there with what was left of her dignity in place. She wasn’t a foolish watering pot. She stood on her own in the world and had survived disappointment and near abandonment at the hands of her parents on and off since she was seven years old. She’d survived heartbreak when Scott was killed. Fear and pain when Grace was born so small and helpless.
Holly said Jim Dillon had decided to hire her but she would never again count on life to work out for her. What was that old saying— The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. If it was true, He could easily wave His hand and somehow she’d find herself trying to survive in bad neighborhoods with, or worse, without Grace.
Sarah wished with all her heart she could go back to the hopeful, faith-filled person she’d been before Scott’s death and Grace’s birth. But she felt as if a wall had been erected between her and her Savior. It was perhaps the most desolate feeling she’d ever experienced and she didn’t know how to knock that wall down.
These days that hollow emptiness was always there inside her ready to claim her if she let it. If she took this position, she knew it would be harder to drift from day to day, putting one foot in front of the other, and keeping so busy she had no time think. Day in and day out she would be surrounded by evidence of His presence.
But she had no choice. This leg up was too beneficial to turn down. She had to accept the help of these strangers who had happened into her life. She was just too tired
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