Amanda arrived at church the next morning and began to look for Beth. As usual, her students crowded around the popular, young teacher, and as services began, she had still not located her friend. Amanda slipped into one of the back pews hoping her friend would join her, but as the service progressed, there was still no sign of Beth. Amanda tried to keep her mind on the service, but she was worried about Beth. She knew that Beth had intended to come into town today for the service. During the prayer time, she fervently lifted her friend up to the Lord and asked for her safety. She also continued to pray about the decision concerning her future. As Pastor Jenson stood to begin his message, Amanda forced her mind once again to the present.
“Our Bible passage today is from Ruth and is a familiar one, but I feel it is an important one for all of our church family. Listen as I read from God’s Word:
‘And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death depart thee and me.’ Ruth 1:16-17 KJV
“This passage is often used at weddings and is appropriate for that occasion, but let’s think about the circumstances of Ruth. She had not been raised as a Jew. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, had come to her country with her husband and two sons. The sons had married, and later Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, had passed away along with her two sons. Naomi decided to return to Judah
‘Naomi, who was good and kind, bid them both to leave her and return to their families. Orpah did as Naomi asked and returned to her family, but Ruth would not go. Telling Naomi that she would not leave, she said she would go wherever Naomi went and would die where Naomi died. This would have been impressive had she been talking to her husband, but this was her mother-in-law! The most important thing was that Naomi’s GOD would be her GOD! Naomi had witnessed to this young woman in such a way that Ruth wanted to be with her and to share her faith. Now I ask you, are we providing that type of witness to others? Do they see something in us that they lack in their own lives? Do they want what we have? Do they want our GOD to be their GOD?”
“Ruth did not know what would face her when they came to Judah Judah
“I ask you today, do we trust God to provide for us? Do we share our faith with others so that they want to know our God? Are we willing to go into a strange land for the Lord, knowing that it is His plan for us, that He will go with us, that He knows our future and what is best for us? If we are not willing to do that, we need to ask God to take away all doubt from our minds. Ask God to replace it with faith in His power and glory. God has promised to take care of us, and God keeps His promises!”
Amanda was overwhelmed by this message. It almost seemed as if it was an answer to all of her prayers. Certainly God did know her future. He did know what was best for her. But did He want her to go into a strange land? Was this His plan for her? She would continue to pray for answers.
At the end of the service, Amanda greeted the other members of the small congregation. At the door of the church, she shook hands with Pastor Jenson.
“I certainly enjoyed the message this morning, Pastor. You always seem to know my struggles and preach a message near to my heart.”
Pastor Jenson smiled, “I don’t know your struggles, Amanda, but God does. He leads me in my choice of message topics. I am glad that He spoke to you this morning.”
Several of the families asked Amanda to join them for lunch, but she declined all the offers. She was too worried about Beth to sit around all afternoon being polite, not knowing if Beth was all right. Amanda stopped the Murphy family to ask where Beth was, but they had assumed she was not coming into town for church when she did not show up to ride with them.
As soon as she could get away, Amanda hurried home and ate a quick lunch. Within the hour, she was back at the livery stable, paying for a horse and buggy so that she might ride out to the Matthews’ farm to check on Beth. The ride did not go quickly enough for Amanda, but she would not let the horse go very fast because of her inexperience. She passed the time praying for Beth and breathed a sigh of relief when the farm came into view.
As Amanda pulled into the yard in front of the Matthews’ home, she was surprised to see another buggy there. She wondered who was visiting and whether she should interrupt, but she thought since she had come this far, she may as well check on Beth. If necessary, she could make her excuses and return to town.
As she climbed down from the buggy and secured the horse, she heard a noise behind her. Turning, she saw Beth rushing toward her.
“Mandy, I am so glad to see you. I have been praying and praying that you would come!” Beth cried.
Amanda was alarmed to see tears in Beth’s eyes, and her face was swollen as though she had cried uncontrollably. “Beth, what’s wrong? Are you and your father all right?” Amanda grabbed Beth’s hands and gave them a squeeze.
Beth glanced over her shoulder toward the porch. As Amanda also turned in that direction, she saw that Mr. Matthews and Mr. Zimmerman had come onto the porch. That explained part of Beth’s distress. Amanda knew that Mr. Zimmerman did not attend church. Indeed, this was one of Beth’s objections to him as a suitor. Amanda assumed that Mr. Matthews had invited Mr. Zimmerman for lunch, leaving Beth unable to get away for church services.
Giving her friend a reassuring smile, she hooked her arm into Beth’s and began to walk toward the house. Mr. Matthews might not be welcoming, but she would not desert her friend. Beth pulled her toward the house, and the men waited and followed them into the parlor.
“Mandy, have you eaten? Let me get you a plate. I know you like my apple pie. Would you like a piece?” Beth scurried around Amanda, scarcely giving her a chance to say anything.
“I have eaten but can’t pass up a piece of your delicious pie. You make the best pie of anyone that I know. Here, let me help you. Now you men just sit down, and we will bring you something cool to drink.” Amanda smiled at the two men even though neither one seemed too happy to see her.
Beth and Amanda went into the kitchen. Beth took clean plates as Amanda began to cut the pie. Beth moved close to Amanda’s ear to whisper, “It is awful! You will not believe what Father wants me to do!”
Amanda imagined that Mr. Matthews wanted Beth to accept Mr. Zimmerman’s marriage proposal, but she knew that this was not the time to discuss it. Silently, she shook her head at her friend. She knew that they would have to wait for a more private moment for their chat.
The two young women busied themselves fixing a tray of tea and cool water along with slices of the pie for everyone. Beth carried the tray into the parlor, and they both served the two men. Mr. Matthews kept giving Amanda angry looks, but she did her best to ignore him. She knew that, eventually, she would have to leave, but she wanted to help her friend all that she could.
Amanda did her best to keep the conversation going, commenting on the weather, asking Mr. Zimmerman about his business and Mr. Matthews about his crops, but eventually she ran out of ideas. Beth was not much help. She looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment. Amanda did not think she had ever seen her friend so nervous. Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Matthews gave only short one or two word replies.
Finally, Amanda said, “Beth, have you finished that dress of your mother’s you were remaking? I would love to see it.”
Beth seemed to jump at the opportunity to get Mandy alone. “Yes, it is in my room. If you gentlemen would excuse us for a moment?”
Mr. Matthews’ face grew very red. Amanda thought that he would refuse, but Mr. Zimmerman was already standing.
“Of course, you may show her the dress. We will miss your company, but I need to check on my horse anyway. I am sure that it will not take you long to show her, and perhaps you might put it on to show us. I admire a woman who knows how to stretch a dollar. No use making new dresses when there is still plenty of use in those of your mother’s.”
This was said with an ingratiating smile that infuriated Amanda. She had to bite down hard on her lip to keep from saying something back to him. For now, all she wanted to do was to get Beth alone for a few minutes.
Amanda and Beth climbed the stairs to Beth’s room. As soon as Beth closed the door, she burst into tears and hugged Amanda.
“Oh, Mandy, what am I going to do? Father says I have to marry Mr. Zimmerman. He says I have to do what he says because he is my father. Mr. Zimmerman and Father even made an agreement that we would live here. I would still do all of the cooking and cleaning while Mr. Zimmerman continues working in town. Mr. Zimmerman would buy all of our supplies since Father is providing our home and the food that we raise! Can you believe it? Have you ever heard of anything so outrageous? Father just wants to get his supplies for free while I continue to do all of his work! I am so angry! I don’t love Mr. Zimmerman, but Father doesn’t care about that! He just doesn’t want to spend any money on supplies! I can’t even have my own home. I just have to stay here doing twice the work!”
Mandy could not say anything. She was a little surprised, but she knew that Mr. Matthew did not like to spend money. This way he would not have to give up his housekeeper. She was sure this kind of arrangement made perfect sense to him. Hugging Beth, she urged her to wash her face.
“Beth, we don’t have time to talk about this now. I have been praying for you all of yesterday and today. I know that God will give us the answer. I have so much to talk to you about, but I know we don’t have time now. Your father may come after us at any minute. Trust that I may have some answers for you. The best I can say now is for you to try to stall him until we know what we are going to do.”
Beth washed her face and, after calming down, made her way downstairs. Amanda stayed to help her friend wash the dishes and visited awhile longer, but it was obvious that both of the men were anxious for her to leave. It was equally obvious that Beth did not want her to leave. Eventually, Amanda said that she had to return the buggy to the livery stable. The men barely nodded a goodbye, but Beth clung to her as if she never wanted her to leave. Both women walked out to the buggy.
“I have to go now. Sooner or later, he is going to ask you so you will have to say yes or no. What do you think your father would do if you refused to marry Mr. Zimmerman?” said Amanda.
“Oh, after last night, I have no doubt that it doesn’t matter whether I say yes or no. Father was perfectly clear that the offer is just a formality. He has already accepted for me!” Beth shuddered.
“Wait! I have an idea. Tell him that you promised your mother that you would not get married until you turn eighteen. That won’t be until the middle of May. At least that will give us another month to try to think of something. I’ll try to see you again this week. Come into town if you can, or I will try to come out here. Remember God is with you and that I am praying for you. ”
Beth hugged her so hard that Amanda thought she would never let go. Amanda climbed into the buggy for the journey back into town. Once again, her time was spent in prayer and trying to control the horse. Before she knew it, she was back in town and turning over the reins to Mr. Scott, the owner of the livery.
Amanda slowly walked toward her cabin. It was so unfair of Mr. Matthews to want to use Beth in this manner. She had nursed her mother for years, cooked, and cleaned for her father in addition to doing other chores on the farm. Now her father did not even care that Beth did not love Mr. Zimmerman, a man so stingy that he did not even think that Beth deserved a new dress! Mr. Zimmerman even sold cloth in his store! He could have given Beth several pieces of cloth at cost! Poor Beth deserved so much more! She was so sweet and kind and never complained about all of the work or lack of money. In fact, today was the first time Amanda had ever heard her say anything negative about her father or the way she lived. Beth deserved to be cherished by her husband, not used as a type of business deal between two bitter, old misers! Perhaps that was a little harsh, but Amanda was fiercely loyal to her friend. She knew that she would have to continue her prayers of intercession for Beth.
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