Sarah arrived home just as the other women were preparing breakfast.
“I don’t know why babies always seem to come in the middle of the night. I love the miracle of a new birth, but sometimes it is difficult for me to stay awake. I guess I shouldn’t complain. I am just glad to have patients. And I thank God that both mother and baby are doing fine.”
“And look at my payment!” Sarah lifted a burlap sack onto the table.
The others looked eagerly to see what this patient had sent. Most of Sarah’s patients had a lack of coin, so many paid with supplies or something they could trade at the general store.
“Oh, look! There’s a big jar of pickles and some ham. There are even four apples. We can make an apple pie and some ham biscuits to take for our lunch today.”
It had been decided that those who wished would bring a picnic lunch to church with them. Some of the settlers lived a distance from town and would have a late meal if they had to travel back home before eating. It was felt that this would also be an opportunity for the townspeople to get to know the newly arrived women. Mr. Mercer had arrived on Thursday bringing fifty women with him. The community building was crowded with women of all ages.
The women had met some of the new arrivals at the dance the previous night, but Amanda knew that it would take time before they were familiar with all of the new names.
The four women hurried to eat their breakfast so they could finish their chores and begin preparing lunch. Sarah went to take a nap, and Beth went out to feed the chickens.
Amanda and Hannah worked together in the kitchen as Amanda began mixing the biscuits.
“Mandy?” Hannah said tentatively. “Do you remember when you were saved?”
“Why, yes,” Amanda replied. “I was ten years old. I had always gone to church, but I was at a revival meeting; and suddenly it seemed that the preacher was speaking straight to me. I realized that Christ died for me – not just other people. And the words in the Bible were for me – not just grown-ups. I felt such a burden in my heart that I went forward to talk to the preacher, and he helped me pray right then that Jesus would come into my heart. It was a wonderful feeling to know that Jesus would forgive all of my sins. I felt such peace, and I still feel peace about it. Oh, I sometimes get discouraged, just as others do, and I don’t always do the right thing or have the right attitude, but I know that Jesus is only a prayer away. And I know that I need to spend time with Him so that I can be right with Him again. Why do you ask?” Turning toward Hannah, Amanda was surprised to see tears in her eyes.
“Why, Hannah, what is wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Oh, Mandy, I know that I told you on the train that I was a Christian. I really thought I was because I have always gone to church with my family. And I always tried to do the right thing and not hurt anyone. I have read my Bible and prayed, but I have never asked Jesus into my heart. I guess I just thought He was already there because I had always believed in Him.”
“But since I have come here to live and we have been studying the Bible passages each night, I know that I am not really a Christian. It’s like you said, all of a sudden, everything we read seems to have been written just for me. Just like last night when we talked about the rich young ruler. I don’t have a lot of money but I don’t think I have been willing to give everything up for God. I know that I have not put Christ before everything else.”
“Mandy, will you help me pray so I can have that peace that you have?”
“Of course I will. And, Hannah, it is the easiest prayer in the world. All you need to do is tell God that you believe in Him, that you believe Jesus came to earth and died to save you and He rose again. That He is living right now in heaven with God and that He promised us eternal life if we only believe. Ask Him to forgive you for all of your wrongs and to send His Holy Spirit to guide you. And then just ask Him into your heart.”
Amanda prayed with the younger girl, and in just a few minutes, Hannah lifted her head to smile happily through her tears.
“Oh, Mandy, you were right! It is a feeling of such peace! I can’t explain it but. . .”
Amanda hugged Hannah and rejoiced with her over her newly found faith in Christ. When Beth came inside, they shared the news with her, and Beth was overjoyed to know that now Hannah was part of the family of God.
The women continued preparing their noon meal and packed it into a large basket before dressing for church. Sarah joined them on their walk to the community building.
There was a much larger crowd this week because of the additional women. It seemed that more men were present as well. The group greeted their friends and acquaintances as they found seats on the benches. Amanda was seated between Beth and Hannah this week. Will and Ben sat with them, next to Beth. Riley joined them a few minutes later, sitting next to Will.
Pastor Taylor once again opened the service with several well-known songs before leading the group in prayer.
“It does my heart good to look out at all of these happy faces this morning. It seems that we grow every week. I have a few announcements but before that, I want to express my thanks to everyone for the help you have given to our family this week. Estelle is doing a little better, and your help has enabled her to get the rest she needs. Our families were worried about our coming so far from home to start a new church; but I say that we may have left our family back in Georgia but we have found a new one here in Seattle.” He smiled warmly at the congregation.
Pastor then made several announcements, included the scheduled town meeting on Tuesday evening.
As Pastor Taylor began his message, Amanda glanced at Riley. He was listening intently to the pastor, and Amanda reminded herself that she needed to do so as well.
Pastor Taylor had chosen the story of the crucifixion for his sermon topic that day.
“Friends, some of you know this story very well but others of you may have never heard it. It is my belief that no one is ready to worship until he is aware of the sacrifice that Christ made for each of us.”
Pastor Taylor led them through the days leading up to the death of Christ and the agony of the cross.
“And His friends denied Him. They were afraid that they too would be imprisoned or killed. Those that stayed near thought all was lost. They lost one of the most precious things to each of us – they lost hope! They lost hope because they lost their faith. Their frail human minds could not understand that this was God’s plan. They did not fully understand this until the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to live within them. They thought that Christ had died a human death – and so He had - but He was not human, He was the Son of God! Death could not hold Him! After three days, He rose from the dead. Can you imagine how His followers felt when they heard the good news? They were overjoyed! Jesus spent His final time on earth preparing them for the time that He would return to heaven.’
“Just think about it! Here were just a few followers, eleven disciples and a few more. And they were responsible for telling the world about Jesus. How can we do less?’
“Friends, Jesus died that agonizing death for you – for each one of you. He left the glory of heaven for you! He is waiting right now for you to ask Him into your heart! Won’t you do that today? We are going to have an invitation today, and I ask you to come forward if you are ready to make a public decision for Christ today. I will be here to pray with you. Or if you are not ready, I will meet with you privately. Friends, this is the most important decision you will ever make! Don’t put if off! I would ask you all to stand and bow your heads and pray silently. Those who need to step forward, won’t you come now? Please!”
Hannah squeezed Amanda’s hand before slipping out of the row and going forward. Amanda thanked God for the other girl’s decision. She prayed that others would also make decisions today. She especially prayed that Riley would see that he needed the Lord in his life.
A short time later, Pastor Taylor asked them all to be seated. Amanda was glad to see four people with the pastor, but she was sad that Riley was not one of them.
“Friends, won’t you rejoice with me today? We have four coming today to make personal decisions to have Christ as their Lord and Savior. Let me share with you who they are.”
The pastor went on to introduce Hannah along with a married couple, the Stevensons, and their son, Joshua.
“I know that everyone will want to greet them and rejoice with them. You will have time for that as we prepare to eat our meal. I will say grace, and then I would ask the men to come forward to help with moving the tables and benches in preparation for lunch.”
After he led in prayer, many rushed to the four new Christians to express their happiness with their decisions. With all present helping, the tables were quickly laden with food, and plates were filled in short order. All present began to eat while visiting with their nieghbors.
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