"I was afraid we might have some squabbles, because when you get too many people together for too long, especially if they don't have anything productive to do, they have a tendency to find anything and everything to disagree about."
Marjorie laughed. "Boy, you are correct about that. But maybe the fact that we're in the church, that Pastor is here walking around looking at everyone, that we just feel a little bit closer to God here. Maybe that'll help keep us in line." And then she shook her head with a grunt. "Or not." Her eyes twinkled as they met Olivia's. Both of them knew that Marjorie was probably engaging in wishful thinking.
"Reminds me of what Paul says in Corinthians where he says the things that he doesn't want to do, he ends up doing, and the things that he does want to do, he doesn't. I can stand here and say I'm not going to argue with anyone, but... just let someone mistreat my children, and I'll be at their throat in no time. It will take me a little while to remind myself that I wasn't going to act like that. And then I'll be embarrassed."
"Our children really bring out the mother bears in us. I admit toflying off the handle a few times when I shouldn't have, that's for sure."
"Will it ever get better? Because I'm trying. But it seems like I fail constantly."
"I know this is where I'm supposed to say that it's not supposed to be you, it's supposed to be Jesus, but I've always been of the mind that it takes both of you. After all, God commands us to be holy. If He gives us that command, surely there's something that we need to do, actively. But we also know that we can't do anything without the Lord's help. So, I've always figured that it's one hundred percent me and one hundred percent God. And sometimes we grow in some areas more slowly than others." She lifted a shoulder. "I know I've been working on some things for decades, and I'm still working on them. God has helped, but... I'm not where I'd like to be. In fact, it seems like the older I get, the more I see that I'm so far away from what I'd like to be, that it feels like I'll never get there."
"In heaven," Olivia said. "We'll be there in heaven."
"That was another reason why I was kind of looking forward to it. After all, I've been striving for years to try to be holy, and in heaven, all of my efforts will be realized."
Chapter 13
"Dr. Terry and I are making sure that at least one of us is on call the entire time we're here. We do have a generator at the clinic, but it doesn't run the entire thing, just the refrigerators and some backup lights."
"It makes sense for you guys to move your operations here, although obviously it would not be normal operations," Pastor Mark said, appreciating the fact that people had been taking it upon themselves to contribute where they felt they could.
"And I have coordinated with the department to make sure that I'm able to be here to respond to any issues," Ben said, his arm around Hannah, the closeness of their bodies saying without words their comfortableness toward each other.
"I appreciate that."
"As long as the roads remain passable, I'll be checking on people. But if we get as much snow as what they're calling for, that's not going to last the entire time."
"No. And so far everything has been worse than what they've said, so I don't know why that wouldn't be too." Mark didn't believe in being all gloom and doom all the time, but it was true that whenthings started going south, they usually went south in a hurry and further south than anyone anticipated. That was just being real, not negative. At least he told himself that.
His eyes drifted across the room where Olivia stood dishing soup out and chatting with Marjorie McBride. He couldn't think of a better person to be talking to her. Marjorie was full of wisdom and kindness, and she was just one of those people that anyone could learn something from. A person didn't have to be in her presence very long before her wisdom started rubbing off.
The church could use a hundred more people like Marjorie.
Of course, everyone had their place, and God had a place for everyone.
"If you have a moment, Pastor, I had an idea," Noah said, interrupting Mark's thoughts.
He nodded at Ben and Hannah as they moved away, confident that any medical emergencies would be taken care of, and that Ben would keep things in order, and also make sure that anyone intent on no good would not get in to harm his congregation.
After all, it would be defeating the purpose to lock the doors.
"I'm all yours." He turned and faced Noah fully. Noah stood with his wife, Grace. His arm was around her, but both of her eyes were on him.
"I was already working on music for Christmas, but since we have everyone here, and I assume that people are going to be a little bit bored and maybe restless, I was wondering if it might be okay to see if we can put together a musical performance. Something we can do maybe between Christmas and New Year's, a town thing, but considering that this is church property, I thought I'd get your permission."
"You certainly have my permission." He paused for a moment, thinking about how he had just been thinking about how everyone had their place. There was Noah, donating what he had.
"But?" Noah prompted, as though knowing that Mark had more to say.
"I've had this thought in my head for a while, but I don't know if it's doable on such short notice."
"We're gonna have a lot of time. What's your idea?" Noah asked, looking excited about the challenge.
"I've seen multiple candlelight musical performances. Some with dancing, some with just music, and they always look so magical. I don't know if it's too late for us to do something like that or not?"
He also thought that would give Olivia more business, if they were able to buy the candles from her. He would suggest it if Noah didn't.
Noah glanced over his shoulder. His wife said, "Olivia is here. We can ask her if it would be possible to have... How many candles would that take?" She paused. "I know we could get the musical part down."
