Eleanor almost choked on her tea. It was obvious? To whom? Why? “Well ... that is to say ... I...”
Marvella gave her a worried look. “I assure you that you can tell me about it. I’m the soul of discretion.”
“I wasn’t ... worried ... that you wouldn’t be.” Better choose her words carefully. “I won’t speak for my father, although I can say that he does believe in God. My mother was a strong believer.”
“Yes, you’ve told me that. And her loss is why you walked away from God?”
Straight to the point. An admirable trait. If there was anything Eleanor couldn’t stand, it was people who beat around the bush. “It was. I watched my mother suffer a terrible death, and yet her faith in a loving God never wavered.”
“You found that appalling.”
Heat rose in Eleanor’s chest. Stay calm ... “Of course I did. I saw nothing loving or kind about the way my mother died. It was stomach cancer, and she was in extreme pain. Even the medicines given to her by the doctor couldn’t help much.”
No doubt Marvella would now scold her for her tone. Or, even worse, defend God. Instead, the older woman fell silent, and when she raised her eyes to meet Eleanor’s gaze, tears glimmered there.
“That must have been so hard for you ... just a child.”
It took every bit of Eleanor’s self-control not to burst into tears herself. When she finally managed to speak, her voice was rough. “It was the worst thing I have ever known.” She shook her head. “Mother was so faithful to God. She toldme there had to be a reason for her suffering ... but what reason could God have had to make a loving woman suffer such pain and misery?”
Marvella’s tender gaze brought Eleanor’s tirade to an end. After a moment, Marvella sighed. “Life in this world is full of sorrows to be sure. There is not only pain and suffering physically, but emotionally and spiritually, as well. Still, when we belong to God, we do not bear those things alone.”
Butshehad. “Mother said her faith was liberating, but I cannot see how that was true. She wasn’t spared the burdens of life, nor was she kept from the bondage of death.” Eleanor struggled to continue speaking. “How was any of that liberating?”
“Perhaps she spoke of the liberty that comes through knowing you will never truly face anything in life alone. Ellie, Satan has been given certain powers over this earth. Sin entered into a perfect place God created through the devil’s interference and mankind listening to his lies. The struggle has been going strong ever since. Satan even attempted to turn Jesus away from the truth through his temptations. Satan worked to turn Job away from God by taking everything Job loved. No doubt Satan would have loved to turn your mother away from her faith in God.”
“But why should Satan care?”
Marvella didn’t even pause for breath. Her words were fierce. “Because he hates God. He hates that God is love and shows mercy to His children. He hates more than anything that God gave mankind His Son to save us from eternal death. Folks tend to forget that there is a very real spiritual battle going on for your soul.”
What was she talking about? None of this made sense. “My soul? Why would Satan even care about my soul?”
“Because it’s one less that God gets if he wins it.”
“But I haven’t given my soul to Satan.” It was time to end this disturbing conversation, and yet ... she couldn’t. “The truth is, I haven’t given it to anybody.”
“By refusing to accept God’s free gift, you make a choice, my dear.”
Eleanor swallowed. How could that be possible? If she didn’t want to choose God, she was choosing the devil? What a horrible thought!
She needed to escape.
Her cup and saucer clattered as she put it on the table and stood. “Thank you for your help with the house, Mrs. Ashbury. I’ll let you know Father’s schedule.”
The older woman smiled and selected a cookie off the tray in front of her. “And you’ll consider what we discussed just now?”
Eleanor nodded and practically ran from the room.
Considerthat conversation?
She raced up the stairs as if her dress were on fire.
She’d hardly be able to think about anything else!
12
FRIDAY, JUNE17, 1904
Formal invitations to the Ashburys’ dinner on the twenty-fourth of June went out two days later.
