Blurb:
Will Margaret’s prayers for a child of her own be answered this
Christmas or does God have something else in store?
After five years of marriage, Margaret’s prayers for a baby have
gone unanswered. When she and her husband, Thomas travel to Boston to help his
ailing father, Margaret happens upon a desperate young woman, sick and lying in
the street heavy with child. Unable to simply ignore the woman, Margaret makes
the decision to take the woman in.
Condemned for her decision to help a woman of ill repute,
Margaret does what she knows is right—even if doing the right thing sometimes
has life-altering consequences.
Extract:
The news of her younger sister’s marriage came as a shock to
Margaret.
Elizabeth married Calvin Littleton? Goodness, Mama! Aren’t you
even one bit concerned about that?
Admittedly her sister had known the boy a very long time. But
they met at the State Lunatic Asylum in Austin, Texas—as patients.
Mama went on to say: I hope you won’t mind, but we’ve
allowed the newlyweds to move into your house next door until you return. Your
papa and I have gotten used to having just the two little ones at home, and we
knew you wouldn’t mind them staying at your place for a while.
What? Anger
burned in her stomach, and her appetite disappeared. She tossed her fish plank
onto the paper wrapper. The edge of the letter crumpled in her tight
grip. You don’t have the right to let them move into the house Thomas
built for us! And now she’s going to have her baby in my house. I’m supposed to
have the first baby…
Margaret wanted to throw the letter in the wastebasket, but she
couldn’t. Her hunger for news of any kind from back home overruled her desire
to trash Mama’s letter. She continued reading about the latest gossip around
the peninsula and the most recent antics performed by her little siblings, June
and Jeremiah. Messages from Mama were usually the highlight of the day, but
this one rubbed her the wrong way. She dropped the offensive piece of mail into
her bag and pouted.
Mama had to know how hurtful hearing the news about Elizabeth’s
pregnancy would be for her. How many times had Margaret cried with her mother
concerning that very subject? Not only was Elizabeth going to have the first
grandchild, it would be born in Margaret’s very own house. She crossed her arms
over her middle, hating everything about herself, from her unfruitful womb to
her shameless jealousy. Tears rimmed her bottom lids.
Lord, how can You be so cruel to Thomas and me? What have we
done to make You want to punish us? Five years we’ve been husband and wife.
Five years we’ve put You first in our marriage and our lives. And for five
years we have remained childless. Father, please have mercy on Your children.
Amazon – https://amzn.to/2SrrVJH
Barnes & Noble – http://bit.ly/2Rx9emH
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