Forever Blessed (Women of Prayer) (7 page)

She slowly made her way to the church. There was a chill in the air again, and she pulled her coat tighter
. Good thing the church is close by. Otherwise I’d freeze to death.
She never had her driver’s license; Frank wouldn’t allow her so much freedom. He took her everywhere she needed to go, always careful to keep a close eye on her. After he died, she’d thought about going for her license, but why? She’d lost contact with her family long ago. Frank didn’t like her to visit them. Her children rarely had anything to do with her and a visit or phone call from them made it feel like it was Christmas.
Lord, what are they doing this morning? Have they come to know you yet? Are they going to your house to worship you?

She sighed. Now, she was too old to drive. She’d probably push the gas instead of the brake and run into a store front, like that old guy did in…
Oh, where was that…California?
Yeah, she’d probably do the same thing. No, walking was just fine and if she had to get across town there was always the bus.

She was almost directly across from the big white house. A woman with long red hair and two kids were in the front yard raking leaves. The woman studied Ella for a moment and must have decided she was harmless because she smiled and nodded her head. Ella’s heart broke, but she smiled back and continued toward church.

She stopped at the bottom of the steps to catch her breath. Maybe she should get one of those electronic scooters. She chastised herself.
I am not that old,
and continued up the steps and through the big solid wooden doors. She slid into her pew just as the piano started playing a lively melody that had everyone around her standing and clapping their hands.

I just sat down! If they think I am going to stand up they have another thing coming. A woman my age needs to rest now and then.

A few rows ahead of her she saw Merry standing and clapping along with the rest of them. Feeling a twinge of guilt and bit of competition, she stood to her feet.
All right, I’ll stand.
But clapping was a whole nether matter. She’d never seen so much clapping and moving around in all the days she’d attended that church. If Frank were alive, he would have made them go to a different church. Church was supposed to be a quiet place, a place of reverence. Not some wild dance hall.

Ella stood completely still as she watched some woman dancing in the aisle. Oh Lord…what is she doing? Things went from bad to worse as Merry joined the woman. Ella did a double-take. The lady who was turning in circles with Merry was her next-door neighbor. Oh dear. Ella had a stinking suspicion they had been tipping the wine for Holy Communion. Why else would they be dancing? She looked around to see if anyone else noticed. No one else seemed to be concerned. What was this world coming to? Ella looked forward. Things certainly had changed since Pastors Mark and Jessi had come to shepherd their little church. Most were good changes. Some of it was kind of weird. Oh well, she wasn’t going to find a new church now. She’d live with it.

The worship leader was going full force now and everyone, well almost everyone, seemed to be enjoying themselves. Some people were raising their hands. Some were clapping and some were dancing. And some people just watched.

Ella listened as Pastor Mark got up and preached about the body of Christ being one body
. Lord, I can’t be the ears, 'cause I can’t hear very well any more. And Lord, you know I’m not the eyes. I can’t see up close and I can’t see far away. My knees aren’t too good and my bones ache. My teeth are borrowed; they come out each night and go back into place every morning. My hair is thinning and my skin is sagging. I know what I am. I must be the derriere. That is the only thing that seems to still be in place. In fact, I think it’s grown in the past few years. Lord, what does the bottom side do?

Ella watched as Merry went from person to person, saying goodbye. She quietly waited for her to finish. She didn’t want to interrupt. Finally the sanctuary emptied and Ella rose and made her way to Merry. “Merry, I have prayed about working at the house for abused women. I believe God has given his go ahead.”

Merry smiled at Ella.
Lord, thank you for holding her in her seat.
Merry had caught Ella looking like a deer about to bolt during worship. She prayed for her during the service, that God would touch her heart and set her feet to dancing. It was going to take time. She could be patient. “I’m so glad to hear that. They need help something terrible. I can call Sheila, the owner of the house, and let her know we found them a volunteer. Do you want to go over there tomorrow to meet Sheila? She can tell you more about what you’ll be doing.”

“Uh…that sounds fine.” Ella didn’t quite know what to say. She wasn’t sure when the job would start, but she didn’t think she’d be facing those ladies as soon as tomorrow.
Lord, be my strength.

Merry started shrugging into her jacket. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow, right after I talk with Sheila. I’m so glad this worked out. God is so good. I was praying about it and he put you on my heart right away. He always knows what is best.”

Ella wasn’t quite sure she was glad it worked out, but, she could agree that God always does know what is best, so she was just going to have to trust him.

Merry headed for the door. “Well, I best get on home. Mark and Jessi and the kids are hungry on Sunday afternoons and I have a pot roast slow-cooking. I gotta get the rest of dinner ready to go. I’ll talk with you tomorrow.”

Ella followed Merry out onto the sidewalk and waved goodbye. Home was just a few minutes away and the sun was shining, so the walk wouldn’t be half bad. She stopped in front of the white house. The yard was free of leaves and a couple of big leaf bags sat at the curb, waiting to be picked up. So this was where her past was going to catch up with her. That didn’t sound too good.

She continued home and took out the egg salad she had made before church. Longing filled her heart as she thought of Merry sitting around the table with her family, eating Sunday dinner. Suddenly, the egg salad didn’t look so appealing.

*  *  *  *

The next morning the phone rang at 10 o’clock. Ella had been sitting next to it since she got up, apprehensive, yet anxious to get things going. “Hello”

“Hi Ella, it’s me, Merry. I just finished speaking with Sheila and she wants to know if you can meet with her right after lunch? Unfortunately, one of the teachers at the school called in sick and Jessi needs me there to help out. Will you be okay going on your own?”

Ella’s stomach flipped. “I’m sure I can handle it. And yes, I’ll head over there about one. Is that good?”

“That should be just fine. I’ll let her know you are coming. And Ella…I’ll be praying for you.”

Sitting back in the chair, Ella bowed her head. “Lord, I hope you know what you are doing.”

After eating the egg salad she should have had for lunch the day before, Ella slipped into her coat and headed toward the big white house. It was a pretty house. The kids must have decorated for fall because there were leaves hanging inside the windows and pumpkins sat on each end of the porch steps. Bales of hay with little apple baskets filled with gourds and miniature scarecrows decorated the floor and corn stalks were tied around each porch post with twine.
It sure looks inviting.

After climbing the steps and admiring the decorations, Ella rang the bell and stepped back a little like her mama had taught her to. She waited. After a few minutes the door opened and she was staring at the red headed lady from the day before. “Hi, I’m Ella. I have a meeting with Sheila.”

The lady smiled and opened the screen door. “She said she was expecting someone. Come on in. She’ll be right with you.”

The redhead led Ella into a living room area. “You can wait for her here. Would you like something to drink, maybe some hot tea?”

She hesitated. Although she was shivering, she didn’t want to impose. She pulled her jacket a little tighter. “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

“How about I put some water on? I’m sure Sheila will have a cup and if you change your mind, there’ll be plenty.”

Ella looked around the room. The white fireplace mantel was lined with dainty teacups and matching saucers. In the center was an antique pitcher and water basin. The furniture was a floral pattern in pinks and greens. Such a pretty room. She’d wanted a room like this when she and Frank had first bought the little house, but Frank didn’t want any of his rooms decorated in pink or flowers. He made all the money and what he said went. After he died, she bought a pink patterned rocker with a matching ottoman. She never used it, but it felt good to do something she wanted to do.

*  *  *  *

Sheila glanced over the file sitting on her desk. She knew very little about the woman waiting in the other room, and while she did ask for help from the church down the street, she wasn’t sure now if she’d made the right decision. This was a tricky business. No matter what her duties were assigned to her, she must go through intensive training before she’d be able to work at the house. Most of her employees were college-trained and chosen wisely to fit in at the house.
Lord, you know what we need. Father, I pray for your will to be done.

She entered the sitting room where Ella was and extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Sheila, the director of House of Hope . You must be Ella.”

Ella stood. “Yes, I am. Nice to meet you.” She’d never been good with professional women. She always felt insecure and unworthy. Frank had never let her work. Her place was in the home. Cooking and cleaning and waiting on him was all she’d ever done.

Sheila smiled “Why don’t we go into my office. I believe I saw Laney deliver the tea tray as I was headed out. We’ll go and get comfortable.”

Sheila led the way. Motioning toward the chair on the opposite side of the desk, she invited Ella to sit then went to the side table where the tea set had been placed. “Have a seat. Would kind of tea do you prefer? I have Jasmine, Cinnamon, Peppermint, Earl Grey and black.”

Ella swallowed, her throat dry. “Jasmine sounds nice.”

“Do you like sugar?”

“Yes, I’ve never been able to rid myself of that white poison.”

Sheila laughed “No worries, I prefer it as well.”

She handed Ella her tea and went around the desk to her own chair. “Ah, this hits the spot. It’s getting down right chilly.”

“Wait until you are my age. Your bones start anticipating the cold in mid-August and they don’t stop feeling the after-affects until mid-July the next year. It sure does make for a short summer!”

Sheila laughed. She knew the woman wasn’t intentionally being funny, but none the less, she was. She was immediately put at ease and the two women spent the better part of an hour chatting and discussing the needs of the house. Ella would have varied jobs, depending on how many women were in the house. The ladies all took turns cleaning and cooking, but some days most of the ladies were working or job hunting. She would assist with laundry, cooking and light housekeeping. Occasionally she would be needed to watch the little ones in the Toddler room.

Sheila tried to gain some perspective from Ella’s body language but the woman was good at hiding her emotions. She was almost stoic. After going over all the duties Sheila asked, “How does that sound to you?”

“I can handle it. I don’t get to see my grandchildren much so it will be nice to spend some time around little ones. Matter of fact, my daughter and I aren’t all that close either. So, it will be nice to be around some young ladies too.”

Well, that was a little glimpse into the life of this humorous elderly spitfire that Sheila wasn’t expecting. “Would two days a week sound okay to start? If that is too much, we can start with one.”

“Two days will work. I do have my women’s prayer group every Friday morning. Other than that, I’m free.”

“We’ll need to do some pretty intensive training over the next couple of weeks. So are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays good for two weeks of training? Then would Tuesdays and Thursdays work for your regular schedule? We can adjust it if we see we need you on different days and you can switch if you find you have a conflict.”

The ladies finished their tea while finalizing the details. Sheila watched Ella as she started walking toward home, wondering what the little fireball had endured in her lifetime. She was sure there were plenty of stories to be heard
. Lord, is this the one? The one you have picked out for us? What is her story, Lord? I see she is hurting. I see she hides her emotions. Was she abused Lord? Lord, help her to trust me, to share with me. Help me be a friend to her, Lord. I am sensing she needs friends.