Since Shelly and Jonathan couldn’t join the pizza party, they had sent their blessing via Alissa. Shelly’s sister, Meredith, had e-mailed a verse to Alissa and asked her to include it on the floor for her and Jacob.
“This one is from Shelly.” Alissa pointed to where she had written out, “Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds. Psalm 68:4.”
“And this one is from Meri and Jake.” Brad put the finishing touches on his stick letters. In all caps he had written, “DEEP CALLS TO DEEP IN THE ROAR OF YOUR WATERFALLS. Psalm 42:7.”
Lauren had gathered Alissa’s daughters along with her daughter, Molly Sue, and Jessica’s two daughters. The five little girls were barefooted and giggling as Lauren drew around their feet. They were scattered around the room, frozen in place until Lauren traced their feet. Then they hopped to a new location and froze, waiting for Lauren to come trace more footprints.
It kept the little ones involved without letting them loose with a bunch of permanent markers. Lauren’s husband, Kenton, was holding their son, Michael, and helping to direct the little foot models. Kenton had written beneath the first set of footprints, “Ephesians 5:8, Walk as children of light.”
Genevieve loved it. She knew that every time she trotted from the kitchen into the dining area, she would remember that beneath the flooring were dozens of miniature footprints and the reminder to always walk in the light.
Jessica and Kyle were kneeling by the entrance to the kitchen. Jessica was helping their precocious five-year-old son draw a picture of a building on fire and a stick figure fireman putting out the flames with a shooting fire hose.
Kyle was writing, “He has sent me … to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Isaiah 61:3.”
Genevieve began to choke up. God had done exactly that. He was giving her beauty for ashes and joy for her mourning. And more than anything, she felt as if she had exchanged a spirit of heaviness for a new life of praise.
“Thank you,” she whispered to Kyle and Jessica.
Jessica looked up and smiled. Genevieve noticed in the direct lighting that Jessica had a scar in the shape of a half moon above her right lip. Genevieve wondered if this quiet woman, who appeared so at home on her knees, also knew a little bit about beauty and ashes.
Only one person remained whose artistic endeavors Genevieve hadn’t viewed yet. Steven.
Genevieve gingerly approached the corner booth where her husband knelt on the floor. He held his new Bible in one hand and a black permanent marker in the other.
“This is it,” Steven said to her. “This is all of it, right here.”
Genevieve couldn’t imagine what he meant. Steven hadn’t written anything yet. She saw that his Bible was turned to Zechariah 13.
Standing beside him, Genevieve watched as Steven wrote, “They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ”
Steven looked up at Genevieve. “I get it. This is it.”
Genevieve didn’t get it at all. She considered calling Gordon over to this private alcove. If Steven was about to comment on some deep spiritual truth, he would want to discuss it with a pastor, wouldn’t he? Especially if he was wanting to debate some obscure point in a part of the Bible Genevieve had never read.
Steven didn’t debate. He didn’t make any profound comment. He didn’t even speak. All he did was reach for Genevieve’s hand and draw her down to the floor where she knelt beside him. He bowed his head and held her hand tightly.
Is he praying? Is my husband praying? Or is he waiting for me to say something? Does he want me to pray? What is happening?
Genevieve knelt in silence while the sounds of their friends echoed around them. The barefooted little girls were still giggling; Josiah corrected his twin brother on how whales held their breath underwater; Leah called across to Anna and asked if she had any more blue pens. The rest of the room, the rest of the world continued to whirl in an unaltered orbit.
But in this tiny corner of the world, this secluded corner of the café, all of life seemed to have stopped. Genevieve closed her eyes and prayed for her husband like she had never prayed before. Somehow she knew at this moment her husband was calling out to God. With all her heart, she begged God to answer him.
Steven’s grip on Genevieve’s hand suddenly let up. She fluttered open her eyelids and turned to look at him. For more than two and a half decades she had watched his face but never had she seen this expression before. He wore his surprise like a banner across his broad forehead. A glow like the steady embers of a campfire lit his eyes. His lips were pressed together, and his jaw was tipped upward, setting his face like a flint toward the verse he had just written on the floor.
“This is it,” he said in slow, even words.
“This is what?” Genevieve knew something powerful had happened inside her husband, but she couldn’t discern what it was.
Steven drew in a deep breath. His nostrils flared. Pointing at the words on the floor he said, “I called on God.”
Genevieve still didn’t know what to make of all this. Steven, her calm, steady husband, wasn’t following any pattern of logic that she recognized. If he had just surrendered his life to the Lord, it certainly wasn’t the same way Genevieve had turned her life over to Christ.
“Steven,” she said softly, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
He looked at her with a calm, almost humored expression. “You don’t?”
Genevieve shook her head.
Steven took both her hands in his and kissed them. “It all made sense to me.” He got up off his knees and drew Genevieve up with him. He sat on the bench, and she sat beside him, the two of them tucked in their private alcove while the rest of the guests splashed their artistic blessings all over the floor and continued the party in the Dandelion Corner.
“I saw a repeating theme as I was reading the Bible. God wants His people back.”
Genevieve nodded. She had never heard the entire Bible reduced to such a simple theme before, but in a general sense, that was what she understood to be the essence of God’s redemptive message.
“I never understood that we’re separated from God. He wants us to come to Him, but we’re a mess.” Steven shrugged and smiled at Genevieve. “That’s why God sacrificed His Son. That’s how we can come to God. Through Christ only.”
Genevieve nodded again. Steven had it all figured out. “How did you get all that?”
“From you. You released something deep in me when you forgave me, Gena. I’m sure of it. This morning, do you remember how you held out your arms to me while I was working in the yard?”
“Yes.”
“You looked so beautiful, fresh, and clean with the light in your hair and your arms open. I wanted to go to you and embrace you, but I couldn’t come close because I was such a mess. That’s when I started to get it. I always thought I was good enough to come to God because I’m a pretty decent, hard-working fellow. But all that hard work only made me sweaty and dirty.”
Genevieve smiled. He was pretty smelly this morning.
“Gordo told me the last time we went golfing that when he first proposed to Teri, she turned him down and boarded an airplane. He told her he would wait for her, and he did. He stood right where he had left her, waiting. Teri actually made them stop the taxiing plane so she could get off. When she entered the terminal, Gordo was standing right there, waiting for her.”
“I hadn’t heard their story before,” Genevieve said.
“Gordo compared that to the way God waits for each of us to come back to Him.”
Steven reached over and touched Genevieve’s face. “The reason I was so taken with you this morning was because you said you would wait for me, just like Gordo’s example of how God has been waiting for me. All day I’ve been thinking that it was time to stop this plane, so to speak, and get right with
God.”
“And is that what happened when you were kneeling just now?” Genevieve asked.
“Yes.” His voice was steady and sure. “I called on God. I asked Him to forgive me. I know He did, Gena.” With a nod of his head, Steven said, “I’m one of His people. He is now my God.”
The tears chased each other down Genevieve’s cheeks. Her pulse pounded in her ears.
Jesus, You just resurrected my husband, didn’t You? You gave him new life. You told me to untie him, and look what happened. I let him go, and he went right to You. This is a miracle!
“I am so, so happy,” Genevieve whispered.
Steven leaned over and kissed away her tears before they made it all the way down her face. “Now what?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Genevieve said. “Do you want to say something? I mean, every person in this room will be ecstatic when they find out. You might as well tell them all at once.”
Steven gazed into Genevieve’s eyes. “Stand with me, okay?”
“Always,” Genevieve said.
Hand in hand, Steven and Genevieve moved to the center of the café. All across the floor were dozens of nimble footprints, artistic flowers, and verses of blessing. Genevieve noticed that she was standing on the word “love” from Anna’s verse. It was the most obvious command God had ever given her to do, and yet she realized now how poorly she had obeyed it. She had loved others sparingly over the years. That would change. With all that had happened in her life and the opportunity to daily invite people to come and dine in this café, that would change.
“Can everyone hear me?” Steven asked in a loud voice.
The guests at the blessing party turned their attention toward Steven and Genevieve who stood, hand in hand, heart in heart, looking as if they had an important announcement to make. Jessica helped to quiet the little children.
Gordon quipped, “You two look like you’re about to announce your engagement.”
“They’re already married,” Mallory said with her hand on her hip. Then with a look of great hope she asked, “Are you pregnant, Mom?”
All the adults laughed. Mallory failed to see why that was so funny. She went over to Genevieve and stood beside her, wrapping her arm around her mother’s waist and leaning her head on Genevieve’s arm. Not to be left out of the family moment, Anna slid over next to Steven and slipped her hand into his free hand, as if she were in the know about her dad’s mysterious announcement.
“I’m sure my wife would like to say thank you to all of you for coming and putting your blessing on this café,” Steven said.
Genevieve looked at him and then glanced at their friends. “Yes, thank you. All of you. This has been, well … it’s been an exceptional night.”
“It has,” Steven agreed. “I don’t know any other way to say this, but, ah … I, um … well. When I got on my knees over there, God met me in that corner, and He finally got ahold of my heart.” Steven’s voice caught on the last word.
Genevieve noticed he was blinking away tears.
The room fell silent.
“I don’t even know the proper term to say, but I wanted all of you to know that tonight I came to Christ. Or maybe I’m supposed to say Christ came into me. All I know is that I believe. God is now my God. I am one of His people.”
Gordon let out a wild, whooping cheer and punched his fist into the air. Anna and Mallory threw their arms around their father, and the rest of the group smothered him with cheers, tears, and praise.
Genevieve heard little Travis yelling over the noise, “What happened? What happened?”
Mallory told him, “My dad just became a Christian tonight! He’s going to be in heaven with us!”
Whether he understood or not, Genevieve watched as Travis started to dance around in a little circle, singing a lively praise song he probably learned at church. Mallory knew the song and sang with him. She joined hands with Travis, and the two of them danced as they sang.
What happened next was beyond anything Genevieve had ever expected. The room filled with singing, laughing, and dancing. She couldn’t stop laughing and crying at the same time.
Gordon gave her a big hug and shouted over the singing, “Just imagine what the angels are doing right now in heaven! God says that when one sinner repents, the angels in heaven rejoice.”
Genevieve pictured Pastor Allistar standing in front of the stained glass window at church making this booming proclamation. An exquisite sort of power came from a beautiful picture that had been formed out of shattered pieces of glass. It was the same way now, in her life. She thought of the breathtaking image of the gentle lamb that Jesus held in His arms in that beautiful window. Steven was that lamb. Jesus had called to him and called to him. And now the good Shepherd had him back, right where He always wanted Steven to be. Safe in His everlasting arms.
Chapter Eighteen
On the first Saturday in October, Genevieve forced her feet out of bed when the alarm went off at six. She coaxed herself into the hot shower and let the warm water pelt her back, hoping it would release her sore muscles. All of the last-minute demands of Glenbrooke Days, coupled with today’s grand reopening of the Wildflower Café, had left her with only four hours sleep.
What I need is a dose of Steven’s espresso beans. Or at least two beans—one to hold up each eyelid.
Cutting her relaxing shower short, Genevieve pulled on her yellow robe and scurried downstairs. The house was quiet.
On the counter, the coffeemaker was keeping a pot of coffee warm. It had been sitting there since five o’clock when Genevieve ground up the decaf espresso beans and added the French roast with three dashes of cinnamon. Steven had come down the stairs, fresh from his shower, right on time. He thanked her for the coffee, kissed her soundly, and left for the airport.
That’s when Genevieve sneaked back into bed for an extra bit of sleep. That little luxury had pushed her behind schedule. Waking the girls, she told them to get some breakfast before they left the house at seven.
“Can’t we eat at the café?” Mallory moaned.
“No, the café won’t open until after the parade. We have a lot to do in the next few hours to get everything ready. So I want you to try to eat something before we leave here.”
Genevieve sipped her coffee and went to the closet. The new, white cotton blouse she had purchased for this important day hung on a hanger next to a comfortable pair of black pants. She had decided on going for basics and accessorizing with a special scarf that had belonged to her mother. The scarf was typical Swiss. The background was a soft cream color, and splashed across it were dainty white Edelweiss flowers, yellow buttercups, bright blue cornflowers, and delicate red poppies.
Rolling up the sleeves on her crisp white blouse, Genevieve smiled as she dressed. She vigorously brushed her thick, brown-sugar hair, then took her mother’s scarf, folded it in a triangle, and twisted it until it formed a narrow headband. Genevieve wrapped the scarf around her head and secured it underneath her hair in the back with a tight knot. The results were as she had hoped. Her hair would be kept out of her eyes, and the scarf brought color to her face.
Memories of her mother were sweet this morning, as were memories of her father.
You told me to make something of my life that would shine brightly, Dad. Genevieve gazed at her reflection in the mirror. And do you know what I discovered? Creating anything that will shine brightly is impossible without God. It’s even more impossible without a clean heart.
Genevieve smoothed a few dots of sheer lotion over her clean face and put on enough makeup to camouflage the puffiness around her sleepy eyes. She made good use of her eyeliner and twisted open a new tube of lipstick.
“Did you know,” she pursed her lips to blend the color and talked softly, as if her stern father were standing behind her. “I think there is something in my life that shines brightly.”
Genevieve grinned. “It’s me. I shine brightly. Not because I’m so great but because God has done something
amazing in my life. He brought the light inside.”
“Mom?” Anna called from the entrance to Genevieve’s bedroom. “Mom, who are you talking to?”
“No one,” Genevieve answered quickly. “What do you want, honey?”
“Do you think it’s going to be warm enough to wear shorts?”
“It’s up to you,” Genevieve said. “You can always bring a change of clothes with you. Whatever you decide on, move quickly. I’d like to leave in about fifteen minutes, if not sooner.”
Anna was ready in ten minutes, with a stuffed gym bag flung over her shoulder. She had braided her hair in two short braids that skimmed her collarbone. Tucked in the fold of the hair fasteners that held her braids were two yellow daisies.
“Do you think my hair looks too silly like this?”
“No, I think it’s adorable. What about you, though? What do you think?”
“It’s okay, I guess. Alissa said I should wear it like this so that, when I paint the kids’ faces at our booth, they will think I’m fun.”
“Oh, you are fun.” Genevieve wrapped her arms around Anna.
“No, you’re fun,” Anna countered.
Anna had turned fifteen two weeks ago, and they had celebrated at the coast with five of her girlfriends. Genevieve had used some of Steven’s travel discounts and had reserved a suite for one night at the New Brighton Lodge. Genevieve, Anna, and Anna’s five girlfriends packed into the van and spent two days laughing, eating, beachcombing, and telling stories.
During that birthday weekend, Genevieve saw how fun her artistic Anna could be. Also during that weekend, on the drive home while the other girls slept in the back of the van, Anna had reached over from the front passenger’s seat and had given her mom’s arm a squeeze.
“I don’t know if I ever told you this before,” Anna said, “but you’re a great mom. You’re really fun to be around.”
“No, you’re fun,” Genevieve had countered.
“No, you’re the one who’s fun,” Anna teased back.
They had bantered in the car for several minutes until one of the girls in the back seat hollered, “You’re both fun, okay? Now can you let the rest of us get some sleep here?”