New Beginning (The Journals of Corrie and Christopher Book #2) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Michael Phillips

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138 pages

English

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Description

Two surprise announcements bring difficult change to the Hollister-Braxton clan: Corrie's brother, Zack, is taking a dangerous new job, and Christopher and Corrie are leaving home to journey East. As Corrie and Christopher prepare to depart, a shock is sent through the community of Miracle Springs . . . with unexpected results.

Sujets

Historical fiction

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	15 mars 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441229533
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0202€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 1997 by Michael Phillips
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-2953-3
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To the Reverend Sam Kleinsasser, from whose early life Christopher’s story, much of it factual, is drawn—Pastor who baptized me, Mentor who nurtured me, Friend who loved me—a man whose character and worldwide ministry constantly remind me that all men and women, whatever their background, can be used mightily by our Father.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1. Two Changes
Chapter 2. The New Sheriff
Chapter 3. Zack’s Triumph
Chapter 4. Christopher’s Quandary
Chapter 5. Funeral at Dutch Flat
Chapter 6. Trustworthiness
Chapter 7. Memories
Chapter 8. Sisters
Chapter 9. A Sudden Shock
Chapter 10. Passing On of a Legacy
Chapter 11. The Call
Chapter 12. Christopher’s Half of the Decision
Chapter 13. Christopher’s Story
Chapter 14. The Answer
Chapter 15. That Evening
Chapter 16. Moving Back In
Chapter 17. Partings
Chapter 18. A New Beginning
Chapter 19. A Vision for Ministry
Chapter 20. Family Tithes
Chapter 21. Who Is God?
Chapter 22. Leaving the Rock by the Side of the Road
Chapter 23. What Comprises Faith?
Chapter 24. Who’s Watching Your Faith?
Chapter 25. A Letter
Chapter 26. What Is God’s Purpose?
Chapter 27. How Is It Achieved?
Chapter 28. What Is Christlikeness?
Chapter 29. Shocking Surprise
Chapter 30. Hard Questions
Chapter 31. An Unexpected Caller on a More Unexpected Errand
Chapter 32. Penetrating Words
Chapter 33. Mr. Royce’s Story
Chapter 34. A Most Wonderful Question
Chapter 35. Living Epistles
Chapter 36. Franklin Royce Surprises the Whole Town
Chapter 37. A Hard Day in Town
Chapter 38. Learning to Be a Pastor’s Wife
Chapter 39. The Freight Company
Chapter 40. Looking Toward the Future
Chapter 41. What Is Going to Last?
Chapter 42. A Permanent Legacy
Chapter 43. A Double Tithe
Chapter 44. Learning to Wait
Chapter 45. Two Kinds of Obedience
Chapter 46. Good Tears and Goodbyes
Chapter 47. New Start in Our Own Home
About the Author
Books by Michael Phillips
Chapter 1 Two Changes
If life didn’t contain change, I don’t suppose it would be very interesting. Change is the thing that brings about decisions. Decisions call for choices, and without choices to make a person can’t grow.
The only trouble is, most of the time it’s the difficult changes and the hard choices you face that make you grow the most. It’s not easy to be happy and thankful sometimes when circumstances bring change. You might look back later and realize you grew and matured through them, but at the time all you can think of is how hard it is.
The first change to come into our lives didn’t have to do with me. The second one did.
My brother Zack took the job as the new sheriff of Miracle Springs. That was the first one.
We women didn’t like the idea too much. But Pa and my other brother Tad and Uncle Nick thought it was great. It was obvious Pa was mighty proud of his son. He and Uncle Nick would joke with each other about coming West to get away from the law—and now they were living under the same roof with the law! Before Zack even had the badge pinned on his vest, Tad was already talking about becoming his deputy. All my stepmother Almeda and my sister Becky and I could think of was the danger a sheriff might have to face . . . and a deputy too.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Zack kept saying. “Simon hasn’t had to use his gun since the gold rush days.”
“Zack’s right,” Pa added with a laugh. “Why, he told me himself that he has to oil his gun to keep it from rusting up! Sheriffin’s an administrative job these days.”
I don’t think Almeda was convinced.
Zack took over the job right after Christmas, with the beginning of the new year 1868. Simon Rafferty, the old sheriff who had just retired, still came into town from his ranch almost every day just to make sure Zack got off to a good start. He made it clear that Zack could call on him any time if he needed help with something, and that made it a little easier on all of us.
The other big change about to come to the Hollister-Braxton home in Miracle Springs had to do with my new husband, Christopher Braxton, and me. The Braxton half of the clan was planning to pull up stakes and leave the Hollister half to itself again. And this time I wouldn’t be on the Hollister side of the fence, but the Braxton side.
Christopher and I waited until two weeks after Christmas—for the season to pass and for Zack to get situated in his new job—before telling the rest of the family what Christopher felt the Lord was showing him—that we were to leave Miracle Springs and return to the East. We would be making plans to leave California early in the spring.
We made the announcement one day at supper. After Christopher finished, everyone sat stone-faced and absolutely silent. I was looking down at my plate. None of my family could believe what they’d heard. The silence went on for several minutes. No one took another bite.
At last I heard someone start to cry softly. I knew it was Becky, and I glanced up.
“But . . . I don’t want you to leave again, Corrie,” she said in a forlorn tone.
“We have to do what the Lord wants,” I said, trying to be brave and sound spiritual, but my voice trembled. It was what I thought I should say, though the words felt rather hollow. I didn’t want to leave Miracle Springs either.
“I missed you so much the last time you were gone,” Becky added. “Who will I have to talk to?”
I didn’t know what to say. I glanced helplessly at Christopher. After he had become such a friend to Becky, and after the long talk he and I had had with her a few months earlier about being content not being married, it seemed now we were about to abandon her. I know that’s how it appeared to Becky, anyway, and neither Christopher nor I were anxious to say something like, “The Lord will provide you someone,” which could only sound rather superficial in her ears. It’s all well and good to give someone advice, but then you have to back it up, and I know it must have seemed to Becky that we weren’t going to back up ours.
“You can talk to me !” suddenly piped up Ruth enthusiastically from her seat beside Becky. It was silent for just an instant. Almeda smiled, and even Becky saw the humor in it and now laughed lightly through her tears.
“Certainly,” she said, putting her arm around my eleven-year-old half sister. “How could I have forgotten? Thank you, Ruth—of course I shall talk to you.”
Ruth beamed as though she had solved the whole world’s problem. Everyone was glad for the diversion in the conversation. A little more laughter followed, and the subject of our leaving did not come up again. But I thought it strange at the time that Almeda didn’t say something further. Maybe she could sense how hard the whole situation was for me.
Neither was it something Christopher and I talked much about in the weeks that followed. We just gradually made preparations. He wrote to San Francisco for ticket information and I began thinking of what we should take. We didn’t have much—just our clothes and quilts and dishes and a few pieces of furniture we had collected to furnish the little bunkhouse on my family’s property where we lived. But we would need at least some of those things to start our new life in the East. So I started saving containers that came into the Hollister Supply Company, our family business, to box and crate up our things.
Jesse Harris—the former outlaw who’d been wounded outside the house the previous fall and had been with us convalescing ever since—had been taking his meals at the table with us for several weeks now. That was another big change that happened, partly in our lives, but mostly in Mr. Harris’s life. He’d never been part of a group of people who acted like a family . The closest thing he’d ever known was the Catskill Gang. But even though those men rode together, they were still out for themselves.
Mr. Harris couldn’t get used to the way we all shared together and prayed about decisions. He had changed a lot since asking the Lord to be part of his life, but it was hard for him to understand what all the fuss was about Christopher and me leaving. He’d always done whatever came into his mind to do.
Chapter 2 The New Sheriff
By the end of the year, Mr. Harris had recuperated from his wounds enough to get up and move around pretty good. It had taken longer than Doc Shoemaker had figured it ought to. He said it was probably because Mr. Harris wasn’t very fit in the first place, drinking so much and not eating well. So we did our best to get as much healthy food down him as we could, and of course not a drop of alcohol passed his lips. By Christmas he’d put on probably ten or fifteen pounds and his face showed some color.
No one talked much about it, but we all knew that eventually something was going to have to happen because there were still warrants out for his arrest. Pa had been spendin