Come Before Winter – Chapter Fourteen – Follow You Anywhere
COME BEFORE WINTER
December 14th, 2021
2 Timothy 4:21, “Do your utmost to come before winter.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN – FOLLOW YOU ANYWHERE
Mercy trudged uphill both ways, her feet bare and the heaps of snow reached her knees. She couldn’t feel the icy coldness of the driving storm, but it annoyed her that her pants were wet and also that her legs were tired from fighting the snowbanks. She could feel the flakes alight on her cheeks, the tip of her nose and tasted one on her tongue, but it was very surreal. She considered maybe she was dreaming but pinched herself and thought she felt it. Wind stirred in some branches overhead yet the trees were out of place on the city sidewalks. She couldn’t quite remember where she was, but knew she’d seen it somewhere before. She had a purpose in her journey even though she felt so very lost and alone.
A snowplow slowed as it passed her, and Mercy tried to conceive what a snowplow might be doing in the midst of a forest, but suddenly the future opened before her, and a long straight highway stretched like an unfurled ribbon. People lined both sides of the road, and at once, Mercy recognized the city streets she had been wandering for what seemed like forever now. There was Gwen and her darling shop, the Giver, and the Five&Dine, where Mercy could afford to eat on certain days. Again she pricked her skin, sure she must be dreaming, but she couldn’t feel that any more than the ice she skated on the sidewalks.
“Do you know where you are going, Mercy?” The deep bass voice startled her. No one here knew her name except Gwen. There he was! the man from her dream, the one with the kindest, most gentle demeanor, his tousled hands lost in the BOOK OF LIFE.
‘How? How do you know my name?’ Surprise inundated the blizzard all around her, but she felt warmed as she glanced sideways at his beautiful smile.
Gently, he beheld her. “I know everything about you, Mercy. Come with me.”
Mercy took off after him. She’d follow him anywhere. Nothing would get in the way. She was trying to take it all in. It was snowing so hard, it was difficult to see through the driving flakes that were piling up deeper, the further they walked. She had so many questions on the tip of her tongue, but it seemed inconsequential at this moment. Eventually, they reached a massive wooden door, like a rite of passage. Her companion tugged at its iron handle, and like a gentleman, held it open for her to pass through.
‘Come, child,’ the man summoned, beckoning her into its innards. With his hand, he displayed what lay before her, and asked cryptically, ‘Do you know?’ She gasped. The sanctuary before her, well, was just that. A sanctuary. Peace emanated from the hollow of its sanctum. Her eyes traveled to an altar, embellished with flourishing script: ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26’. She was reminded of the ornate table she had watched herself sit at while she held her breath waiting to see what would be revealed on the pages of the leatherbound book the man thumbed through. Rapidly, she turned backward to him, so many questions on her face, the hole inside of her endless and unfulfilled, and just as she realized he was gone, she startled herself awake.
Psalm 139:1-6, ‘God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to You;
even from a distance, You know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of Your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and You’re there, then up ahead and You’re there, too—
Your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful—I can’t take it all in!’ (MSG)
To Be Continued…
COME BEFORE WINTER
December 14th, 2021
2 Timothy 4:21, “Do your utmost to come before winter.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN – FOLLOW YOU ANYWHERE
Mercy trudged uphill both ways, her feet bare and the heaps of snow reached her knees. She couldn’t feel the icy coldness of the driving storm, but it annoyed her that her pants were wet and also that her legs were tired from fighting the snowbanks. She could feel the flakes alight on her cheeks, the tip of her nose and tasted one on her tongue, but it was very surreal. She considered maybe she was dreaming but pinched herself and thought she felt it. Wind stirred in some branches overhead yet the trees were out of place on the city sidewalks. She couldn’t quite remember where she was, but knew she’d seen it somewhere before. She had a purpose in her journey even though she felt so very lost and alone.
A snowplow slowed as it passed her, and Mercy tried to conceive what a snowplow might be doing in the midst of a forest, but suddenly the future opened before her, and a long straight highway stretched like an unfurled ribbon. People lined both sides of the road, and at once, Mercy recognized the city streets she had been wandering for what seemed like forever now. There was Gwen and her darling shop, the Giver, and the Five&Dine, where Mercy could afford to eat on certain days. Again she pricked her skin, sure she must be dreaming, but she couldn’t feel that any more than the ice she skated on the sidewalks.
“Do you know where you are going, Mercy?” The deep bass voice startled her. No one here knew her name except Gwen. There he was! the man from her dream, the one with the kindest, most gentle demeanor, his tousled hands lost in the BOOK OF LIFE.
‘How? How do you know my name?’ Surprise inundated the blizzard all around her, but she felt warmed as she glanced sideways at his beautiful smile.
Gently, he beheld her. “I know everything about you, Mercy. Come with me.”
Mercy took off after him. She’d follow him anywhere. Nothing would get in the way. She was trying to take it all in. It was snowing so hard, it was difficult to see through the driving flakes that were piling up deeper, the further they walked. She had so many questions on the tip of her tongue, but it seemed inconsequential at this moment. Eventually, they reached a massive wooden door, like a rite of passage. Her companion tugged at its iron handle, and like a gentleman, held it open for her to pass through.
‘Come, child,’ the man summoned, beckoning her into its innards. With his hand, he displayed what lay before her, and asked cryptically, ‘Do you know?’ She gasped. The sanctuary before her, well, was just that. A sanctuary. Peace emanated from the hollow of its sanctum. Her eyes traveled to an altar, embellished with flourishing script: ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26’. She was reminded of the ornate table she had watched herself sit at while she held her breath waiting to see what would be revealed on the pages of the leatherbound book the man thumbed through. Rapidly, she turned backward to him, so many questions on her face, the hole inside of her endless and unfulfilled, and just as she realized he was gone, she startled herself awake.
Psalm 139:1-6, ‘God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to You; even from a distance, You know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of Your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and You’re there, then up ahead and You’re there, too—Your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful—I can’t take it all in!’ (MSG)
To Be Continued…
