Come Before Winter – Chapter 28 – a Timeless Whisper
December 28th, 2021
2 Timothy 4:21, “Do your utmost to come before winter.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT- a Timeless Whisper
After speaking good-byes to more people than Mercy had ever seen gathered closely together, and finally motivating her dad to move toward the vehicle, she helped him get Papaw loaded. She was touched by the numbers of men and women who wanted her dad’s attention and who also doted and loved on her grampa. Like they were celebrities almost, she thought proudly. She was more than exhausted. But peaceful. She had been rested all her life, but not at peace, so the oxymoron of the fatigue she had known due to lack of wholeness compared to exhaustion wrapped in the gift of shalom was soothing. She huddled in the backseat, cold but a warm glow ran through her like a river. She was riding in this car with her dad and her grampa! and they were all headed to the very same and safe home! It was more than a miracle, a gift from God; incomprehensible.
‘I have to call Patsy,’ she spoke up from her seat and noted her dad’s eyes studying her in the mirror. She didn’t need his permission, but she wanted it likewise. Also, it was right. Mercy had kept the Masons in the dark for far too long as it was.
‘Who is Patsy? Is that where I sent my letter to you, where you lived?’ he asked, watching the shadows on her face in the rearview mirror.
Mercy nodded, ‘Mmmm. It’s where you addressed the letter, yes, but I lived elsewhere. I had my own room in a hostel. I had to leave the day I turned eighteen because I was no longer a ward of the state.’ Pain refracted in her voice and she saw the same reflection of regret she had noticed on her father’s face when he spoke about the missing years earlier at the church. ‘Why didn’t you ever write again? You left no way for me to find you,’ Mercy accused, then softening her words, she added, ‘The return address faded. I have been here since September, looking for you and Papaw. I couldn’t find you; I didn’t know where else to look.’
Shock registered in her dad’s eyes, but just then her grampa was wracked with a deep coughing fit which quickly turned to choking. It terrified her, and she begged her dad to pull over, but he drove on, assuring her these were common fits, and the sooner they got to the house, the more comfortable they could make her grandfather. She was so relieved she almost cried as they pulled into a driveway and shut off the lights. ‘How can I help?’ she asked, bouncing out of the backseat, ready to assist with her grampa.
It seemed it took so long to settle her papaw in his bed, but when she looked at the time, it hadn’t taken even an hour. She marveled that her dad did this every night, and undid all of it the next morning, and throughout the day he cared for his own father, obviously with deep concern. Helping him to the restroom, undressing him and redressing him, caring for his needs, seeing he had his medications and something to eat and drink, and sometimes attempting to breathe for him when the oxygen wasn’t sufficient—all of it was overwhelming and built a skyscraper of respect in Mercy immediately. Her dad looked weary though and sad.
Eventually he spoke as he tucked the sheets close to his father’s chin. ‘I know we have so much to talk about and catch up on, and it will take way longer than just this evening, but would you like to sit with Papaw for a bit? We can visit after? He will feel comforted by your presence as he falls asleep, I know. I’ll go get your room ready if you’d like?’ Mercy nodded, and for the first time ever, she thought to herself that, true, it would take a lifetime with her dad to make up for all the lost moments, but maybe this time she had a lifetime with which to do it in. She’d never had hope before.
Mercy couldn’t tell if her grampa was sleeping, but she thought he must be. She caressed the palm of his hand and traced his fingers with her own. On the outside, he was not the same strong man she remembered from her childhood, but there was a strength, an anchor, a depth she sensed inside of him. “Still waters run deep”, ran through her mind; something she had heard once upon a time. That was so true about her grampa. If anything tasted bitter, it was the realization she had missed knowing him while she grew up. She yearned to have time returned to her, all that had been stolen, knowing it wasn’t possible.
Just then, he opened one eye, then the next, the navy of them matching a stormy ocean. Licking at dried lips, he tried a smile, but it seemed as if it took so much effort. It hurt Mercy to watch, and she shushed him, touching his cheek tenderly. A stray tear spilt from the corner of his eye. ‘Mercy-girl,’ he whispered as he finally focused on her, and a grin at once ate his face. ‘My Mercy-girl, I waited for you to come. Thank you that you came.’ Another tear slipped out. His voice was so gravelly, his words searching for a hole to fall through. Then, ‘The Lord truly restores the years the locust has eaten, my Mercy-girl. You are proof of His great love and forgiveness to me.’ His coughing sputtered, and then he wheezed, ‘I love you forever, my Merci-girl.’ He closed his eyes, and she knew he was gone.
‘Papaw,’ she cried. ‘Papaw! No! I just got you back! Don’t leave me again,’ she cried hysterically. ‘Please don’t go! Oh, God, no,’ she begged. ‘Just one more day, please!’ She lay her head on his chest and no longer heard the beat of his heart. Her dad rushed in the room just then, hearing the commotion, and she looked up at him, stricken, the grief so thick she couldn’t see. ‘Daddy, he’s gone. My papaw is gone.’
Tears immediately ran like a faucet had been turned on and it was quite some time before her dad could speak. Finally, he brushed away the tears on her cheeks, and said, ‘I didn’t think he had long—that was a long time ago. I think he was holding out for his Mercy-girl. You came. You came just in time; you came before winter.’
Jeremiah 29:11-14, ‘This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on Me, when you come and pray to Me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for Me, you’ll find Me. Yes, when you get serious about finding Me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree. “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.”’ (MSG)
To Be Continued…
