Heaven Sent Rain (30 page)

He loosened the hug more. “Have I mentioned to you that I belong to a really dynamite group of folks who pray for each other?”

Prayer. There is was again. “You seem to have mentioned it.”

He was smiling. “We’re having a get-together after the Good Friday evening service, to bless our new classroom. I’d like you and Jonah to come with me. Maybe we can all just start over.”

She thought she had learned ways to deal with life. And death. And God and Jesus and—memories. So much changed. Her ways did not work. Everything had collapsed, from her faith on out. Now she must pick up the pieces.

She drew a deep breath. “If you want me to come to your group on Good Friday evening, I will do that.”

D
inah sat on the sand facing west as the sun drifted ever lower. Garret sat behind her, his knees bent on either side of his new wife. When she leaned back and turned her head to ask him something, he took the opportunity to kiss her cheek.

Earlier in the day, the South Carolina beach in June had been more populated, but apparently everyone had gone to dinner, leaving the beach to Garret and Dinah.

He pointed to the horizon. “See that spot just to the left of straight out there? It should swell just as the sun disk drops below the horizon.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“Look at that little tiny cloud above there. It’s getting golder.”

“Getting golder?” She tipped her head back, just to feel his nearness.

“You didn’t marry a grammar and language professor, you know.”

“No, I married a cartoonist who makes sick animals well again. Besides, Jonah insisted that we all live in the same house.” She narrowed her eyes. “I think it is coming.”

“Hear the songs of the waves? And the birds. Even they are saying goodbye to the day.” He inhaled and slowly let it out again. “I love this hush.” He nuzzled her neck. “And you.”

The golden sun dropped away, but not the golden light.

“There it is.” Dinah pointed to the gilded spot that hovered with every blink of the eyes. “I caught it.”

He wrapped both arms around her shoulders. “Our glimpse of glory. I think God orders the sun to show us a glimpse of His glory, first with the dawn and then like now, the sun setting. We can’t handle any more than this, but someday we will see Him face-to-face and we won’t have to worry about burning our eyes.”

“I love that.” Her sigh sang of contentment and peace. “Thank you for insisting we come out here.”

“Other than time alone with you, I wanted you to see this. That’s why we are honeymooning here.”

“Good a reason as any.”

“You think Jonah is hungry yet?” They’d left him at the house. The windows of Garret’s aunt Sylvia’s house up the beach were blazing now with liquid gold. The sky glinted off them, off every bright surface. How splendid!

Marrying Garret meant a whole big family for Jonah, and for Dinah: brother, sisters, nieces, and nephews. Garret’s mother was one of the first to buy Scoparia when it finally went on sale. Dinah had offered to give it to her, but she said she wanted to brag about her daughter-in-law at the store.

Mutt came jogging up the beach toward them. With her pups weaned and given away, running up and down the beach was helping her regain her girlish figure.

Dinah used Garret’s knees as braces to stand, dusted the sand off the seat of her jeans, and gave him a hand up. The two of them strolled upbeach toward the house, arms around each other, the evening breeze that had just sprung up tickling their necks.

Barefooted, Jonah met them on the deck. “Mom, you got sand on your feet. You gotta brush it off or Aunt Sylvia won’t give you supper. She said so.”

Dinah smiled first at Jonah and then to Garret.
Mom.
What a title.

1. What advice would you give Dinah when Corinne asks her to take her son? 
   

2. Juggling family and career is never easy. If you have had experience here, what have you done to make it work? 
   

3. Who was your favorite character? Why? 
   

4. Losing one’s faith when life gets too rough is not unusual. Have you ever experienced this? What did you do? How have you helped someone else through this? 
   
5. What was the central theme in
   Heaven Sent Rain
   ? 
   
6. God has a knack for turning our lives upside down and taking us down a new path. How has He done that in your life? How did you respond? 
   

7. Have you ever had a negative first impression of someone because he or she reminded you of someone who hurt you in the past? Did your opinion change over time? 
   

8. Have you ever reached out to help a homeless person or someone hungry? What did you do? How did you feel? 
   

Wake the Dawn

Reunion

On Hummingbird Wings

One Perfect Day

Breaking Free

Available from
FaithWords
wherever books are sold.

“Snelling (
One Perfect Day
) continues to draw fans with her stellar storytelling skills. This time she offers a look at smalltown medical care in a tale that blends healing, love, and a town’s recovery.…Snelling’s description of events at the small clinic during the storm is not to be missed.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Snelling’s fast-paced novel has characters who seek help in the wrong places. It takes a raging storm for them to see that the help they needed was right in front of them the whole time. This is a strong, believable story.”

—
RT Book Reviews

“Lauraine Snelling’s newest novel will keep you turning pages and not wanting to put the book down.…
Wake The Dawn
is a guaranteed good read for any fiction lover.”

—Cristel Phelps,
Retailers and Resources Magazine

“Inspired by events in Snelling’s own life,
Reunion
is a beautiful story about characters discovering themselves as the foundation of their family comes apart at the seams. Readers may recognize themselves or someone they know within the pages of this book, which belongs on everyone’s keeper shelf.”

—
RT Book Reviews

“
Reunion
is a captivating tale that will hook you from the very start.…Fans of Christian fiction will love this touching story.”

—FreshFiction.com

“Snelling’s previous novels (
One Perfect Day
) have been popular with readers, and this one, loosely based on her own life, will be no exception.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Snelling can certainly charm.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Snelling writes about the foibles of human nature with keen insight and sweet honesty.”

—National Church Library Association

“Snelling’s captivating tale will immediately draw readers in. The grief process is accurately portrayed, and readers will be enthralled by the raw emotion of Jenna’s and Nora’s accounts.”

—
Romantic Times Book Reviews

“…[a] spiritually challenging and emotionally taut story. Fans of Christian women’s fiction will enjoy this winning novel.”

—
Publishers Weekly

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