Song of Her Heart (18 page)

The walls of the old ranch house seemed to vibrate all night with unspoken thoughts as both Mason and Norah fought their own personal battles and concerns for the future.

 

For the first time since Norah had become estranged from her family, she came to grips with the bitterness she'd harbored in her heart against her
siblings. She placed her unforgiving spirit before God, also realizing that there was some bitterness against her father for expecting her to take over the household duties as she had. But each time when she asked God's forgiveness, she found no peace of heart and mind. Instead, over and over in her mind, she thought of Jesus's words in the eleventh chapter of Mark. “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Sleep didn't come for Norah until she realized what she should do and agreed in her heart that she would do it without delay. She awakened early, sat in a chair by the bedside table and started a letter she should have written long ago.

She had just finished the message when Mason walked down the hallway and stopped at her open door.

“Is it all right if I come in?”

“Sure,” she said, smiling brightly at him. He wondered at her change of attitude as he sat on the foot of her bed. He hardly knew how to start, but he noticed the paper she held.

“Been writing a letter or your memoirs?” he quizzed lightly.

“A letter.” She handed him the single sheet of paper. “Read it, and see if it's okay.”

He gave her a sidelong glance of surprise as he took the letter and read it aloud.

When Mason lifted his head, he looked at Norah with a definite realization that he must not lose this woman. He wanted to share the rest of her life. They'd reached the point where their relationship must be resolved. He moved closer to her, taking her hand that still held the pen she'd used to write the forgiving note to her brother. He softly removed the pen and kissed her palm.

“I want to ask your forgiveness, too,” he said. “I've not been very understanding the past couple of days. I suppose my ego has been hurting because I thought you were buying the Bar 8 to help me. But if you're convinced that this is the way God wants you to go, I won't oppose you anymore.”

“I have no doubts, and I
am
going to buy the Bar 8,” she said, her chin lifting in determination, with a challenge in her eyes.

Laughing, he threw up his hands. “I give up! I'm not going to battle you about it.”

“Good,” she said.

“Since you've made the decision to buy the ranch, that means you like the country and are willing to stay here.”

“Right.”

“Then will you stay as my wife?”

Her eyelashes fluttered on her cheeks, and she wouldn't meet his gaze.

“I've wanted to marry you since the first night you came to the Flying K,” Mason continued. “But I've thought up all kinds of reasons why I shouldn't ask you.”

When he paused, Norah prompted, “Such as?”

“I had no right to ask you to marry me and give up your dream of missionary work. Besides, my wife had died in childbirth, so I wouldn't risk another woman's life in that way. The more I loved you, the more reasons popped up that kept us apart.”

Norah held up her hand. “Mason, we don't live in the Dark Ages anymore. Women a lot older than I am have healthy children every day. Besides, my own mother was forty-five when Sam was born.”

His eyes lightened. “Is that a fact! Then you wouldn't be afraid to have children?”

“Of course not.”

The eagerness faded from his eyes. “You might not be too old to be a mother at forty-two, but I sure feel too old to take on the responsibility of raising a family.”

She took his hand. “Don't even think such gloomy thoughts. If God sends us children, we'll know how to take care of them.”

“Then you will marry me, Norah? I love you.”

A sweet song of delight filtered into the soft recesses of Norah's heart. “Yes, I will. You've said the magic words,
I love you.
”

“Then we'll be married as soon as I can stand unassisted before a preacher on my own legs.”

“According to the doctor, that should be less than a month. I'll be ready.”

Norah found the thought very satisfying. It seemed as if she'd started on the last lap of a long expedition when she'd come to the Sand Hills almost six months ago. Her journey had commenced when she'd responded to God's call as a teenager. Now twenty-five years later, as Mason drew her into his strong, protective embrace, she had reached the end of that trip, with another, more exciting journey beckoning.

Nestling in the warmth of Mason's embrace, Norah experienced the conviction that she was in the center of God's will. Lifting her face for his kiss, her heart whispered, “‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.' God knows best what is best for me.”

Twenty-five years later

F
amily members crowded the auditorium to celebrate the graduation exercises of their loved ones.

Norah and Mason watched in pride as their firstborn, Anna Marie, named for Mason's mother, walked to the platform to receive her diploma. Excitement mounted at the climax of the day's program, when several members of the seminary board presided over a commissioning service for three of the graduates.

When Anna Marie walked forward as one of the participants, Mason took Norah's hand, lifted it to his lips and kissed her trembling fingers. Before the prayer of commitment was made by the president of
the seminary, Anna Marie said, “With your permission, Sir, I'd like to have my mother, Norah King, stand by my side. Because I'm living the dream she had before I was born. She's never admitted it, but I believe she prayed that God would set me apart for His service. When I leave next week for Africa, I'm not going only as an ambassador for Christ, but I'll represent my mother, too.”

Norah's eyes were misty, but she was also proud as she stood beside her beloved daughter. Anna Marie knelt with the other two students, and as Norah placed her hand on her daughter's head, she surveyed the family who'd gathered to share this blessed moment in her life. All of her siblings, and many of their descendants, were in the audience. Her twenty-two-year-old son, Chris, and his fiancée, sat beside Mason.

The years she and Mason had shared flashed through Norah's mind. They'd been very good years! Her association with H & H had been a true missionary endeavor. After Anna Marie was born, Norah had limited her role in the program, but she and Mason had continued to provide the ranch and the horses. Eventually the program had become so successful that H & H bought the Bar 8 to use as a year-round therapeutic facility for handicapped people of all ages.

Although Mason had doubted his ability to be a
good parent, he needn't have worried. It was almost as if he'd regained his youth when he became a father. He'd given the kids guidance in preparing their 4-H projects. He'd never missed a ball game when either of the children played. And he'd provided for them financially by purchasing large insurance policies that matured when Anna Marie and Chris were ready for college. Although he'd nearly driven Norah to distraction during the final months of each pregnancy, fearing that she wouldn't survive, he spent every minute in the delivery room with her. He suffered every pain she experienced and was there to rejoice when she gave birth to their daughter and son.

Ah, Mason,
she thought,
how God has blessed us!
For not only had He sent them a daughter with a missionary zeal equal to Norah's, but Mason had heirs for the ranch. Intercepting her glance, Mason mouthed, “I love you,” and the song that had its beginning in Norah's heart the first time she'd met Mason exploded into a mighty crescendo.

Dear Reader,

In
Song of Her Heart
, the heroine couldn't determine how God wanted her to fulfill her teenage vow to become a missionary. After a lot of soul-searching throughout the book, she finally learns that if she puts her trust in God and follows His leadership, she'll be in the right place at the right time to witness for Him.

I'm starting this letter at the beginning of the year 2002, having great expectations of what God will do through me in the coming year. But also looking backward to the year 2001, when my husband and I had the opportunity to witness our faith under circumstances that we could never have envisioned.

For over a year, we had been scheduled for a two-week tour of Ireland September 6-20, 2001. The tour started off on a happy note, as we took advantage of a long layover at Kennedy International Airport to go into Manhattan for a visit and lunch with some of the Steeple Hill editors. As we drove into the city by taxi on September 6, we enjoyed the view of the skyline, noting especially the Twin Towers, never dreaming that on our return from Ireland, they would be gone.

We were eating lunch in an Irish pub in Glengarrif when a waitress told us what was happening in New York. The fourteen of us on the tour were devastated at being away from home when tragedy struck, yet we bonded together with our Irish guide and bus driver in a way that would not have been possible under normal circumstances.

To observe the nationwide three minutes of silence on the day of mourning declared by the Irish government, our group gathered on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Dingle. After the period of silence, oral prayer was offered, and then we sang “America” and “God Bless America.” There wasn't a dry eye among us. Our personal faith and our belief in the omnipresence and goodness of God not only sustained us during that tragic time, but seemed also to be a blessing to our group members. We were in the right place at the right time.

If you'd like to contact me, my mailing address is P.O. Box 2770, Southside, WV 25187.