"A Work in Progress"
Description:
Victoria's chance to leave her small town for her dream job becomes a trail of faith as her employers dark past catches up to him and jealous rivals try to push her out. Can she weather the storm to stay in God's will or will she cave under the pressure?
Eric is rich man with everything someone could possibly want, except his wife. Now left with two sons, a meddling butler, a well-intentioned, nagging mother, and a gold digging cook Eric must face life without love. But with the arrival of a new young nanny for his sons the unexpected happens leaving Eric with more questions than answers.
Excerpt:
Victoria sighed and dropped
back down into the sand and looked up at Eric before putting her head down and
covering her face with her hands. Centering herself Victoria silently prayed
for God’s help and words to navigate the conversation without more stress and
drama. When she finished and looked up Eric was still standing above her, the
anger had started to fade but now there was confusion. “Are you okay? What are
you doing?” He asked with concern in voice.
“I was praying before I said anything else stupid.” She
responded, to which Eric rolled his eyes. “That kind of behavior right there is
exactly why I said I didn’t think you were a Christian Eric. You can’t say you
believe in God than scoff at prayer. You can’t claim to be a Christian and
still live for yourself. If you are a Christian you live for Christ alone and
seek Him in all you do.”
Eric wanted to be angry, he could feel it in his hurt
pride, the truth of what she stated was a far cry from the life he was living
and he knew it, the humble gentleness of how she spoke buried that anger and
opened his eyes, her words broke his pride as he thought of how often he had
dismissed her and Evelynn with their talk of God and prayer. How he was doing
the same to Drake now when he spoke about God to him. Eric had spent his life just barely
going through the motions of Christianity, enough to make him look good to
others from a distance but he never committed himself or his heart to God. He
had always held back and been afraid to go the distance afraid to take the
chance because he knew he would have to change.
Suddenly, Eric’s knees started to give out under him as he was
hit with an inward force, an epiphany or realization that throughout his whole life
he had been afraid of God and the changes He would make in his heart. In that moment,
Eric finally understood what that change in his heart would be, it was
love, sacrificial love, the love to live for someone else, and if asked to lay
down your life for them as well. Eric had never before this moment felt the weight or
pure love that is found in an intimate moment with God, but as he let her words
sink in and he opened himself up, Eric was completely overcome by the presence
of God for the first time.
“I’m sorry!” he wept as he dropped into the sand
catching himself on his hands and knees as he sobbed with the force of this
feeling, his tears mixing with cool ocean water that surged around him, but Eric
didn’t notice or care, he was lost inside himself, lost in the overwhelming
presence of a loving God he never before and nothing else mattered.
Victoria was startled and confused by his reaction, she had expected more anger, more arguments, not for him to collapse to the ground in tears. She
had no idea what she had possibly said that could have caused this kind of reaction.
Coming closer she put an arm around his back resting her hand on his ribs and her
other hand on his forearm closest to her. “Eric… Eric are you okay? Eric what’s
going on?”
When he looked up to meet her eyes, Victoria could see
that he was very shaken; tears streamed down his face, he was pale and
literally trembled under her touch. “I get it.” He whispered, unable to say
more under the overwhelming force of this very real God.
“You get what Eric? Please tell me what happened to
you, just now.” Victoria asked her grip on him not loosening as she stared at
him, concern for her friend written all over her face, covering the guilt she
had felt so strongly only moments before.
Eric
just shook his head at her as he slowly regained control over his limbs and
with Victoria’s help was able to once again sit upright in the sand. His head
was spinning and he still couldn’t put words together to explain what had just
happened, how could he feel so chaotic, yet certain at the same time? How could
he explain that he suddenly understood why God had never before made sense to
him? How could he explain that he suddenly realized he would never be the same
Eric again or what had changed in that moment? He didn’t know how to explain
it, but he was sure Victoria would understand.
“Have
you ever experienced a moment that changed everything you ever knew about
yourself? A moment where you saw yourself clearly and you suddenly realized
what you had always been missing?” Eric asked, choosing each word carefully and
speaking slowly, still trying to calm his breathing while he wiped his eyes and
face with his white t-shirt.
“Eric,
did you just experience the Holy Spirit?” Victoria questioned in response,
excitement filling her as she started to get an inkling as to what had just occurred.
“I don’t
know, does the Holy Spirit feel like God is pressing down on you and telling you
what you have to do to fix your life and how much He loves you? The love! My God the feeling of love was like nothing I experienced before! ”
Victoria’s
face lit up with these words as she bit her lip in a failed attempt to temper her
excitement before answering with an overly enthusiastic, “It can!”
“Then
I’m pretty sure that’s what I just experienced.”
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