by Vicki Hinze
Ben and Kelly Walker married right after the Dead Game incident was over. They decided they’d waited long enough and they’re now the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. They named her Susan, in honor of Susan Brandt. Crossroads was her dream, and it’s been such a blessing to so many. I think Susan would love that.
Peggy Crane is still running the center and playing Cupid to Nora’s Rambo. I can hear you chuckling about that but, you know, something about it works. I think I told you on the phone, but in case I didn’t, Lisa and Mark married Christmas Eve in the Crossroads chapel. All of Mark’s old team came, and security was tight because of it, but what a wonderful group of men they are—especially my Joe.
Mom, you won’t believe the changes in Sara. She’s blossomed into such a strong woman. It’s been amazing to watch. Once she discovered she could be strong, she has been, and for the first time ever, when I look at her there’s no sadness, no hint of feeling alone in her eyes. She’s vibrant, Mom, and she and Jeff are head over heels in love. It looks good on her. You know that right after Robert’s funeral, she emptied her house down to the last stick of furniture and totally redecorated—Sara-style. It’s gorgeous. Warm and welcoming, and just as beautiful as she is. Maria helped her, and it’s finally a happy house again. Sara’s radiant—and apparently impatient. That’s why I had to write you now.
Last week she told me she was tired of waiting for Jeff to pop the question, so she’s arranged a special evening and she’s proposing to him. Isn’t that wild? Sara? Our reserved and conservative and so-shy Sara is going to propose to Jeff? I’m laughing out loud as I write this. He won’t say no, but if he did, the whole village would blister his ears. Sara’s recruited everyone into helping her set him up for the proposal. It’s tonight, and I can’t wait to see what happens. I’m betting she won’t get down on her knees, but I’m definitely in the minority on that. Even Joe’s betting she will.
Hank Green is doing a good job as mayor, and Darla worked up her courage and asked him and Lance for a meeting. I don’t know what was said, but I have the feeling she told them everything. They’ve treated her differently since then, and though it took awhile, the three of them meet for brunch at the club every other Sunday. Well, Darla and Hank do, now that Lance is away at college. Peggy says that’s a good sign, especially since Darla and Hank never got along, and I guess it is. I know she’s doing everything she can do to make a difference. God has to be pleased at the way she’s turned her life around.
We broke ground on the new cottage development for the moms on Airport Road. Sara has been as persnickety about every detail to do with it as Susan Brandt was in building Crossroads. Anytime someone puts that much love into something, good just has to come out of it.
Mel, the receptionist at Crossroads, is living proof of what love can do. I don’t know if you remember it, but there was a time when she was a teenager on her own. Her mother fell to drugs and Mel showed up at the center. Everyone embraced her, opening their arms and their hearts. Well, this spring she’ll graduate from college, and she’s going to stay on at Crossroads. Not as a receptionist, but running a program she designed specifically to help troubled teens.
All the girls—Kelly, Lisa, Sara, Nora, Peggy, Mel, Annie, and I—had a baby shower for Roxy Talbot. She’s retired from the FBI now and she and Harvey are expecting their first in less than a month. She’s not complained at all about swollen ankles or morning sickness or any of that (which just isn’t human, is it?). Actually, I guess her training taught her to deal with worse and a lot more. She does get emotional easily, which frustrates her, but the rest of us find it endearing. Even Nora, and you know how she is about that kind of thing. Anything tender sets Roxy off like a fire hose. I love that. If a woman needs to cry, she should just cry. It rattles Mark, but Harvey doesn’t bat an eye, and Joe totally gets it. ’Course, he always has had an uncanny insight to women.
Oh, Mom, I still have to pinch myself sometimes. Who could have imagined that a man like Joe would love me? It boggles my mind. And to think that if not for Crossroads and NINA, I never would have met him. I definitely do not want to imagine that.
After Roxy’s shower, we all went to the center and stood before Susan’s portrait. Taking turns, we each told her how her dream had changed our lives. Crossroads was her dream, but oh, are we blessed to have been a part of it. Peggy Crane tagged us as Susan’s Ripples. She says she’s getting us pink T-shirts and sun hats. Imagine Nora in a T-shirt and sun hat. Hilarious, isn’t it?
I’ll happily wear the shirt on my beach runs. I don’t know about the hat, though Nora says we could start a Pink Hat Society. That could be fun, so we’ll see.
You know, Mom, Susan’s dream was born in sadness, but look how God used it to create so much good. A lot of happiness has been found through those walls—and not the fleeting kind. The kind that lasts. When I think about it, it just awes me. I know it does you too.
Now that you’re settled in, stay in touch. Sara and I miss you. All your friends here miss you too. And while we want you to have your dream, we expect to see you on visits. Know that you have nothing to worry about here. You left us in good hands. His hands.
We’re content, Mom. Blessed. Life is good.
Much love to you and Dad,
Beth
READERS GUIDE
1. Beth was betrayed by Max and sees herself as too ordinary for a man like Joe to be genuinely interested in her.1 Have you experienced things that changed the way you see yourself? The way you see others?
2. Joe had a rough childhood that drove him to church so he could find someone to go home with to get a meal. While there, he found God.2 How did you find God?
3. Most would consider Joe’s youth, caring for his brothers, a horrific burden, and yet it prepared him for his future. He acquired needed skills and knowledge.3 Have you experienced a hard time or challenge that proved later to be beneficial to you?
4. Sara was deemed fragile, and she stayed with that path because it was comfortable and expected. Yet there came a time and a situation when she couldn’t take the easy way anymore.4 Have you experienced that—where you wanted to change and knew you had to change, but were torn because you didn’t want to leave what was comfortable or expected and step into the unknown? How did you cope? How did it work out?
5. NINA will do anything to anyone for money. What are your thoughts on that? Have you ever been tempted to bend your principles to get what you wanted?5
6. Beth feels torn about helping Sara when the beneficiary is a man she considers evil.6 Have you experienced torn loyalties? How did you work through them?
7. Darla has committed terrible acts, but through her own choices, she makes an effort to be a better person. And through grace she is redeemed.7 Do you believe that no one is beyond redemption? That everyone can be redeemed? Why or why not?
8. Beth has always protected Sara. Now Sara and she are at deep odds, and Sara distances herself from Beth and won’t explain why.8 Have you been in this position? Have you trusted the judgment of the one distancing and been bruised and hurt because of it? Did you accept the distance decision in the absence of a reason? How did you resolve it? Did it resolve?
9. At one point, Beth feels lost and afraid and forced to step into the lions’ den.9 Have you ever felt that way? What gave you the strength to do what needed doing? Was it as bad as you expected? How did you cope?
10. Joe doesn’t like to talk about his past. He’s ashamed of it. After he does discuss it, he would naturally perceive slights that just aren’t there—the result of his feelings about himself. The remnants of that shame he’d carried with him growing up.10 What remnants of your past are you carrying with you? Are they constructive or destructive? What must be reconciled to put them to rest in the past?
11. People who know Beth well regard her with suspicion when Robert disappears. When a similar situation arises with another, Beth refuses to suspect and considers that person innocent only to later discover that person was gui
lty.11 Have you been a victim of misplaced suspicion or misplaced your trust in another? How did it impact you and your other relationships?
12. One of God’s promises is to turn what evil is intended to harm us into good.12 Beth and Joe experience this in several ways. Have you had an experience where someone did something intending it be harmful to you, but it was turned and used for good?
1. To see what the Bible says about these things, you can begin by reading the following scriptures from the New International Version: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4).
2. “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me’ ” (Genesis 16:13).
3. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
4. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35–39).
5. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
6. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20).
7. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Hebrews 13:5).
8. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
10. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
11. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
12. “ ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them” (Genesis 50:20–21).
Dear Readers,
At some point in our lives, many, if not most of us, have been betrayed. We’ve also experienced torn loyalties. Situations where we must act, and no matter what we do, someone is hurt. And many if not most of us have been falsely accused of saying and doing things we did not do.
These are the challenges raised in Not This Time that had to be addressed as well as the physical challenges of danger and deception. When we try to live seeing the good in others, it’s often difficult for us to accept that there are those who just embrace the bad because they choose to embrace it. But those people do exist and in our denial of it is danger. Not just physical danger, but emotional and, most important, spiritual danger.
If the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments, and we are charged by Christ to love one another, how do we love those embracing evil and stay true to walking in faith and not be harmed by the actions of those embracing evil? It can present quite a puzzle. One that confounds us and tests us to the limits. Yet we need not despair. We’ve heard what to do when we reach the end of our rope. To reach for the hem of His robe. It is in that reach that we find our answers and the courage to do the right thing for the right reasons. To take that leap of faith and dare to trust again, to be loyal without being an enabler fostering evil.
I followed Beth and Joe—you met them in Deadly Ties—through their trials, and I have to say I was intrigued and on the edge of my seat. Every time I thought things were about to work out, something else happened or something was revealed that made me look at things differently, or showed me that what I believed was true wasn’t. It was at times chilling, at times heartwarming. And in the end I discovered that there is a way to endure indignities and wrongful accusations and broken trust and torn loyalties without becoming bitter or disillusioned. His way.
May you enjoy their journey as much as I did, and may your own journey be eased in some way for having made it.
My most humble gratitude to you for traveling through the Crossroads Crisis Center series with me from Forget Me Not through Deadly Ties, and now in Not This Time. I pray we’re all richer for the experience.
Blessings,
Vicki Hinze
Florida
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AT WWW.WATERBROOKMULTNOMAH.COM!