The Road Home
Page 29
“Mr. Springer, I do want to be a Christian. But I also want you to know that as much as it hurts me to say it, I’m willing to give Jenny up to keep her from losing you and her mother and her way of life.”
Reuben put his hands on Jonathan’s shoulders. “I hear what you are saying, Jonathan, and I admire you for it. Now let me tell you something. I have watched you since we met, and I’ve come to respect you and, yes, even love you. You are a brave and decent young man. You have cared for my Jenny selflessly, and you’ve been respectful to me and to her mother. You’re a man that I would be proud to call my son. But the most important thing is this—Jenny loves you with all her heart. There is nothing I can do about that. So I want to ask you this. Will you wait until we’ve finished answering Jenny’s questions and then sit down with me? I may have a solution to your problem.”
Jonathan stood with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Mr. Springer, you don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that. I’ll do anything, if it means that Jenny and I can be together.” He turned to Jenny. “Anything, Jenny, because I love you. I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you.”
Jenny reached out and took Jonathan’s hand. “And I you, Jonathan.”
Just then Bobby came walking up with the receptionist and another woman.
“This is Mrs. Bronstein,” the receptionist said. “She’s my supervisor, and she can help you.”
“I’ve talked with Sheriff Halverson and see no reason why we can’t release the information concerning your birth mother,” she said sweetly, smiling at Jenny. “Since there was no court action removing you from your mother’s care, and since you were adopted as an unknown child by the Springers, there are no court orders sealing any of your parents’ records. So here they are.” Mrs. Bronstein held up the folder. “If you’ll just come with me, we can take care of this in short order.”
They followed her down the hall to a conference room with a large table. Everyone took a seat. Mrs. Bronstein opened the envelopes and took out the papers. “Just give me a minute to look these over,” she said.
Everyone sat silently as Mrs. Bronstein scanned the documents. Finally she spoke. “Your father was Robert St. Clair of New York. I don’t have much more information than that because he was born in a different county. However, your mother is another story. Her maiden name was Rachel Mary Borntraeger. It’s on the marriage certificate that Sheriff Halverson gave me. She was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, May twelfth, nineteen twenty-eight. She was not born in a hospital, but her midwife filed the birth certificate. I have it here. She was eighteen years old when she married your father. Her parents are Abel and Eliza Borntraeger. They live just outside Lancaster in a village called Paradise.”
Jonathan’s jaw dropped, and Reuben laughed.
“Of course they do!” Reuben said.
The car drove slowly into Paradise. They were looking for Leacock Road. Bobby saw it first and turned left off the highway. They drove past snow-covered fields and stately barns. A horse-drawn buggy was coming toward them, and Bobby stopped and rolled down his window. The man driving the buggy pulled up. He looked at Reuben with curiosity,
“Hi, neighbor,” Bobby said. “We’re looking for Abel and Eliza Borntraeger’s place. Can you help us?”
“Bishop Borntraeger? Ja. He’s the next turn to the right. His barn is a big bright red one, just there. He lives alone now. His wife died ten years ago.”
“Ja, friend. We’re thanking you,” Reuben said.
They turned right at the next road. The sign by the mailbox read Borntraeger. They drove slowly up the long dirt road. Finally they pulled up in front of the farmhouse. It was a simple two-story structure painted light blue. A porch with a carved railing ran along one side of the house. Dead flowers stood in the snow in two little gardens on either side of the front steps. Suddenly fear gripped Jenny’s heart.
“Oh, Papa,” Jenny said.
“What is it, dochter?”
“What if…?”
Reuben smiled and touched his finger to his daughter’s lips. “Du lieber Gott has brought us this far. Now is not the time to stop trusting Him.”
They all got out of the car and walked up on the porch. The house faced west, and the sun was setting over the snow-covered hills behind them. Their footsteps made a hollow sound on the porch. Jenny stood close to her papa, slightly behind him, while Bobby knocked on the door. They waited for a long time, and then they heard slow footsteps from inside the house. The door opened, and an old man looked out. He was very tall, with a white beard and a stern face. Wrinkles lined the area around his eyes. He looked at them curiously.
“Ja? Can I help you, then?” he asked.
“Bishop Borntraeger?” Bobby asked.
“Ja,” the old man said.
“Sir, we are here on an interesting—”
The old man waved his hand at Bobby to silence him and stepped out onto the porch. The setting sun was shining in his eyes. He squinted, and then he looked straight at Jenny. He put his hand above his eyes, shading them from the sun, and looked again.
“Rachel?” he asked slowly. “Rachel, have you come home then, girl?”
Jenny stepped shyly out from behind her papa. “I’m Jenny,” she said.
“Jenny?” The old man said her name slowly. “But…I don’t understand.”
“I’m Rachel’s daughter…Grossdaddi,” Jenny said, twisting her hands nervously.
The old man stepped forward until he stood right in front of Jenny. “You are my Rachel’s little girl?” he asked.
“Yes, Grossdaddi.” The word had a wonderful feel as it came from her lips.
The old man put his hands on her shoulders. He gazed into her face for a long time. “Ja, you are her daughter,” he said finally. He paused and then he spoke slowly. “Will you…forgive me?”
“Forgive you, Grossdaddi?” Jenny asked.
“Ja,” the old man said as tears formed at the edges of his eyes. “I was wrong to be so hard on my daughter…on your mother. It took me a long time to realize that.”
The old man looked around at the people standing on the porch. “Where is she?” he asked.
“Rachel…my mother is dead, Grossdaddi,” said Jenny.
The old man looked at Jenny, and then he smiled through his tears. He reached out and pulled Jenny close. His strong arms held her tight, and Jenny’s arms crept around him. And then she was holding onto him with all her strength.
“Grossdaddi,” she said as her own tears coursed down her cheeks. “Of course I forgive you.”
She could feel him crying as he said her name over and over. “Jenny…Jenny…”
And at last Jenny knew that she was home.
Epilogue
My precious Jenny,
It’s the end of another long day here in Paradise. I’ve been in the fields since daybreak with Grandfather Borntraeger. As soon as the thaw came and the soil started to warm, we began preparing the ground for spring planting. This is the hardest work I’ve ever done, yet at the same time it is the most fulfilling. Your grandfather is a kind man, but he is very strict and does not put up with any complaining or questioning of his methods.
Since I’m so new to this, he must teach me as we work. I feel like a little boy all over again, but he is very patient with me, even when I make mistakes. Since your grandmother died before we met him, he has been alone, and I think he is happy to have the company. We talk together late into the night by the fire, and he teaches me from the Bible and prepares the soil of my heart. In many ways I feel like my life is like the ground we are working every day. He takes me with him to church and has introduced me to the families as his little lost sheep who has returned. They are very open to me, especially when they hear that my name is Hershberger and understand that my family was originally Amish.
I’m beginning to comprehend so many things, especially about God and His Son, Jesus. The Bible is a wonderful book. Did you know that God made the first man out
of dirt? I wonder if that’s why I feel so at home on the land? When I’m out in the fields with Grandfather Borntraeger, walking behind the plow, I feel as though my life finally means something, as if this is the most natural and real way I could ever be.
Grandfather explained to me that cultivating the soil not only prepares it for planting the seeds but also helps to keep the weeds from mixing in with the crop. I understand that my life has many weeds, and as Grandfather plows my mind with the word of God, it helps to prepare my heart for the words of Jesus to take root and grow. As I work, I remember the words of a song I heard the Amish men singing when I first came to Apple Creek.
“Let him who has laid his hand on the plow not look back! Press on to the goal! Press on to Jesus Christ! The one who gains Christ will rise with Him from the dead on the youngest day.”
That is who I want to be—the one who has laid his hand to the plow and will not look back.
But enough about me. How are you, my dearest Jenny? I must say that the most difficult part of this is not being with you. When your father sat with me and suggested that I consider joining the Amish church, I don’t think I understood what it really meant, but I did see that it was the only way for us to be together and that it was, for me, the right way.
I do know that until I’m baptized I can’t court you, and that makes me impatient sometimes, but Grandfather Borntraeger says I’m learning things sehr schnell and that it will probably only take two years for me to fully learn the Amish ways. It’s hard because every moment we’re apart is like an eternity.
Grandfather says that you and your mama will be coming after spring planting to visit for a week. I can hardly wait to see you.
It’s getting late and I must get to bed, but before I go I want to pray a prayer for us that I learned from Grandfather Borntraeger.
As You have loved us, holy Father, so may we obey You out of childlike love.
Just as we acknowledge Your fatherly love, so may we love our neighbors as ourselves.
Let us do nothing contrary to this love, and so do right by our neighbors.
We ask, holy Father, that we may enjoy in moderation all You give us to fulfill our needs and not misuse it due to extravagance or evil impulses. Give us a sensible heart, one faithful with Your gifts and not overly concerned for food, drink, or earthly nourishment. Instead, teach us to put our faith in You and to yearn for Your divine help and grace.
Give us a humble, broken spirit, a penitent nature, true gentleness, and a hunger and thirst for Your righteousness. Amen.
With all my love,
Jonathan
My dearest Jonathan,
How proud I am of you and all that you’ve done in these last months. When you told me you were going to study to join the church, I knew then that du lieber Gott had a plan for us all along. When I saw that you were willing to change your whole life to be with me, I was honored and humbled. But mostly it made me love you so much more…if that were possible. You are a good man, and I know you’re doing well under Grossdaddi’s teaching. He and I write at least once a week, and he tells me that you are schmaert and mudich. Please don’t let it go to your head, but Grossdaddi has become very fond of you, and no wonder.
I want to thank you, my dearest, for helping me to locate my grossdaddi. Finding him has put a seal on my life. The questions are all answered, the journey is over, and all the fear is gone. Now I finally know the truth. I am Amish—I always have been and always will be. And now I will marry an Amish man, and my life will flow on in the unending ways of our people.
It’s like the quilt my mama made for Jenna, the one she wrapped me in to save me so many years ago. Every piece of the quilt fits together in a perfect pattern, and none of it is haphazard or unplanned. Every color means something, and the whole quilt tells a story. So it is with my life. God has always been with me, and He has always been with you. Each piece of our lives was planned before we were born, and God has fitted it together perfectly, every stitch in place and every piece in perfect relationship with the one next to it.
And now I wait for the day when we can begin courting and the story of our lives will be complete and whole. I love you, Jonathan, I always will. I wait now with peace and great joy in my heart for the day that we will be married.
As you rest tonight, may the good Lord’s merciful eyes be on you. May He cover you with His divine protection and shield. May He judge, rule, and bless all of your undertakings for His glory. Amen.
I will see you after spring planting.
Yours forever,
Jenny
Discussion Questions
I. The Importance of Family
Jenny Springer is struggling with the fact that she is adopted. Not knowing her real parents causes bitterness between her and her adoptive parents. In today’s society with a prevelance of divorce, blended families, and adoption, many families are struggling with the same issues.
1. Do you have a similar situation in your family? Or perhaps friends who have adopted a child?
2. How are you or the family you know dealing with it? Are you (or they) letting the Lord guide as to how the situation is handled?
3. How are the children responding?
Scripture References: Psalm 68:5-6; 82:3
II. Family Ties
In chapters 13 and 14, Jonathan learns that his family was originally Amish. It changes his whole perspective on life.
1. How important is it for children to know their family history?
2. Does knowing your family roots give you strength or does it even matter?
3. Do you ever have a deep longing to go back to the place where you grew up?
4. Why do you think that is?
Scripture References: Deuteronomy 19:8; Luke 15:13-24
III. Understanding the power of God’s love.
In chapter 24, when Jerusha is repairing the quilt, the Lord shows her several important things about Jenny’s life.
1. What did the Lord show Jerusha about building a proper foundation in your child’s life?
2. When Jerusha replaces the torn rose petals, what does the Lord show her about the shed blood of Jesus?
3. What did the Lord show Jerusha about the stains of sin in our lives?
Scripture References: Isaiah 1:18; Romans 4:7; I Corinthians 3:10-15
IV. Listening to God
In chapter 30, Jenny has to finally surrender to following God’s way instead of her own. If she doesn’t, it could mean her death.
1. Have you ever come to a point in your life where you would only make it through if you stopped doing what you wanted to do and let God take over?
2. How did you respond to the test?
3. What was the outcome?
Scripture References: Isaiah 58:11; Hebrews 3:7-8
ABOUT PATRICK E. CRAIG
Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next 26 years as a worship leader, seminar speaker, and pastor in churches and at retreats, seminars, and conferences all across the western United States. After ministering for a number of years in music and worship to a circuit of small churches, he is now concentrating on writing and publishing both fiction and nonfiction books.
Patrick and his wife, Judy, make their home in Northern California and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren.
Be sure and watch for book three in the
APPLE CREEK DREAMS SERIES,
Jenny’s Choice.
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