John’s eyes danced and he pointed to the fish balloon. “In honor of your engagement, Tim, I think you deserve my balloon.” He grinned at Tara. “I mean, what a catch!”
Everyone laughed and then Jake waved his hands. “Okay . . . quiet . . . it’s Coach’s turn.”
A strange feeling bounced around in Abby’s gut. Coach’s turn? What was this about? And why hadn’t John told her he had something to say?
“Dad?” Kade gave John a curious look. “You have an announcement?”
John shrugged as best he could with the brace in the way. His lopsided grin told Abby all she needed to know. Whatever he was about to say, he and Jake had this part planned out. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Go on, Coach. Tell ’em.”
“Okay.” John straightened himself once more. “Jake and I did a little talking the other day, and he told me next year’ll be his best ever. I mean . . .” John angled his head, a grin playing on the corners of his mouth. “He’ll be a senior and all.”
“And for the first time I’ll be really listening to Coach . . . you know, doing whatever he asks me to do . . .”
Abby held her breath. Could he be about to say—?
“So I decided to revoke my resignation.” John lifted his hands and let them fall to his lap. “I’m going to coach next year, after all!”
The room erupted in a chorus of congratulations and hugs, high-fives and laughter. Jo slapped her leg. “That settles it. The Marion High athletic director—what’s his name?”
“Herman Lutz.” John grinned.
“Right, that’s it. Lutz. Well, he gets the fish balloon. I’ll take it into his office myself and hand it to him. ‘What a catch, buddy!’ I’ll tell him, ‘It’s your lucky day because you just got John Reynolds back as coach!’”
Again everyone lit into conversation, guessing at the team’s record next year and making predictions about how well Jake would do. Abby tuned most of it out and leaned against the hospital wall. Her eyes found John, and she saw that he wasn’t listening either.
Instead they held a private conversation with their eyes. A dialogue where Abby told John how proud she was that he’d stood his ground and won, that he’d been willing to take a second look at the coaching job at Marion and realize it was where he belonged. And John silently thanked her for standing by him. Not just through the difficult days last season, or the horror of his accident, but during his wheelchair days and the anticipation over his surgery. And even now, when he was choosing to take time away from her once more to do the thing he loved.
“I can’t wait.” She mouthed the words, enjoying this private moment while the rest of the room celebrated loudly around them.
“Me, either.” He held his hand toward her and she came, linking her fingers with his and feeling his love with every fiber of her being. “You know what, Abby?”
“What?” They were still whispering.
“It’s going to be the best season ever.”
Abby smiled and squeezed his hand. They had come so far, through so much. Yet now she was back where she’d started so many years ago. Looking forward to September and the warm glow of stadium lights on the face of the man she loved more than any in the world. Being caught up in a series of Friday night games, the way she’d been since she was a small girl.
The summer lay ahead of them, and with it no doubt dozens of small miracles. Haley would come home, and John would be up and walking again. But right then and there, Abby was consumed with one tantalizing thought.
John Reynolds was going to coach again.
Abby could hardly wait for the new season of their life together to begin. John was right . . . it was going to be the best ever.
Author’s Note
PARALYSIS IS A DEVASTATING CONDITION. IN OUR COUNTRY today, the foremost cause of sudden paralysis in people is a gunshot wound to the neck or back. Car accidents follow as the second most common cause. The technology and treatment described in A Time to Embrace are futuristic and not yet in use. However, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, even at this very moment, the field of spinal surgery is enjoying an “explosion of new surgical techniques” designed to reduce or reverse spinal cord injuries.
In many cases these new surgical techniques are still in need of financial support and testing before they can be implemented. Some are years or decades away from working the way they worked on John Reynolds. I chose to allow Coach Reynolds to be an early benefactor of such new surgical techniques to demonstrate what I pray and hope will one day be a reality for anyone who has fallen victim to this devastating type of injury.
A Word to Readers
DEAR READER FRIENDS,
Thank you for traveling the pages of Abby and John’s story . . . through their seasons of grief and gladness, joy and pain. This is my second book with these characters, and as such I have come to care for them a great deal. And to learn from the lessons they have taught me.
The most important may very well be this: life is made up of seasons.
You don’t have to be married to a coach to recognize the fact. Some months we’re busy and distracted, others we can barely concentrate for the consuming thoughts of love that fill our hearts. Love for our spouse, our families, our Lord. There are seasons of joy and seasons of pain, seasons of grief and those of growth. Of heartache and hope.
If you ventured with John and Abby through the first part of their story—A Time to Dance—then you know the celebration they experienced at the end of that book. After very nearly giving in to their own separate desires, after making plans to divorce, they allowed God to rescue them.
I’ve talked with dozens of couples who have been through what John and Abby experienced in the first book. Couples who loved each other and intended to stay together a lifetime, only to find their marriage, their love, their oneness derailed somewhere along the road to forever.
God tells us in Scripture that He will never let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but that when we’re tempted, He will provide a way of escape.
That is always true, even when our marriages begin to crumble.
Of course, too often one or both spouses is not willing to look for that escape route, not willing to hear the voice of God above the voice of their own desires. But when both people will follow God’s way of escape and put away their differences, the result is something more beautiful than you could dare to dream.
If you’ve read my other novels, you know that we have six children, the youngest of whom had heart troubles as an infant. Little Austin was born with a defective aorta, the main artery out of the heart.
In what was a very delicate surgery, doctors removed the bad sections of Austin’s aorta and replaced it with a piece of artery from his left arm. The whole thing seemed unbelievable to me and my husband.
“What if the patch job doesn’t take?” I asked the doctor after the operation.
“Oh, it’ll take. In fact the area where there was trauma and healing will actually be stronger than the unaffected sections.”
I thought about that for a long time and marveled at the truth there. Where there was trauma and healing, that section would be stronger than any other.
And so it is in our marriages.
Trauma will come to most relationships. Disagreements, differences, arguments. Even sometimes betrayal. God knew we’d stumble along the way, so He gave us His Word wrought with advice on how to handle it. How to make points of trauma, places of healing.
And come out stronger in the end because of it.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Love is patient.
Love is kind. . . . It is not easily angered.
Be completely humble and gentle.
Love covers over a multitude of sins.
Bear with each other. Encourage on another.
Yes, God knows what it is to be wronged. Remember the first Good Friday? There He was with His closest friends, each of
them making grand promises of loyalty and commitment, when suddenly a troop of soldiers appeared.
What did Jesus’ most faithful followers do? They ran.
And that’s the same thing we’re tempted to do when our marriages don’t go the way we expected, but we’d do well to follow Christ’s example. Not only did He forgive His friends, He embraced them. When He appeared to them in the upper room after that glorious Resurrection Sunday, He comforted them with no thought of the wrongs they’d committed against Him.
When I finished A Time to Dance, many of you wrote to me wondering what happened to Abby and John . . . how they were able to work their reconciliation into an everyday life without falling prey to the problems that plagued them at first.
It was then that I realized the lesson of trauma and healing. The couples I know who have found glorious restoration in their marriages, almost always do so in a way that makes their relationship better, stronger, more loving than ever before.
The reason? A troubled marriage is a tested one. And when we look to God together as a way of passing the test, we will always be closer in the long run.
Please don’t read into this a callousness toward those of you who’ve suffered through a divorce. It is the rare exception when two people determined to walk away from each other stop and look to God instead. Many of you would love to have a spouse willing to listen to God, willing to look for the escape route that would lead you away from divorce.
But far too often that spouse still leaves, completely hardened to God’s voice.
For you, I pray God’s tender mercy and healing upon your life. That you would look to Him, the Author of life, for whatever your next step should be, and that you would believe He is the God of second chances. That He has good plans for you even now.
For those of you considering a divorce, mired in the throes of bitterness and betrayal, my prayer is that you stop attacking each other. Stop thinking it’s your husband’s fault or wishing you had a different wife. Realize, instead, that the enemy of our souls is the one who destroys what God has created. And the oneness of marriage is definitely a God-given gift.
Get counseling . . . pray together . . . pray for each other . . . look for ways to honor your spouse. And most of all search for the route of escape. Quite often that escape route is as simple as making an apology. Then allow God to heal your broken love. Let Him give you a time to laugh and love and live in peace.
A time to embrace.
And see if the bond you share isn’t much stronger as a result.
On a personal note, we have had our adopted Haitian sons home for more than a year now and life couldn’t be sweeter. Our biological children have embraced their new brothers in a way that can only be considered miraculous. Our entire family owes a debt of thanks to so many of you who have prayed for us along the journey.
We have had some hard times as well. After fourteen years of coaching basketball, my husband will be taking a few years off. Without getting into great detail, I can say this: some of the issues John Reynolds experienced the season before his injury were very, very close to home. We are, of course, glad to have Don home with us. The kids love it when he holds “mini-camp” in the backyard.
But still, there is loss.
If your son or daughter participates in organized sports, I have this challenge for you: thank the coach. If he or she is someone who cares for your child, someone who doesn’t use foul language or abuse your kids for the sake of a victory, take time to be grateful. After every game, every practice, make it a habit to find those coaches who volunteer their time or who get paid only pennies for doing the job, and thank them. Coaches—good coaches—are hard to find. And when parents fail to see that, everyone loses.
As always, I pray this finds you and yours well, and feasting on our Lord’s rich promises. We look forward with you to whatever adventures the Lord has around the corner. Keep praying that I write the books God places on my heart in a way that will leave a life-changing mark on yours.
In His love, and until next time . . .
Karen Kingsbury
P.S. As always, you can E-mail me at [email protected], or contact me at my Web site: www.KarenKingsbury.com
Acknowledgments
AS ALWAYS, WHENEVER I PUT TOGETHER A NOVEL THERE are hosts of people working behind the scenes to make it possible. On that note, thanks must first go to my husband and kids, for understanding my need to hide away when deadline calls. There were reasons why this book was harder to finish than most. I couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t pulled together and allowed me the time to write. I love you all!
Also, thanks to my family support team, especially my mom and dad, and the rest of you who take time to read my books and offer valuable insight. A special thanks to my niece, Shannon, for always being the first with feedback. One day I expect to be reading your books, honey.
Prayer support is crucial when writing a novel—especially one with God-given truths woven throughout. I would be unable to write the stories God has given me if not for the prayers of my husband and kids, my family, and friends. I’m blessed to have not just those people praying, but also Sylvia and Walt Wallgren, Ann Hudson, and so many of you faithful reader friends who constantly lift me up in prayer. Thank you for your faithfulness. I pray you enjoy the fruits of partnering with me in this writing ministry.
Also, a special thanks to my assistant, Amber Santiago, for being everywhere I can’t be as I set about the business of writing. Please know that your time with Austin and the hours you put in making my house livable are an amazing blessing to me. Thank you for your servant heart, Amber. I appreciate you more than you know.
In the writing of this book, I found myself desperately in need of quiet time. When that happened, I called up new friends of mine, Louise and Warren, and snuck off to their bed-and-breakfast for a few days of solid writing. Thank you for providing me with a quiet, phone-free environment in which to work. I am certain I’ll spend many more hours at your hideaway.
Thanks also goes to those people who read galley proofs for me: Melinda Chapman, Joan Westphal, Kathy Santschi, and the Wallgrens. Your expert eyes have helped me turn out a novel I can smile about. Thank you!
On a business note, I’d like to thank Ami McConnell, Debbie Wickwire, and the good folks at Thomas Nelson for their commitment to excellence in women’s fiction.
I had the privilege of working with my favorite editor, Karen Ball, in the course of this book. It was a difficult season for Karen, as she lost her dear mother, Paula Sapp, days before editing my manuscript. Karen, I ache with you at your loss and believe along with you that your mother is finally free. That even now she watches over you, praying for you, longing for the reunion that will take place one far-off day. Thank you for being willing to work with me even amid a season of heartache.
It is my belief that God teams writers up with agents for a good reason. As such, I am eternally grateful that the Lord brought Greg Johnson into my life. Greg is an author’s dream-come-true agent, looking out for every aspect of my writing career. If you’re reading this book, you can thank God for Greg’s role in my life. I couldn’t do this without him.
Also a special thanks to Kirk DouPonce of Uttley-DouPonce Designworks. Kirk and his amazing team of artists are quite simply the best cover designers in the business. If I had my way, every book I ever write would have their artwork gracing the front. Thank you for pulling off another amazing cover! You’re the very best.
Reading
group guide
1. Was the love between Abby and John stronger or weaker in light of the fact that they had so recently changed their minds about getting divorced? Explain.
2. Describe a time when you had a falling-out with someone you love.Was the love between you stronger or weaker afterward? Why?
3. Trust takes time to build again, especially in a relationship that has fallen victim to betrayal. How did this truth present itself in Abby and John’s relationship?
4. H
as trust ever been an issue between you and someone you love? Describe that situation.
5. How were you able to finally trust that person again?
6. The Reynoldses’ son was involved in Internet pornography. What are your thoughts on whether this form of sexual sin is addictive? What examples from the book do you think would help in breaking that addiction for you or someone you love?
7. What role did Abby play in the family drama after John’s injury? Why was this damaging to her?
8. Describe a time when you felt you had to fix everyone’s problems. How did this make you feel? How were you able to move past that season?
9. John’s emotions varied quite a bit in the days after his injury. What event finally changed his attitude for the better? Why?
10. Nicole experienced a blow to her faith after her father was paralyzed. Why do you think this was? What finally helped her come back to a place of believing?
11. Have you ever suffered through a time that tore at your faith? What made believing in God so difficult during that time? How did you work through that time?
12. Jake’s reaction to his role in Coach Reynolds’s injury was one of horrendous guilt. What were Jake’s feelings regarding his possible punishment? How did he grow during this season of sorrow and guilt?
13. Describe a time when you did something for which you couldn’t forgive yourself. What brought about those feelings? How were you able to get past them and finally heal?
14. What were some of the ways the love between Abby and John grew during his wheelchair days? Describe your favorite moment between these two. Why was it special?
15. Love is not always easy. Describe a time when you were able to share love with someone through a difficult time. How did it strengthen your relationship? What did you learn in the process?
A Time to Dance/A Time to Embrace Page 63