Diamond Lake Series: Complete Series (Bks 1-7) Boxset

by T. K. Chapin

  “Do we have to do this?” I asked, pleading with my eyes for this to be over.

  Nathan turned his head and looked down the hallway and then back at me. Releasing my hand from his, he took a step closer and put his hands on my arms. Softly, he said, “Elizabeth. I love you, and I want to never hurt you the way I already have. God’s design for marriage was meant for something beautiful.” He shook his head as he continued, “I, in my sin, made it ugly. We need help getting back on track with God.” He glanced at the door down the hall. “Tom’s going to help direct us. I know you’re worried, but don’t be. I’ll be there with you. We’ll do it together.”

  Nathan’s words helped ease the pounding in my chest. He was right. We needed the help, and Tom was kind enough to meet with us. He took my hand, and we continued to the door.

  As Nathan raised a hand and pushed open the door, Pastor Tom took his glasses off and stood up from behind the desk. A tall, slender man in his early sixties, he carried the type of smile that made you comfortable. Coming around the corner of his desk, he greeted us with handshakes. “It’s good to see you two. Come in and have a seat,” he said, walking back around his desk.

  As I sat down in a chair in front of his desk, my heart couldn’t help but race in anticipation of the conversation we were about to have. I knew his wife, Milly, well, and I was sure she would hear all about Nathan and me tonight. Pressing on my mind in that moment was the verse that Serenah had given me. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Committing my anxiety over the situation at hand to the Lord, I let myself relax. This man across the desk wasn’t just any person in the world. He was a man of Christ, a fellow follower of His Word. If there was anyone Nathan and I should talk to, it was most likely Pastor Tom.

  “Let’s pray,” Pastor Tom said, bowing his head. Nathan and I both bowed our heads. “Lord, we ask you to please bless our time together today. May Your wisdom and hand be over it. Help us all to see Your truth and open our hearts. In Your precious name, Amen.” As we lifted our heads, the pastor looked at me and then over at Nathan. “So how are you?” he asked.

  “Good. Good,” Nathan replied.

  Pastor Tom smiled warmly and looked at both of us. “Yeah?”

  I reached over and touched Nathan’s arm, hoping to help him relax. Looking at him and then over at the Pastor, I said, “We need help. Our marriage is . . . in trouble.”

  Nathan dipped his chin for a moment and then adjusted in his seat. “We aren’t sure what to do, Pastor. We’re focused on God now, and we’re trying to get right with Him.”

  “Well, that’s a really good start,” Tom replied as he reached for his Bible on the desk. “What seems to be the problem then?”

  “Things have happened . . .” I said, but he raised his hand.

  “You don’t need to go into detail with me. That’s between you two and the Lord. I’ve never seen a case where I needed the gritty details of the issues.” He opened up his Bible to a specific part that appeared to be marked off with a paper. “Do you guys mind if I read you something?” he asked, looking up from the Scriptures.

  “Please do,” Nathan said.

  Placing his glasses on, he leaned in and pressed his finger against the page. “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8.” Peering up at Nathan and then over at me, he raised his eyebrows at us and then leaned back in his chair. “The way I like to look at the Bible is that God doesn’t put anything in there that’s not important. Loving deeply is the key here in this passage. What do you two think?”

  I nodded as I felt my soul stir at the words. He was right. Love was the answer.

  Nathan shook his head and said, “There’s respect that is needed also, though.” He leaned over the desk and looked at the Bible, “I know respect is mentioned in there too. Not just love.”

  “True, Nathan,” Tom replied. Leaning forward, he said, “Really, why can’t respect be part of loving deeply?” Tom flipped through his Bible to another area as he continued speaking. “My wife and I have been married for forty-three years, and we still need God in our marriage every day. Without being connected to the vine of Christ, we’re hopelessly destined for failure in this life. Marriage is extremely difficult with God. Without Him, it’s impossible.”

  “Did you guys ever get close to divorce?” Nathan asked.

  “Nathan!” I scolded him.

  “It’s okay,” Tom replied gently. “Yes. We did. It was right after I retired. We weren’t used to being around each other that much . . .” Tom paused for a moment and looked over at a picture of Milly on his desk and then shook his head. “It was ridiculous there for a few months.”

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  Tom looked at Nathan and then at me and said, “We stopped trying to fix it and let God take the wheel.”

  The words resonated, but still lacked the exact instruction I longed for. Leaning forward, I pressed my hand flat against the desk and asked, “But what does that mean? What did you do?”

  “I prayed, read my Bible, and kept focusing on God and my spouse. Over time, it worked out. God did the heavy lifting once I let Him.” The pastor turned his eyes back to his Bible and flipped a few more pages until he stopped. Looking up at me and then over to Nathan, he said, “I’ve seen a lot of people come through that door over there. Often, it’s only one spouse, and that’s really hard. Sometimes, it’s two, but one is only there because they were dragged in . . . but you two.” He shook his head and smiled. “You’ll be fine. You are both here—that alone shows something. Let’s see here.” His eyes went down to the Scriptures.

  I pulled my hand off the desk and let it fall to my side. Nathan’s hand found mine, and my heart warmed at his touch.

  Tom read again. “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12.” He looked up at us and continued, “It’s not just Nathan and Elizabeth. It’s God, Nathan and Elizabeth. Your marriage relationship is with God also. It’s hard to remember that when we aren’t focused on Him and His truths found in the Bible. You said you started getting back on track with God just recently?”

  Nathan nodded and brought his hands together in his lap. “I haven’t been leading my family in the Lord these last few years. I’ve failed.” He looked over at me with tears welling in his eyes, then looked over at the pastor. “I have failed them.”

  “Nathan,” Tom said in a warm tone. “That’s why you need God in your marriage and in your life. It’s not supposed to be up to you alone to handle it all. Look at Adam and Eve in the garden. Before the fall, God walked with Adam and taught him in the garden. The design of God was for Him to have a relationship with us. It’s about Him being the object of our worship. When we fade away from God, the Bible and our prayer lives, we are feeding our sinful flesh side. The Bible says we reap whatever we sow.”

  Nathan wiped his eyes and kept nodding. “I know. I’m going to be better.”

  “And you will fail,” Tom replied. Looking over at me, he said, “Both of you will keep failing, but you will also succeed in some ways. You just have to keep pushing forward and serving God with your life. This life we have is a process of becoming holy. Though Christ is the redeemer, it’s up to us to have a relationship with God. Without a relationship, we’ll always be lacking and trying to find fulfillment in this world, and we know what the world offers can never satisfy our need.”

  The pastor’s words cut through all the hurt and spoke directly to me. It wasn’t me who was going to fix this disaster of a marriage, and it wasn’t Nathan either. It was God. Through time and focusing our attention on the Lord, this could really work. After our meeting with the pastor that day, we decided to forego more counseling and instead joined a marriage class Tom recommended called Love and Respect. It was held Tuesday nights at the Fosters’ house—a couple from Pines Baptist.

  Chapter 15

  Days passed without an issue
between Nathan and me after our meeting with Pastor Tom. We woke up in the mornings and spent our time together reading out of the Bible, starting in Galatians. Then Nathan spent the rest of his days out looking for a job. He turned in applications, went to hiring events, and even landed an interview at a company for the upcoming Friday. It had been three days since the counseling session at church, and I decided to take Jenny to the mall. We would shop and then grab a bite of food for our mother-daughter date of sorts. After shopping, as we went to sit down with our food, I saw Derek. My emotions inside went crazy. Turning quickly with my tray in hand and my daughter by my side, I did my best to avoid eye contact with him and went to sit down.

  By the time we had finished with lunch and were dumping our trays, I had forgotten all about him.

  “Elizabeth?” Derek asked from behind me.

  I froze. My heart raced, and I could feel my face turn red as my daughter looked behind me at him. Turning around, I said, “Hi.”

  “I thought that was you. We miss you back at the bookstore. How have you been?”

  “Who’s this?” Jenny asked.

  “I’m Derek,” he said, extending a hand. “Old co-worker of your mom’s.”

  He said the name that had caused so much turmoil, so much pain in my life for three years of my marriage. She’s going to tell Nathan . . . Great, I thought. Everything was going to fall apart. My verse suddenly came to me. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. I had to trust God. Nodding, I said, “We’ve gotta get home. Nathan is waiting for us.” Placing my hand behind Jenny’s back, I led her away a bit forcefully, so on our way through the mall, she turned to me.

  “What’s your deal, Mom? You were acting so strangely with that man.”

  “Nothing, honey,” I replied as I hastened my steps toward the exit. In almost a continuous prayer, I asked for God’s hand to be over the situation.

  Arriving home, Jenny darted up the stairs and into her room with her bags of clothing. She didn’t tell Nathan about Derek, which I was thankful for, but I had a decision to make. I could tell Nathan what happened and just lay it all out, or I could hide it and hope Jenny said nothing. Then I let out a sigh of relief.

  I was done hiding.

  If our relationship was going to be founded on God, I needed to trust in Him fully. Trust He is God and He decides on the outcome. “We need to talk,” I said, looking at Nathan on the couch.

  “Okay,” he replied with wide eyes.

  “Don’t worry. Let’s go out back.”

  “All right,” he replied. Standing up, he handed me a letter. “The invite for Serenah and Charlie next month.”

  “Awesome,” I replied, taking it from him and tossing it on the counter. We continued outside and into the grass of the backyard. Taking his hands in mine, I said, “First off—I saw Derek today at the mall. I kept the conversation short and ended it quickly.”

  He furrowed his eyebrows.

  Touching his arm, I said, “Don’t worry about it, Nathan. Anyway, I realized something about myself that I didn’t know before. When I kept the biopsy from you, I was essentially playing God. I made the decision not to tell you, like you didn’t need that in your life.” Stepping in closer, I framed his face with my hands. “I love you, Nathan. I’ve come to a decision.”

  “What?” he asked, confused.

  “I’ve made up my mind about us.” He dipped his chin, but I lifted it with my hands and smiled. “I can’t promise I won’t ever randomly break down crying or be irrational at times, but what I can promise you is that I will love you the rest of my life.”

  Leaning in, he smoothed his hand over my hair and pushed a strand behind my ear, then kissed me. His lips pressed against mine, and I felt all my vulnerability rush through me, but with it came love. Though we had a long path ahead of us still, I knew I made the right decision.

  Decisions. They shape us into who we are and impact our lives in ways we often never realize. When I married Nathan, I married my best friend—that was easy. When I made the decision to stay with him, I chose to stay with an imperfect person just like me. If it weren’t for God and His Spirit within me, I wouldn’t have had the strength to stay. I had every reason in the world to leave Nathan, but in the end, I made the decision to stay and trust God.

  The End.

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  One Saturday Evening

  Diamond Lake Series: Book 3

  By:

  T.K. Chapin

  www.tkchapin.com

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for choosing to read One Saturday Evening. I wrote this book to help people that are going through difficulties in their life. Oftentimes it’s not until we stop trying that God can truly begin to work in our lives. The story centers on a woman that has been divorced, but I find her pain and trials in life are easily identifiable. My hope for this story is that it blesses you as much as it did me writing it.

  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

  While the woman in this story is divorced I don’t recommend that. If you or someone you know needs help in their marriage, there are Biblical resources available. You can check out Focus on the Family’s website (click/tap here) to learn more about Christian marriages and get the help you need today.

  Prologue

  When I uttered those sweet words, ‘I do,’ I thought it would be forever. My forever only turned out to be sixteen years. That’s life though. It’s full of the unexpected. Right when you think you have a handle on things, something disastrous happens, like your husband leaving you one day for no apparent reason. Why’d Bradley leave? I don’t know. Maybe it was the three children we had and the toll it took on my body, or maybe he just got bored with me. I don’t like thinking it was because of either of those two things, but he left, no matter the reason.

  He left me with an ‘I don’t’ and three souls to take care of by my lonesome self. With Bradley gone, along with his income, I was forced to move back to my hometown of Newport. That was two years ago now. It’s by no means perfect here, but the town and air have a flavor that reminds me of my childhood days roaming the streets and playing with friends, and I like that feeling.

  Chapter 1

  Though I had come to terms with being alone, my heart longed to be loved. The morning cups of coffee and Bible reading were truly my greatest joy in life, but in the back of my mind, I knew just how sweet the mornings were with a husband by my side. My heart had been conditioned for too long to know what it felt like to always have someone there for me—whenever I woke up, whenever I came home, and most painful of all . . . whenever I pillowed my head to sleep at night. Now, even two years later, my heart still has a longing for the companionship and love. I never dreamed I’d be in the situation I found myself in.

  Everything changed without my even knowing it on the last day of school for my three daughters. I was sitting in my kitchen one early morning, reading my Bible and taking sips of my coffee with a dash of hazelnut creamer, when I suddenly heard the sound of a truck backing up outside. Curious, I left my Bible and cup of coffee on the kitchen table to go investigate.

  Opening the front door, I peeked out and spotted a moving truck next door at Mr. Finley’s old place. Mr. Finley had been a local resident of Newport from as far back as I could remember into my childhood, but he had died a few summers before I moved back to town with the girls. His once large and vibrant four-story house stood on a beautiful and well-kept acre and a half just off Diamond Lake. It now stood vacant, with overgrowth and a slouching roof on one end. My mother had told me when I asked about the property that the children didn’t want to sell it, but they felt it was better left alone. It piqued my interest, to say the least, to see a moving truck over there.

  “Mom?” a familiar voice startled me from behind, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  “Yes, dear?�
�� I asked, whipping around to see Emily, my sixteen-year-old, tilting her head as she looked at me from atop the stairs.

  “Have you seen my lip gloss?”

  I shook my head and stole one more glance out the door toward Mr. Finley’s. I saw a man this time. He was coming around the back of the moving truck. He looked about my age, and though the distance was great between my front door and him, I could tell he was attractive. Probably married. Closing the door and my thoughts, I turned around and went upstairs to help Emily find her lip gloss.

  As Emily, along with Tristan, my ten-year-old, and Bailey, my seven-year-old, piled into the SUV that morning, I noticed the brown-haired mystery man coming out of the back of the moving truck with a couple of boxes stacked in his arms. Two more men were there now, but they were still in the truck. Squinting, I could see they were positioning an old baby grand piano onto rollers. A warmth of love from my past rushed over me at the sight of the piano. It reminded me of the piano my grandfather would play when I was a child when all our family would gather for the holidays. Those days were some of the best memories I had in my life. The world made sense back when I was a child, but I didn’t know it did until I grew too old to appreciate it.

  “Mom!” Emily startled me out of my reminiscent state as I stood at the driver side door staring at the moving truck. Shaking it off, I climbed into the driver’s seat and made eye contact with my beloved, but bossy, daughter in the rearview mirror.