A Quiet Strength by Janette Oke Read Free Book Online Page B

to begin the cleaning up chores.
    “ This Scripture has always puzzled me,” said Mrs. Withers.
    Virginia looked around.
    “Christ told His disciples that we are to hate our mother and father and follow Him. Why would He say that when we are commanded over and over to love?”
    Virginia tried to concentrate on the seeming contradiction, but her mind still kept jumping to her plans for dinner. “I … I don’t think that He really meant ‘hate’.”
    “But it says hate. Right here.”
    “I think the meaning is more … well … putting things, including people, in proper order. We are not to love family—anyone—above Christ himself. It is not family members who are to govern our lives. He is to come first—always.”
    “But it says hate. Right here,” she repeated. Obviously Virginia’s explanation hadn’t helped.
    “Why don’t you ask the pastor about it the next time he calls?”
    There was silence for a few moments as Mrs. Withers considered the suggestion. “Yes,” she said at last. “Yes, I think I’ll do that. He’ll know, won’t he?”
    “I’m sure he will.”
    “Will you be home at noon?”
    Virginia thought of her plans for shopping. “No, not today. Most days I will, but not today.”
    “But you don’t have a lunch to take with you. I didn’t know you weren’t planning to be home or I would have made yours when I made Jonathan’s.”
    “It’s fine, Grandmother. I’ll grab an apple from the root cellar on my way out.”
    “But an apple isn’t enough.”
    “It’ll be all right. Just this once.”
    “You should care for your body, you know. A woman has to think ahead. One cannot produce healthy children unless one is healthy.”
    Virginia had not been thinking of children. She felt her face flush. “I’ll cut a piece of cheese, as well,” she promised.
    Mrs. Withers seemed to be mollified.
    Virginia finished with the washing up and rushed to get her coat and scarf. She would never feel the same way about the rain, it was true, but it still made her just as wet when she had to tramp through it. She supposed it might spoil her noon shopping trip, as well. Then she forced a smile. She would not allow it to spoil her day.
    “Goodbye, Grandmother. I’ll see you this evening. I must rush so I won’t be late.”
    The woman turned her face up for a kiss and patted Virginia’s arm. “It is so nice to have you here with us, dear,” she said. “So nice for me and Jonathan.”
    Virginia almost winced. It was as though the older woman was making them a trio, rather than seeing Jonathan and Virginia as a pair.
    But later, thoughts of her new husband brought a smile back as Virginia faced the wind and wetness. She had hurried to the cellar to pick herself an apple from the bushel basket. But feeling its smooth coolness in her pocket as she hurried to her job, she remembered that she had forgotten to cut herself a piece of cheese.

    By the time Virginia got her lunch break, the rain had stopped, so she was able to leave her coat behind when she went out to do her shopping. The sun was now shining brightly, causing little shimmers of steam to rise up from the ground. The wind also had changed to a soft breeze, and fingers of sunshine reached down to caress Virginia’s shoulders and face as she hurried from shop to shop for what she needed for the special supper.
    Though she had visited the elderly woman often and helped with housework on more than one occasion, she had little idea what Mrs. Withers’ cupboards contained. So to make sure she would be missing nothing, Virginia mentally went over each ingredient for the dishes she planned to prepare for Jonathan. She supposed there would be some basics already on hand, but being sure was better than finding herself without an item.
    She was in a happy mood as she headed back to the post office. She would only need to stop by the butcher’s on her way home and pick up the chicken for frying. She would have to work quickly if she was to