Deeper Water by Robert Whitlow Read Free Book Online

midst of a secular courtroom was something I'd never considered, and I marveled at a new facet of God's greatness. I might not shout "Hallelujah" in a judge's face, but my soul, like Mary's, could magnify the Lord, and my spirit could rejoice in God, my Savior. And the truth was even greater than that. Wherever I set my foot, not just a courtroom, could be a place of worship.
    My mind raced ahead. The practice of law itself could be a place where I praised the Lord. I repeated, "Lord, wherever I go, may I make the court of law a place of praise," several times, pausing at different points for emphasis until each word was a brick laid on the solid foundation of faith. My tears returned. The prayer fit my life's journey. Since I was a little girl, I'd been called to live a holy lifeevery thought, word, and deed sanctified to the Lord. Now I could glimpse how this might be fulfilled in a new way in the future.

    Lifting my hands in the air, I began to walk back and forth across the room. This was the time to tarry in secret. Not to rush. Praise offered in the night bears fruit in the day. I sat on the couch and made notes in my journal. When I finished, I peeked around the corner and saw the light shining underneath my parents' door. I didn't have an answer to my summer job question, but I was content. I'd received a greater good.
    Before getting into bed, I stepped quietly over to the bunk bed, gently laid my hands on the twins, and asked that the grace poured out on me this night might also be theirs. Giving was always a part of receiving.
    "GOOD MORNING," Mama said when I came into the kitchen with a half dozen fresh eggs. She stared at me. "What happened to you, Tammy Lynn? You're radiant with the joy of the Lord!"
    "Yes ma'am. Last night-"
    The twins came bursting into the room in the heat of an argument. Emma accused Ellie of switching a pair of good socks for a pair with holes in the toes.
    "I know the good ones are mine!" Emma said. "I put them in the top drawer when I folded my clothes."
    "We both have a good pair and a bad pair," Ellie responded. "She's gotten them mixed up."
    Mama pointed upstairs. "Go back to your room and come back when you have this worked out."
    The twins stomped out. Mama turned to me. "Wait till your daddy is here to tell me. He's going to stay a few minutes after breakfast so we can talk."
    It was an oatmeal morning. Mama had fixed a huge pot that we dished out and garnished with fresh fruit, raisins, brown sugar, and nuts. Emma and Ellie returned after sorting out the sock con troversy. Daddy and the boys joined us. I sat quietly and ate my breakfast.

    Several times Mama glanced at me. Nothing excited her more than the move of the Spirit in a person's life, especially for one of her children. After breakfast, she shooed the twins from the room. Mama scooted close to Daddy and spoke.
    "Walter, let her go first."
    Daddy looked surprised. "Why?"
    "Just listen."
    I quietly told them what happened the previous night. At first Mama gave a slight nod or two, but by the time I finished, she'd gotten up from the bench and began walking back and forth across the kitchen, much as I'd done the previous night. When I finished, Daddy pointed at her and grinned.
    "The twins are going to get some good preaching during Bible study this morning," he said.
    "I can't sit still when the Spirit is moving like this," Mama said.
    "So, you think it was the Lord?" I asked.
    Mama looked to heaven and raised her hands in the air.
    "That's a yes,"' Daddy answered, rising from the bench. "I'll get my Bible."
    He returned with the tattered Bible he used at home.
    "You know most of this by heart, but I want to read it," he said, turning the pages.
    He began in Matthew 6, just before Jesus' reference to the lilies of the field. I loved listening to Daddy's voice. He read the Bible as if it was a letter from a loved one. He finished and looked at me.
    "The most important thing is to seek first the kingdom. That's what you did