Looking for a Miracle by Wanda E. Brunstetter Read Free Book Online Page A

something that simple.”
    “Okay.” Daniel placed the plates in Rebekah’s lap, wishing there was something he could do or say that might help take away her pain.
    “Danki.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    Rebekah wheeled away, leaving Daniel alone and wondering why he could never seem to say the right thing when she was around.

CHAPTER 4
    Grandma had been gone for nearly a month, yet the pain still lingered in Rebekah’s heart. She missed the dear woman so much—especially the long talks they used to have. Grandma had always been full of good advice, and Rebekah often wondered where all that wisdom had come from.
    Nearly every night since Grandma’s death, Rebekah had dreamed about her, often having the same nightmare that involved others in her family being taken from her, too.
    “Oh, Lord, what would I do if something happened to Mom and Dad? How would I manage on my own?” she mumbled one morning, as she entered Grandma’s old room.
    No answer. Like all the other times she had asked God before, He seemed to be ignoring her. Didn’t God care how much she was hurting? Didn’t He want to give her a miracle?
    Rebekah drew in a deep breath and reached for the watering can sitting beside some pots of African violets on the dressing table. Grandma had died so unexpectedly, and Rebekah hadn’t been able to do anything about it. Now she was determined to keep Grandma’s plants alive and flourishing so she would have something to remember her by.
    When Rebekah finished watering and pruning all the plants, she spotted Grandma’s Bible lying on the small table next to the bed. The last time she’d seen it, it had been lying across Grandma’s chest. Now it was closed just like Grandma Stoltzfus’s life.
    Rebekah rolled her chair up to the table and reached for the Bible, holding it close to her heart. Unbidden tears seeped under her eyelashes, and she sniffed deeply, trying to keep them from falling onto her cheeks. She had heard about the process of grieving for a loved one, but nothing had prepared her for this terrible, empty ache in her soul. She hadn’t realized how much her grandmother had meant to her until she was gone. Now it was too late to tell Grandma all the things that were on her heart.
    Why do folks always wait until it’s too late to express their real feelings for one another?
she wondered.
Why not tell them how much you care while they’re still alive?
    She placed the Bible in her lap and opened it to a spot where a crocheted bookmark had been positioned. It was in the exact place where the Bible had been open when Rebekah found Grandma in the deep sleep of death.
    “Mom must have put this in here,” Rebekah whispered. “Maybe she wanted to save the place where Grandma had last read God’s Word.” Her gaze traveled down the page until it came to rest on the verses Grandma had underlined. “Proverbs 3:5 and 6,” she read aloud. “‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.’”
    “Those are some good words to live by, don’t you think?”
    Rebekah turned her head and saw Mom standing inside the doorway. She nodded but made no reply. If she spoke, she feared her voice would break and she would dissolve into a puddle of unstoppable tears.
    Mom came the rest of the way into the room. She took a seat on the edge of the bed near the wheelchair and placed her hand on Rebekah’s trembling shoulder. “It’s all right to grieve for Grandma, but she would want you to go on with life and find happiness.”
    “Go on with life?” Rebekah sobbed. “What life, Mom? What kind of a life can a person with a handicap like mine ever have? What happiness awaits someone like me?”
    “Oh, Rebekah, it is possible for you to have a meaningful life. Why, many people in the world have disabilities, and most of them live fairly productive lives.” Mom squeezed Rebekah’s shoulder. “You were always