Hope Springs (42 page)
Stephanie nodded, wide-eyed. “Exactly. I'm doing the same thing I was doing before Hope Springsâbasically nothing. Looking at church ministries, but can't figure out where to plug in.” Her brows knit. “Lately I've been thinking about a job. What do you think?”
“How about the pancake house near church?”
She let go of his hand so she could swat his arm. “I'm serious! But hey, now that I've got experience . . .”
“Well.” He thought about it as the attendant gave instructions in the event of an emergency. “You majored in criminology. Maybe you're supposed to be serving criminals in some way.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. I had no idea what I wanted to do in college. I only majored in that so I could take classes with a guy I was dating.” She shot him a look. “Don't judge me.”
He shook his head at her. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and I'm doing it,” he said. “For the first time, though, I'm questioning. But I don't think God could be telling me to leave my profession. Could He? What else would I do?”
Stephanie's eyes got wide again. “Nooo, He couldn't be saying that. That was my calling, to marry a doctor.” She leaned over with a big smile and kissed him, then took his hand again. “The funny thing is, after Hope Springs, I'm open to just about anything. I just want to know what it is.”
“This can't be a coincidence,” he said. “Both of us having these feelings.”
The engine roared as they taxied down the runway and took for the skies. They both sank into their thoughts for several minutes, then Stephanie turned toward him.
“Several rows away, and I
still
hear her.”
Lindell chuckled. Stephanie had told him how God spoke to her in Cyd's voice. “What did she say?”
“That we need to pray, because one thing is sureâafter these experiences we've had, we'll never be the same.” She looked into his eyes. “Our lives are about to change.”
1. Stephanie heard a sermon that inspired her to do something selfless for Christmas. But the sermon “wore off,” and she wanted to change her mind. When you receive inspiration from above to step outside your comfort zone, do you follow through? Is it hard?
2. Todd's dad's death motivated him to stop dragging through life and live full-out for Jesus. Do you ever feel that you are dragging through life? Would you say you're living full-out for Jesus?
3. Sensing God might be at work, Becca agreed to support Todd's call to pastor Calvary Church and move to Hope Springs. But she secretly prayed that God would close the door. Do you ever “agree” to something openly, while praying in secret that it doesn't happen?
4. Stephanie wanted to get to a point where she had a heart to do whatever He called her to do, without resisting. On which end of the spectrum do you more often find yourself, resisting or having a heart to do God's will?
5. When her grandmother had to be rushed to the hospital, Janelle felt overwhelmed by all she'd taken on. Though she knew the Lord was her help, the crisis took her focus off of Him. Do you remember that the Lord is your help when a crisis hits?
6. Sara Ann didn't feel qualified to lead the diner Bible study, though she had a deep relationship with God and studied the Bible regularly. If you feel God is calling you to do something, do you focus on your own qualifications? Or do you trust God to equip you?
7. At the diner Bible study, Gina found it hard to “sit down in her disappointment.” When you're disappointed with God, do you admit it to Him and yourself?
8. Because of past hurts, Libby had built a protective shield around her heart and didn't want to commit to anyone, not even God. Have you ever been there?
9. In Becca's mind, Worth & Purpose was “big” ministry, the platform she'd been working toward as she moved through all the “lower tiers” of ministry. Do you tend to think of some forms of ministry as more or less significant than others?
10. Janelle let Kory go, telling him she didn't want to be what stood in the way of God healing his marriage. Would you have made that choice?
11. Have you ever felt like God was taking you through a spiritual boot camp? Describe.
12. Do you seek humilityâbeing emptied of self and allowing God to fill you totally?
13. Though several decades had passed, Aunt Gwynn couldn't bring herself to forgive her mother for the pain she had caused. Have you ever held on to unforgiveness? How did you get past it? If you're holding on to unforgiveness right now, are you willing to seek help in breaking free?
14. Stephanie got to a point where she was open to doing God's will, whatever it might be. Can you say the same?
W
ith this novel more than any other, I was amazed at what God was working in my own life that correlated with what was unfolding in the story. I don't outline prior to writing, so when I say I was amazed, I'm talking literal
Are you serious, God?
moments as my fingers flew across the keys. I'm thankful for the very real and personal ways in which God speaks and guides me as I write. I'm thankful, too, for the people He graciously placed in my path:
My editors, Amanda Bostic and L.B. Nortonâthank you for seeing what I can't see and for helping to shape these characters, places, and situations I craft in my head. I love this team!
My publisher, Allen Arnoldâthank you for your encouragement and wisdom, and for always making yourself available. You are a consummate leader, and I'm privileged to know you.
Becky Monds, Katie Bond, Eric Mullet, Ruthie Dean, Kristen Vasgaard, Ashley Schneider, and Jodi Hughesâthank you for the creative energy and hard work you put into Thomas Nelson Fiction. I'm amazed at what you do and thankful to be a part.
Tina Jacobsonâyou are much more than a literary agent. Thank you for your counsel and your desire to see me be all that God has called me to be.
Edna J. Cashâthank you for being everything from a personal intercessor to a personal editor, not to mention mom and sister in Christ. I will never know this side of heaven the extent to which I'm blessed because of you.
Earl and Joyce Cashâthank you for your constant love and for going above and beyond in your support of my novels. Who knew I'd have personal publicists in The Villages? I love it!
My blog familyâyou have encouraged me, prayed for me, sharpened me, and walked alongside me. I can't thank you enough for being thereânot just for me, but for one another.
Bill, Quentin, and CameronâI thank God for the privilege of growing with you, of enduring life's twists and turns with you, and of experiencing God's faithfulness with you. You are God's precious gifts to me.
To you, the readerâI'm so thankful that you would give of your time to read
Hope Springs
. Please know that I prayed for you before you picked up the book. And as you close it, I pray that God will speak to you powerfully as to the plans He has for your life. I also want to extend to you an invitation to join our active blog community at
KimCashTate.com
AN EXCERPT FROM
faithful
C
YDNEY
S
ANDERS JUMPED
at the ringing of the phone, startled out of slumber. She rolled over, peeked at the bedside clock, and groaned. She had twenty whole minutes before the alarm would sound, and she wanted every minute of that twenty. Only her sister would be calling at five forty in the morning. Every morning she called, earlier and earlier, with a new something that couldn't wait regarding that wedding of hers. Not that Stephanie was partial to mornings. She was apt to call several times during the day and into the evening as well. Everything wedding related was urgent.
Cyd nestled back under the covers, rolling her eyes at the fifth ring. Tonight she would remember to turn that thing off. She was tired of Stephanie worrying her from dawn to dusk.
Her heart skipped suddenly and she bolted upright.
The wedding is tomorrow
. The day seemed to take forever to get here, and yet it had come all too quickly. She sighed, dread descending at once with a light throbbing of her head. She might have felt stressed no matter what date her sister had chosen for the wedding. That she chose Cyd's fortieth birthday made it infinitely worse.
She sank back down at the thought of it.
Forty
. She didn't mind the age itself. She'd always thought it would be kind of cool, in fact. At forty, she'd be right in the middle of things, a lot of life behind her, a lot of living yet to do. She'd be at a stride, confident in her path, her purpose. She would have climbed atop decades of prayer and study, ready to walk in some wisdom. Celebrate a little understanding. Stand firmly in faith. Count it all joy.
And she'd look good. She was sure of that. She'd work out during her pregnancies, and while the babies nursed and sucked down her tummy, she would add weights to the cardio routine to shape and tone. As she aged, her metabolism could turn on her if it wanted to; she had something for that too. She would switch up her workout every few weeks, from jogging to mountain bike riding to Tae Bo, all to keep her body guessing, never letting it plateau. Her husband would thank her.
He would also throw her a party. She wasn't much of a party person, but she always knew she'd want a big one on the day she turned forty. It wouldn't have to be a surprise. She'd heard enough stories of husbands unable to keep a party secret anyway. They'd plan it together, and she would kick in the new season in high spirits, surrounded by the people she loved.
Now that she was one day away, she still had no problem with forty. It was the other stuff that had shown up with itâforty, never been married, childless. Now, despite her distinguished career as a classics professor at Washington University in St. Louis, she was questioning her path and her purpose and dreading her new seasonâand the fact that she was forced to ring it in as maid of honor in her younger sister's wedding . . . her
much younger
sister.
She was still irritated that Stephanie kept the date even after their mother reminded her that October 18 was Cyd's birthday.
“Why does that matter?” Stephanie had said.
The only thing that mattered to Stephanie was Stephanie, and if she wanted something, she was going to make it happen. Like now. She cared not a whit that she was ringing Cyd's phone off the hook before dawn, waking Cyd and the new puppy, who was yelping frantically in her crate in the kitchen.
Cyd gave up, reached over, and snatched up the phone. Before it came fully to her ear, she heard her sister's voice.
“Cyd, I forgot to tell you last nightâ
stop
,” Stephanie giggled. “You see I'm on the phone.”
Cyd switched off her alarm. “Good morning to you too, Steph.” She swung her legs out from under the warm bedding and shivered as they hit the air. The days were warm and muggy still, but the nights were increasingly cooler.
From a hook inside the closet, she grabbed her plum terry robe, which at Cyd's five-nine hit her above the knee, and slipped it over her cotton pajama shorts and tank. Her ponytail caught under the robe and she lifted it out, let it flop back down. It was a good ways down her back, thick with ringlets from air drying, a naturally deep reddish brown. Her face had the same richness, a beautiful honey brown, smooth and flawless.
Stephanie was giggling still as she and her fiancé, Lindell, whispered in the background.
I can't believe she woke me up for this
. Cyd pushed her feet into her slippers and padded downstairs with a yawn to let out the puppy. “Do you do this when you're talking to Momma?”
Stephanie fumbled with the phone. “Do what?”
“Make it obvious that you and Lindell spent the night together?”
“Cyd, we are grown and will be married to
morrow
. Who gives a flip if we spent the night together?”
“Stephanie . . .” Cyd closed her eyes at the bottom of the stairs as all manner of responses swirled in her mind. Sometimes she wondered if she and Stephanie had really grown up in the same family with the same two parents who loved God and made His ways abundantly clear. Much of it had sailed right over Stephanie's head. Cyd had attempted to nail it down for her over the years, particularly in the area of relationships, but Stephanie never warmed to any notion of chastity, or even monogamy. In fact, when she'd called to announce her engagement six months ago, Cyd thought the husband-to-be was Warren, the man Stephanie had been bringing lately when she stopped by.