dragged them back toward the pantry. Alma was there to take them in hand.
“You come on, now,” she said in an uncharacteristically bold manner. “There’s a little stool here. I can sit on it right fine.”
Nancy nodded and went into the pantry, pulling the door closed behind her. Mrs. Weaver had already lit the lantern. The shadows cast by the dim light were ghostly and ominous.
“We need to pray,” Mrs. Weaver said.
Nancy was still in shock. She sank onto the chair and nodded. Any words she might have offered were stuck in her throat.
“Father, we ask for your provision and protection,” Mrs. Weaver began. “There’s a mighty storm blowing around us. We have no idea what to do other than to hide away here. But we know that You know where we are and what we need. Father, help us now. Be our strong refuge in this time of trouble.”
“Amen,” Nancy managed to whisper.
It sounded like a war was going on outside, but Nancy comforted herself in the fact that the house was well built. Her first husband had insisted the place be constructed sparing no expense. He wanted the very best, and he oversaw the details to ensure everything was done to his standards. Hopefully that meant the house would be able to withstand the heavy winds, since there seemed to be no sign of them stopping anytime soon.
“Might we sing some hymns?” Mrs. Weaver asked. “I always find that settles my nerves.”
Nancy drew a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, I think that would be calming.”
“‘Behold what wondrous grace the Father has bestowed on sinners of a mortal race, to call them sons of God!’” Mrs. Weaver sang with surprising clarity, and Alma joined in with strong alto harmony. “‘’Tis no surprising thing that we should be unknown; the Jewish world knew not their King, God’s everlasting Son.’”
Nancy was unfamiliar with the song and contented herself with listening to the two women sing. She felt a surprising peace despite their situation and closed her eyes to pray for Seth and the others who were out there in the storm. She hugged her abdomen and imagined God hugging her close as well.
“‘If in my Father’s love I share a filial part, send down Thy Spirit like a dove, to rest upon my heart. We would no longer lie like slaves beneath the throne; my faith shall Abba, Father, cry, and thou the kindred own.’”
As the last notes faded, Alma took up the call. “‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.”
Nancy smiled at the familiar words and joined in to sing. “‘That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. ’Twas blind but now I see.’”
They continued to sing as the storm raged. As the minutes and then hours passed and still the storm held fast, Nancy’s spirit continued to calm. God truly was the only refuge and strength that would last. Her fine house and beautiful yard would be destroyed. If not in this storm, then in another or simply by time itself. Why did people worry so much and put such stock in their possessions? As the Bible said in Matthew sixteen, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Even her concerns for Seth and the others diminished. No matter what happened, Nancy rested in the knowledge that God held the reins. It hadn’t been her first inclination, but as she sat and waited, she realized it was the only solution. Nothing else came even close to equaling God’s sovereignty and power. Just as He could bring such a storm in the first place, God could quell it. And through it all, He alone could bring peace to Nancy’s battered heart.
When his large office window shattered, Seth grabbed his coat and went in search of his employer, John Lincoln.
“John, I think we should seek shelter away from the windows. Something came smashing through mine. I didn’t even see what, but I have glass all over my office.”
“I heard the crash and was just coming to see what happened. I’ve lived here for over twenty years and never witnessed a storm like this. I thought it would pass, but this one seems determined to linger. I pray our wives are safe.”
Cyrus, their secretary, entered John’s office. He had several bloody scratches on his face. “The front window is gone.”