Free And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers Page B

of curiosity, and became regular attendees because they loved Paul’s style of preaching.
    Lord, what is it that’s beneath my concern? Am I being selfish? Why this sense of discontent in the midst of such blessing? Help me through this. Help me see clearly.
    She had tried to talk to Paul about it, but found it difficult to put her concerns into words. He still made time for her and Timmy, just not as much as before they had come here. But that was understandable. The responsibilities of a pastor were greater than those of an associate pastor.
    “When we got here, there were fewer than sixty people in the pews on any given Sunday, Euny. The idea is to build the church, not allow it to stagnate.”
    Her first thought flew to Samuel and Abby Mason, both of whom lived a vibrant faith, practicing all they had been taught by the previous pastor, Henry Porter. Eunice wished she and Paul had arrived a few days earlier in order to meet this gentleman and his wife who had served so long and so faithfully and were still so well loved. “Just because there were only a few members doesn’t mean their faith was stagnant.”
    “What would you call it when nothing is going on? Sure, they’ve had their little prayer meetings, and a Bible study that’s been going on in Samuel’s house for the past twenty years, but are they out there harvesting souls for Jesus? What do you call that kind of faith if not stagnant?”
    “It was Samuel’s prayers God heard, Paul. It was his prayers that brought you here.”
    “I know. And Samuel has been praying for revival. He told me, too. That’s what I’m trying to bring, Euny. Revival!”
    Eunice knew she had chosen the wrong time to talk with him and seek his counsel. Paul was always impatient on Saturday, putting the last polishes on his sermon and practicing it for Sunday morning. “I think I’ll go out for a walk with Timmy.”
    He caught her hand. “Euny, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. You just don’t understand. You came from a little church that had no possibility of growth. There’s potential here. God put us in the right place at the right time, but it’s up to us to do His work.”
    It wasn’t the right time to tell him he might be trying too hard to follow in his father’s footsteps.
    “By the way,” he said as she opened the door, “we’re going to start changing the music to meet the needs of the congregation.”
    “The congregation loves hymns.”
    “The older members, maybe, but the new people coming in have other tastes. The suggestion box indicates a change is needed if we’re going to turn newcomers into members. We won’t change everything at once, Euny, but I’d like you to introduce a new song each week, from the book we used back in Illinois.”
    Eunice walked along Main Street, wishing she could talk again with her father and mother. They might have been plain folks with little education, but they had possessed more wisdom than she had seen in some pastors who shepherded flocks in the thousands. Sometimes Eunice wondered if Paul wasn’t being driven by his past, prodded by his own feelings of inadequacy. He’d always worked hard to prove himself worthy. His father had shown him little, if any, grace. Despite Paul’s seeming self-assurance, he was a young man still desperate to gain his father’s approval.
    Her father had seen that in Paul and told her to encourage and love him through the years ahead, and choose her battles with wisdom. And her mother had said to be patient and willing to step aside for those in greater need. She held their advice close to her heart.
    Oh, Lord, You’ve given me this wonderful husband. I don’t deserve him .
    It was a miracle Paul had even looked twice at her, a girl from a small hick town, the first in her family to go to college. From the moment she met Paul, the latest in a long family line of educated pastors, she’d thought him far too good for her. What did she have to offer a man like him,