Free Providence by Karen Noland Page A

Beating upon their door she had
suffered severe burns over her arms and chest, before being overcome by the
smoke and losing all consciousness.
     She awoke three days later
in pain and confusion, Mrs. Insley ministering to her burns as tenderly as she
ministered to her aching heart. Her parents had already been buried and the few
items salvaged from the smoldering remains of their home were safely packed
into a trunk in the corner of the room where Kate lay. The Insleys had taken
her in. They had always loved the little golden haired girl that had played
down the street. She would pick wild flowers and bring them to Nana to set upon
the table on the porch where they would sip lemonade on sweltering summer
afternoons. They had watched her grow into a charming, beautiful young woman.
The Insleys had been as surprised as her own parents when she announced her
intentions to attend university and study for a law degree. Now Kate needed
them, and they were prepared to give all they had to make sure she survived.
    As the days passed, and Kate grew
stronger, she longed to know how she had survived that awful fire. Nana could
not have saved her, that she knew. She was not strong enough to have pulled her
from the flames, and Jake had been away on one of his freight hauling trips.
    One Sunday afternoon while Nana
and Jonathan were attending church, Kate sat quietly in her bed reading her
Bible. It had been a gift from her parents on the day she was born, and she
never went anywhere without it. She had tucked it safely in her pocket that
fateful night as she returned from another late night studying at the library.
    “Lord, I don’t understand,” she
prayed. “How could you let this happen? I should have been there! What did my
parents do to deserve this? What did I do, Lord? Are you there? Can you hear
me?” she screamed her frustrations.
     Knowing in her heart that
her Lord had not deserted her, she still railed at Him, not understanding how
He could stand by and let the agony continue. She looked with disgust at the
weeping flesh that covered her arms, the physical scars would be horrific, but
what about the scars on her soul, she wondered. Tears streamed from her eyes
and she buried her head in her pillow.
    A rich quiet voice filled her
ears. “May I come in, please?”
    She had looked up into the
compassionate blue eyes of Will Shaughnessey.
    “Will, what are you doing here?”
she asked wiping at her eyes and blowing her nose on the hanky he held out.
Will and Kate had grown up together. Their families had lived next door to each
other since they were both in diapers.
    “Just thought it was about time I
came to see if it was worth my time pulling you out of there.”
    “You...” she gasped.
    “Well, I thought twice about it,
you know, seeing as how you put that frog down my shirt once. And you were
awful confound heavy - but I decided if I still planned
on marrying you I better get you out of there,” he joked.
    “Marrying me? What are you
talking about?”
    “Aw, c’mon, Kate, you know I’ve
been in love with you since we were ten or twelve. What do you say, will you
marry me?”
    “Will, look at me! I’ll never be
the same, I’m scarred, and burned, and....”
    “That doesn’t matter.”
    “It does to me! Besides, I don’t
love you,” she finished weakly, casting her eyes down.
     “You like me, don’t you?”
    “Of course I do!”
    “Good. Then you can learn to love
me. My love will be enough for both of us until God’s redeeming love brings you
around!”
    “But...”
    “I’ve always thought a winter
wedding would be nice. How about December? You ought to be pretty well healed
up by then.” And so they had married, and God’s redeeming love had saved her.
She had grown to love Will with a strong and faithful love.
    “... for God’s redeeming love!”
The preacher was closing, and the congregation began stirring around her. She
shook her head as Matt reached his hand down to her. This hard,