reaction when an accident made an invalid of her mother.
Perhaps it doesn’t occur to us—perhaps it shouldn’t—that God will use our obedience to bring many blessings into even the most hopeless situation, but that’s exactly what He does. Likewise, He uses difficulty to build strength in us, strength of character, strength of faith. When Jake understands that more than one kind of strength exists, he finds the courage to love again.
Fortunately, we don’t have to find obedience or strength within ourselves. God is always there, always working on our behalf. May you always hold to Him, our shield and salvation.
God bless,
Arlene James
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
—2 Samuel 22:31
For Pattie Steele-Perkins.
You’ve always had my back,
and I can’t thank you enough.
God bless you, my friend.
Contents
Glancing at his three-year-old in the rearview mirror of the double cab pickup truck, Jake cranked up the air-conditioning.
“Sorry, son. It’s just too hot to ride with the windows down.”
Frankie made a face, but said nothing as Jake hit the buttons that rolled up the windows. The boy loved the wind in his face, even the scorching wind of an August morning, which was one reason he’d taken off at a heady gallop on his pony across the field after his six-year-old cousin yesterday. Tyler was a more experienced rider than Frankie, and Jake’s heart had leaped into his throat as he’d watched his son’s dark head bouncing along behind his nephew’s horse. Thankfully, Jake had caught up to him before the boy had lost his seat.
Determined that both the boy and the pony would receive further instruction before being allowed out of the corral again, Jake had brought Frankie along with him while he ran errands. He didn’t have any other option. His brothers, Wyatt and Ryder, and Wyatt’s son, Tyler, were out on horseback checking the least-accessible water holes on the ranch, and Wyatt’s wife, Tina, had a doctor’s appointment.
Given the size and population of his native Houston, Jake had always thought that in Texas, it was a long drive to get anywhere, but Oklahoma was proving its equal. Its many small towns and few big cities were separated by long stretches of empty road. Consequently, Oklahoma felt rather lonely to Jake, even more so since Wyatt had married Tyler’s mother in June.
Tina and Tyler were good for his brother, and Jake wished them only happiness, but now that Wyatt had his own family, Jake had started to feel out of place at Loco Man Ranch. He and his two brothers had spent many joyous summers running wild over the two thousand acres of the ranch on the outskirts of tiny War Bonnet before inheriting the place from their uncle Dodd a few months ago. More and more, though, Jake felt like an interloper in his sister-in-law’s house and an unnecessary dependent on the ranching enterprise. As a mechanic, trained by the army, Jake felt the ranch simply did not need or maintain enough vehicles to keep him busy or justify his take of the
