One Year Later
Every fall on the first Saturday in October, the Baxters and their kids met at Hanson’s pumpkin patch. The big day seemed to come earlier this year. But Luke Baxter didn’t mind. He could hardly wait. His family looked forward to this almost as much as they looked forward to Christmas.
Luke drove their black SUV into the parking lot, and his wife, Reagan, pointed to a van in the row of cars closest to the cornfield. “Ashley and Landon are here.”
“Good.” He sighed. “I really need this.” Luke had been so busy at the office, so caught up in a number of high-profile cases, that he hadn’t been back to Bloomington since the Fourth of July.
“Makes me think of last time we were here.” Luke reached for Reagan’s hand as he looked for a parking spot. In the back seat the kids were laughing and talking about seeing their cousins. So for now in the front seat he and Reagan had this moment to themselves. He smiled at her. “Remember the Fourth of July?”
“Mmmm. One of the best moments this year. Or maybe ever.” Reagan turned to him. “You know what I thought that day?”
“What?” The lot was crowded, but right now Luke didn’t care. He loved this time, talking with Reagan.
“I sat there beside you on that bench at the park, my head on your shoulder while those fireworks lit up the sky, and I couldn’t get past it.”
“That was a beautiful night.” Luke glanced at her. “But not as beautiful as you.”
“Thanks.” She smiled. “But that wasn’t what I was thinking.” She leaned closer and kissed his cheek. “I was thinking the Fourth of July is a celebration of freedom. And there I was sitting beside one of the most well-known freedom fighters of our time. Centuries after we won our independence, my husband was working to keep this country free. Like the celebration was as much for you as it was for our nation’s birthday.” She paused. “I’m so proud of you, Luke.”
He felt her words to the center of his heart. He saw a car pull out ahead of them, so he stopped and faced Reagan. “You thought that.”
“I did.” She smiled. “I still think it. But that night, that moment. The fireworks, you beside me. That park bench.” Her eyes held his. “I’ll remember it forever.”
“I’m glad you told me.” Luke had never loved Reagan more. “What did I do to deserve you?”
“Well.” She sat back in her seat. “You’re taking us to the corn maze, for one thing.” Her laughter was soft. Just for him. “I do love a good corn maze. As you know.”
Luke laughed. “That’s all it took, huh?”
“A corn maze and you, Luke.” She gave his hand a quick squeeze as he pulled into the space and killed the engine. “God has given me all I could ever want or need.”
Their eyes held for a moment as Tommy popped his head up between them. “So we are doing the corn maze today, Dad?” At fourteen, Tommy was nearly six inches taller than he’d been last year. And his voice was deeper. He sat between his sister, Malin, who was nine, and brother, Johnny, who was already five.
Luke smiled at the kids. “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Just don’t get lost like last year.” Reagan grinned at him and then at the kids. “Remember? We had to make a search party to find your father?”
“Yeah, Dad.” Tommy laughed. “For someone so smart, you might want to use a compass app.”
“Very funny.” Luke chuckled as he climbed out of the SUV and grabbed the picnic basket from the back of the car. He shaded his eyes and scanned the nearby field. Twenty yards away he spotted Ashley and Landon and their four kids, along with Brooke and Peter and Kari and Ryan and their families. Their father and Elaine were also among the group.
Dayne and Katy would join them a little later. They were flying in today from Los Angeles.
Luke felt the joy of this together time all the way to the center of his soul. After weeks of courtroom battles and fighting for the chance to even mention God’s name in public, today would be a very great respite.
“I love our family.” Luke put his arm around Reagan’s shoulders. “I need time like this. Especially when life gets crazy.”
Reagan looked at him, a bit of concern in her eyes. “You’ve been doing it again.”
He didn’t have to ask what she meant. “I’ll cut back. I’m sorry.”
“Some cases need more time at the office.” She kissed his cheek. “I know that. But just . . . be careful, Luke. Please.” She looked at the kids and back to him. “This matters.”
“Absolutely, it does.” He held her close. She was right. He was staying late at the office a couple days a week. It was important work, but if he wasn’t careful things would get as unbalanced as they’d been a year ago.
It was Ashley who spotted Luke first. She left the group and hurried to meet him. In a blur of motion, she threw her arms around his neck and then did the same to Reagan. “It’s been way too long.” She grinned at them both. “This day is going to be perfect! I love fall!”
The group snagged four picnic tables and set their things out.
“Dad says we’re doing the corn maze first!” Tommy put his fist in the air. “This year the boy cousins are going to get through it first.”
Luke laughed. “Yeah, we better do the corn maze first. While I still have energy to get through the thing.”
Cole hopped up onto one of the picnic tables and grinned. “Didn’t you get lost last year, Uncle Luke?”
“Yes . . .” Luke laughed. He crossed his arms and nodded. “Yes, I believe I did.”
Everyone was gathered close now. Landon sat on the picnic table across from Luke. “I remember thinking I should call in one of our fire crews to find you.”
“Right.” Luke laughed harder. “Thankfully I had my cell phone. Tommy talked me through it.”
Tommy took a bow for the rest of the group. “I told him to use his compass app. Same thing he should do this year.” He grinned at Luke. “Like you always say, Dad. Boy Scouts will come in handy at some point.”
Reagan slipped her hand into Luke’s and smiled at him. “We just didn’t know it would be for getting through a corn maze at Hanson’s.”
“Okay, okay.” Luke waved them off. “I get it. I’m directionally challenged.”
His dad and Elaine had gone back to the car to get their picnic basket. When they returned, his dad looked at Luke. “You giving the corn maze another try this year, Son?”
Luke shook his head. “I’ll never live it down.”
A few minutes later the group set their sights on the entrance. Dayne and Katy and their kids arrived in time to join in, and after a few minutes of excited conversation everyone was ready to begin. Luke’s dad and Elaine were the only ones to sit it out.
And like that the day was just as Luke hoped it would be. A reunion of all the adult Baxter kids and their families. Even getting lost amid the corn couldn’t ruin a day like this.
Reagan linked arms with him as they entered the maze. “How about I stay with you? Just in case.” She grinned at him. “You know us girls. At least we ask for directions.”
“True.” Luke leaned in and kissed her. “Let’s win this thing!”
An hour later they were all gathered again at the picnic tables. The boy cousins were back first, just like Tommy and Cole had promised from the beginning. Next were the girl cousins. Amy giggled and said, “All we had to do was follow the boys. They were the loudest group in there!”
And last came the Baxter siblings and their spouses. “We were chatting,” Luke announced as the group arrived at the table area last. “Not lost. Not this year.”
Ashley took pictures of the different teams and texted the photos to everyone in the family. Then they settled in for a picnic lunch. Like they’d done the last several years, everyone brought a dish to share. Luke and Reagan’s chicken salad and fresh-made salsa, Elaine’s homemade bread and pumpkin pies, Ashley’s cold butternut squash soup, and half a dozen other dishes.
Only a few clouds dotted the Bloomington sky overhead, and the breeze was mild. The crowd at Hanson’s was light that day. The afternoon couldn’t have been more perfect. Before they ate, they formed a circle and held hands, the way the Baxter family always did when they came together. Their dad led the prayer.
“Lord, You are good. Thank You for fall, for the season of harvest. Thank You for bearing Your fruits and vegetables for Your people and for providing in so many other ways.” Luke’s dad paused as a gentle breeze drifted over the group. “We are grateful for Your love and mercy and for our redemption in Jesus Christ. And we are thankful for each other on this beautiful autumn day. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Moments like this, Luke wondered how heaven could be better. And today, as they began to eat, he wondered something else. Whether anyone other than him understood how privileged they were to hold hands and pray in Jesus’ name here in public.
Later, after the meal was finished and the entire group had taken a hayride to the back part of the farm to pick out pumpkins, the kids took another run through the corn maze. The adults were gathered around a few of the picnic tables when Luke’s dad brought up the subject.
“You’ve been busy, Son. Religious freedom cases are popping up all over the place.”
“They are.” Luke’s heart sank a little. He, better than any of them, knew the rate at which religious liberties were vanishing across the country. “It isn’t just the lawsuits, it’s the way people are thinking.”
Ryan had his arm around Kari. He sat up a little straighter. “Some of the kids at Clear Creek High wanted to start a Bible club. We’re talking just kids, now. Not a single teacher or administrator.” He looked around the group and settled on Luke. “The principal told them they couldn’t meet on school grounds. That it was a violation of church and state.”
Frustration stirred in Luke’s gut. “Not true. Absolutely not.” He kept his tone in check. His passion for the subject knew no bounds. “Those kids have the right to freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. No one can make a law that prohibits their exercise of faith or their right to assemble.”
“That’s what I told them.” Ryan shrugged. “I think it’s a matter of perception. Today, most people think it’s illegal to talk about God in public.”
Ryan was right. Luke used to handle the isolated cases, where a group of football players were sued for praying before a game or an office worker was fired for keeping her Bible on her desk. Now these things were commonplace. So much so that lawyers like Luke couldn’t keep up.
In addition to the lawsuits, people didn’t need to be forced into silence. They were silencing themselves out of fear and a lack of knowledge of their rights.
“Sometimes I think it’s going to take a big case”—Luke leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees—“something that really captures the heart of the nation. I’m afraid only then will people grasp the freedoms they’re so quick to let die.”
Ashley talked about being at the coffee shop in downtown Bloomington with a friend last week. “She was telling me about her family, and the message at church on Sunday.”
“Wait till you hear this.” Landon linked hands with Ashley and waited for her to finish.
“I know. I couldn’t believe it.” Ashley was clearly troubled by the situation. “So there we were in the coffee shop, sipping our lattes, and my friend is telling me about the sermon.”
“Just a normal conversation,” Landon added.
Ashley nodded. “So all the sudden my friend looks over one shoulder and then the other. Like someone might be listening. Seriously. Then she leans real close and whispers God’s name. ‘God is really speaking to me,’ she tells me.” Ashley shook her head. “I asked her why she was whispering and she told me. Because she was worried about saying God’s name. Like it would be against the law to say the name God in a coffee shop.”
The sick feeling in Luke’s gut grew. “Two problems with that. First, your friend doesn’t know her rights. And second, it seems she’s okay with her perceived loss of rights, the idea that she might have to whisper God’s name in public.”
“What case are you working on?” His dad put his arm around Elaine. “I haven’t seen you much. What’s the state of things out there?”
“It’s wild.” Luke took a slow breath and thought about his recent docket. “So many lawsuits. I’m definitely enjoying it more than entertainment law.”
“What you’re doing now matters at a completely different level.” His dad shook his head. “It’s a crazy world out there.”
Luke appreciated his dad’s support. It mattered, knowing that his family believed in what he was doing. It always would.
The kids came running back, all the cousins together, including the little ones. Cole led the charge. “Can we take one more turn in the corn maze? We’re trying to break our record.” He grinned at Blaise, who at three was the youngest in the group. “It’s not easy with the little ones, but we’re all helping each other.”
A chorus of pleading from the older cousins, and Luke and the others easily agreed. Another run through the maze was a great idea. The conversation among the adults was just getting started. The kids ran off, and the others leaned in.
“Who exactly is doing the suing?” The question came from Peter, Brooke’s husband. Both of them were doctors. “We’re pretty removed from all that in our world.”
“Not me. Not on the coaching field.” Ryan narrowed his eyes. “A coach in our district is fighting for his job because he allows the players to pray. Our country is changing and we never got a vote in the matter.”
Luke nodded. “Exactly.” How many times had he heard that before? He looked at Dayne. “There have been a few movies on the subject. God’s Not Dead, for instance.”
“Right. Film is a powerful tool.” Dayne looked at his wife, Katy, and then at the group. “I have an investor who approached me yesterday looking to put money into a film defending religious freedom. I’m searching for the right story.”
Luke chuckled, but the sound was more sad than humorous. “We need to have lunch, Brother. I have far too many stories.” He looked at Peter. “Back to your question. The people suing are often atheistic legal groups, brain trusts whose intent it is to wipe religion—and the Christian faith in particular—from the landscape of America. There’s a dozen of these groups now, and more all the time.”
Reagan sighed. “The suing isn’t just being done by those groups now. That’s where it gets crazy.”
“She’s right.” Luke felt the gravity of the situation. “Now it’s school districts suing teachers for mentioning God. Parents suing schools for allowing such a mention.” He hesitated. “Like I said, it’s out of control.”
The conversation shifted to the U.S. Supreme Court and the seats that would no doubt be filled in the next few years. Luke and his legal team had talked about that at length lately. “For now, things are better with the Supreme Court. But honestly, there could come a time when churches will gradually be outlawed in the United States.” He looked at his family. “And it could happen in our lifetime.”
Brooke looked doubtful. “How could that happen? The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.”
“Simple.” Luke gave her a sad look. “The courts have been interpreting that very clause to read freedom from religion. As if belief in God were a dangerous or bad thing for culture.”
His dad shook his head. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Studies have shown that faith is what keeps a society like ours working. It’s the difference between a productive people living in the providence of God Almighty and . . . well, anarchy.”
Another breeze washed over them and Luke exhaled. He didn’t want to keep talking about this. Today was a time to celebrate. Still, it was important everyone understood that their rights truly were in jeopardy. “Here’s how close we are to losing our churches.” Luke made eye contact with his siblings and their spouses and then his father and Elaine. “The government would simply analyze the beliefs of a given church. If those beliefs line up with the Bible, then they could very well be determined to be hate speech in today’s climate. Churches would be considered hate groups in the eyes of the government. They’d lose their tax-exempt status first, and then they’d lose their ability to meet.”
Reagan raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t that crazy?”
“And those conversations in coffee shops where people are afraid to say the name of God out loud aren’t helping.” Ashley leaned forward. The issue clearly troubled her. “Once people stop believing in their rights, those rights are a whole lot easier to take away.”
“That’s exactly it.” Luke nodded. “Anyway . . . there’ve been lots of cases, and all of them have dealt with situations that would’ve never made it in front of a jury even a few years ago.” He paused. “That’s how quickly this whole religious freedom thing is changing.”
The kids came running back, all of them laughing and out of breath. Some of the older kids had the little ones by their hands. Tommy was out in front, holding up his phone. “We did it! We beat our record!”
Hayley raised her arms in the air, her face bright with childlike joy. “We asked God to show us the way, and that’s just what He did.”
Luke smiled to himself and let the scene wash over him. No one had ever told Hayley not to talk about God in public. In fact, no one had ever told any of the kids that.
Help me to be like them, Lord. The silent prayer came from Luke’s heart. Let me keep the faith of a child. And let me keep the prayer of a child. Hayley’s words echoed in Luke’s soul. We asked God to show us the way, and that’s just what He did.
As the group cleaned up their picnics and loaded the baskets and pumpkins they had picked into their cars, Luke couldn’t help but think about his job. No matter how difficult the cases, Luke was grateful.
If things got bad enough, he would just remember Hayley’s prayer. And Luke would ask God to show him the way. And that’s what God would do. He had to believe for such a time as this, while he was blessed to be a religious freedom fighter.
While there were still religious freedoms left to fight for.