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Cheney hadn’t always had a stellar relationship with her mother. Actually, they didn’t speak for a couple of years. It was Cheney’s fault when she distanced herself from the family because of personal relationship problems. Maybe God was paying her back with the recent disconnect from her own daughter.
When she adopted Kami, Cheney was on a mission to prove she could be a better mother than Gayle Reynolds had been. The joke had been on Cheney because she was making a mess of being a good mother.
God quickly let her see that parenting wasn’t one size fits all. Prayer brought reconciliation, restoration, and the realization that her mom had indeed dispensed seeds of wisdom growing up that Cheney had rejected. She entered her bedroom and closed the door to call her mother.
“How are you holding up with Kami gone for the summer?” was Gayle’s first question after the pleasantries.
“Lonely.”
“You have a house of four males. There is no way you can get lonely. If I were you, I would find a hiding place.”
She chuckled. “That’s what I’m doing now.” Then she sobered. “Mom, what am I doing wrong with Kami?”
“Everything and nothing.” Gayle laughed. “Where do I begin? Seriously, you’re a good mother, and I’m proud of you as a wife and mother.”
Cheney’s spirits lifted. Praise from her mother meant a lot, but it didn’t solve her immediate problem, so she vented. “Sometimes I wish I had two daughters, so when one stopped talking to me, I had the other. Silly, huh?”
“It doesn’t work like that. You would wind up turning one against the other.” She paused. They were probably thinking the same thing. Her older sister, Janae, had taken her mother’s side and stopped talking to Cheney too. “I don’t read the Bible as much as you, but I do know if our sweet little Kami gets lost trying to find her way, God will go looking for His lost sheep.”
“Amen.” Cheney had read those passages in Matthew 18 and Luke 15 many times over. She never thought Kami would be the one to get lost. “Thanks, Mom, for the pep talk. Love you.”
After disconnecting the call, she went in search of her husband and joined him on the back deck. “Your daughter sends her love,” she said in an upbeat tone to mask her melancholy after talking to Kami. It was a skill she had practiced and mastered being a mother.
“How does she sound?” he asked nonchalantly, searching her eyes for the truth.
Pace grunted. “Like she needs to be rescued from herself,” he said coming out the kitchen door. He was on his third burger, leftovers from yesterday’s dinner.
Cheney eyed her husband. She saw the worry flash across his face before it disappeared.
If their daughter was having too much of a good time without any restraints, then that could constitute a rescue operation.
“What do you mean, son?” Parke gave Pace his full attention.
“She sounds different, a lot of attitude and a magnet to the opposite sex.” Pace explained. “I’ve got some cool friends, but I keep them away from my sister, just in case they think she’s cute.”
Cheney smirked. “Kami is cute, son.” For a brother and sister who never seemed to get along, Pace was wearing his concern and love for his sister on his sleeve.
“Kami’s having growing pains, like you did. While you questioned everything to reason it for yourself, your sister isn’t thinking at all.” She nodded to herself. “One thing’s for certain, prayer changes things.”
Fast time. It was beyond time. When things became hard, it called for drastic measures, a Biblical fast—no food or water— at least twenty-four hours. The devil wasn’t going to be happy. He was going down!