AUGUST 1864
Look at her, Adelyn. Have you ever seen a more beautiful bride than our Shannon?
Delaney smiled as his daughter walked down the aisle toward him.
Yes, Shannon was beautiful. But Delaney saw something much more wonderful about his daughter than mere physical perfection. He saw a young woman at peace, a young woman whose faith had been deepened and refined through testing. A young woman willing to risk love and receive love.
His prayers for his daughter had been answered, were still being answered.
He looked away from her. In the pews were their friends—friends he hadn’t known they would make when he’d prayed about coming to Idaho Territory last winter. Many were members of his congregation. Some were people without faith in Christ, Jack Dickson among them. And a few knew the Lord but were of another race—Wu Lok and Sun Jie and Sun Ling. How gratified he was that they had come. How he prayed for a world where the color of a person’s skin made them beautiful in the eyes of others. Different and yet loved the same by God.
We will make a difference here, Adelyn. Shannon and her husband even more than I because they still have their whole lives before them. We will put down roots and take care of our neighbors and speak peace into troubled circumstances.
We will most likely never again be wealthy in the things of this earth, but we will be rich in all ways that matter. We will be rich in those things that matter to God’s kingdom.
Delaney watched as Matthew Dubois reached out and took hold of Shannon’s hand.
He was a fine man, his almost son-in-law. Matthew loved the Lord. He loved Shannon. He loved his nephew. Wherever life took this couple from today forward, they would lean into God for strength and guidance. They would trust the Lord to work all things for good in their lives. Knowing that made it much easier for Delaney to release his daughter into Matthew’s care.
Life is ever changing, Adelyn. You understood that far better than I. It’s exciting. Looking into the future, wondering what God shall accomplish.
Delaney smiled at the couple before him. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God and in the face of this company . . .”
Nevertheless, Lord, may Thy will be done.