Page 18 of Echoes of Eternity

“I just want everything to go back to the way it was. I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Listen to me.” Pulling back, she looked directly into her daughter’s eyes. “It’s not your job to fix it. We need to pray and trust God and His plan for our lives.”

Two days went by without hearing a word from his mother. It was Sunday morning, and that meant one thing to Ryan—time for church. Looking in the mirror on the wall in his bedroom, he adjusted his tie but couldn’t get it to look perfect. Undoing it, he pulled it from his collar and threw it on the bed. Emily noticed and came over to him, placing a hand on his back.

“Don’t ask the question, Emily . . .”

Her eyes connected with his in the mirror as he straightened his collar. “I’m worried about you, Ryan. You haven’t even gone to the grill once. Isn’t that the reason we are here?”

“We were getting settled. I planned for us to have lunch there after church today.”

“Heard from your mother?”

Silence invaded the next few moments as he picked the tie up from the bed and took it over to their closet. As he opened the closet door, he hung the tie on the door. “I haven’t heard anything.”

“And has Jason?”

He shut the door. “No, but she was telling Jason a few days before we got here about her sister Carol in Buffalo wanting her to visit.”

“I see.”

Turning toward her, he lifted his eyebrows. “Ready to go?”

“Yes, but first I want to ask something.”

“Go for it.”

“How are you doing?”

His lips tightened to form a thin line. “Honestly? I feel uneasy and unsure. I had peace about moving up here and now that we’re here . . . I just don’t know. I feel like I’m waiting for God to do something. I just want the waves of pain to stop.”

“You can’t expect the pain to just go away . . .”

“I know.” He hung his head, then let out a sigh as his voice became softer. “I know it won’t be easy, but I just have this sense, like there’s a purpose to this all and I’m just waiting for God to show me.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged and held out his hands. “That’s just it. I don’t know.”

Coming closer, she hugged him. “I love you, Ryan. Don’t give up. Just keep waiting on Him to show you.”

“I know and I will.”

Walking into the sanctuary, they took their seats a few rows back from the front on the left side. The exact location Ryan sat with his family growing up. Pastor Chris promptly came over and leaned a knee on the pew in front of them as he shook everybody’s hand.

“So glad you made it. To church, yes, but also to town. How’d the trip up go?”

“Good.”

“And the move? Getting settled in?”

“Yes.”

Feeling Emily’s elbow in his side, he knew what it meant. Talk more than one-word responses.

“We’re glad to finally be in town. Bill came by the other day to greet us.”

He tilted his head, glancing toward Bill across the room. The pastor’s gaze rested back on Ryan. “That’s nice of him. Your father was a great man, Ryan, and this town has a large hole without him. If you need anything at all, just let me know.”

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