Chapter 60

The next morning, I awoke with Ashlee right next to me. She had her head on my shoulder and her leg over my hip. I am sure that she felt my morning hardon. It was pressed up against her leg so I am sure she felt it. The only problem with a woman sleeping on you like this is that her leg will end up pressing against your bladder and this is what I was experiencing. A sudden urge to get up and get to the bathroom hit me and as gently as I could, I moved her leg off of me and got to the bathroom.

Brenda was coming out as I was leaving. "Good morning honey." I said to her.

"Sure, only after bathroom and coffee." She grumbled to me as she moved past me.

I went back to bed and got back under the covers so that I could snuggle with my woman. She had rolled over facing the window away from the door. I got under the covers and worked my arm under her pillow so that I could hold her. I moved my chest up against her back and my pelvis against her rump. My morning erection had gone down luckily so I wasn't poking her in the back today. She moved around a bit and took my hand and held onto it.

This snuggle lasted for about a minute. When Brenda came in and got into bed with us and tried to snuggle in between us. This woke Ashlee up I could tell that she felt the same urge as I did. She left for the bedroom just like I had. I made room for Brenda who got in bed next to me and made herself comfortable. "Comfortable?" I ask her.

"Yes I am thank you."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did dad. I feel about a million pounds lighter too. After last night, I came upstairs and prayed for the first time. I think that the Lord and I had a good talk."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I was scared. That I was hurting inside. That I really needed him to be patient with me and that I was probably going to screw up every now and then and that I hoped he still loved me in spite of my mistakes."

"He will honey. He loved you when you were still a sinner so he will continue to love you even after you give up that and follow him."

"Good." She got closer just like my kids used to do and they were a lot younger than her. It was like she was having a second childhood all over again.

"Well aren't you two comfortable? Any room in there for me?" Ashlee said while standing in the doorway.

"Yes mom, right here." Brenda said to her and pulled the covers back showing that there was space next to her. Which put her in the middle. Just like a kid.

We had a family snuggle until our combined body heat forced us to throw the covers off and get on with our day, which included getting packed up and driving to Kansas.

We put on enough clothing to go downstairs and we found mom in the kitchen making eggs. "Good morning mom." Ashlee said. "Good morning Grandma." Brenda said. I of course said "Good morning mom."

She turned to us and we enjoyed a four way hug. "How are my daughter and granddaughter and son this fine morning?"

"Great." "Feel like a million bucks." "I need coffee but still great."

I'll let you guess who said what.

Our morning passed as most mornings pass. We had our breakfast, helped with the cleanup and then mom shooed us out of the kitchen to go and get ready to leave. We made it almost to the stairs before Ashlee turned and ran back to mom. She then came back moment later and came upstairs with us. "What was that all about?" I asked her.

"Oh, I just had to thank mom for being there last night for all of us."

I moved through the shower, and then Ashlee took over once I had left the bathroom. Brenda took over once Ashlee was done. Hmm, something is different.

We got ourselves packed and our stuff into the car. Caesar jumped in and after more tearful hugs good bye, we got on the road.

Most of the town still had snow on the ground which was beautiful. The roads were plowed and passable which is strange for a SW Missouri town. Usually, the roads are a disaster. But not today!

"Ashlee, I have had a question rattling around in my head for a while now. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure honey. What is it?"

"Why didn't you join me for a shower today?"

"Oh, you noticed that?"

"Yes. What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing. I, had a feeling, this morning."

Ok, now I was curious. "Could you elaborate on that feeling?"

"Well, I was heading to the bathroom when I heard you in the shower but something told me that I was new. I stopped from entering and just went back to the bedroom. I don't know where it came from."

Well, isn't that weird? "Ok, I'm not surprised, but I can open a Bible and show you where that came from."

"You can? Where?"

"Brenda, can you reach my Bible in the back?"

She moved around in her seat, but with her broken ankle, she couldn't reach it. "Nope. Sorry dad."

"No worries." I then turned to Ashlee. "Ok, Ash, pull out your phone and download an app for me."

She did as I directed and she managed to download the Bible app available to her. She opened it and found the search feature. I looked over to her phone and she was typing in the word 'new.' "Wait, look for 'new creation' instead and you will find something so much more applicable to the situation at hand."

She did. I found a scripture from 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17.

"17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! " (NIV)

"What does this mean?" she asked me.

"What did you find mom?" Now Brenda was there as well looking over her shoulder to see what was found.

'Lord, speak the truth through me for your new children.' I prayed silently. "I have an answer; I just pray that it is correct and easy to understand. Yesterday, you were still in your sin. Still guilty of the mistakes you made until last night. Once you accepted Jesus into your hearts and made him Lord of your lives, you became a new creation. The old creation was thrown away and the new creation in Christ was brought forth to the world."

"Kind of like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon?" Brenda said from the back seat.

"Yes honey. Figuratively speaking, yes. The old is the cocoon and once you accepted Christ, you emerged from it and the new Brenda and Ashlee came out. You both are a new creations."

The car was quiet as they absorbed what I had said.

"So, when I started to go back to my old habit of taking a shower with you, something or someone spoke to me as a warning to not go in there since I was a 'NEW' creation. Does that sound about right?"

"Sure sounds like what the Lord does and says. I can't see anything wrong with that."

"Wow." Ashlee and Brenda both said it. "Does God always speak so directly to people?" Brenda asked.

"No. I have only really heard the Lord speak to me once so directly. People the world over tell stories of the Lord speaking to them. Some are more able to hear that small voice in their hearts speaking to them. I guess you two have such open hearts that you may hear him speaking to you often."

"Did you hear that mom? We have open hearts. How cool is that?"

"Yes, that is cool."

Ashlee reached over and took my hand and held onto it while we drove down the highway. She leaned over to me and asked me quietly, "how are we going to handle my parents?"

"What do you mean?"

"My parents aren't Christians and don't believe in God or Jesus at all. They may actually be hostile when they hear that we got saved."

I gave her a quick look then looked back down the road. I wasn't about to crash the car now. Nope, I won't lose two families in one lifetime. "Honey, I don't know. The only thing that I can suggest is that you pray about it. Use your app and do a search about worry."

So she let go of my hand and did a search for 'worry.'

Once the results came back, she let out a whistle. "Wow. That is a lot about one single word. Why are the letters red when you click on them?"

"Well, I don't know why other than in some Bibles, the words that were said by Jesus are colored red to make them stand out. There are some songs about the red letters in the Bible."

"Really dad? Who did them?"

"That my dear you will have to search for."

So, I could see her through the rear view mirror with her phone in her face searching for a song about the red letters. "Is DC Talk a good band?"

"Yes honey. They are one of the good ones."

After a few seconds, the song 'Red Letters' by DC Talk was heard from the back seat.

Pages filled with a holy message

Sealed with a kiss from Heaven

On a scroll long ago

Phrases, words that were bound together

Now have the power to sever

Like a sword, evermore

Heed the words Divinely spoken

May your restless heart be broken

Let the Supernatural take hold

There is love in the red letters

There is truth in the red letters

There is hope for the hopeless

Peace and forgiveness

There is life in the red letters

In the red letters

One Man came to reveal a mystery

Changing the course of history

Made the claim, He was God

Ageless, born of a Virgin Mary

Spoke with a voice that carried through the years

It's persevered

Heed the words Divinely spoken

May your restless heart be broken

Let the Supernatural take hold, take hold

There is love in the red letters

There is truth in the red letters

There is hope for the hopeless

Peace and forgiveness

There is life in the red letters

In the red letter

What you say moves me

Revelation, come and take me

The more I look, the more I look

The more I see, the more I see

The word of God, the word of God

Is what I need

Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, it is the book of love

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is the book of love

There is love in the red letters

There is truth in the red letters

There is hope for the hopeless

Peace and forgiveness

There is life in the red letters

In the red letter

In the red letter

In the red letter

(Speak to me and breathe in me new life)

In the red letter

(Speak to me and breathe in me new life)

Let Him in your heart

Let Him in your heart

Let Him in your heart

Let Him in your heart

"Ok, I found a bunch of stuff about 'worry.' Luke 12:26. Matthew 6:27. Mark 13:11. I mean it goes on and on. I had no idea."

"Yeah. Once you get into the Bible, it will change your life. There is so much in that relatively little book that people have dedicated their lives to studying it. Yet, even the smallest child could understand it. I mean it is an amazing book."

"So what are we going to do about my parents?"

"I throw it back to you Ashlee, what does it say about worry?"

"To not to. We can't add a single hour to our lives by worrying about anything, so why do it. What am I supposed to do then? Really."

I was about to suggest that she go back to her app, but she cut me off, "Ok, I'll search. What should I search for smart guy?"

I chuckled. "How about, 'when should I pray?' See if you can find anything about when you need to pray."

She did that while Brenda sat in the back seat with her headphones in her ears listening to who knows what. Ashlee then said, "Ok smart guy, look what I found."

She held her phone out to me; she found a few thousand items dealing with prayer. I just looked back at her and smiled. "Now what?" she asked.

"Look for one that uses the word 'continually.'"

She did and when she found it, she started reading 1 Thessalonians 5:17. I tried to keep my eyes on the road, but she would lean over and show me what else she was reading. She was actually reading the whole chapter.

After that, the trip passed by quickly and before you know it, we were pulling into Ashlee's mom and dad's driveway. I turned the engine off and Ashlee stopped us. "Hang on. I want say a quick prayer." We all stopped and I offered both the woman my hands and they took them and Ashlee said a quick prayer. "Lord, you have gotten us this far, we now ask you to guide us through the next few days as we as your new creations trek into my parent's house. May our words and deeds be pleasing in your sight. May we show them your love you have for them so that they may be swayed to follow you. Thank you Lord. Amen."

Brenda and I both said 'Amen.' then we got out of the car and went to the door. I could tell Ashlee was worried so I took her hand and gave it a squeeze to assure her that she was not alone. "Trust God." is all I said. She stood up a little straighter and then knocked on the door.

Evelyn opened the door and welcomed us in with great excitement and happiness.

"I'm so glad to see you all. I was worried that the weather was going to keep you all from home. Come in! Come in!" We followed her inside and took our jackets off and kicked off our boots so we wouldn't track snow in the house. It very similar to the last time we were here.

We settled in after each of us running through the bathroom then we were welcomed into the kitchen to get a bite to eat before lunch was served. I don't know if anyone else felt it, but I sensed an uneasy feeling among us. Like something was about to happen.

"Evelyn, where is your husband?" I asked her while sitting in the kitchen.

"He and Pedro are both in the shed, or garage, or whatever you want to call it, working on something. You are welcome to go out and see them if you want."

"Thanks." I said to Evelyn and then gave Ashlee a smooch and said to her that I would be right back.

I got up, put on my jacket and boots and went to find the men.

I trudged through the snow and found the guys in the car shed working on a large truck. "Hello, anyone home?"

"Hey, we're back here." I heard John say from the far side of the garage.

I moved through the stuff until I found two pairs of legs sticking out from under the truck. I squatted down and look underneath. "Hi guys. What's going on?"

"Good afternoon Mr. Paul" Pedro said while trying to wrench on something.

"Paul. Good to see you again. Just a minute and we'll be done here."

I moved around the truck looking it over. "What are you guys up to here?"

"Swapping out the starter and it's a rotten spot ... fuck ... here hold this ... sorry Paul."