The benches had been set out in the field. All they needed now were the people. Ruth and Kid were waiting on the first row. Ruth turned toward the direction they would be coming and Kid turned toward where she would be preaching.
She noticed how downcast he looked. "You still upset over yesterday?" she asked.
"I don't know why I was expecting a miracle, but I was."
"Ain't nothing wrong with keeping a hopeful attitude. You can bet God will come through."
"I can bet, huh? For someone who's so sure gambling is a sin, that's funny language to be using."
She took the hint that he wanted to change the subject. "It ain't gambling when you know it's a sure bet." She leaned in closer to lay a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for agreeing to play at the revival. I love having you be a part of this and I know the Lord appreciates it too."
He turned his head so that their lips lined up. "You sure you want to be caught kissing me in front of the people you're about to preach to?" he asked in a husky voice.
"Pretty sure," she said, joining her lips to his.
She pulled away at the sound of a wagon, and despite her earlier comment, she stood up with pink cheeks and smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt and robe.
He grinned. "Not very ministerly being caught in a lip lock, is it?"
"Not another word out of you," she warned before she began a rousing hymn. She greeted them with smiles and waves. Others began to trickle in. It wasn't a very large crowd when it was time to start, but she hadn't expected it to be.
"If you ain't read the sign on the wagon back there, I'm Sister Ruth." Light laughter followed. "I'm here because I want you to know that apathy is a tool of the devil. If he can get folks not to care, why he's won half the battle. Sometimes it's cause we get too focused on ourselves. We're content, so why bother about others. Or we get too caught up in worldly things, too busy for things of God, and we forget to be thankful and remember what our gratitude requires of us. Maybe we get discouraged and think none of it really matters; you think you can't accomplish nothing for the Kingdom. Whatever the reason, the result is the same, God's work don't get done, at least not by us. And we lose out on blessings. Others lose out on blessings."
Ruth's eyes fell on the corner of the last bench. Millie had snuck in somehow and had hunched down as if doing so could hide her from view. Kid had told her of the edict Wallace had issued. She sent her a warm smile of acknowledgment, letting her know she was happy to see her, before turning her eyes elsewhere so as not to make her anymore uncomfortable than she already looked.
"How many of ya'll ever been fishing?"
Most of the hands shot up.
"I like fishing myself. Love it, in fact, or more like I love fried catfish, but catching them is fun too, knowing the waiting you've done's paid off and you feel like you've accomplished something too when you make a catch."
'"I will make you fishers of men.' That's what Jesus Christ said. But how can we go about that? I tell you one thing, you don't have to go to India to do it. Although you can and should support those whose call it is to go serve there.
"But how many of ya'll have ever held out your bucket and waited on the shore for a fish to jump in?" Laughter rippled through the gathering. "You laugh and rightly so. Ain't no fish going to come find you. You have to go out in the waters and cast your line. Likewise if you want to be fishers of men, you got to leave the safety of your pew and go out and reach people. Most of the lost will never step foot inside of a church. It makes them uncomfortable or they just don't know what they're missing. We're called to tell them what it is they're missing, to show them."
She went on with her preaching and was encouraged to find that the number of amens grew. She didn't forget to call for the sick to come to the front. 2 were healed before everyone's eyes and it was plain to see that people were being convicted, that the Spirit of God was moving in their midst.
"The thing you need to do to cure apathy is to open your heart to the Holy Ghost again; He is the only cure. Try reading the gospel with fresh eyes. Think about the love it took for our holy and perfect God to do that for us. Ask Him to restore your love and joy to its fullness. I guarantee you, He will. But maybe you say, 'Sister, I just don't know where I'd go if I died today. I'm not sure I have opened my heart to Him or maybe you know you haven't. I'm telling you that you can know where you're going with complete surety. My husband is going to sing a hymn of invitation for us and if you want to come talk with me about it, come. Or just come to pray about anything. I'll pray with you."
Kid had a few words to say to all the familiar faces. "Ya'll ain't unacquainted with my past. It's a dark past, but what's important now is that I got a bright future not cause of anything I've done or will do but because Jesus paid it all at Calvary. I got a song that I'm sure ya'll know that says it better than I ever could."
He positioned his guitar and began,
"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Safe from wrath and make me pure."
His voice and guitar held them spellbound. There was no denying he was talented, but more than that it was clear he meant every word of it and it made the message all the more powerful.
"Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone."
"Come to the Rock," Ruth pleaded.
Ruth was surprised to see Kid's sister move forward. Tears were streaming down her face.
"I don't know," Millie said. "No, I do know. I've said prayers, heard sermons, but I've never had a personal relationship with Him. He's always seemed so distant and apathetic, but I realize now it's me that's been those things."
Ruth prayed a prayer of salvation with her and the tears of sadness became tears of joy.
"Will you have another revival tomorrow, sister? I have some friend and family I want to hear this," a man called out.
"I have a sick aunt," a woman called out.
Similar cries went up through the small congregation.
"As long as there's a need and the Lord doesn't tell me to go, I'll be here," she assured them. "Same time tomorrow."
The crowd cleared, leaving just Kid, Ruth, and Millie
"Why did you come here? Not that I'm not glad you did. Just curious," Kid said.
"I don't know. I guess I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and well, I felt bad for you yesterday cause I saw how much you want to make amends. I wanted to show my support even if it meant going against Daddy."
"Well, you are at that age when you're supposed to be rebelling," Kid said, "and if you're going to rebel over something, this is what you should be rebelling over. You going to tell them you came to the revival?"
"I guess I have to, don't I? I don't want to hide that I got saved today and they've probably realized I went missing anyhow."
"How could you not be saved growing up with Momma reading the Bible to us everyday and going to church every Sunday?" Kid asked inquisitively.
"How could you not have been saved with all those things? You grew up just like I did."
"Good point. The main thing is we're saved now, I guess," Kid said.
"You'd be surprised how many folks think because they're faithful about attending church, they're good to go and that's all it takes," Ruth said. "Good works, a good show. Sometimes I think it's harder for someone who has grown up in a Christian home to be saved than the sinner off the street. The ordinary sinner suffers no illusions about their salvation."
They'd loaded the benches while they'd been talking and Kid helped them into the wagon.
"Do you bear a grudge against me?" Kid asked Millie. "Over Ben?"
"I don't, but I have missed you. I should bear a grudge against you for that. It was hard having 2 older brothers gone from my life at once."
"I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"
"Of course, I can. It's not like you wanted any of what happened to happen." She sighed. "Nobody ever talks about him anymore. Well, at least not until you came back. I want to hear stories of him, you know? I have my own memories, of course, but I don't have enough. And isn't talking and remembering the good times part of the healing?"
"I think so," Kid agreed.
"You want to be baptized with your family watching, I reckon?" Ruth asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Millie answered.
"What's with the ma'am stuff? You most definitely have a right to call me Sister Ruth; we're sisters in both Christ and family, after all."
Millie smiled. "I've always wanted a sister."