When God Calls The Heart: Devotions From Hope ValleySýnishorn

Life Goes On

“The more I get to know these women, I realize how remarkable and courageous they are. They go through life with such grace under fire. These women are teaching me by their example.” –Elizabeth Thatcher

Mary Dunbar embarrassed herself at Yost’s Mercantile by knocking over a display of cans. One of the new miners, Dewitt Graves, helped her clean up the mess. When the grocer told Mary her tab was full, Dewitt offered to pay for her purchases. 

News of that chivalry spread quickly through town. One woman made a snide remark to Abigail Stanton about Mary forgetting her late husband who had died in the mine. Abigail said, “I will never forget my Noah. But at some point, life goes on.” 

When Mary later bumped into Dewitt in town, she thanked him again for his kindness. He gave her a wink and hinted that he hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in quite some time, which made her smile. 

The next night, Mary’s son, Caleb, wasn’t happy that Dewitt was sitting at their table—the place where his father once sat—or that he had asked Mary to the Miner’s Dance. 

After school one day, the boy really struggled about his mom starting a relationship with Dewitt, so Elizabeth asked Caleb to share a memory of his father with her. The words flooded from him. His pa was strong and tall. He liked to sing and whistle and take Caleb fishing. He missed him so much and nobody could take his place. 

On the night of the dance, as Dewitt left with Mary, Caleb wept. And then he got an idea. He dug through an old storage trunk, finding his father’s suit coat, inhaling the scent of his pa that still clung faintly. 

Not much later, as music filled the room at the dance and smiling townsfolks did the two-step and waltzed, Caleb walked in wearing his pa’s big coat. When Mary saw him, her eyes glistened with tears. And then Caleb did something amazing. He cut in, asking his mother for a dance as the entire town watched. 

Moving on with our lives after a painful loss is always ago­nizing, isn’t it? Have you experienced the loss of a loved one like Caleb did, or the loss of a job or a friendship? Perhaps you have a prodigal child you’re grieving. Or you’ve had a serious health crisis yourself. Well, guess what? The last time we checked, the mortality rate among human beings is 100 percent. Loss is an equal opportunist. 

But God has a plan for us in every situation. And it’s a great plan. He wants us to prosper and He wants us to have a hope and a future. That doesn’t mean life will ever be pain-free, but just as Mary and Caleb learned to cope with their loss with “grace under fire,” as Elizabeth put it, so can we.

We invite you to hop on the buckboard wagon with us to see where God guides us in the pages of When God Calls the Heart devotional. Learn more and get a free preview at whengodcallstheheart.com.