Violet Miracle Chapter 2

 

When the alarm rang the next morning, Violet instinctively pushed the snooze button. Then, remembering that it was Sunday and she still wasn’t 100% sure where the church was, she rolled out of bed onto the floor.

Sitting up on her knees, she prayed that the Lord would help her to find the church and that she would joyfully submit to His leading and guidance throughout the day. “Please keep me out of trouble, Lord. Please,” she said. After praying for a few more minutes, she got up and headed for the coffee pot.

Soon, the smell of freshly brewed coffee woke her up some more. Taking her Bible, a bowl of cereal, and a large mug of coffee to the kitchen table, she read while she sipped.

Feeling peaceful and refreshed she went to her closet and stood staring. Although she had managed to hang up quite a few things the day before, she was a little nervous. She wanted to look just right for her first time in a new church. She had in mind something that looked professional, but approachable, simple, yet pretty. After most of the clothes she had so painstakingly put into the closet the day before ended up on her bed, she finally had something picked out, a red suit jacket, a calf-length black skirt, a black short sleeved blouse, and a pretty, multi-colored scarf to tie it all together. Knowing that she tended to be a little clumsy when she was nervous, she opted for black flats instead of heels.

Of course, she hadn’t even considered what she would do with all 3 ½ feet of her hair! That problem was solved quickly when she looked at the clock. She put a quick clip in it and left the back down.

There were a few more frantic moments when she couldn’t find the directions she had printed out. Several minutes later she found them in her briefcase, in one of those pockets that she never used. Shaking her head, she muttered, “At least I have them now.”

 

Sam batted Jesse’s hands away from his eyes. “Your eyes are fine. You’re being paranoid.”

“I was just rubbing out some sleep,” Jesse defended himself.

“Sure.”

Both men were standing in the large entryway of the church. Jesse had gotten there early to make sure the new computer equipment was working properly for the pastor’s power point sermon presentation and Sam was early to practice with the band. After coming out of the prayer room, they had stood chatting several minutes before church was to start.

“You are not going to believe who just walked in,” said Sam.

“Who?” asked Jesse turning to face the door.

Seeing Violet, neither knew what to do. Should they go and shake her hand? Or shield their eyes just in case?

Just then, she saw them. Her smile faltered a bit, but squaring her shoulders, she walked toward them. Sam was impressed…and intrigued. He hadn’t gotten to really see her hair the night before because she had had it pulled up. Now, he could see that it was light brown with hints of red and hung all the way to her knees. When she stood facing them, Sam realized just how ‘five foot nothing’ she was. Without that pepper spray, she probably couldn’t hurt a fly!

 

Violet had to swallow again before she could speak. Her stomach seemed to have suddenly jumped up into her throat. Putting out her hand towards Sam first, (He did seem less scary!) she said in a rush, “I am really sorry for pepper spraying you guys last night. I thought you were murderers or muggers or something. I was looking into the dumpster because I’m a mystery writer. I write mystery novels and got a great idea for a book. You see, the murderer stashes the body in the dumpster and I wanted to look inside to see how it looked and, of course, smelled. I know it’s a little crazy, but it’s research, you see. I’m giving you far more information than you wanted aren’t I?” She paused for breath. “Anyway, can you ever forgive me?”

Jesse just stood there wondering what planet this strange girl had come from.  

Sam grinned and shook her hand thinking she was rather adorable when she was nervous. “It’s all right. We’re sorry we scared you. The Coffee House belongs to our mother and recently, someone has been putting their trash in her dumpster. She gets charged extra for that. We thought it might have been you.”

Violet smiled, a little less nervous now. “It couldn’t have been me. I just got into town yesterday.”

“You said you were new. What’s your name and where are you from?” Sam really wanted to know.

Violet found herself relaxing with Sam’s big, blue eyes and encouraging smile. He had dimples! She would have to remember those and put them in one of her books. “I’m Violet Carsten from Pleasant River, Illinois. It’s close to St. Louis.”

“I’m Sam.” Turning to his right, he added, “And this is my brother, Jesse.”

Jesse still wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked rather intimidating. Violet was all nervous again. However, she stuck out her hand towards him anyway. Now, he would make for a great intimidating guy in one of her mysteries, maybe a police chief or a crime boss.  

He took her hand, though it seemed a bit reluctant. He kept watching her other hand next to her purse. Then, with a slight elbow from Sam, he said gruffly, “Welcome to Rochester.”

“Uh, thank-you.” Violet didn’t know what to say after that. When was church going to start, anyway?

Finally Sam asked, “What brings you here?”

 “Well, that’s a bit of a story,” she replied. She couldn’t help smiling at Sam. He just seemed so…nice. Then, looking at her watch, she said, “Isn’t church about to start?”

Startled, Sam looked down at his own watch. “Sorry, gotta go,” he said as he practically ran into the sanctuary. As he stepped up onto the platform and grabbed his guitar, he was thankful he wasn’t leading worship that morning.

“I have to do the sound board,” Jesse said, leaving abruptly.

As Violet stood pondering how different he was from his brother and how she could use some of that for a book, her thoughts were interrupted by a girl who looked only slightly younger than herself. “Hi, I’m Ivy. What’s your name?”

Violet couldn’t resist Ivy’s infectious smile. “I’m Violet,” she replied shaking hands.

“Service is starting, want to come sit with me?” Ivy asked.

“I’d love to.” Violet was glad as she walked into the crowded sanctuary. What a friendly church!

 

She loved the service. The music was upbeat and worshipful. Although the musicians were all obviously very talented, she could tell that none of them were up on the platform to show off. They were all just genuinely using their talents and abilities to bless the Lord and His church. The music pointed not at any particular player or singer, but rather straight at the One being worshipped.

Pastor Flowers was an amazing preacher. He had dark colored hair with specs of grey. He walked all around the platform, making people feel as if he was talking straight to them, individually. Several times, he came down to the floor and even into the aisles. He told several jokes, yet he was very serious about the Lord and the people’s need to come and lay down their burdens. His sermon was ‘Don’t Have Sticky Fingers at the Altar’. In other words: don’t hold onto your troubles, leave them at the altar. Let Jesus take care of them, rather than trying to take care of them yourself. Violet shook her head as she thought of all the times she had tried to carry her own troubles.

It had been especially difficult to ‘let go’ when her Aunt Martha had been diagnosed with cancer right before Violet had graduated from high school.  After the death of both Violet’s parents in a terrible car crash, Aunt Mabel was the only family she really knew. The uncle up in Minnesota hadn’t wanted anything to do with a fourteen year old girl and Aunt Mabel was always close to her family. She certainly never expected to be named in his will. After living with Aunt Mabel for three years and working through all her grief, Violet could hardly stand the idea of losing someone else close to her. Violet had wanted to quit school immediately and care for her beloved Aunt, but she wouldn’t allow it. However, she did agree to Violet commuting back and forth from a nearby college for Violet’s bachelor’s degree. As her aunt’s health had gone up and down during the various experimental treatments, she decided to get her master’s degree online. There had been a bit of an argument about that, but Aunt Martha had prevailed, knowing that schooling would not only be good for Violet, but would keep her from dwelling too much on her aunt’s failing health.

It was during her master’s degree that Violet had gotten back to writing and started self-publishing her mystery novels. No one was more surprised than Violet when her sales took off and she made enough money to actually support herself. Violet was by no means wealthy, but, for the first time, she was able to make enough to support herself comfortably. She had even been able to use some of her income to pay off her car and other debts. Aunt Martha had been so proud.

Violet never forgot that night she had gone to the church and just wept at the altar. It was looking like the end for Aunt Martha. Finally, Violet had simply let go and asked only that the Lord would ‘keep an eye on her sweet aunt’ until she could someday join her in heaven. Miraculously, Aunt Martha had gone into remission. It had been five years, several trials of experimental chemotherapy, and many prayers, but Aunt Martha looked like she was going to be all right.

After the preaching, both Ivy and Violet had gone up to the altar and prayed. The music made her feel so close to God. The words invited her to just let go and trust. She was further blessed to feel Ivy’s hand on her shoulder and to hear her new friend praying for her. After several minutes, she rose from her knees with a smile.

As they walked together back to their pew Ivy asked, “Violet, how would you like to come over for lunch? My mom is an amazing cook.”

“I’d hate to put you all out if you have plans with your family.”

Putting her arm around Violet’s shoulders, Ivy replied, “My family loves guests. Come on, you have to eat.”

It was hard to resist Ivy’s enthusiasm. Knowing she was beat, Violet agreed.

“There’s my parents over there. I’ll introduce you.”

Although she looked around for them, she didn’t see either Sam or Jesse. She was hoping to catch another glimpse at Sam’s dimples—for research purposes, of course. However, Violet soon found herself swept up in the whirlwind that was Ivy. She soon saw where she got all of her energy. Mrs. Givens was a much calmer, yet still vibrant version of her daughter. Doctor Givens’ kind smile put her instantly at ease. She felt like she could trust him. Violet thought she would like this family very much. Also, having a friend with a doctor for a father could provide some nice opportunities for gathering research for her murder mysteries!