Nothing Happened?
~ It was the year 1897. The Colonel was resting on the stone porch, a mug of coffee in his hand, his feet propped up on the stone wall railing. He quietly read the letter. It was interesting news; information he would publish in the local newspaper. Journalism was part of who he was. After teaching school for years, he now dipped his pen into the local news. Politics were in his future though. His heart beat for law and justice, his town, his country. He was proud to have been born here. His parents both immigrated from Scotland and settled in the area, creating a cozy, safe place to live life.
And this was where he met her. He had so much going for him. Life was good.
A moment later, his wife, Katherine, quietly sat down beside him and smiled.
The romantic in me wants there to be a year of love and goodness.
~ Katherine glanced at her husband. She was proud of him. He had accomplished many things and she was overjoyed to be his wife. She loved to watch the local children when they passed him on the dirt road. They skipped and laughed as they played, and he engaged and joined them heartily. If only she could give him what he and she both wanted most: a child of their own. But he knew how to love, passionately, deeply, relationally. And for that, she was thankful.
He turned his head away from the letter and looked at her. Her heart thumped wildly and she giggled. How did he still do this to her? How did a grin from her husband still make her blush like a schoolgirl? He reached and took her hand in his, melding them together.
The hopeful in me wants there to believe that it was a year of peace.
~ The Colonel squeezed Katherine's hand gently. A warm September breeze blew a wisp of her hair across her cheek. He looked away to the trees across the road. The colours were changing fast and soon they would lose their leaves. This year had been a good one so far. They had success in every area but the one thing they wanted most. But they would keep trying. 1897 had been good to them - it had been uneventful, unstressful, and it wasn't over yet. Trees would empty themselves and would soon sleep for the winter, when snow and cold winds would whisk past the stone house. She and he would snuggle in by the fire hearth, wrapped in her Nanna's handwoven wool blanket, peaceful, restful, happy and hopeful.
The hurt part of me wants it to be a year of redemption and healing.
~ Katherine sighed. This was her home. This small lakeside town of Scottish heritage. This was where she had found hope. Healing. December of 1894 had brought so much pain. Her parents and brother had died in a heavy snowstorm that had enveloped the little town before Christmas. So while the pain hit hard, her life with the Colonel had eased her brokenness and comforted her loneliness. They had married on Christmas Day 1894, and shared a friendship and respect so perfect that when the storms of life hit, he was an anchor and carried her through. A baby, a child of their making, would add to the joy and healing in her heart. Maybe this would be the year. Maybe.
Or maybe not.
Maybe it was just simply a year that nothing happened.
Nothing but he and she. In love. Living life.
The excited part of me longs to know that indeed something did happen!
Something good. Something grand. Or even, just something small. Because even when it felt like nothing changed, that nothing was accomplished, that nothing was new; even when it felt like nothing happened, maybe, just maybe something actually did. They just didn't know yet.
Even when nothing happens, there is still a story.
Even when nothing happens, there is still love, goodness, and peace.
Even when nothing happens, there is still hope and healing.
Even when nothing happens, something happens.
We just don't always see it right away.
And I am reminded of something. When it seems nothing is happening; when it seems nothing changes; when it seems hope is lost; when it seems life is stagnant - we see nothing, but God sees something. His knowing is vastly different than our knowing. In our times of nothing happening, God has something happening.
Our nothing, is His something.
And the Colonel and Katherine?
~ Katherine sat on the stone porch, beside her Colonel, the warmth of his touch tingling her fingers. Her other hand rested on her belly. And a shiver ran through her. A spark of joy. A quiver of hope. A promise of the future. And she smiled.
Several months later, a baby cradle was nestled in their room beside the bed. A wee bairn lay, swaddled and comfortable, as Katherine and the Colonel readied themselves for sleep. Looking at her, he grinned.
"In 1897 nothing happened." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "But something did."
"But Jesus replied, 'My Father is always working, and so am I.' " (John 5:17, NLT)
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us, to Him be the glory ... " (Ephesians 3:20, NIV)
~ ~ ~ The Colonel and Katherine? Well, they were real people. I have no idea about how their story truly played out on a personal level, but Colonel Hugh Clark was indeed a teacher, a newspaper publisher, a Provincial political member, a lieutenant-colonel in the militia, a member of a Federal political party, and he became the Great-uncle of Joe Clark, who was Canada's 16th Prime Minister. He at one point owned the stone house with the stone porch where I now work in my little lake town. ~ ~ ~
***https://brucemuseum.pastperfectonline.com/byperson?keyword=Clark%2C+Hugh
***https://brucecounty.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Shortlist/index.html?appid=a3a4b44df6704f8d9e423817b589112d
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