My Sacred Reckoning

life in our small U

and the wife of Matthew Scott, a man

as for a child. After years of empty arms and a heart

eel fear. I felt a profound sense of blessing. This wa

l. My body ached in way

and exhausted. But I held on, my

rganized prayer circles at the church, his voice ringing wit

I was, and called my suffering a bea

him. I love

t a church potluck, six

garden, the evening air a small relief

dge of roses. It was Matthew and two elders from

ly," one of them said, his voice low

isyn is a kindness she' d never find on her own. And your sister Molly finally gets what she wants witho

y heart started pounding, a fran

cold, reptilian. "God works in mysterious ways. And Gabrielle... she' s t

ed. All th

id, the words dripping with sanctimony. "She' s serv

g slipped from my numb fingers

garden. The voices on the othe

e, the lives I thought were mine, were not mine. I wasn't a mothe

h and love, had just be