Chapter Five
Dr. Fulton’s news had an enormous effect on Georgiana. She had always had her sisters nearby; she could not remember a time when they were not underfoot asking her questions about embroidery, cooking, and other things. Soon after the doctor’s visit, Lady Woods found Georgiana crying at the ship’s rail. “Dear child, why are you crying?” Lady Woods guessed the answer before Georgiana answered.
“I can’t bear the thought of the twins dying!” Georgiana sniffed, “Why would God let this happen? Doesn’t He care about us?”
“Of course God cares!” Lady Woods exclaimed. “I do not understand why this is happening either, but I trust God is doing what is best for us. Ev-even if it means that the twins do die.”
“Oh, please don’t say that! I can’t stand thinking about that. They have been my shadows for so long, I can’t imagine their not being there,” Georgiana sobbed at the thought of her sisters dying. “They can’t die; they just can’t! Surely God would not let that happen.”
“I do not know what God has in store for our family, Georgiana,” Lady Woods said. “But we must trust God in this time. He alone can save the girls, not Dr. Fulton, although God will certainly use him in whatever way. But you must believe that God is at work and has our interests at mind.”
“That seems too hard, Mother,” Georgiana said as she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. “I seem to be having a hard time trusting God right now. Back in the Colonies, it was easy to because everything was well and we had no worries. But here, it is very different. Everything is going wrong, it seems, and God does not seem to be anywhere in it.”
Lady Woods stroked her daughter’s hair. “Well, Georgiana, that is where faith and trust come in. Faith is knowing that God is with you, no matter what is happening around you. Trust is almost the same thing, except that with trust you must believe that God will do what He says. You need to remind yourself of the promise in His Word: “He will not give you more than you can handle.”
Georgiana blew a shaky breath, “ You’re right, Mother. I have not been trusting God to care for our family. Thank you for reminding me of that promise.”
Lady Woods smiled and gave her daughter a hug. “You are welcome, Georgiana. Thank you for sharing your heart with me and telling me how you feel.” She stood and shook out her skirts. “Now, I believe that you need to eat some dinner; it is very late and you and Thomas should go to bed soon. I do not want either of you falling ill form exhaustion.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Georgiana said as she left to find her brother and hopefully to join him for dinner.
~ ~ ~
“Thomas,” Georgiana said as she joined him on deck after eating some of Ann’s biscuits with ham and dried fruit, “ have you ever thought that things could not get any worse than they were right then?”
Thomas looked at his sister, “Of course I have. I think that is how I feel now. Things cannot possibly get any worse than they are now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, John is not with us, he has deserted his family to fight some of our friends in the Colonies; and now Faith and Hope are sick and could die.” Thomas looked at Georgiana and asked her, “How could things become any worse?”
Georgiana sat down and looked at her brother. She had never seen him so angry before, or so hurt. “Thomas, I don’t know why God lets bad things happen to us, but Mother says that we have to trust Him to do what is best for us. As, for John, he is doing what he thinks is right. John and Father talked before we left, and Father told me that he thinks John is brave to stand up for what he believes in. Even though they may not agree about who is right and who is wrong in this fight.”
Thomas turned to look at his sister. “Do you really think so, Georgiana? I do not like this feeling I have. I feel as if John is a traitor, that he no longer cares about us.” He looked down at the deck before continuing. “Do you think that I am a coward, Georgiana? Sometimes I think that anger is cowardly.”
Georgiana thought for a long while before speaking. She was not at all sure what to say. He was so upset and unsure of himself, she did not want to say something that might hurt him further. Georgiana thought for a long while before speaking, not at all sure what to say. Then she heard herself speaking. “ I do not think that anger is cowardly, so long as it is directed towards something that is truly wrong. Remember when Jesus was angry at the priests because they had defiled His Father’s temple? That is an example of righteous anger; He was angry that they had wronged God. If you are angry about something that was done wrong towards someone else, then I think that anger is just. But to be angry over a little thing, like…” she paused and thought for a moment, “a toy that has been broken, then yes, I think that anger is wrong.”
Thomas looked at his sister. “ So, being angry about John is wrong? Should I forget it, or ignore the problem altogether?”
“I believe that you should not be angry that John is doing what he thinks is right. He is a grown man and must do stand up for what he believes. Just as you will one day do the same, should you ever face a similar situation.” She paused before asking, “Does that help, Thomas?”
Thomas faced her. “It does, thank you. I understand a little better now.”
Georgiana and Thomas began walking towards the back of the ship. “Just remember, Thomas- you can always ask Father any questions you have. He is always ready to answer them.”
I had to write a new ending for this chapter because I accidentally erased the original ending :( Please feel free to share your thoughts on any chapters-I welcome all opinions.
Katelyn
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