Page 14 of Hope’s Enduring Echo
Jennie
Despite their intense searching, they didn’t find skeletal remains of an allosaurus or any other large prehistoric creatures. But Leo discovered the shell of a beetle-type bug imprinted on a flat stone. The rock was too big to carry and too hard for him to chop out the section, even with the chisel he carried in one of his pockets. Jennie took out her little notepad to draw the beetle for him, but he told her to wait. Then he removed a large sketch pad from his knapsack and gave it to her.
“Thank you, Leo!” She hugged the pad, giving him her brightest smile.
A sheepish grin climbed his cheek. “You’re welcome. I wanted to thank you somehow for your help. I hoped this would please you.”
“Oh, it does.” How well he already knew her. Her heart gave a funny little flutter. To hide the unfamiliar reaction, she plopped onto the grass next to the stone. She balanced the pad on her knee and opened the cover. While she painstakingly created a pencil replica of the insect fossil, curiosity prompted her to ask, “Is this beetle as old as the dinosaurs?”
“Well, I’ll answer the way one of my professors would.” He sat on the edge of the stone and pushed his hat back, letting it droop by its strings against the knapsack. “According to evolutionists, insects evolved during the Paleozoic Era. The Paleozoic Era began more than five hundred million years ago and ended with the dawn of the Mesozoic Era, somewhere around two hundred fifty million years ago. The dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era, so insect fossils are potentially older than dinosaur fossils.”
Jennie gaped at him. “You mean I could be drawing what’s left of a bug that lived five hundred million years ago?”
He wagged his finger. “ Could be.” He braced himself up on the rock with one arm, stretched out his legs on the grass, and crossed his ankles. “The years attached to various prehistoric eras are speculations. Although the concept of the earth’s age dating back as far as five billion years to the Azoic Era is commonly taught, I can’t accept it as fact. After all, there are no records to validate it. Not even primitive ones, such as drawings found in caves.”
Jennie added a few strokes to the beetle shell while Leo went on in his serious yet fervent tone.
“I believe in biblical creationism. If you add up all the years recorded in the Bible—even taking into account that a year in God’s measurement of time could be very different from the way we measure a year today—the earth’s existence doesn’t seem to stretch back that far.”
Jennie paused and squinted up at him. “But dinosaurs really lived on our earth, didn’t they?”
“Of course they did.” A hint of teasing glinted in his eyes. “There wouldn’t be skeletal remains if there hadn’t been actual creatures with skin, muscles, blood veins, and internal organs to go with those bones.”
Heat filled her cheeks. “I guess I meant to ask, when did they live?”
Leo shrugged. “Based on my study of Scripture, I believe they existed up to and even after the great flood of Noah’s time.”
“Study of Scripture…” Jennie put the pencil down and gawked at him. “The Bible talks about dinosaurs?” She’d never encountered them in her reading. Maybe she needed to dig deeper.
His expression turned introspective. “Scripture doesn’t use the term we attach to the fossilized remains of extinct animals, but there are mentions of particular beasts many Bible scholars believe refer to the giant creatures that roamed the earth. For instance, Leviathan.”
“Leviathan…” Jennie savored the name, trying to envision a creature to match it.
“It’s described in Isaiah as a gliding or coiling serpent. The writer of Psalm 104 included a reference to the same beast frolicking in the sea. The Leviathan is mentioned in the book of Job, as well as in the Lord’s instructions to look at Behemoth, a beast that fed on grass like an ox. Scholars suggest the Behemoth was a woolly mammoth.”
She released an awe-filled huff of breath. “I never realized.”
A knowing smile curved his lips. “Few people think about it. Why should they? Those creatures are long extinct. Although the opinions of the professors at college would differ, my personal belief is that God created the dinosaurs at the same time He created the other animals of the earth—on the fifth day of the Creation. And as He said when He finished, He deemed His creation good.”
Jennie leaned forward and examined the two-inch-long series of half circles resembling scales imprinted in the stone. “I’ve probably seen little things like this dozens of times since we moved from town, but I didn’t know what I was looking at. Now that I know, it…” She pressed her hand to her chest. “It makes me feel smaller, yet somehow bigger inside.” She turned to Leo. “Does that make sense?”
He nodded. “I think so. I remember visiting my grandparents in Massachusetts when I was a boy. They took me to see the Atlantic Ocean. When I looked across the water stretching so far it seemed to touch the sky and listened to the pounding surf, I was filled with a sense of how small I was in comparison to the earth. At the same time, the sight and sound and smell so engulfed me I sensed God’s presence in a way I never had before. The wonder of His creation swelled inside me the way the ocean waves swelled and surged. I’ve never forgotten it.”
The awe and wisdom in Leo’s tone and expression as he shared his remembrance touched her. When she’d prayed for a friend, she longed for someone to laugh and talk with. A companion. She hadn’t expected a friend who would prompt her to look at herself and her relationship with God differently. The verse about Him giving exceedingly and abundantly above what one asked seemed truer than ever.
The emotions swirling inside her couldn’t be stifled. She blurted, “Leo, I really like you.”
His eyebrows shot up, and then a pleased smile spread across his face. “Well, thank you, Jennie. I like you, too.”
For several seconds, they sat smiling at each other, him on the rock and her on the grass. The breeze tossed the strings under his chin and sent little strands of hair across her face. If they were in a storybook, he might lean forward, smooth her hair with his fingers, and place a kiss on her cheek. Slowly, so slowly she thought she might be imagining it, he bent his legs to the side and leaned toward her. Had he read her secret thoughts? Her pulse skittered. His face came nearer, nearer, and then his gaze dropped to her sketch pad.
“How’s the drawing coming along? Nearly done?”
Her fanciful thoughts dissolved, and embarrassment swept in. She flipped the page around and held it up. “Good enough, I think.”
He nodded, his grin wide. “More than good enough. Thank you, Jennie.”
Slipping her pencil into her pocket, she pretended to search the sky. “The day’s getting away from us. We better head for the cabin.”
He stood and shrugged out of his knapsack. “I’ll tuck your drawing pad into my bag for safekeeping.”
“That’s fine.” She turned her back and headed down the rise, trusting him to follow.
Neither of them spoke during the long walk to Jennie’s home. Leo whistled, proof that his cheerful mood was intact. But the shine had been rubbed off her happy day, and she was aggravated with herself for allowing it. Hadn’t she just inwardly praised God for sending her such a good friend? She hadn’t asked for a beau, so why expect Leo to act like one? And she’d made a pledge to take on hope- full -ness instead of hopelessness. By being glum, she was acting like Daddy. She huffed. Mama was absolutely right—seventeen was a tumultuous age.
How did Mama consistently hold so tight to her hope? The answer swooped in with such force that she stumbled, as if she’d actually tripped over the thought. “I’ve got to tell Daddy.”
Leo’s puzzled “What?” came from behind her shoulder.
She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud. She grimaced. “Sorry. I was talking to myself.”
His soft chuckle rumbled. “Now that you’ve pulled me into your private conversation, I’m curious. What do you intend to tell him?”
She came to a stop. She kept her gaze forward as she answered. “He needs to pray more.” And so did she. “He used to pray at meals and when we had our private worship services on Sundays. But I haven’t heard him pray in over a year.” She’d stopped talking to God as often as she should, too. It needed to be fixed.
Leo drew up alongside her. She sensed his worried gaze pinned on her profile.
Jennie went on, not looking at him. “Now Mama does all the praying. But even before she took over meal praying and such for our family, she prayed a lot. When she was a girl, she read a poem about taking one’s burdens to Jesus in prayer, and it became her lifetime habit. I can’t ever remember a day that Mama didn’t pray. So that’s her hope, right?” She sent a side-eyed glance at him.
“The One to whom she offers the prayers is her source of hope, but, yes, the prayers are her connection to Him and the hope He gives.”
Funny how he always knew the right way to put things. He would make a good preacher. She turned and fully faced him. “Daddy got hurt, then he stopped praying, and now he’s sad all the time. If he prays again, it should boost his spirits because he’ll be connecting himself to the source of hope.”
He winced as if she’d pinched him. “Well…”
His uncertainty was squashing her hope. She considered pinching him for real. “Well, what? Does prayer help or not?”
“Of course it helps. We rob ourselves of peace and contentment when we wallow in troubling thoughts.” He answered quickly and with such confidence Jennie sighed in relief. He put his hand on her shoulder. “We’re emotional beings. We all have times when we feel sad or discouraged. Emotional feelings are fickle. They can change on a whim.”
She nodded, too aware of how her feelings had gotten the best of her when her wishful thinking painted an unrealistic picture in her head.
“Talking to Jesus, especially letting Him carry whatever is burdening us, can draw us out of sadness or discouragement. But, Jennie, there are some feelings that take hold deep inside and consume a person until he can’t seem to shake them loose.” His grip tightened on her shoulder. “Continual despair can move beyond an emotional feeling and become a sickness, no different than a lingering physical ailment. And sometimes illnesses don’t go away.”
Jennie frowned, fear creating a bitter taste in her mouth. “Are you telling me prayer won’t help Daddy?”
He released her shoulder and jammed his hand through his hair. For several seconds, he stood with his fingers clenched around thick, wavy strands of his hair, his brows pulled low. Then he abruptly straightened and dropped his hand. “The apostle Paul was an example of a man who prayed often. Bible scholars say his knees resembled camel knees because he knelt for so many hours a day.”
Remembering a picture she’d seen of a camel’s bulbous knees, she cringed. “Ouch.”
Leo nodded. “Indeed. Would you say he was a man who knew how to leave burdens with Jesus?”
The minister in Canon City often talked about Paul’s amazing conversion and his strong faith. He held Paul up as an example for others to follow. “Of course.”
“Yet in spite of how much time he spent praying, he was also a man who battled, as he put it, a thorn in his flesh—a problem that constantly tormented him. He prayed repeatedly for the thorn to be removed, but God didn’t take it away. Instead, He told Paul that His grace was enough for him.” He blinked several times as if battling tears. “Having the affliction would let him lean on God instead of depending on himself.”
Jennie was beginning to understand, but she didn’t like what he was saying. Only a couple of days ago, she’d told Mama she preferred yes answers. But if Leo said yes to the question she wanted to ask, she might never ask another question again. She gathered her courage. “Do you think God will decide it’s better to let Daddy stay sad for the rest of his life?”
She held her breath while Leo stared across the landscape beyond her shoulder. He was quiet for so long she wondered if he’d decided to ignore her. Finally, his head wagged back and forth, and her breath whooshed from her lungs in a rush of relief.
He met her gaze. “I can’t say for sure what God will choose. Who am I to know the mind of the almighty God? But I know what He tells us in His Word. He loves us. He never forsakes us. He gives us His strength when ours is gone.” He brushed her arm with his hand. “I know it’s hard for you to see the sadness your daddy wears, but I’m proud of you for making the choice not to let his sadness become your sadness. Continue to pray for him. And, yes, encourage him to pray.”
“And hope?” Jennie’s query emerged in a husky whisper.
He smiled. “Always hope.” He sobered, then looked past her again. “Sometimes the battle a person is fighting isn’t so much for the warrior’s benefit as for someone watching from the wings. God won’t waste your daddy’s struggle, Jennie. Wait and see. Good will come from it.”
A wry laugh left her throat. “That’s hard to imagine right now.”
He turned a soft look on her. “But isn’t that faith in action? Believing even before you see?”
She shook her head in part wonder and part amusement. “Are you sure you aren’t a preacher in a paleontologist’s suit? I feel like I just came from church.”
He laughed so heartily she couldn’t help grinning at him. He reined in his humor and winked at her. “I’m starting to think my father orchestrated our original encounter so he’d have someone on his side coaxing me into the ministry.”
He had a preacher’s knowledge, but she’d seen him light up over an old bone, a shark’s tooth, and the remains of a centuries-old beetle. He was, at heart, a fossil hunter. Maybe God sent this preacher’s son down the path of paleontology to help other scientists see God’s hand of creation wherever they looked. He’d already taught her a great deal. She made a silent vow to enjoy her time with him and not let silly emotions interfere in their budding friendship.
A series of shrill yips seemed to echo from miles away. They both looked in the direction of the sound, then at each other.
“I wonder if that’s Rags,” Jennie said.
“Is that your dog barking?” Leo asked at the same time.
They chuckled in unison.
Another quick succession of yips followed by a throaty bark met her ears, and Jennie clasped her hands in a prayerful position. “Oh, I hope it’s Rags. The only sounds he made yesterday or last night were whimpers. But those are happy noises!”
Leo waggled his eyebrows. “It sounds to me like someone is playing with him and getting him riled up.”
A rush of anticipation set Jennie’s feet in motion. “Let’s go see who it is.”