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Maybe she really liked this new schedule after all, Olive thought to herself as she strolled down the drive a few days later. It was Thursday, and her sister was getting married the next day.

She’d talked to them the day before, and they were planning on doing some work this afternoon on the house. Since she’d been here, she hadn’t given them a hand at all.

Amara had told her not to worry about it, that they all understood that she had had a baby and she’d been sick on top of that. Still, she wanted to pull her weight and not dump everything on her sisters. That was the old her. The new her was trying to turn a new leaf over. For some reason, that leaf seemed awfully heavy.

Regardless, it was a beautiful summer day along the shores of Lake Michigan, with the lake breeze blowing through her hair and rippling the grasses along either side of the driveway. Livvy, content in her car seat, was wide-awake, with her big brown eyes looking everywhere, as though she were actually taking it all in. She seemed so wise. Olive could only hope that she would grow up to be as wise as she seemed, a lot wiser than her mother at least.

Wiser than her father, who’d gotten involved with someone aside from his wife.

Olive would never have been with him if she had realized he was married, but she shouldn’t have been intimate with someone she wasn’t married to anyway, so she knew the fault for that lay on her shoulders.

She shoved all those thoughts aside. That was her past. That was the person she was before she rededicated her life to Christ. She didn’t expect an overnight change, although she did understand that sometimes Jesus did change people that quickly and easily. He hadn’t done that for her, but he’d given her the desire, not necessarily the will.

That was fine. She would grow in character every time she didn’t allow her flesh to win.

She hadn’t realized how long it was from Doyle’s house to their mansion, and she was exhausted by the time she climbed her driveway. There weren’t many hills in Michigan, but that one seemed particularly steep and she was panting by the time she was up to the top, having had to stop three times and set the car seat down.

Finally, standing at the door, she wasn’t sure whether she should knock or not. It was her house too, but she didn’t want to walk in on anything since both of her sisters were engaged to be married.

And neither one of them would be doing anything inappropriate. She was sure of it.

So, rather than raising her hand to knock, she put her hand on the knob and opened the door.

Mertie and Garnet jerked apart as they heard the door open.

They were fully dressed, embracing in the kitchen, but it was a little bit awkward.

“I’m sorry. I did debate about whether or not I should knock.”

Mertie’s cheeks had flooded with color. She didn’t very often see her sister flustered, and she almost wanted to stand there and enjoy it. If she hadn’t been so tired, she would have.

“Oh. It’s okay. We were just...”

“You don’t have to explain,” Olive broke in, not wanting to hear whatever Mertie was going to say they were doing.

“I think I forgot to call you. In fact, I know I did.” She grimaced, glanced at Garnet, and then looked back to Olive.

“About what?” Olive asked, realizing that Amara was nowhere to be seen.

“This morning, Dominic called Garnet and asked if he would be able to go to the ladies’ Bible study that his wife usually leads for a neighbor down the road. You probably don’t know her, since she and her husband just moved to Raspberry Ridge not that long ago. Her name is Norma Jean. And her husband is Miles. They are...struggling a little in their marriage, and Vera has been working with them, but since she’s had the twins, she’s not been able to make it out as much as she’s wanted to.”

“While Mertie talked to Norma Jean, I’ve been talking with Miles. He definitely loves his wife and wants to be a better husband.” Garnet paused. “If you’d like, you can come along. She has a daughter, Holly, and while Livvy is way too young to play with Holly, Holly would still probably enjoy seeing her.”

“Of course. And it would be good for Livvy to get out and see new people.” The idea of walking all that way made her want to lie down on the floor.

Maybe Mertie saw that because she said, “It’s a beautiful day, but I think we ought to drive. I bet that car seat gets heavy if you try carrying it for any type of distance.”

“I’m glad you said that. I thought I was a weakling because I had to stop three times on the way up the driveway and take a rest. It is heavy.”

“We’ll drive. If you’re sure you don’t mind going. I’m sorry I didn’t call. Amara was there when I got the message, and she decided she would go out on the boat with Hobert today. So... I don’t want to see you working by yourself, and we almost have it ready to go.”

“I’d love to go along.” The idea of working was almost beyond her, but she also was curious as to what kind of ladies’ Bible study Mertie might be doing. She was reading the Bible on her own, but so many times, she couldn’t make a whole lot out of it.

And a few of the Bible studies she looked up online didn’t really follow the Bible. They seemed to have more of a social or political bent than actual truth. And she knew that whatever Mertie’s faults might be, Mertie wasn’t going to take the Bible and change it into anything other than what it actually said and then apply it to everyday living. She listened to Mertie a few times online, and she’d always been impressed with her sister’s wisdom. She supposed that came from reading the Bible a lot, but she hardly hoped to aspire to ever be half that wise herself.

But maybe hanging around wise people was another way, other than reading the Bible, for her to do that.

Garnet’s phone rang, and he glanced at the number. Then, he gave an apologetic glance to Mertie before he said, “I better take this.”

Mertie nodded, and she stayed in the kitchen while he walked into the living room and answered the phone.

“I’m sorry. He’s been having some issues all day with a family down the road whose oldest son is trying to run away. He’s been counseling them, and they are understandably devastated. He’s been trying to work things out, but... It’s a sad situation.” Mertie pressed her lips together and then said, “Can I get you some tea?”

“I can get myself a glass of water. Garnet hasn’t even been the pastor a week yet. I can’t believe he is having to deal with something like that.”

“It’s always something, all the time. And I guess I knew this, because I’ve been in the ministry and I’ve seen it at different churches that I’ve gone to, but the congregation just really doesn’t understand everything that a pastor goes through.”

“And they probably don’t give the pastor’s wife any credit either, since your plans get interrupted, again and again.”

“I suppose that’s true. I wondered before I accepted his proposal whether I would be able to handle it. I know there are going to be times where I’m going to feel neglected because it’s going to feel like he puts his congregation ahead of me.”

“But he’s doing a good work. Working for the Lord.”

“I know. I think sometimes no matter how many good things our husbands do, we still want them to pay attention to us. Right?”

That was the kind of wisdom Olive had been thinking about. Mertie wasn’t even married yet, and she already knew that there were going to be times where she was going to have to fight those feelings.

“How did you get to be so wise?” she asked.

“No. Don’t even. I’m not wise. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life. In fact, I just spent the last few weeks trying to rectify a huge mistake I made years ago. I’m sure that much of my life is going to be spent trying to untangle the problems I’ve gotten myself into. I just hope I don’t mess up Garnet’s ministry, you know?”

“What do you mean?” Olive couldn’t figure out what in the world she was talking about as she walked over and grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filling it up with water from the tap and taking a deep drink, grateful for the rest.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll say something that offends someone and they tell other people in the church and the church ends up splitting because of something I said carelessly. Or maybe there’s someone who doesn’t get along with me, and instead of giving in and being kind and loving and putting others first, I demand my own way. Maybe I don’t even realize it, because you know I have a tendency to plow ahead with the things I want to do, and I don’t always think about others. Maybe they’ll think that I’m playing favorites. I’ve heard that a lot in churches. And I suppose it happens. But... You want to be kind to your friends and spend more time with people you really love, but it offends others you didn’t even notice. It’s just a balancing act, I think, and I’m not sure I’m up to it.”

“You must be up to it. Since God gave you the job.” That was all she could think to say as she rinsed the glass out and set it on the counter.

“I suppose you’re right. Maybe He has more confidence in me than I do.”

“Or maybe He knows that you know that you need to lean on Him. And that people are going to get angry, they’re going to get upset, they’re going to get offended, and that’s not your fault.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“I know I am. When I think about how easily I’ve gotten offended over things, over stupid stuff that didn’t really matter, but I felt like it did. You know? I could have been one of those people who split a church. Thankfully I never did, but as Christians, sometimes we just have no idea of how to be selfless and loving toward others and that the things that we fight about don’t really matter. The color of the carpet for example.”

“I know a church that split over the color of the carpet!” Mertie said, bringing her finger up and waving it around in the air. “I’m not even kidding.”

“I believe it. It’s ridiculous the things Christians fight over. Do you think the color of the carpet is going to matter five years from now? But yet, that church split will. There will be people who go to hell because the church split and people left angry. Children and grandchildren that might have been in church but won’t be. And Christians allowed it to happen.”

“That’s so true. We don’t think about the eternal consequences. We don’t think about any of the consequences, not even to our own children. How does it look whenever we were insisting that we get our way because Mrs. So-and-so has overstepped her bounds and wasn’t on the committee and shouldn’t have any say in whether or not there are cushions on the pews.”

They laughed together. But it really wasn’t funny. How many more people would be Christians today if things like that, petty, ridiculous, non-biblical arguments, hadn’t happened?

“But when we should stand up, when we should say no, when we should say that’s not what the Bible says, we don’t. So we let sin into the church, while we squabble over whether we have coffee or water in the foyer or whether our toilet paper is hung over or under, and meanwhile, sodomy has slipped into the church and we have pastors who are not biblically allowed to preach and murder is winked at and fornication and adultery are rampant, and people get offended if the pastor even whispers that it’s sin, and yet...we allow it.”

Mertie was so right, and all Olive could do was sit there and pray that she wasn’t one of those people who was squabbling about stuff that didn’t matter while major sin was overtaking the church and she wasn’t doing anything about it. There were people who needed to be in church, but they’d left because they couldn’t get along with each other.

“Sometimes ladies argue about how the church should be decorated for Christmas or spring, who should bring the flowers, and whether or not they brought the appropriate bouquet, or whether they bought a cheap one from the grocery store. Who cares?” Mertie shook her head.

They gave each other sad looks as a distracted Garnet came into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry about that. I think I’m going to need to go visit them. Do you think you can handle Norma Jean by yourself?”

“I know Miles is going to be disappointed, but I can definitely handle Norma Jean.” Mertie rose and went over, putting her arms around him, while he hugged her close.

“I’m sorry. I almost asked him to go with me, but I don’t think he’s ready for that. And I’m not sure this is going to have a happy ending.”

“My heart just breaks for those parents. What a difficult thing to go through.”

“I think that they understand they probably should have been paying a little bit more attention to what their son was doing online, but he fell in with the wrong crowd and he’s pretty determined that his parents are idiots and he’s right and he’s leaving. I... I don’t know what to do. It’s not the parents I need to talk to, and the son isn’t listening.”

There was a heaviness in the room that hadn’t been there before. Olive supposed that this kind of stress really weighed on a person, when they felt the stress and heartbreak of everyone in their congregation, and some people who weren’t even a part of it, as they tried to help them navigate the difficult things in life.

She hadn’t realized how stressful it was to be a pastor, all she had thought was that they had to get a sermon up for Sunday morning and possibly one for Sunday evening. Maybe they taught the Sunday school lesson, but she hadn’t realized that all of these other things took up their time.

“I’ll see you later, but we’re still getting married tomorrow, no matter what happens. Although, I do have a couple of people I should visit in the assisted living center after we go and Henry Johnson is in the hospital in Blueberry Beach. Maybe we can swing by and pray with him for a few minutes.”

Mertie nodded. “That’s all fine. I’ll grab some groceries too, so we can plan on that stop as well.”

They nodded, and they walked out the door together, Mertie chatting with Garnet, then he kissed her cheek. Olive buckled Livvy in the back seat while they said a few more words.

She was in with her seat belt on when Mertie finally said goodbye and opened the car door.

“I’m sorry.”

“Not a problem. I... I didn’t realize what you’re getting into.”

“Yeah, definitely being a Christian speaker and author is an easier lifestyle, although there are pressures with that as well. I still get emails almost daily from people who are asking me to give them advice, and all I can do is point to the Bible. They often don’t want that. They want a magic bullet. An easy fix, and they don’t realize that the problems that they’re having are because of sin that has been going on for years oftentimes.” She started the car and backed it out, turning it around and driving down the driveway ahead of Garnet.