Page 87 of When We Were Young
She laughed and pressed against him, closer still, and the two of them swayed beneath a canopy of branches. As far as Noah was concerned they weren’t dancing back from the edge of a deadly, disastrous cliff. Not anymore. They were nineteen and new and in love, dancing across her living room floor. And all of life was ahead of them.
Noah stepped back. “Hey!” He smiled at Emily and then at the kids. “Let’s go to the swings.”
“Yes!” Aiden was the first to take off, with Livi close behind him. Noah laughed to himself. He had no words for how good he felt, how wonderful it was that his kids were still little. He didn’t want this day to ever end. They reached the swing set. “Look at that.” Noah ran his hand along the black seat. “They’re dry!”
Emily put Olivia in the baby swing, and Noah helped Aiden climb onto one of the three big swings. “I know, Daddy. Let’s see who can swing highest.”
Just like that his tears started up again. He adjusted his sunglasses, grateful Aiden couldn’t see him cry. “Now that... is a very good idea, Aiden.” He took the middle swing and grinned at Emily. “I bet Mommy wins.”
“Mommy always wins.” She flashed Noah a flirty look and gave Olivia one more push. Then she took the seat beside their daughter and set her swing in motion.
Soon all four of them were swinging, completely in sync with each other, sunshine on their faces, pushing their legs to the sky as if it wasn’t almost the end of the world. As if life hadn’t almost come to a sudden crash.
And a thought hit Noah.
Aiden and Olivia would never know the terrible heartache and loss they had been spared. They would never know and he would never tell them. Because God really had set before him life and death, blessings and curses. And after today, Noah would never choose death again. Whenever God gave him the choice he would choose life.
Now and forevermore.
27
Kari didn’t get a call from Emily until late that night. God had indeed worked a miracle for the couple, for their whole family. Something about a dream and watching Aiden and Olivia grow up all in one night.
“It’s okay,” Kari told her. “You and Noah can tell us all about it later.”
When the call ended, Kari checked @When_We_Were_Young on Instagram. Noah had added a new post, just an hour ago. It was a meme of a park and a swing set, the sun shining through the branches. There was a Bible verse over the scene. The Scripture was from Deuteronomy 30:19.
I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.
A smile lifted Kari’s mouth and she nodded. “Yes, Noah. That’s it.” She turned off the computer and found Ryan in the living room. Her sister Ashley had told her about keeping her family off social media for a season. And Kari had liked the idea so much she and Ryan were starting the challenge, too. The kids were at the kitchen table playing Sequence and laughing.
Ryan looked up from a chair in the adjacent family room. “Everything okay?” He lowered his brow, clearly concerned. “What is it?”
They needed privacy for this talk. The kids didn’t understand that Noah and Emily had been on the brink of divorce. Kari motioned for him to follow her outside. When they were out back, Kari smiled at Ryan and pointed toward heaven. “He did it. God did it.”
“For us?” He looped his arms around her waist and drew her close. “Definitely.”
“Yes.” She laughed. “For us. But for Noah and Emily, too.”
Ryan’s eyes lit up. “Are you serious?”
“I am.” Kari’s heart soared with joy. She felt the sparkle in her eyes. “Wait till you hear what happened.”
And as she told Ryan the story—or at least the part she knew—she felt a surge of hope and faith that by now was a regular part of her existence. Because this was the second miracle God had worked in their midst—all in one day. And if Kari knew anything about life and the God they loved, this much was true.
It wouldn’t be the last.
•••
AIDEN LAY INbed that night long after his mommy and daddy had prayed and tucked them in. He couldn’t stop thinking about the one thing that mattered most of all.
The storm was over. Everything was okay.
Which meant God had answered him. Aiden smiled in the dark. “Thank You, God,” he whispered out loud. “You kept Daddy home today.”
God had listened. He had done something special to Daddy’s heart. Aiden could tell because tonight Daddy said amen after the nighttime prayer.
All on his own.
