The Legacy that Christ Gives

By Ruth Collins

Sylvia had been raised in a pastor's home, but when she went to college and met Kenneth, that all was left behind as part of her life. Many years later and a large part of her life lived, she found herself in the life of country-club luncheons and volunteering at the local woman's clinic to help low-income ladies be able to access abortions. This was her life until the day her precious granddaughter died in her arms, and it was her fault.

With the help of her housekeeper, God met her at this moment and changed her life for all eternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890433626

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The Legacy that Christ Gives

Ruth Collins

ISBN 979-8-89043-361-9 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89043-362-6 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Ruth Collins

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Epilogue

About the Author

Chapter 1

Nellie was at her church cleaning for Sunday service. As she sat down to take a break and to connect with God in a moment of prayer, there was a sharp pain that came into her soul like an invisible knife or a bolt of lightning. The painful jolt was as if a family member was dying. She hoped, if her senses were accurate, that it wasn't anyone in her immediate family.

Nellie's parents and her husband's parents were already buried out back in the small graveyard behind the church. Perhaps it was her cousin or some distant kin. She really had no one who was that close to her who was ill that she knew of. Her church family was close, however, so maybe God was preparing her heart for a loss as He did so many times throughout the years. She just silently prayed that God would use her through whatever might happen and what pain God seemed to be preparing her for. She had ministered to so many throughout the years along with her husband, who was their pastor.

The loss of their baby boy when Nellie and her husband were newly married changed her so dramatically. It had caused her to turn from her selfish ways and to really turn to God, the God of all comfort. Only He knew her sadness, how deeply it ran, and she would return to that reliable comfort repeatedly as from time to time, certain sadness flooded her life. As Nellie sat there praying, her husband, Robert, saw her from his study within their church. He walked over to her, sat down beside her, and reached for her hand, and they sat there together both praying to God.

As Sylvia McCool stood outside the Woman's Clinic, she felt the cool breeze pass over her face. She was dressed in a beautiful two-piece outfit that she had bought at a local women's boutique. She lacked for nothing in her world. She was tall and slender, with brown chestnut-colored hair with deep brown eyes. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after tennis lessons and a light lunch with her gal friends at the country club, she headed off to volunteer at the Women's Clinic. Her husband, Kenneth, worked as an accountant at the best firm in their city, and she was allowed the privilege of having a life beyond what she had ever dreamed when they married after college which now seemed to them like many, many years ago.

Kenneth was a neat and proper gentleman, a bit odd too as accountants tend to be, and he was, of course, a man deeply committed to his work. He was tall and slender with thick, black hair and deep blue eyes which never ceased to draw Sylvia back to when they first met.

Sylvia had received a teaching degree but had only used it for a couple of years before her husband was established in his profession and their daughter Saraquen was born. She was able to stay home after that, and when Saraquen went to school, Sylvia began to make a life for herself with lunch dates and volunteer work, but she was always home by the time Saraquen returned from school.

Over the years, this life that Sylvia had made for herself simply grew around her and took root. He had his profession, and she oversaw the house. She started as a hospital volunteer and then was asked to be an attendant at the Women's Clinic a couple of years later. She believed in a woman's right to her own body. It was something she had learned in college and really believed in her heart. When she was in college and went home for the holidays and summer breaks, her parents would ask her about her studies, and they were horrified to hear her talk about a woman's right to choose abortion.

Her father was a minister of the small country church in which she had grown up, and neither of her parents shared that belief. They had sat up many late nights with countless young women who were pregnant outside of wedlock, and they had always spoken life into their situations. Either the young women kept their baby, and her family along with the church undergirded her with support, or she decided to give the child an opportunity to be adopted by a family waiting to share their lives with these little ones. Either way, the church supported her decision and helped along the way.

Over the years, her parents had the opportunity to welcome so many children into their congregation and were blessed with the decision knowing that they had stood for life. Now their daughter was in their home spewing politically generated talking points from an argument she really did not have the maturity to understand. All the while, she was fully aware of the lifelong work in which her parents were fully vested. With this heavy burden now on their hearts, Sylvia's parents took the matter to God in prayer as they went to bed that night…and every night thereafter.

Sylvia continued to finish her schooling, and while attending school, she met Kenneth. He was an accounting major that seemed to see everything in black-and-white terms. His parents were both diplomats, and he was raised in boarding schools with little attention from his parents. He was their only child, so visits home consisted of visiting wherever they were stationed at the time. He never knew the closeness of a family, so after they married, visits with Sylvia's family in small-town America were very uninteresting and even irritating for him.

In college, he wanted Sylvia, almost as a conquest for the ideal accountant's wife and accountant's life, so their early days together were more driven by passion under the sheets instead of true relationship building. Most of the time, Sylvia felt like a stop in his day or a check off his list. She wanted to graduate from college and go to a city, not back home to teach in their local schools. She saw Kenneth as part of her plan as they stayed together for mutual benefits. They lived now more as roommates than as lovers.

Standing outside the clinic that day as a human barrier, Sylvia served as a clinic volunteer, protecting the incoming and outgoing women as they came for a procedure or left from their procedure. Sylvia felt that it was her duty to help these other women and protect them from the abortion protestors.

The word abortion, however, was never used in civilized circles, but everybody knew what the word procedure meant. Sylvia was there at the door protecting these ladies from the pro-life kooks that came and stood outside their clinic property each day, rubbing their prayer beads, and praying. Sometimes they would even attempt to talk to the girls before they made it to the front door to have their procedure. Usually, the school personnel that brought them during school hours had to be assertive to these crazies so that these girls could get inside. There were other attendants who were a bit more militant at the front door to drive away the pro-life group back to the sidewalk on the other side of the street where they were supposed to be. The clinic was there to perform a service, Sylvia thought, and the pro-life people needed to follow the rules or face police involvement. She was surprised by their bold moves on any given day. She assumed that in their minds they felt they were doing good deeds.

*****

Standing just across the street from the property line, Tricia went to the Women's Clinic with a stronger-than-usual determination. Each person in her group said that they felt God's presence as they stood in prayer before getting their protest signs from the back of an old white Ford pickup truck. They had all come from different churches and started meeting at the clinic a few years prior after their city council passed an ordinance allowing this building to be used for abortions.

These ladies and sometimes men may have come from all different churches and even faiths, but their hearts were all in one agreement toward loving the unborn child and the families they represented. Many in their group were older and had already raised their own children and knew what a true blessing it was to raise a child.

Many who came out were also adoptive parents who were so thankful for the gift of life that their children's birth families had given to them and their families. The people who came out each week on the day that abortions took place came to pray and intercede for the unborn and their moms. They talked to as many as they could in hopes of offering a glimmer of hope for a life-changing decision.

Tricia herself had gotten an abortion while she was off at college. Her parents and her boyfriend at the time never knew what she did, but she did it. After the abortion, she had regret that slid rapidly and deeply into full-blown depression. She was halfway through her schooling to be a lawyer and had to quit to move back home. Her parents thought it was her studies that had caused her to really suffer, but Tricia knew the truth. She suffered in silence with guilt as she started working on obtaining her paralegal degree at a local community college. She wanted the safety of her family during this time of distress. That is where she met her husband, Tim, and her life changed for all eternity.

Tim was a Christian, and he invited her to go to church with him. They would have lunch afterward and talk about any questions she may have had about Sunday school class or the church service. Over the next few months, as they become more serious in their relationship, Tim asked her about her walk with God. Before this time, no one had ever talked to her about God, except for her granny who had died when she was a small child. Over a burger and fries at a local diner, Tricia accepted Christ as her Savior. Tim showed her in the scriptures that because Jesus went to the cross and died for her sins, and she accepted His sacrifice by faith, she was forgiven, even for what she had done with her unborn child.

As they got engaged and then married, Tricia continued to struggle within herself about that forgiveness, but it was seeing Christ's love and forgiveness toward others that led her to forgive herself. That was the first time she truly felt Christ's love for her and when true clarity and freedom came. How she saw and lived her life began to change, and God gave her new desires after she had laid her guilt and shame at His feet.

Chapter 2

As the back door of the Women's Clinic opened, Sylvia went to grab the young lady's arm to lead her down the stairs and heard her say, in a weak voice, Grandma. Sylvia looked up and saw the face of her precious granddaughter, Jewel. As they walked down the stairs, she noticed that there was blood running down Jewel's legs. They walked to Sylvia's car, as a young lady walked toward her. It was her school guidance counselor, Ms. Jones. She saw Sylvia and saw the blood coming down Jewel's legs. Ms. Jones helped Sylvia into her grandma's car and then Ms. Jones left quickly. At this moment, Sylvia became scared for Jewel as she left the Women's Clinic parking toward the hospital.

As Sylvia drove, Jewel started to describe the pain she felt. Jewel was her only grandchild, and she loved her more than life itself. Her daughter, Saraquen, had gotten pregnant during a rebellious time in high school. Sylvia had hoped that being pregnant would make her calm down to care for a newborn. She had given birth to her while living in their home during her senior year of high school. They allowed her to stay home, so she could finish school and take care of Jewel instead of sending her off to a maternity home or the like.

Grandma Sylvia stayed home with Baby Jewel while Saraquen finished school. While it bothered her that Saraquen didn't seem to have that mother's bond with her child, Sylvia loved all those moments she had spent with her granddaughter. Much to Sylvia's surprise, when Saraquen graduated from high school, she decided to go to college, leaving Jewel with her parents all the more. Sylvia agreed willingly and continued to care for Jewel. As Jewel grew, so did the bond between her and her grandmother.

Over the summer break, Saraquen was always gone with her friends. Sylvia gave her a lot of space because she had finished and graduated high school. As she started college, Saraquen would come home sometimes as she attended a local college, but most of the time, Saraquen was away. Every day Jewel grew, she became closer to her grandma and not to her own mother. Sylvia had almost taken her place. As Jewel got older, and Saraquen graduated from college and moved in with a series of boyfriends, Jewel sporadically lived with her mom. That worked with Sylvia's hectic schedule of country-club lunches, volunteering, and civic duties. When Jewel wanted to live with Sylvia and her husband, Sylvia cut back on her outings, took Jewel with her, or left her at home with the housekeeper, Nellie. Jewel always seemed happy with that arrangement.

Nellie had been with the McCools many years, had watched Saraquen grow up, and now was watching Jewel do the same. She had a deep-rooted faith that she had attempted to share with Sylvia early on in her job. Sylvia had made it very clear to her that she was tolerant of her religion, but that she was not comfortable with talking about it. Nellie never said anything else but continued to pray for this family and knew God had a plan for her employment there. She had peace working there even though they were not receptive to God.

*****

Tricia had watched as Sylvia had taken the last patient from the back door of the clinic to her own car; she suspected since she had also driven away. As she stood there and prayed, she saw that it looked as if the patient had had a botched abortion as she could also see blood streaming down her legs even from several feet away.

The group of pro-life ladies that day came together outside of the clinic and started to urgently pray for this young lady's life. They did not know who she was and why an ambulance had not been called, but Tricia thought the patient called the volunteer, Grandma. Oh, this situation was so critical as two lives may be lost today.

*****

Grandma, said Jewel. Sylvia immediately came back to the present and turned her face toward her granddaughter that now had an ashen look about her face. I don't feel good, Grandma. What happened to me today? Sylvia looked down between her granddaughter's legs and could still see fresh blood puddling on the floor mat.

Sylvia was almost at the hospital and knew they would help her. It was probably excess blood left from the procedure, Sylvia thought.

As they drove onto the hospital property, Jewel's breaths became labored. As Sylvia rolled up to the emergency room doors, she jumped out and started to call to a young man who was standing there in a white medical coat. He ran over to Jewel's side of the door and opened the door. When he took one look at Jewel, he called another doctor who placed her in a wheelchair and rushed her in.

For a moment, Sylvia stood there numb and unable to move. Her mind was in a fog, and her legs would not work at all. All she could do was watch as the hospital staff wheeled Jewel away. After she stood there for a few brief minutes which seemed like an hour, the young man who she'd seen at the emergency room entrance arrived to walk her back to where they had taken her granddaughter. It was down a long narrow hall that had people walking back and forth down this hall. All she could ask was, How is Jewel? The young man walked quietly and did not