Marcus Redding: Tired But Happy

Micah was crying and Marcus heard Lauren mumble something that sounded like, “So tired…” He fumbled in the dark for his cell phone and pushed a couple buttons to light it up. 2:41 a.m. Marcus leaned over and said, “I’ll take him.” Lauren mumbled more clearly now, “No, you need to rest too, you are exhausted.” Marcus said, “Yeah, but I’m not recovering from major surgery. Let me take him, 1 Peter 3:7 you know.” Lauren relented, “I feel that scripture right now,” and she turned over and went back to sleep. Marcus wrapped up Micah and took him out of the bedroom to walk him back to sleep. Back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, down the hall, around the extra bedroom, back up the hall. He didn’t mind at all.

He was tired enough to sleep through the night. Mr. Johnson might have been in his seventies but he could outwork Marcus. Just today they cut down a couple pine trees, repaired the a/c unit on one of the cabins, baled hay, and doctored a hurt calf. It was a new kind of work for him and his body was still adjusting.

They couldn’t have made it without Ruth’s help the first week. Marcus took the first few days off then Ruth came and stayed at the ranch house and cooked and watched Micah some so Lauren could rest. Sometimes Mr. Johnson would come in a check on everyone. He met Ruth and they started to talk. Mr. Johnson even called her during the week. When Ruth got off the phone with him she saw Lauren looking at her, “I know what that look means. The man is twenty years older than me. So don’t get any ideas.” Lauren laughed but the laughter hurt her stomach, “Ouch…it’s his ideas I’m worried about, mom.” Lauren laughed some more, “C-section…ha-ha…ow…ha-ha…ouch…”

But now Ruth had gone back home to screen Mr. Johnson’s calls and Marcus and Lauren were on their own. Just the three of them. And they felt like they were really on their own for the first time. It was exciting, even though they were busy and both of them were exhausted. They had a new house, a new baby, a new start…and they were going to a new church.

They didn’t go with the crowd on this one. So many people would drive farther to a bigger church instead of going to a smaller church close by. But Marcus knew the value of a fresh start and even before they moved out to the ranch he told Lauren he was thinking about the little church in Rayville. She wasn’t too sure. She was thinking young families and support and friends their age. They visited a few times before Micah was born. There were only a few people their age, part of three generation families. But the folks were friendly, the preaching was good, they had a couple elders and some deacons. It seemed to be a well-organized and busy group of folks. Maybe they wouldn’t stay there forever, but it was good for now. Marcus had been reading Romans and told Lauren about this verse, “’Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.’ So maybe it’s not about what we can get out of it, but what we can do to help the church.”

Lauren wanted to keep Micah in for the first few weeks so the first Sunday after Micah was born a few of the ladies met Marcus at the door and told him they had food for them in the refrigerator. A nice surprise. But he was more surprised after services when they brought it out to his truck: broccoli and cheese casserole, brisket, big pot of chili, chicken pot pie, sweet potato pie, three kinds of salad, homegrown fruit. And there was a note from a few of the ladies in which they offered to come by and watch Micah for a while so Lauren could get some rest.

Marcus got home and brought in the food and showed Lauren the note. She looked at the food, she looked down at Micah, she looked around the house, and she looked at her husband. “Jehovah Jireh,” she said. “The Lord will provide.”

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week.