With Wings As Eagles
an excerpt

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. ~ Isaiah 40:31

Rebecca Daniels awoke to the sound of her husband softly opening the bedroom door and quietly entering the room.

“Honey, it’s time to get up. Oh! You’re awake!”

“Mhmm..." she murmured sleepily. "I heard you open the door.”

“How come you always hear me come in but you never hear the alarm clock?” Scott grumbled.

“How come you’re leaving so early?” Rebecca returned, as the red numbers glowing from the digital clock slowly came into focus. “It’s only 6:30!”

“I’m almost out of gas. Have to swing by Westlock and fill ’er up on my way to work.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her warmly. “I’ll go get the boys up,” he said as he stood up to turn on the lamp.

Rebecca rolled over on her back, closing her eyes against the glare of the lamp shining directly overhead. Just a few more minutes, she thought sleepily.

The door opened again and a small boy appeared.

“Mom! It’s time to get up!”

Was there an echo in the room?

“What? Oh! Okay, Chad, I’m getting up.” A quick glance at the clock spurred her into action. 7:10 already! Drat! She had done it again! There was only time now to pull on her clothes hurriedly and rush out to the kitchen and start barking orders.

“Logan! Put an extra couple of oatmeal cookies in for Chad. His teacher says he ran out of food before lunch break yesterday. Chad! Have you taken your vitamins? And watch what you’re doing or you’ll slop milk down the front of your shirt. Don’t wipe your mouth on your sleeve! Ryan, did you get your science paper from my desk where I left it? And can you get Chad another pair of socks? One without holes in them? Chad where on earth did you find those socks anyway? What do you mean he has no clean socks in his drawer? How many times do I have to tell you guys not to leave socks and things lying around on the floor, but to put them in the wash? I am not going to wander around the house picking up after you! Logan, hurry up and get those lunches packed – and Chad, do hurry up and eat – the bus is due any minute now!”

Calm down, Rebecca! she chided herself silently. Although the minutes ticked by relentlessly and fast in the mornings, the boys had their routine down like clockwork. After homeschooling all their lives, they had been attending the local public school for only two months... but at 16 and 14, Logan and Ryan knew what was expected, and could have done quite well without her help. Only Chad had to be watched and prodded, or he would drift off into la-la land and not be ready in time. A night owl and a dawdler by nature, he had not grown accustomed to the early hours when every minute counted before he had to go rushing out the door. In fact, “rushing” did not seem to be a part of his vocabulary. He never rushed anywhere, and ran only when he had no choice while playing outside.

Minutes later, laden down with heavy winter jackets and boots, backpacks and lunch bags, they stumbled out the front door, waving to their mother as they crossed the front lawn. They stood in a huddle by the mailbox, stomping their feet and rubbing their hands to stay warm while they waited for the bus. Their small acreage home was located in a dip between two hills, where they could see up the dirt road for half a mile in both directions. Still, it would never do to keep the bus driver waiting, and on these cold November mornings they could be waiting ten minutes or more if he happened to be a few minutes late.

Rebecca donned her shoes and jacket and headed out the back door to fill the bird feeder and sweep the scattered seeds off the floor of the deck. The neighbours’ cats were picking the birds off slowly, but there were still numerous bluejays, chickadees, woodpeckers, sparrows and nuthatches visiting the feeders all day long.

Ah! There was the schoolbus, just coming up over the top of the hill. Rebecca returned the straw broom to its place on the wall, and went in to tidy up the kitchen.

Half an hour later the dishes were soaking in hot, soapy water in the sink, and she was sitting at her computer with a cup of hot, fresh coffee and a mug of strawberry protein shake. She would sweep the floor and clean off the table and counters later. For now she was all set. She swallowed a few mouthfuls of strawberry smoothie and her fingers automatically found the right keys on the keyboard. She opened a fresh document, and prepared to type. Her fingers remained still and quiet. She stared at the blank screen. She reached for her coffee and took a few swallows. She stared some more. She got up to investigate the sound she heard coming from the deck. She chased the neighbours’ cat away from the birds. She watched the cat disappear around the row of tall spruce trees and under the fence into the long, brown grass of the pasture. She went and sat down again. And sat. And stared at the screen. She got up and went in the bedroom and made the bed. She replaced the empty box with a new box of kleenex. She sat down again and stared at the blank screen as drank some more coffee and protein shake. She checked her emails and replied to two of them. She stared at the blank screen some more. With some exasperation she clicked on a computer game. An old one she had been playing for years. Could play with her eyes closed, and even in her sleep. This at least she could do, and do well. She could beat anyone hands down at this game.

An hour later a knock came at the front door, followed by a cheery voice.

“Hey Rebecca! How’s it going?”

“Brenda!” Rebecca jumped guiltily, suddenly aware that several hours had passed and she had not done a thing. She had totally forgotten she was having company this morning!