After the Story - Choices Like Rivers - Episode 25
After the Story - Choices Like Rivers - Episode 25
This podcast discusses each chapter of Choices Like Rivers and each episode is posted directly after the book episode. This corresponds to Chapter 9 Section 3.
Listen to my professionally narrated audio books and other podcasts here: AUDIO BOOKS & ALL PODCASTS.
More ways to read and follow along with my novels | Author Signed Hardcover | Author Signed Soft Cover | eBook
Sharon had many things in her life she chose to dread. The greatest was tied to losing Molly Sue. She didn’t know whether her mother would be found, or if she would be taken away from her.
The day finally came where that dread was realized. It would have been easier if it had been her mother. She could have seen and understood that, but to have the court system rip her away and place her with yet another family that was not her birth mother was just adding insult to injury.
Sharon was a good mother to Molly Sue. She had given her love, time, and any material provision she needed. But one thing that society deemed as important, Sharon couldn’t give her - a father in the home.
Things were changing in 1979 but so much was still the same and one of those things was the thought that children needed a two parent home. Even her friend Leslie is on the fence about it.
Discussing Sharon getting a lawyer brings us the name Matt Yates. The very name Yates opens up thoughts and memories about Will. Is she willing to talk to a lawyer that could be related to Will because he is the best and could possibly help her to keep Molly Sue? Possibly.
The thought grows on her as she is sitting there with Leslie and she finds deep within herself the determination to fight for her right to keep Molly Sue.
Sharon has had so much pain in her life and each time it seems that she is getting her feet under her and things are going to change, she gets hit hard once again.
When one hardship after another comes crashing in on us like an ocean wave we barely have time to catch our breath. Discouragement and hopelessness settles in and we just give up and drown in a sea of despair. That is where Sharon is or was before Molly Sue came into her life.
That little girl brought so much joy to her and gave her hope once again, even though there seemed to be a dark cloud of doubt hovering overhead.
To Sharon it is the only thing she has to live for, to look forward to. Before Molly Sue she had settled into a mundane life, what else could she do? She liked her co-workers, she felt purpose at the police station.
But when Molly Sue walked into her life that day it was as if a bright light came and suddenly her gray world became technicolor. It opened her eyes to just how bland and dull her life had been. To go back to that after having had a full life with Molly Sue was unbearable.
Life is a series of ups and downs. They can be slight or profound. Unfortunately for Sharon she continues to have a series of profound downswings and each one hinders her ability to rebound and move forward.
We know she masks the pain with alcohol which we know is a depressant. We know very little at this point of any other friendships other than Leslie and her co-workers.
Molly Sue has brought something in her life other than just a child to love. She has brought a new look at Christianity and the love of Christ.
Sharon battles with it, but there is no denying that the light is glowing in her home on a daily basis.
What if Molly Sue had not been taught about Jesus and wasn’t adoringly in love with him? What if she had been a surly dark leaning child who gave Sharon constant grief? Would Sharon have relinquished guardianship much sooner?
I believe so. It wasn’t just mothering Molly Sue that gave Sharon joy. It was the light of Christ that came into her home when Molly Sue arrived. She was drawn to that as much as to Molly Sue. And she does not realize that she can have that same light in her life even if Molly Sue leaves.
Many scenarios could play out here. She could get to keep Molly Sue despite all the odds, she could lose her but find the true light of life - Jesus. She could lose Molly Sue and fall so deep into despair that she doesn’t ever find light or life again.
If you were her friend Leslie what would you say to her, how would you encourage her to know Christ when she is so blatantly opposite to it? Maybe just what she is doing, loving her and being there for her. Sometimes that is exactly what Christ would want us to do.
Shop all versions of my novels here: Shop Here
Check out my website: NancyJacksonAuthor.com
Follow me here:
Substack: https://nancyjackson.substack.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyajackson/
