Tommy had heard a lot of sermons and Sunday school lessons in her life, but thought she had never heard anyone make the connections that Lauren had just made.  It struck her that despite all she maybe should have learned sitting in what she had sort of regarded as boring obligations there was a great deal she didn’t know.  She had some reading to do.

Thus over the next few days she made a point of finding time to read, mostly in John, sometimes in Genesis, trying to understand and anticipate what Lauren was likely to teach next.  She got several chapters into John, to the Samaritan woman at the well, but kept going back to the beginning and re-reading it, trying to notice details she had missed, fill in the blanks, understand it more deeply than she had previously considered.

Of course, this wasn’t a youth group retreat.  She still had to hunt or fish, and cook, and scavenge firewood.  On one day Lauren gave directions to light the fires in the water heaters for the showers, so that everyone could get washed.  Everyone brought wood for this, and Tommy was glad for the hot wash.  She was also pleased that she had her own soap and shampoo, and once she was washed she wore her housecoat over fresh underwear and sat by their fire for a while, just enjoying the luxury of clean hair and a clean body.

Changing into a fresh set of clothes, she realized that she was going to have to wash some laundry yet again.  She had done this already a few times, and missed washing machines, but even just cleaning them in the fresh water of the lake and draping them over branches to dry in the fresh air and sunshine was good, even if the clothes were a bit stiff.

Lauren had produced several more sheets of what she herself admitted was poor quality for leather, but which were now woven into the roof of the nest for added warmth and protection.  It was apparently an experiment, but they had had a rainy day on which the new covers seemed to keep the moisture out a bit better.

Still, the most interesting part of life was her new-found interest in reading the Bible.  The idea that God really could be personally involved in her life, and might even have chosen her to be here and do something for Him was entirely new to her, despite it having been mentioned many times before in church.  Yet the evidence was there, and it made more sense to believe it than not.  It mattered.

There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with twenty other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #472:  Versers Vanish.  Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter.  It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.

As to the old stories that have long been here:

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