Welcome to the Whyte House Family Spoken Novels podcast episode #340. Today we are reading chapter 31 of the novel “All the Bishop’s Children” by Daniel Whyte III with Meriqua Whyte.
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Despite her husband’s protest, Rosalind was up early the next morning and had a hot breakfast of buttered grits, fried fish, and toast with jelly on the table by the time Dwight got dressed for work at the hardware store.
“Why are you all dressed up?” he asked his wife.
“Dwight, we’ve already been over this; I don’t want to go into it again,” Rosalind said. “I have to be at work by eight thirty. Since this is officially my first day, the manager wants me to come in a half hour early for training. I’ll be home by five, and you don’t have to worry about eating late: the roast is already in the oven, the collard greens is on the stove, the rice won’t take long to cook once I get in, and I’ll pick up something sweet to go along with the meal. Eva is all set to watch Jessica and to make sure DJ, Rachel, and Kennedy get on the school bus safely. Mama Tess won’t have to lift a finger. Now can you please eat; I would like to leave a clean kitchen.”
Rosalind’s curt tone left Dwight speechless. He looked at her for some seconds before he resumed eating his breakfast in silence. I can’t believe she’s going against what I told her to do. “Have you checked on Mama Tess, yet?” he finally asked. “I have not heard her since I’ve been up.”
“No. She probably needs the extra sleep this morning. You know how it is some mornings,” Rosalind said. “Rachel and Kennedy, eat your food up! I do not have time for any foolishness this morning.”
DJ, who had been listening to his parents and had stopped eating quickly finished off his breakfast, got his book bag, and went outside in the front yard to wait for the school bus.
Before leaving, Dwight checked in on his mother. She did not respond immediately to his voice or to his knocks on her bedroom door. Thinking the worse, he entered her bedroom. She was lying in the bed.
“Mama Tess! Mama Tess!” he said shaking her. He breathed a sigh of relief when she stirred. “You had me worried there for a while. Are you feeling alright?”
“Just a little weak in the body, son. Nothing new,” Mama Tess said weakly. “My body can’t do like it used to. I’ll be alright. I just need a little extra rest.”
Dwight and Rosalind made Mama Tess as comfortable as they could after helping her with her breakfast. Eva would tend to her during their absence.
“Don’t you feel badly taking off to go to a job you don’t need and leaving your mother-in-law in the state that she’s in?” Dwight said to Rosalind as they stepped off the porch headed for their cars.
“I don’t feel like answering you right now because I have no time for a husband who tries to put me on a guilt trip,” Rosalind said. “But if you really want me to respond, why don’t you stay home with her? She’s your mother. Plus, at her age, she can die any minute now. I’ve already prepared myself for her death.”
Rosalind got in her car, turned the key in the ignition, backed out the driveway, and headed on to the pharmacy. Dwight let out a deep sigh as he pulled out behind her.
Mama Tess was sitting up in her bed when Dwight and Rosalind checked on her during their lunch break.
“I’m feeling stronger,” she told them. “I’ll still be here when you return this evening. God’s not ready to take me yet.”
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DJ was quiet on the bus ride to school. He was in deep thought oblivious to the chatter of the other students on the bus. Why does Mom always go against what Dad says? She is always doing something he does not want her to do. A new car is nice, but why buy it without his knowledge? It’s okay to get a job, but why do it against his will and when you don’t need it?
He was surprised to find Eva still there and not his mother when he and his siblings returned home from school. He stopped by Mama Tess’ room to say ‘hello’ to her.
“You can sit on the floor and play awhile until your mama and daddy come home,” Mama Tess told him.
DJ sat on the floor with his books.
“How was school? Did you learn something new?” Mama Tess asked.
“Yes,” DJ said. “Want me to read one of my books to you?”
Mama Tess listened as DJ read to her. “That was very good. Just speak up louder and emphasize each word. Here,” she said reaching for her Bible. “Read me something from the Bible. Start from the beginning.”
“Grandma Tess, why did Mom have to get a job?” DJ asked.
“Oh, she just wanted something extra to do to help bring some money into the house.”
“Well, Daddy’s making enough money, isn’t he?” DJ said.
“Yes. But your mother wants the extra money to buy you children some of the things she did not have when she was y’all age. She does not want you all to have to do without like she did.”
“I’m not hurting for anything. I have everything I need,” DJ said.
Mama Tess laughed. “That’s the spirit to have. You be content with what you have; that’s the attitude God wants you to have.”
DJ read the Bible to his grandmother until his father came home. His mother came home forty minutes later.
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Thank you for joining us for this episode of Whyte House Family stories. You may purchase a copy of this novel and any other Christian fiction books read on this podcast from Amazon.com.
Now, dear listener, please know that God—the divine Author of all things—wants to write a great story with your life as well. But first you must give Him the pen by trusting Him with the life He gave you and surrendering your heart to Jesus Christ as Savior. Here is how:
1. Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 reads: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
2. Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
3. Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
4. Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2: 8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
5. Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
6. With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
May God bless you until next time.
BCNN1 WP 