Beyond the Mirror: An Encouraging Story of Love and Mercy

By Denise Glenn

In the tight-knit community of Meadowlark, Charlese Matthews grows and thrives. From an early age, she learns about Gods love from her adoring parents; even better, they show her that love by making their home the center of neighborhood activity. Its open and hospitable to anyone, especially to Charleses neighbor and best friend, Walker. The young friends share everything from secrets to snacks, and are never far apart.

But when her mother dies suddenly, Charleses wonderful and carefree world shatters. She leans heavily on those around her and tries to adjust to her devastating loss, but as she grows older it becomes harder for her to deal with her mothers absence especially when confronted with the mysteries of puberty and boys. She graduates high school then college, but circumstances arise that have her questioning Gods existence in her life and her friendship with Walker seems to drift apart.

Now an adult with a secure job and new home, Charlese views the world differently. She feels like God abandoned her many years ago and she can handle things on her own. But when she reconnects with Walker, everything from her past comes roaring back. She realizes she can no longer run from God and learns a hard yet valuable lesson in true friendship, trust, and self worth.

Full of faith and hope, Beyond the Mirror is a heartwarming and captivating story of devotion, loss and love. Also, included in this volume is A New Beginning, the sequel to Beyond the Mirror that shares Charleses continuing journey and the importance of family and faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781490896809

Denise Glenn

Denise is an active member of her church and enjoys volunteering in her community. She and her husband, Peter, have three children and four grandchildren. In her spare time, Denise enjoys time with her family and trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her fondest memories of Helen, Georgia and her passion for the mountains were her inspiration for the fictional township of Meadowlark. She currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Book preview

Beyond the Mirror

An Encouraging Story of Love and Mercy

Denise Glenn

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Copyright

© 2016 Denise Glenn.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9679-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9681-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-9680-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015916934

Print information available on the last page.

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/25/2016

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

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10

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Preface

First and foremost I want to give all honor and glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of His hand being forever upon me, I am alive today and am able to write this book.

As I combined my passion for story telling with some of my personal life experiences, my greatest hope is that it will bring compassion for those with disabilities while also encouraging and renewing a sense of hope and confidence to those faced with an unexpected tragedy.

Always remember….God loves you and you are very special!

Acknowledgements

To my wonderful husband, Pete – Thank you for encouraging me to complete what was once only an inspired thought. You put up with my countless questions regarding your thoughts on the story and always remained patient. Though sometimes the questions seemed inconsequential, you recognized the importance of the story to me and continued to support me through my occasional fits of frustration and discouragement. You saw my potential and encouraged me to keep going and not give up. You certainly are my rock. God has blessed me with a wonderful life partner and I will forever love you.

To my sweet mom, Sherry – The relationship Charlese has with her parents is a reflection of my childhood with you and dad. I always felt unconditional love growing up in our home; and always knew no matter where I was in my path in life, the Lord would help me. I know Dad is watching over me from heaven and I hope it brings you great joy knowing that you both played a tremendous role in molding me into the wife and mother I have become.

I am forever grateful and love you very much.

To my wonderful sisters in Christ and cherished friends, Melanie and Dixie, who kept this endeavor under wraps until the end ~

Melanie - You were the first to hear of the Lord placing this story on my heart, and you never hesitated to spur me forward and acknowledge the possibility of my dream becoming a reality. You always made time for my quick calls to bounce ideas off of, right up to the end, and never seemed bothered. We are securely bonded by the Lord (and bargain shopping ) and I treasure your friendship more than you will ever know.

Dixie - thanks for being so honest after reading the very first draft of my manuscript. Your questions and suggestions on the myriad of pink sticky notes made me think like the reader and not the writer. I needed the raw truth and you lovingly gave it. We have shared many joys and sorrows throughout the years and I wouldn’t have left you out of this important moment in my life. You truly are a wonderful blessing.

To a special teacher and Christian co-worker, Mrs. Lemine –

Thank you for taking time on your spring break to critique an early version of my first story. When you could have been relaxing mentally and physically, you were helping me. It was an unknown realm for me and your encouraging thoughts from the Lord were much appreciated. I respect and value your expertise of the literary world and know your students at Lavilla will glean a wealth of knowledge from you.

1

S itting at her desk, Charlese Matthews looked out her window as dark clouds rolled in and obscured the sun. She could hear the faint rumblings of thunder echoing through the mountains in the distance, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before the rain began. For the past few weeks the afternoon rains had been routine, and on days like this, Charlese tended to reverie in memories from her past . Why do I need to be cheery and upbeat on a day like this anyway? She pouted like this every now and then; feeling sort of down in the dumps and not wanting to do much of anything… except sulk. Now more than ever, she really wished she could call her parents or talk with a brother or sister; but, sadly, she knew that would never happen.

She was getting so tired of her own monotonous routine. Nothing was new. Nothing was different. She went to work, came home, slept, and started all over again. If it weren’t for good books and her sketch pads, she wouldn’t have any life at all. She felt unimportant and very alone. She couldn’t think of another soul that would care what she was thinking or feeling. No one she could confide in…not one. But she knew that was her own fault. It couldn’t possibly be because I’m a workaholic, live like a hermit and couldn’t attract bees if I was made of honey.

She had never believed herself to be particularly attractive, certainly not like her mother who some had compared to the movie star, Sophia Loren, because of her prominent and beautiful Italian features. But other than the black hair, Charlese hadn’t been so blessed. She hadn’t really inherited any dominant features from her father either. Staring at his picture beside the bed, she did manage a slight smile. Her father was the most handsome man in the world, in her opinion, and had been the perfect match for her mother. He was over six feet tall, broad shouldered and had brown, wavy hair that hinted specks of grey as he matured; which had simply added to his already distinguished appearance. But Charlese, at 5’5" and 120 pounds, was very average. In actuality, she thought of herself as sort of a ‘plain Jane’ for lack of better words; but she would never have let her father hear her talking like that.

There was a special bond between Charlese and her father, even though his job as a state bank auditor required him to travel quite often. In every moment with her, he would endeavor to make their relationship stronger and reiterate how much she meant to him. He constantly called her his special angel, and what a blessing she was to her parents, and to God. He had shown her pictures of angels in her Bible, and explained how they were called upon to do important things. After all, it was an angel that had proclaimed the most important message of all to the world… the birth of Jesus. Their faces always seemed to be glowing and beautiful. She was too little then to care if she was beautiful, but if she was her daddy’s special angel, she must be special to God too.

And her mother had always reminded her that the Bible said she was fearfully and wonderfully made and she should be proud of who she was. When she thought of her mother, she remembered her being patient, compassionate, and full of joy. She brought happiness wherever she went and was a beacon of sunshine in any surrounding. The other women from church must have noticed her special qualities as well, because they seemed to look up to her. Her house was always a hub of activity, from covered dish dinners to Bible studies; but she always made Charlese a priority no matter how chaotic or busy her mother’s schedule was.

One example of this was vivid in Charlese’s mind. Her mother was scheduled to speak at a large, district, church function; and at the last minute Charlese was chosen for a speaking park in her school play scheduled for the same date. When her mother found out, Charlese overheard her mother say that she would have to substitute another woman to speak in her place, as she just couldn’t miss this most important day with her daughter.

She also remembered how special she felt as her mom studied every drawing she would sketch, and praise Charlese for focusing on tiny details that added to the genuineness of the scene. Charlese had become quite an artist at only age seven; and being an amateur artist herself, her mother saw promise in the childlike pictures. She told Charlese it was a gift from God and she should always be thankful for it. Then every night she would sit down on the bed beside her mother and read the Bible.

She had many favorite stories, but she loved when her mother would dramatically recount the story of Esther. No matter how many times Charlese heard the story she never grew tired of it. She would smile as her mother read the part about this ordinary, Jewish girl being chosen as queen. She would read with such passion that Charlese could imagine she was there in the palace. She could hear the beautiful and brave Queen Esther tell the king who she really was and the truth about his advisor, the evil Haman. And at the end of the story, her mother would always remind Charlese of the importance of Esther’s decision. It was only because of Esther’s faithfulness and willingness to obey God that she was able to save her people, and herself. Charlese wanted to believe that she could be like Esther. She had the ordinary part down pat, no different than any other child her age and she loved God. So she decided from an early age to be faithful and try to please Him with her life as well.

There were many memories like these that Charlese would cherish forever; and with the love and encouragement of the two most wonderful parents in the world, Charlese felt as if she could do anything and was sure she couldn’t be any happier.

But her fun, carefree world changed forever when her mother died suddenly of an aneurism. Not surprisingly, she was at their church helping make meals for shut-ins, when she had collapsed and was taken to the hospital. At her funeral, Charlese was overwhelmed with the amount of people that attended. Their pastor had honored her for her commitment to the Lord and had described how contagious her smile and giving spirit had been to all she had met. But all the kind words meant nothing to Charlese then. She knew they wouldn’t bring her mother back. She had loved her so much and felt as though her heart had shattered into a million tiny pieces. It seemed she was crying all the time. It just wasn’t fair. All she wanted was to snuggle up to her and feel her hugs one more time. But at the tender age of seven, her father became her primary caregiver and her whole