Dan's Loving Heart

By Margie J. Pittman

The Wilsons, Dan and Nancy, were childhood neighbors and then sweethearts. Eighteen years ago, they married right after graduating high school. Now their two girls, Marilee and Mandy, are in high school, and Nancy has helped Dan buy and manage a very successful supermarket. Life is good.

So why is Nancy Wilson suddenly so devastated and angry with God? Her mother, who had also helped raise Dan, taught them both to have a Jell-O Heart, but to Nancys mind, this situation is different. Her depression is overwhelming. Nightmares keep her from sleeping. She doesnt see the need to dress or brush her hair.

Will she let this tragedy consume and defeat her? Why do both of her daughters end up appearing before Judge Johnson? Who does Tommy Franklin feel he can never forgive? Find out how God reaches through the bitterness and who he uses to restore this family and their community.

Dans Loving (Jell-O) Heart exemplifies the sacrificial love of Jesus. You will have to read this heartwarming tale to understand how strength and joy can come from seemingly impossible circumstances. Expect to be touched deeply as you read Dans Loving Heart. You may even find yourself desiring your own Jell-O Heart.

You can find all of Margies books and soon her music, including Jesus Walks in my Valleys at margiejpittman.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504914611

Margie J. Pittman

Author Margie Pittman learned storytelling from her father, Jessie. A Christian for over forty years, she has published and performed hundreds of gospel songs and three books—Coal Camp Kids: Growing Up in a Coal Camp, Coal Camp Teens: Proud Creekers, Coal Camp Kids: The End of an Era. They are true stories about life in a West Virginia coal mining community. Margie’s current book Dan’s Loving Heart is fiction. While struggling with unforgiveness, God revealed this story of a heart of forgiveness that comes from Him. She prays that Dan’s Loving Heart will help you achieve the same peace that she did through learning to forgive. Margie has also cowritten another book, Tiebreaker, with her Daughter Barbara Reed. It is Christian fiction written around the themes of salvation, family, and national politics. Margie lives just outside of Charleston, West Virginia, with her husband of twenty three years, Bert Jernigan. She is focused on making memories with her family. Ask for both Dan’s Loving Heart and Tiebreaker online or at your nearest retailer.

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Dan’s Loving Heart

Margie J. Pittman

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AuthorHouse™

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© 2015 Margie J. Pittman. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/30/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-1454-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-1448-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-1461-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015908514

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

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.

Contents

Chapter One Come Mourning

Chapter Two Someone Cares

Chapter Three Open Wounds

Chapter Four Jell-O Heart

Chapter Five Two O’clock Friday

Chapter Six The Secret Meeting

Chapter Seven Broken

Chapter Eight No Other Friend

Chapter Nine Family Ties

Chapter Ten A Friend In Need

Chapter Eleven The Letter

Chapter Twelve A Gift For Tommy

Chapter Thirteen Jesus Walks In All Our Valleys

Chapter Fourteen Thanksgiving

Chapter Fifteen The Solid Foundation

Chapter Sixteen Alms Giving

Chapter Seventeen Christmas Eve

Chapter Eighteen Breaking Ground

Chapter Nineteen Mandy Goes To California

Chapter Twenty Marilee’s Grand Opening

Chapter Twenty One The Family Gathering

Chapter Twenty Two United And Reunited

Chapter Twenty Three Five Years Later

Dear Readers,

This book was born out of my own struggles with un-forgiveness. It has been being written for the past fifteen years or so. God often gives me a song or a story to help me weather a storm or fight a battle. I thank God that Dan’s Loving Heart has helped me come to a place of peace and forgiveness over many things in my past.

I want to say a special thanks to each of you who buy and read my books. Your feedback about how they bring back memories and change your lives are a real blessing to me. God promises that his word will never come back void, and I pray that this is true for each of you.

Special thanks to Russell Norris. When Kraft wouldn’t let me use Jell-O Heart as the title of this book I asked, on social media, for suggestions. Russell submitted Loving or Loving Heart. I added Dan’s to Loving Heart and I had a new title. Thus he earned this acknowledgement and an autographed hardback copy of Dan’s Loving Heart.

Special thanks to Kraft Foods for permission to use the name Jell-O inside th e book.

Jell-O is a registered trademark of Kraft Foods, used with permission. Other than granting this permission, Kraft Foods in not affiliated in any way with this book or its author.

Special thanks to Authorhouse Publishing for their patience and knowledgeable assistance through every step of the publishing process.

I want to dedicate this book to my best friend and confidant, who has walked beside me through the many struggles and triumphs of writing this book, my husband Bert Jernigan.

Chapter One

COME MOURNING

NANCY WILSON TOSSED and turned fitfully all night long. Her sleep, was ravaged with the nightmares that had haunted her since Dan’s death.

Dan where are you? she sobbed, I’ve been waiting so long. Is that the door? She asked. I’m coming Dan… Mother, did I hear you call my name? I can’t find Dan. Oh God help me!

Nancy awoke with a start, tears streaming down her face. It had all been a dream. Dan wasn’t coming back to her, not now, not ever.

Soon Nancy sat in her breakfast nook nursing a cup of coffee. The morning newspaper was in front of her, but she could hardly read a headline before her mind wandered back to the nightmares she kept having. This was her morning ritual, her unkempt hair falling into her eyes. Her old blue bathrobe was in need of washing, her face was red and blotchy from crying. All of this was out of character for Nancy, but it had become her norm.

Her daughters, Marilee and Mandy, were upstairs getting dressed for school. Marilee was seventeen and a senior at Sandyville High School. She was very grown up for her age. As a matter of fact, lately, it seemed as though Marilee was the adult in this family. Like her father she never complained. She reminded everyone of Dan, in actions as well as looks. She had his warm brown eyes, and chestnut colored hair, and his love for business. At Seventeen she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, and her mom was no help. Nancy was living in a world all her own. Mandy and Marilee were very worried about their mom and her condition weighed heavily on them.

Marilee’s younger sister Mandy was fifteen, and a sophomore. She looked more like her Mom than Marilee did. She had Nancy’s big blue eyes and blond hair. Mandy wasn’t into business at all. Music was her first love, then school. She was a cheerleader, and she sang in the Sandyville High School Show Choir, as well as the Church Youth Choir. They were both good students, wonderful young women, and dedicated Christians.

Nancy could hear Mandy singing as she dressed for school. Her voice was clear and beautiful. Lately, there was a certain song she sang all the time. Nancy didn’t know the name of it, only that Mandy seemed to like it a lot.

"Jesus walks in my valleys, He knows when my strength is gone, and when I can’t walk any farther, He’ll carry me, till I can go on."

Where did she learn that song? Nancy wondered.

The girls, coming down the steps, caught Nancy off guard. They would be leaving for school in a few minutes, and Nancy would have the house all to herself. I’m so tired, maybe I’ll try to take a nap, she thought. Her mind was so clouded, that she didn’t even hear the girls tell her goodbye, as they headed out the door. She didn’t notice much of anything anymore. Her days were spent in idle confusion, and her life seemed to have no meaning, no purpose at all. She wanted to die. She wanted to go to Dan.

The nightmares were unbearable. What she wouldn’t give for a peaceful night’s sleep. Her dreams not only tormented her nights, but now too frequently, also her days. In her dreams she was waiting for Dan. She waited in desperation, but he never came home. Then she would begin to search for him. Somewhere in her muddled mind, she thought she heard her Mother calling out to her. She looked for Dan, and then for her Mother. The dreams would change without warning. She would hear knocking at the door, and when she went to open it, no one was there. This went on all night, every night. Finally she was so exhausted from the nightmares she would get out of bed, to try to escape them. This morning she got up at four o’clock. She cried for hours, then she made herself a pot of coffee.

Nancy Wilson was grieving. Her husband of eighteen years had been killed in a car wreck. She was hurt and angry. Why did Dan have to die? She didn’t know how to go on without him. A telephone call from the hospital had informed her to come quickly. Two hours later Dan was dead. He had never regained consciousness. The doctors had told her that his head injuries were massive. Her precious Dan was dead, and her life was over. If it weren’t for Marilee and Mandy, she would refuse to live in a world with so much pain. The doctors had medicated her for a while, but nothing could ease her pain.

Anger is a terrible thing, it only brings you torment, that’s what her mother always told her. She knew it was true, yet Nancy Wilson was angry. Tommy Franklin, the young boy who took her husband’s life was the target of her anger. Tommy didn’t really get hurt at all, she thought, and her Dan was dead. How could she ever forgive Tommy? How could she ever forgive God?

Dan and Nancy had grown up together. He was literally the boy next door. As small children they played in her back yard. When all the other kids on their block went through the stages of not liking each other anymore, Dan and Nancy were the exception. They started school together. They dated for the first time, in their junior year of high school. They married right after graduation. She could not remember a time when he was not a part of her life. Dan’s parents divorced when he was ten years old. Nancy’s mother had dried his tears, and told him that it wasn’t his fault. He loved her mother as much as she did. Fourteen years ago when her mother died, after a short battle with cancer, it was Dan who took care of everything. They both grieved when she died, but Dan was always strong for Nancy.

The sound of the doorbell brought her back to the present.

When she opened the door, Jane Randall was standing there.

Good morning Nancy, I baked some cookies this morning, and I thought you and the girls might enjoy some, Jane said as if she hadn’t noticed Nancy’s disheveled appearance.

Thank you, Mrs. Randall, how very thoughtful of you.

Jane Randall stood there for a moment longer, and it finally dawned on Nancy that she wanted to come in.

Not today, she thought, I don’t want company today, or any other day. She couldn’t bring herself to say that out loud. She couldn’t think of anything to say.

After an awkward pause Jane spoke up.

Nancy I know what you are going through. Jane was not going to go away this time as she had two days ago. She could tell that Nancy needed help, and she knew this wouldn’t be easy.

Mrs. Randall, I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t know what I’m going through.

Yes dear, I do, Jane said softly, "My James has been gone for a year now. He died suddenly, of a heart attack. I’m still trying to come to terms with it.

Nancy stepped back from the doorway and whispered apologetically, Please come in Mrs. Randall. I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve just had another terrible night.

I understand. I’ve had a few of them myself. Bad dreams? Jane asked.

Yes, and I feel like I’m going crazy, Nancy confessed.

That is totally understandable. You have lost the love of your life," Jane sympathized.

Nancy started crying, He was everything to me. I love my children, but Dan was my heart. I don’t know how to live without him.

I know what you mean, Jane replied. I struggle with it every day. We were new to the neighborhood, when James passed away. He had just been assigned to a new church. I didn’t know anyone here. I didn’t leave my house for the first three months after he died. The pain was so severe that I wanted to die myself. It’s still very difficult at times, but my worst pain was the anger. I’ve finally found something that seems to help. That’s another reason I came to see you this morning. I want to invite you to a meeting.

What kind of meeting? Nancy wondered.

It’s a Grieving Spouses Meeting. It’s made up of men and women who have lost a spouse to death."

I don’t think I’d be interested, Mrs. Randall, was as pleasant a reply as Nancy could come up with.

‘Well, why don’t you take some time, and think about it. We meet once a week on Tuesday," Jane told her.

What do you do at the meetings?

We just talk.

About what? Nancy couldn’t imagine.

"Our