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~ It wasn’t that the Ransfords had set out to antagonize their neighbor; it just happened.

The question is, what did Jessica do about it? ~ 

Sam Ransford closed the door and sat at his desk. He opened the white envelope and pulled out a long letter from his wife, Jessica. She had also included a picture of their children, taken while they were vacationing in Chicken Gorge. A smile spread across his face; though he missed them all, he was proud of the way they were carrying on while he was away serving his country in the war against terrorism.

Jessica started with news of what the children were doing in school. Then she segued into the latest “drama” into which they had inadvertently stumbled. 

“You remember the Kemmerers next door, don’t you?” Jessica wrote. “I took them a chocolate chip bundt cake when they moved in, and we hired their son, Andy, to mow our yard for a couple of summers before he went off to college.” 

Sam nodded. He hadn’t been gone so long as to forget the neighbors. 

“We weren’t exactly friends, but I had no idea until this past month that there were any ill-feelings on their part. My first clue was a nasty note I found in our mailbox.” 

Sam raised his eyebrows. What could she mean by “nasty?” 

“The note was signed ‘anonymous.’ It said that if I didn’t wash the antifreeze off our driveway where it leaked, they would be forced to call the ASPCA and report me for neglecting to remove a hazard that could harm neighborhood pets! Never mind that there’s a leash law; cats and dogs aren’t supposed to be roaming the neighborhood anyway. Or that I hadn’t noticed the antifreeze leak. That note was full of underlines, exclamation points, and all kinds of rude remarks.

“Of course, I didn’t know who had written it, but I mentioned it to Lily Thomas across the street (I was pretty sure it wasn’t from her). She said it sounded like something Michelle Kemmerer would write. I had to decide whether to ignore it, or to confront Michelle. You know how I hate a sneak!

“If she had approached me nicely and pointed out the antifreeze, I’d have cleaned the driveway with no hard feelings. But I was outraged at being treated like that. My first thought was to retaliate, to keep a close eye on Michelle, waiting for her to make a mistake so that I could sic the cops on her, or maybe even the IRS.”  

“Yes, that does sound like Jessica,” Sam said to himself. “I hope she had better sense. ‘Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord,’” Sam quoted from Romans chapter 12. 

“You will be proud of me, Sam. Before I did anything, I prayed for grace. Then I slept on it for two days so that I could calm down. FInally I went next door to ask Michelle if she had written that letter.

“You should have seen the look on her face! She turned all red and got so flustered that I knew she was the author. I very calmly explained that I hadn’t noticed the antifreeze leak, but that she could have come to me in person about it. I told her I was sorry she had been upset, and that I had taken care of it. (Actually, Caleb was the one who hosed the driveway down.)

“Sam, are you impressed? I felt that God was with me, keeping me calm, giving me the words to say. My feeling is that someone needs to teach Michelle that you can’t grow daisies by sowing dandelions. Unfortunately, my grace was not sufficient to patch up our relationship. I don’t know if she was embarrassed at being confronted or what, but she accused me of having ‘men’ over at night! I promise you that I do not entertain people of the male persuasion in our house,” here Sam chuckled, “and if she saw anybody, it might have been Paul dropping off a bag of tomatoes from Kate.

“I said something about being a good Christian and happily married. Michelle got all snotty and told me I was not a good Christian, because I allowed my kids to ‘run wild’ (her words) in the neighborhood, and that I was also not a good mother, because I ‘knew’ what Brianna had done, and I didn’t do anything about it! What did I ever do to deserve such unwarranted attacks? I was near tears! I honestly had no idea what Brianna might have done to upset her, and I didn’t care if I never found out. Furthermore, how can letting Caleb and the girls ride their bikes in our subdivision be defined as allowing them to run wild?” 

Sam shook his head. If only he were there to defend his family, he would set that woman straight. Jessica was the sweetest, most nurturing woman on the face of the earth, and she didn’t deserve to be maligned by anyone. 

“You have to be proud of what I did next,” Jessica wrote. “I was hurting, but I didn’t lash out. God’s grace was still with me. I apologized (!!!), I told Michelle that I would have a talk with the kids, and I thanked her -- thanked her! -- for letting me know there were problems that needed correcting! Honestly, I don’t know how I did it. It was God, that’s the only answer.

“Anyway, since then I’ve been ‘heaping coals of fire on her head.’ Once I noticed Michelle out weeding the chrysanthemums in her flower bed. As I headed into the house, I called, ‘Your mums are beautiful, Michelle!’ I spent the evening giggling over the shock that must have given her. Then another time I took some of the tomatoes that Kate brought me over and knocked on the door. I’m sure when she saw what I was holding, she expected me to pelt her, but I simply asked if she would like some, as a friend gave me more than I could use. She said no, thank you, but she was stammering and looking so embarrassed, it’s a wonder I didn’t laugh out loud! I didn’t realize how much fun heaping coals of fire could be! 

Sam leaned back in his chair, face to the ceiling, and laughed. Oh, how he wished he could have seen that! Life with Jessica was unpredictable, one surprise after another. She certainly had taken Proverbs 25:22 and Romans 12:20 to heart!

He wiped his eyes and returned to reading her letter. 

“At first, I was afraid of how she might react, but I don’t worry any more. God gave me peace about it. It’s almost like a private joke between me and Him. I mean, what could be funnier than being sweet to our enemies as a sort of revenge? I guess that’s where the old saying, ‘Kill them with kindness’ came from.

“Enough of that. We miss you something awful. I hope you get to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Actually, I hope the war is over soon. Always remember that you are our hero, and we love you very much. Hugs and kisses from your ever loving wife, Jessica.” 

Sam put the letter on his desk and picked up the photo again to study it. The kids were growing; he could see that. They were growing up, and he was missing it. He was not there to be the protector and defender of his wife, his family. He sighed. Then he bowed his head. “Lord, I want to go home, but I want to do what’s right. Please guide me, show me what You want me to do. Bless Jessica as she goes through each day. Give her wisdom and joy. Let her never have cause to doubt my love for her. Amen.”

Copyright 2002  Brenda B. Covert