Day 19 - Revealed Truth

“… For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” Matthew 10:26 NKJV

I was given a paperback bible at camp, but now after a couple years of use, it looked tattered and worn. When some of the pages came out of the binding, I remembered Grandma Rose’s bible I had hidden.

What a treasure! It was bound in leather with a thumb index. Best of all, I discovered notes written in the margins and mementos tucked among the pages.

Still not wanting Mom to know I had it, I would wait until bedtime to go to my room, shut the door and get in bed with my flashlight and the bible. Sometimes it would be midnight before I could make myself stop.

There were bible study notes, of course, but I also found letters and cards tucked among the pages. There was a picture I had colored for Grandma and I smiled in the dark remembering how it was so important to me to choose just the right colors.

I even found a card to Grandma from my mom placed between the pages of Proverbs, right next to chapter 31!

What? Mom actually expressed feelings? She actually had some? She thanked Grandma for modeling the Proverbs 31 woman for her.

I was flabbergasted. I didn’t think mom knew who the Proverbs 31 lady even was.

But then, I came upon something I wish I had never seen. No, not in a million years would I have wanted to know our family’s deep dark secret.

I found an old news clipping in the back of the bible. When I unfolded it, I saw it was a page long. It was a story about a trial for a man named Bobby Fordham. This man was accused of opening fire in 1979 on the town’s football team, killing 3 and wounding 5.

The case seemed pretty cut and dried to me because it was reported the man confessed to the crime. But the defense was he was “not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.”

Near the end of the article, it gave the man’s particulars: his name, age, and address. Wait a minute! His address is the same as this very house I’m sitting in!

How can that be? Grandma told me she’s lived in this house since she was 20 years old.

That guy’s name was Fordham. Our last name is Ford.

Think … think, I must think.

With a feeling of dread, I quickly flipped to the front of the bible to see if there was a page showing the family tree. A lot of bibles had those, didn’t they?

Oh no! The front page said, “Presented to Rose Baker Fordham,” by her loving parents.

Then the second page showed Rose Baker married Bobby Fordham in 1953.

In 1963, it showed the birth of Sharon Rose Fordham.

In 1980, it showed the birth of Morgan Lee Ford to Sharon Rose Ford and Joe Lee Morgan.

Perplexed, I stared at the pages for a long time. All I could figure is that our last name was changed to Ford.

The reason for the change must be … my grandfather was a murderer!

We are on Day 19 of my serial, Angel on Assignment: The Book of Morgan. Morgan is dumbfounded over her discovery of the family secret. What will she do with this knowledge?

If you have missed any of the previous posts, click on the title, "Angel on Assignment" in the upper right hand corner in my side bar. It will take you to a page where you can find all links as they go live.

This serial is not intended to be doctrine. Scripture does tell us angels come to warn, bring messages and sometimes watch over us. It also tells us we could possibly unknowingly entertain an angel. My serial is just me imagining how that might look in our present day and time.

Tomorrow's offering: Seeking Truth

This post was written as part of the Write 31 Days challenge. A whole group of writers will be writing for 31 days straight on a variety of topics. Click here to check it out.

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