A Good Sermon, Krispie Kremes, and Gilmore Girls: Now That's What I Call a Great Sunday!

Just five years ago, we thought of September 11th as just another day. That changed forever in 2001. Now, we have Patriot's Day. We remember the lives lost, and just why it's important to be an American.

Today in church, we had a patriotic service. We sang wonderful old hymns like Holy, Holy, Holy and Amazing Grace, then listened to a very good sermon over Proverbs 14:34. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people." The minister had many good points.

It was interesting seeing the reserved section of seats in church today for Hurricane Evacuees. The section was filled to the brim. There was also a new box to check on the info slip that you give at offering that states whether you're a visitor of whatever, hurricane evacuee. We'll be seeing the effects of this for a long time.

After, Bart and I ventured to Krispie Kremes for a dozen fresh-baked after church snacks. That was pretty great. However, watching three hours of Gilmore Girls on DVD made the day even better.

Once again I've started to write and kept finding terrible mistakes in Comfort and Joy. I got a coupld of place names mixed up and had to fix them before I could go on. I've also been completing a bit of research. I want to have something to write about, and I want my info to be correct. I kept finding more and more interesting facts, so I haven't much written yet. It's not exactly a block that I have, but so many other things going on, that actually sitting down to write is becoming harder and harder to do. I don't want to stop though, so I've got to just make time. I think I may have found a way to do that this week. I hope that I'll get it done.

Here's the little bit I have for the next chapter of Comfort and Joy:

He didn’t exactly know what to think when the tall and imposing older gentleman appeared before him alongside Katie. Though his hair was white, the man’s dark eyes were sharp and as keen as they had probably been when he was twenty years of age.

He stood well over six-feet-tall with barely any perceptible stoop at all. He was broad-shouldered and still physically fit but for a slight paunch in his midsection. He seemed almost a giant to Johnny who stood a slender six-feet-tall himself.

Though this man’s size and stature were imposing to poor Johnny, what intimidated him the most were his ever-piercing blue-black eyes. They were very obviously scrutinizing every inch of Johnny from the top of his head to the very tips of his toes. Johnny knew that there was no possible way for him to measure to whatever this man’s ideals were, and there was a very perceptible look of fear as he glanced up at them from the chair where he had been reading.

“Johnny, I would like for you to meet my Grandfather, Mr. Henry Darcy,” Katie enthusiastically introduced.

Realizing just whom the imposing man was, Johnny jumped from his chair to greet Mr. Darcy. “Mr. Darcy, your granddaughter has told me a great deal about you. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said rather quickly, trying not to miss saying something important as he extended his hand.

“All good I hope?” the gentleman quipped.

“Of course it was good. What else could Katie say,” he innocently asked.

The old man bent to whisper in Johnny’s ear, “You’ve not seen this granddaughter of mine when she’s angry yet, have you?” As Mr. Darcy pulled back, he saw absolute confusion in Johnny’s eyes and laughed heartily.

“Mr. Darcy, I can’t say that I know your granddaughter better than you, but I’ve never known her to say anything other than the truth. No matter how someone wrongs her. She holds malice toward no one.”

“A veritable paragon of virtue, then?” Mr. Darcy asked, thumbing around in his pockets for his trusty pipe.

Unsure whether or not Mr. Darcy was asking a trick question, Johnny gave the only honest answer that he knew. “She is the best person that I’ve ever met, sir.”

“Since you awoke, that is?” he asked.

“To be honest sir, yes. However, I must say that it is very unlikely that before my injury I ever met anyone so caring, courageous, and just generally good.” There was a very perceptible definitive note in Johnny’s response that rather surprised Mr. Darcy. To him, it was almost as if this young man was daring him to say that his words were untrue, and that his own granddaughter’s personality was deficient of some if no all of the qualities he had stated.

Mr. Darcy was wise enough to speak the truth himself, “You are right, Mr. Doe. Katherine is one of the best people I’ve ever known. She is actually a very good judge of character, which is why I am here, son. Come, walk with me,” he gestured to Johnny with one hand while placing the other on the young man’s back. “I have a bit of a proposition for you.”

Johnny looked tremendously lost to Katie as he had little choice but to go along with Mr. Darcy. His face grew incredibly pale, and several creases seemed to form on his forehead. Katie let out one small chuckle, mercilessly waved goodbye to the two men, then went on to begin her evening’s work. Though she would miss his being near as she worked, her mind kept running away, thinking of how wonderful it would be to come home to him.

So it was, that just a day later, John Doe, the man with no name or family, left the Royal Hospital and became one of the occupants of what was possibly the grandest house in all of Derbyshire. He was to become the personal assistant of Mr. Henry Darcy, and from that moment on, he was to be treated as any other member of the reputable Darcy family.

This is not saying that Mr. Doe didn’t feel unqualified, inferior, and generally in awe of his great fortune. However the hospitality of not only Miss Katherine Darcy and Mr. Henry Darcy, and that of young Jane Darcy soon made John Doe feel quite at home and quite like part of the family.

The truth be told, the three lone Darcy’s of the grand house needed him as much as he needed them. The older man’s heir, William and Jane’s father, died in a shipwreck with his wife in 1912. The second son, Charles, was a captain in the Royal Navy. His family resided in Portsmouth. They rarely ever returned to the familial lands of Derbyshire. Charles’s eldest son, Harry, was killed in action when his ship was torpedoed by a U-Boat. Both of Mr. Darcy’s daughters lived with their own families. Elinor’s family lived in London. Maria’s family resided in Ottawa, Canada. Her husband, Richard Fitzwilliam, was on the staff of the new Governor General of Canada, The Duke of Devonshire.

The Duke of Devonshire was an old Darcy family friend.