An Uncommon Grace by Serena B. Miller

their feet. That was the Amish way. No one was ever left alone during times of crisis. From boyhood on,he had helped with others’ chores during family emergencies. It was one of the many things he valued about his people.
    “Here.” Grace handed him a chilled bottle of water. He had expected her to bring him a paper cup of water instead of this blue bottle that she had obviously paid for. He wondered how much this fancy water had cost. This worried him. He hoped that the extra amount he planned on paying her for the trip would cover the cost.
    “You’re back quickly.” He unscrewed the lid and took a long drink. It was delicious, much cleaner tasting than the water they drew from their well back home. “You didn’t eat?”
    “There was nothing there I wanted.”
    Daniel stirred and Levi glanced at the heart monitor. The baby’s heartbeat continued strong. Levi relaxed slightly and allowed himself to look more closely at Grace’s face. Dark circles were forming beneath her eyes. She looked weary. Today had been hard on her. He had not realized.
    “You should go home now.” He dug out his wallet. “Will eighty dollars be enough?”
    She looked perplexed. “Enough for what?”
    “Enough to cover the miles you drove—and the water you bought.”
    “What are you talking about, Levi?”
    “ Englisch drivers charge fifty cents a mile,” he patiently explained. “I watched the numbers as they changed beneath your steering wheel. We traveled seventy-five miles to get here.”
    He extracted the four twenties and tried to hand them to her, but Grace backed away and looked at him with a hurt expression on her face.
    “I’m not taking money from you.”
    Again, he was puzzled. She had provided a service that an honest man should pay for. It was a business transaction.
    “I owe you eighty dollars.” He again tried to hand the money to her.
    “I’m your neighbor, for pity’s sake!” She put her hands behind her back and shook her head. “I wasn’t doing this to be paid. I did it because you needed help.”
    He saw the determination in her eyes and knew that this was a fight he would not win. At least not now. For whatever reason, this Englisch woman was determined to give him this trip as a gift.
    Daniel stirred again, as though bothered by the loudness of their voices. Levi glanced at the monitor, and his own heart lurched. The baby’s heartbeat was becoming irregular again.
    Grace saw it at the same time he did. “I’ll be outside in the waiting room.”
    “But you are tired. You should go home.”
    “Yes, I’m tired.” She was already heading out the door. “But for now, I think I’d better stick around. I wouldn’t feel right leaving you here alone.” She glanced meaningfully at the monitor. “And you’d better hurry up and start singing that weird song again.”
    Weird song? The Loblied was not weird! He had sung this song from the Ausbund hymnal while sitting on his grandfather’s lap during worship Sundays. He had sung the words at group singings as a teenager. This song with which he had been encouraging his little brother had been written by a Mennonite minister over four hundred years ago—and it was a good song.
    What did she expect him to sing under such circumstances? One of those silly songs with repetitious words like he had heard coming from some of the Englisch church buildings he had passed on Sunday mornings? He wondered how they managed to hear themselves think—let alone worship—over the din of guitars and drums.
    In his opinion, it was much better to worship in a freshly cleaned barn, or a friend’s home, or a neighbor’s workshop while joining with his spiritual brothers and sisters in lifting up the ancient words of their church.
    The song he had sung to his little brother was not weird.
    Grace was surprised to see Rose walk into the waiting room. She had removed the kerchief from her hair and donned a black bonnet along with a fresh dress that was a lovely sky