The Shepherd Left Behind

The Missing Baby

Snow has a silence to it like nothing else.  The wind had howled for thirty-four hours as the nor’easter ambled up the New England coastline leaving white heaps, sweaty men shoveling snow and energetic children making snowmen and angels in their yards.  Now that the sky had cleared, John bundled up for a busy day.  His youth and enthusiasm could not be muffled by a blizzard.  In fact he had enjoyed the time cloistered with his family.  Since accepting the call as pastor of the small New England congregation last spring he had not had much time for simple R & R with his family.  Northern New Mexico, John’s home, had its seasonal storms but nothing like this.  So when the TV weather radar showed a sustained heavy snow he and Amy just heated the hot chocolate, pulled Legos and Barbie into the living room in front of the picture window and spent the day playing with their children. 

The sound of the shovel in the snow swished a different song than the sound of a shovel in New Mexico sand.  John straightened his back and watched the snowplow round the corner and disappear from sight and sound.  Mickey and Tiffany squealed as only young children do as they waded through the drifts and tossed snowballs at each other and their dad.  After a great effort to clear a pathway along the sidewalk, John traversed the forty or so yards from the parsonage to the church.  As he approached the side door he noticed someone else had been there already.  A trail through the deep white blanket cut from the street to the enclosed alcove that functioned as an air lock to the basement and the church office.  As John opened the unlocked outer door and stepped into the vestibule, he could feel warmth coming through the drafty door of the old stone building.  A bundle lay up against the warm door. 

“Let’s see what kind of a gift was worthy of getting out in this weather,” he said to himself.  Then leaning down to pick it up, he suddenly recoiled because it seemed to move.  “Too much snow on my New Mexico eyes,” he again spoke to himself.  “I could have sworn I saw that bundle of cloth move.  Then he heard a faint cry.  “I’m either going snow crazy or there’s something alive in here.  He scooped up the bundle and carried it to his office just inside the door.  Carefully unwrapping it he found a baby only hours old.

Grabbing the phone he called Amy and told her what he had found and to look for something the baby could eat.  He would call the police and take the child right home.

When the police arrived, Amy sat in the rocker nursing the baby with one of Tiffany’s no longer used bottles.  The male officer questioned John about the details of his discovery while the woman officer inquired about the baby’s health from Amy, who happened to be an R.N.  She had helped put John through seminary by working in the maternity ward at the hospital.

After the police had gathered the necessary information they took the baby to the local hospital where a social worker would be waiting to start the process of placing the child until the parents could be found.  The doctor at the hospital said the baby needed to stay there for a couple of days until tests and examinations could be performed to ensure his health.

Formats

Softcover

$14.99

$11.26

Hardcover

$25.75

$16.00

Softcover

$11.26