Strengthened

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV

Jeremy Norton moved effortlessly around his nearly vacant room, looking for any stray bits of his life he may have missed. His eyes swept the area like a well-trained lifeguard at the local pool. His search halted momentarily when his eyes came to rest on the figure that loomed in the bedroom doorway, arms crossed firmly in front of her. His mother. She had made her feelings on his move very clear over the last couple of weeks. “Mom, please don’t make this any harder than it has to be.” “I just don’t understand why you have to move so far away,” she replied, her voice wavering slightly. “Chicago is only about four and a half hours from here,” Jeremy pointed out for what seemed like the thousandth time since he was offered the job. “I really wanted to be working for the FBI, so you should be thankful I got this offer first. Washington D.C. is a lot farther away.” “But you already have a job,” his mother persisted, not taking her bright blue eyes off of him for a second. No doubt that’s where Jeremy got his blue eyes from. “This is a better job; a job that will allow me to use the education I paid for.” Jeremy returned to the spot in his room where his suitcase laid open on the bed. The bed was the only piece of furniture still left in the room and it was the only piece of furniture that didn’t belong to Jeremy. His furniture, which had been in storage up until a week or so ago, was packed safely in a moving van— a moving van that was hopefully headed to his new apartment in Chicago at this very moment. “You grew up here, Jeremy. Your whole family is here. Us. Your brother and his family. Everyone you know. You have no one in Chicago.” Jeremy crossed the room and took his mother’s hands in his, hoping maybe this time she would understand. “You told me not to make any drastic changes for a year, mother. It’s been eighteen months.” Jeremy sighed. “I need to get out of here. Everywhere I look I’m reminded of her.” Jeremy’s mother’s brow creased and she remained silent for a beat or two. “What happened wasn’t Melissa’s fault,” his mother said in a voice that was barely audible. Jeremy worked the muscles in his jaw, trying hard not to scream at his mother or break down crying. He always had one of those two reactions when he thought about that dark time in his life. “It’s over between us, Mom. She’s with Bryan and she’s happy. I’m moving on with my life.” The truth was Jeremy had moved on with his life long ago. While his marriage was falling apart he went back to school, burying himself in his studies. This allowed him to ignore Melissa and all of the things going wrong in his personal life at the time. It was just the icing on the cake when Jeremy came home from work one day and Melissa announced she was moving in with his best friend, Bryan. Jeremy didn’t care then, and he certainly didn’t care now. If Bryan wanted her, he could have her. “What you guys had was special,” his mother continued, undeterred. “Maybe so, but it’s over now.” Jeremy moved back to the large suitcase on his bed and snapped it shut, struggling for a moment at the spot in the middle where the zipper bulged out slightly from being overloaded. Jeremy’s father stepped into the room. He swore loudly when he saw the stricken look on his wife’s face. “Will you let it go already, Heidi? He’s a grown man. If he wants to move to Chicago, let him move to Chicago.” “Like I said before, it’s only a four-and-a-half hour drive. I can come home for visits on the weekend.” Jeremy hoisted his suitcase off of the bed and dragged it toward the door of his bedroom, which his mother still blocked. He paused long enough to give her a kiss on the cheek before sneaking past her and continuing on his path to the front door of the old farm house where he had grown up. “Here son, let me help you with that,” Jeremy’s father offered. Jeremy smiled. “No thanks, Dad. I’ve got it.” “Well, I’ve got everything else loaded up and ready for you,” Jeremy’s father exclaimed proudly, refusing to be rendered useless in the whole situation. “I appreciate that,” Jeremy replied. He stepped out the screen door onto the large front porch, allowing the door to slap shut behind him. He packed the suitcase into the trunk with a few other odds and ends he kept out of the moving truck for one reason or another. Jeremy slammed the trunk shut and turned to face his parents, who were watching him from the porch. It was early spring in Indiana, and a damp wind blew through the trees. “I’ll call you when I get there.” “Chicago is such a dangerous place...” Jeremy’s mother seemed to be trying one last time to talk some sense into her son. “When was the last time you heard of a violent crime in Indiana?” “That’s exactly it, Mom. I’m a police officer…” “Detective,” his father corrected with a gleam in his eye. At least Jeremy’s father was proud of him. “Detective…” Jeremy let the word linger in the air for a moment. It would take a while for him to get used to that. Detective Norton. Jeremy Norton, detective. Or Norton, Jeremy Norton, detective at large. Jeremy smiled to himself as he played with the different titles in his mind. “We need police officers… I mean ‘detectives’ here, too.” Jeremy’s mother corrected herself when she felt a slight nudge from her husband. “For what? Writing speeding tickets?” Jeremy said with a smirk. “I didn’t kick my butt in order to further my education so I can sit at the main intersection in town waiting for traffic violations. I just earned my master’s degree in criminal justice. I’m specially trained to negotiate with terrorists, robbers, or any other bad guy you throw my way.” Which would have been perfect for the FBI, Jeremy added in his mind. “I’m not going to get much of a chance to use that here unless you think I might need to talk the Gibbs twins out of tipping over cows.” Jeremy’s dad let out the deep belly laugh he was famous for, eliciting a scowl from Jeremy’s mother. Jeremy ignored the exchange as he continued to plead his case. “Staying here would be like spending all of my time training for the big game only to be benched when the day actually came. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore, Mom.” Jeremy’s mother’s scowl deepened. She turned and stomped into the house. So much for goodbye, Jeremy thought. Oh well, it would be easier this way. Jeremy’s father walked down from the porch. He came up beside Jeremy and threw his arm around Jeremy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about her,” Jeremy’s father instructed. “She’ll get over it.” “I know.” Jeremy stared into the house where his mother had just disappeared. He didn’t really care if his mother “got over it” or not. This was something he needed to do. Jeremy turned his attention back to his father. “I’ll be in touch.” Jeremy’s father clapped him on the shoulder. He wasn’t really the hugging type, and saying goodbye was much harder than either of them would have liked to admit. “You do that, son. Have a safe trip.” “I hope to,” Jeremy said as he climbed into the car. “Tell Mom I said goodbye.” “Will do,” Jeremy’s father said before shutting the car door. Jeremy glanced up at the rearview mirror as he pulled away. His father disappeared in the cloud of dust that was kicked up from the tires moving down the dirt driveway and onto the dirt road. One thing Jeremy wasn’t going to miss about small-town Indiana was dirt. As the miles gathered behind him and the road stretched out before him, Jeremy felt himself getting more and more keyed up about his move.