Meet Preacher Rowlett

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 20 Comments

It’s only about a month until my new book, Along a Storied Trail is released and I can hope the book will be landing in some readers’ hands. So for fun tonight, I’m introducing you to one of the secondary characters in the story and letting him tell you a Bible story.

So meet Preacher Rowlett. Preacher as the graphic says isn’t a real preacher. He just got that nickname because he knows his Bible and likes sharing Bible stories with anybody who will take some time to listen. He breeds horses and likes the Morgan horse since that’s a tough little horse that can handle mountain trails. Tansy, my packhorse librarian, leases a horse from Preacher to make her library rounds.

Preacher likes to read and nobody was any happier to hear about his town getting one of the Packhorse Libraries during the years of the Depression. He was known to already have more books than most. Maybe a dozen. Even more.

He likes to tell Bible stories to the mountain children. He says if he can make a Bible story come to life for a youngster then it could be the adults will be listening too. Would you like to hear him tell one of his Bible stories? I am going to assume you say yes and turn the floor over to Preacher Rowlett.

It’s a pleasure to share a story from the Good Book with you. What would you like to hear? About Noah and the Great Flood? About David and Goliath? I figure you already know all about those stories. I’ve surely told them time and again. But what about that old prophet Elijah asking that poor widow woman to feed him?

Now that’s a story folks up here in the hills can think on. Plenty of us have seen hard times when food wasn’t easy to come by. Especially when the rains didn’t come down like we needed. That’s how Elijah started out his story. He told that King Ahab that weren’t living right that the Lord was gonna hold back the rain for years unless the Lord told Elijah rain was coming. And not just rain. There wasn’t even going to be any dew. Now that’s a dry time when there isn’t any dew. Ahab wasn’t a bit happy with Elijah telling him that and the Lord told Elijah he better hightail out of there to somewhere away from the king. 

First off he sent Elijah to a creek and told him to drink the water there and that crows were gonna bring him what he needed to eat. The Bible says those birds brought Elijah bread and meat in the morning and again at night. It don’t say where those birds came up with the food, but when the Lord wants something to happen, it happens. 

But then that creek went to drying up seeing as how no rain was ever falling. So the Lord knew Elijah needed some water and the Lord told Elijah it was time to move on to a new place. The Lord said he had new plans and that this widow woman in Zarepath was going to feel Elijah. Now, I know you folks know how hard it can be for a poor widow woman to get by up here in the hills. I’m thinking it wasn’t no whole lot of different for this widow there in Zarepath. It hadn’t been raining. A body couldn’t grow anything to eat without some water falling out of the sky, and it was dry. 

Well, Elijah, he did what the Lord told him and got himself on down to Zarepath where sure enough there was a widow picking up sticks right there at the gate to the city. He asked her for a cup of water. I figure they must have had some good wells there at that town. So the widow woman was okay with that. She was used to fetching water for them that asked. But then Elijah asked her to also bring him a morsel of bread.  Now that widow woman probably turned and gave him one sad look as she said she didn’t have any bread. That all she had was a handful of flour and a little oil. That poor woman was picking up those sticks to make her a little fire, cook up that hunk of a biscuit for a last meal for her and her son. Then she was going to sit down with that little boy and they were going to starve to death.

That’s a sorrowful story if I ever heard one. If’n you know any of your neighbors in that kind of shape, you tell me and with the Lord’s help, we’ll figure out a way to get them some bread. Well, the Lord, he had done figured out a way for Elijah and for the widow woman too. Elijah tells that woman to go on and cook up that bread like as how she intending, but to bring the first biscuit to him. Now, you mamas out there have to be wondering what that widow was thinking about this man. But when Elijah went on and said the Lord was going to see that her bin of flour and her jar of oil wasn’t going to run out until after the Lord sent rain back down on them, she did what he said. Could be she thought she didn’t have that much to lose by feeding this man first and then starving. It could be he looked like what she thought a prophet should look like. It could be the Lord touched her heart and opened her eyes to the hope Ellijah was holding out to her. Could be she was just a kind-hearted woman willing to share her last meal.

You have to decide on what she might have been thinking your own self and whether you’d have done the same in her place. But the Lord did supply for her just as Elijah said. Can you imagine how she felt every day when she dipped into that bin of flour and maybe scraped the bottom each time, but then next time there was more right there again. She and her son had food to eat and she kept on fixing food for Elijah. The Good Lord, he can work some miracles. Even now, up here in these hills, we can number times when the Lord has had a hand in helping out some of our folks. 

Thank you for your listening ear, but now I better go on about my chores. I’m hankering after some time with a book on my porch here in a bit. Tansy Faith brought a new one by for me yesterday. She’s a fine sight coming up the trail with her saddlebags full of books. Brightens up my day every time.

I do hope you’ll enjoy meeting Preacher Rowlett in my story. He won’t be telling any Bible stories there, but I hope you enjoyed this one he told from 1 Kings 17.

What is one of your favorite Bible stories?

Winners:

Before I go, I did pick the winners for my newsletter contest and the giveaway I had here on my blog this week.

Sharon B of New Mexico won the Women’s Study Bible and her choice of one of my books. She picked Small Town Girl. Second place winners were Robin B. and Lori M. Lori picked Murder Comes by Mail. I haven’t heard from Robin as yet but I sent her an e-mail.

The winner here on my blog giveaway is Jennifer. I hope to hear from her soon. Thanks to all of you who commented on my posts and added to the fun of the giveaway.

Comments 20

  1. Ann, I always enjoy your writing. My favorite story in the Bible is about Balaam’s talking donkey. I first read it in a Golden Book. That was many years ago but as I said I enjoy your books which I have read many. I always look forward to finding your new books.

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      Thank you for that, Kathleen. I do so appreciate you reading my stories. And yes Balaam’s talking donkey would have been a good story for Preacher Rowlett to share.

      I hope you’ll enjoy Along a Storied Trail when you get a chance to read it.

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  2. I’m looking forward to your new book coming out. One of my favorite stories was about Jonah and the whale, can’t imagine being inside a fish! Congrats to all your winners!

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      That’s an amazing story all right, Connie. And maybe even more amazing is that when he did go and preach to the people in Ninevah, they all believed. All of them. That was a revival and a half and yet the revival evangelist still wasn’t happy. The Bible can teach us some important lessons.

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    1. Ann, I absolutely cannot wait to meet Preacher Rowlett when Along a Storied Trail releases in June! Preacher Rowlett sounds like he has an amazing heart for Jesus, The Gospel,and people! I hope you’re doing well, sweet friend! 💜 Proverbs 27💜

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        I think he does have a heart for Jesus, the Gospel and people. I hope you’ll enjoy reading my story and learning more about him. He’s not a major character but he does have an important part.

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  6. Good morning Ann! You keep teasing us with snippets from the new book….making it harder to wait on its arrival. 😉
    I’m already loving the characters.
    As for my favorite Bible stories…that’s a hard one. But if I had to pick just one I think I’d choose Nehemiah. His story teaches us that if we follow the 4 Ps we can do anything.
    1. Praise God for all you have
    2. Pray for guidance
    3. Plan according to God’s will
    4. Persevere…don’t give up.

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      The story of Nehemiah is a great one. I like how you listed the things that the story teaches us. All four of those are some things we should remember any time we start a project or a new venture, Lavon. Thank you for these thoughts.

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  7. What a wonderful preacher man. My favorite story is how Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood. She just touched the edge of his robe and immediately she was healed. I bet the people in your book would like to hear that story being preached.

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      I’m looking forward to it too, Suzanne, even as I’m racing to finish my current book in progress. I don’t think it’s good having a deadline and a book release happening on the same day. Prayers needed!

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