God's Not Dead 2 Read Free Page B

Amy cringe. It was too easy   —lazy, in fact   —to think of Willie as some dumb redneck with a big beard and a small brain. Or to think of his beautiful wife as nothing more than arm candy who never thought or acted for herself. After interviewing them as they entered church, it took her hardly any effort at all to write a thousand hateful words about them.
    That wasn’t an interview; it was an ambush.
    Willie’s last words that day were “You’re welcome to join us.”
    Amy smiled and nodded and told them she was good. She believed it too. But she didn’t know how not-so-good she really was. Eventually, many months later, she ended up communicating with the Robertsons through Twitter. And she finally did take Willie up on his offer.
    She didn’t just join them at some church they were visitingand speaking at. She went down to West Monroe and attended their church. It was there that Amy met the whole Robertson clan, including Phil Robertson himself. She didn’t know if the family members all knew who she was. A part of her went down to Louisiana wondering if some publicist had sent all of them an e-mail saying, This is the blogger who ripped your family to shreds and especially mocked Phil, so be careful around her. But any thoughts of this evaporated a few moments after she was picked up at the airport by Korie. It turned out the Robertsons were real folks who just happened to be put in the spotlight with a fun-loving television show. They were also incredible businessmen and businesswomen.
    Amy left West Monroe not just wearing a Duck Commander T-shirt with pride, but also a complete and bona fide fangirl. Korie Robertson was and still is her new hero. The woman’s combination of business sense and class   —paired with her faith and her responsibilities as a wife and mother   —are nothing short of remarkable.
    If I could be half of who Korie is, I’d be pretty awesome.
    The trip to West Monroe cemented the journey she was already on, starting with confronting cancer and losing Marc and then finding Jesus at a Newsboys concert. When she got back to Hope Springs, Amy deleted her blog and all its contents. The last link to that cynical soul she used to be was gone.
    The New Left no longer exists. In its place, Amy founded Press Pink , a site dedicated to her battle with breast cancer. It started out strong, but she hasn’t posted anything for a couple of weeks. And now she feels something growing inside of her, something unsettling that resembles what she found in the microwave dish.
    Start a new one.
    It would only take about five minutes to set up a new blog.Get a WordPress theme and get the hosting all in place and start writing.
    Amy has no desire to gain new followers or increase web traffic. She just wants to try to figure out these feelings inside of her. The restless waves of doubt that keep nagging at her soul.
    There’s one thing she’s always done when the emotions of her everyday start to interfere with her tomorrows.
    Write.
    The anger and condescension at the hypocrisy of Christians and their faith prompted The New Left . The fear   —and discovery of hope   —while journeying through triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma gave birth to Press Pink .
    And now?
    Amy grabs a can of Pringles chips and heads back to her family room, toward the couch and the stack of five books on the table next to it. She wonders if anyone has ever created a blog titled with only a big, fat question mark. The ? Blog . With a post a day about every question that never gets answered.
    It can start with wondering why I’m still here alone after all this time.
    She turns on the TV. The words of others will have to fill the silence. But Amy knows they won’t fill that void inside her.
    Maybe some people are simply meant to carry empty pockets around with them. Always hoping to fill them but eventually realizing they’re ripped and can’t keep anything inside.

6
    THE CONFIDENT BRUNETTE walking through the