It is actually based on a dream she had, and we hammered out some details and decided that I should write it out.
I will put more here as I have it. It is a very rough first draft with little to now editing. Plot holes may crop up. That's fine. I will revisit and fix things later and then post a final draft at some point. My goal is to just get it out for now.
Thanks, Eric.
Saving Grace
Prologue
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
2 Samuel 11:1-5
Franklin Higgins stormed into his office and slammed the door shut with a resounding bang.
It can't be. It can't... His mind raced trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together. She had an abortion, she swore it. She left me because of it! How can this be? He paced the large office lined with bookshelves and portraits of the men he tried to model in his life.
What does she want? Can I make her go away?
When he had first seen Mary in the crowd that morning he thought that she was someone from a conference he had vaguely recalled, and ravaged his brain for her name so that he didn't appear to be a dolt. Then he saw the boy. Some twelve years old and he had the distinctive Higgins chin and nose. That was when he made the connection to the 17 year old girl a horny and careless 19 year old him had passionately expressed undying love, only to turn away the child they had conceived. And when he rejected the child and demanded an abortion, she had left him. And, it seemed, lied about terminating the pregnancy.
Franklin stopped pacing and looked at the large framed photo of him and Dorothy from their wedding day.
No one can know. His resolve hardened in his heart. It will kill Dorothy, and we would never be able to show our faces here.
With a determined mind now he opened the beautiful stained oak door to the Crossroads Fellowship Senior Pastor's Office and went on his mission.
No one can know.
Chapter one
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
James 1:22-25
Michael inspected the work closely. He had taken a personal interest in training The New Guy and he would make sure that each job was done right before letting Jimmy move on to the next task. Michael ran a finger along the tape that covered the seam between two 4x8 sheets of half inch drywall. Smooth across the whole surface with no variation, it was one of the better jobs he had seen in his career. The kid was a natural.
"Good work," he said, clapping Jimmy on the shoulder. "Now finish the rest of the room. Mark where the electrical outlets will be and then call me. I'll take a look and give notes. We should be able to move on to tile work next week."
"Awesome!" Jimmy's smile stretched from ear to ear. "I mean, yes sir! I'll get right on it!"
"You won't be so excited next week," Michael warned. "You are gonna learn to hate laying tile. Biggest pain in the back ever. I'll take you to go get some good knee-pads, but that isn't going to save your back from complaining."
"No worries, Mr. Davenport! Mami got me a heat pad after the last roofing job." Humor sparkled in Jimmy's eyes. "She is determined to make sure I can still go out at nights and find a girl to have little Jimmy's with." Jimmy's voice took a higher pitch as he mimic'd his mother "'Tu no tiene una novia! You need to go dancing, mijo! All the ladies quiere bailar! I want babies to hold, mijo!'" He laughed. "Nothing will keep Mami from her babies, Mr. Davenport. Not even tiling."
Michael chuckled. "Good to know. Now I can work you harder and longer!"
"Oh, no sir!" Jimmy laid his hands over his heart. "I cannot work longer! I must go out dancing with the damas! Mami has decreed it!"
"Well," Michael sighed dramatically. "If Mami has decreed it, then I suppose I have to let you go on time." He shook his head. "I'll have to go find some other poor sucker... er, employee to exploit."
"Oh, gracias, senor! My future children thank you."
"Get back to work, or I may change my mind!" Michael glared mockingly as Jimmy cowered before dashing to the stack of drywall and began to tug at a sheet without moving it.
"I cannot, senor! Eet eez too much!" Jimmy's antics provoked one last laugh from Michael before the older man waved goodbye and walked out of the apartment that was under construction.
"Call me when the room is done, Jimmy!" He hollered back as he left.
"Yes sir!"
As Michael reached the south stairwell his cell vibrated in his breast pocket. He ducked a crew carrying base moulding and quickly took the stairs down to the ground floor until he could step outside and not risk one of his crew running him over accidentally. Once he was in a low traffic area he fished his cell from its pocket and looked for the notification. It was a text message from Sophia.
Got a job offer from the church. Call me when you can?
Michael took a deep breath and offered up a quick prayer. Lord... I don't like this, but if it's what you want, let me know? Thanks. He tapped Sophia's name and then "call".
She picked up on the first ring. "Hey, sexy beast."
"Well hey there, cute thing. What's up?"
"Oh, you know... nothing much. Just a job offer. Little stuff."
"And? Is it what you were wanting?"
"It's more... by half! And I can bring James with me, so no need for a babysitter!"
"That's awesome! Did you answer yet?" He tried his best to keep dismay from his voice.
"No. I wanted to talk to you first. But... it's exciting! I've been wanting this for ages." Sophia paused. Michael winced...she had caught on. "Are you ok with it?"
He couldn't lie to her, unfortunately. "You know me, Love. I don't like change. I like our church. I like small churches. I feel like I know more people in small churches. And... leaders of big churches just seem to get... weird. I dunno. I know it's silly. It's just...me."
"I'm sorry, Lovey." A sigh. "Do you want me to sit on it? I have a week. We can talk about it, pray about it more. Maybe something else will come up."
Michael hung his head. She had left the education field as a revered Principal, her name tossed about on the state level as a leader in education and child development. For four months they had lived on savings and his (not inconsiderable) income while she sought out her next venture. All of it done on faith that God had called her to quit the formal education field and turn to ministry. And every church or organization she had applied to had turned her down. Too qualified, no ministry experience, not what we are looking for (aka, no women wanted). The reasons as varied as the opportunities. Michael knew how important this was to Sophia, but he loved the small Haven Fellowship Church they had been at for four years. It was where they had met. Married. Dedicated their son. It was home. And now, it was time to move. Michael may not like it, but he believed that God called His children to move sometimes, the same as the military had called his brother to move every few years. He could accept it or he could try a path away from God's calling and more to his own liking. Only one would really bring happiness for Sophia, however.
"Call the church back. Tell them you'll do it." He took a stabilizing breath. "I'll adjust. I'm not going to stop you from answering your call."
"... thank you. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Soph."
"Do you want to go out to dinner tonight and look over the details?"
"That sounds good." Michael's eye was caught by a team leader waving at him. "I gotta go, hun. Work calls."
"Ok. Thanks again, sweetie. It means a lot to me that you're supporting me in this."
"Love, this is your ministry. Literally, now. How could I not support you?" Michael had heard so many times of teachers not being supported or helped by their spouses, but it never made sense to him. Teachers help form the minds of the next generation. It should be an honor to help prepare school supplies, lesson tools, cut outs, demonstrations and all the other things a teacher does at home that isn't "on the clock."
"I know... but still. It means the world to me. I love you. Go work, honey, and bring that sexy builder's body back to me. I have nefarious plans for you tonight."
Michael laughed at the teasing voice. "I gotta go, hun. I love you. I'll see you when I get home."
"Bye love. Be ready for dessert before going out for dinner..." The line went dead, which was probably a good thing for Michael's presence of mind. He smiled and tucked the phone away before jogging over to the waving workman.
He would have to make sure to leave on time. He wouldn't want to miss dessert, now would he!
