Yours Truly, Kate

Chapter 10

When Liam said 9:00 AM sharp, emphasis on sharp, he wasn't joking. At 9:01, I was running out the front door in a dress and heels, trying to grab my purse. Liam was pulling out of the driveway with Cynthia, and I barely made it. 

Oh, and I did all of this while trying to put earrings on.

But, I did make it, and we got to church on time. 

Now, I didn't ask Liam what church we were going to. I had assumed it would be one in my town. I did not expect him to take us to the church we used to attend together, which is exactly what he did. 

My heart was beating so hard I thought it might explode as we walked in. It may have been three years since I'd been there, but I still recognized almost everyone there. Unfortunately, they recognized me too. 

Liam and Cynthia eventually excused themselves to go find seats because I was taking too long talking to people.

All of the greetings were along the lines of:

"Kate! Where have you been?"

or

"Katie! We missed you!"

or

"Katherine! How's Cynthia doing?"

and even one

"Praise Jesus, hallelujah! I thought you were dead!"

To all of them I responded with:

"I've been busy."

or

"Hi! I've missed you, too!"

or

"Cynthia's doing okay."

and

"No, I'm not dead, thank you very much."

When I finally met up with Liam and Cynthia, I was so worn out that I doubted I would make it through the first song, but I did. I actually made it through the whole service. It seemed as though the sermon was tailored to fit my exact situation. The pastor talked about seeking God through trial and temptation. 

The last few years had definitely been a trial, and I constantly gave in to the temptation of choosing fun or work over God.

-------------------------

When I got home, I excused myself to my bedroom and sat down on my bed. I had the Bible I'd hidden sitting in my lap. For a long time, I'd just stared at it. Then, I decided to open it to a random page. It opened to the book of Jeremiah.

The brightly highlighted verse stood out to me immediately.

Jeremiah 29:11.

It had been my favorite Bible verse since I was 12. Again, I just sat there, staring at the book until I decided to go talk to Cynthia.

She was in her room reading Call of the Wild by Jack London. As I sat down next to her, she closed the book and looked at me.

"Can I help you?" she asked me.

"When was the last time you prayed...like...to God?" I asked.

"This morning," she told me matter-of-factly. 

"What about before then?" I asked.

"Last night."

"Before then?"

"Darling, I pray so often that I don't even know."

Wow. More and more surprises in Cynthia's room as of late. There were two this time. 

1. Darling was what she called me when I was in middle and high school. 
2. I had no idea she was still religious. 

"Why didn't you ever talk to me about that? I would have taken you to church," I told her.

"I didn't want to bother," she admitted.

"You're never a bother," I said as I hugged her.