Page 196 of Share with Me

“Really tough.”Painful.

“I bet. Getting full mobility is going to take a lot of time. How long have you been at it?”

“Roughly two months.”

“You have four to six months to go. Take it easy.”

Ivan nodded, sipping coffee. It was hot and delicious. He downed it, then placed the empty cup on the floor. When he lifted his head, Tristan was opening his Bible and a bookmark fell out. It looked exactly like the bookmark that Brinley had given Ivan—

Why does everything have to remind me of her!

“Who’s teaching today?” Ivan asked, breaking his own muse.

“I am.” Sebastian raised his hand. “We’re going to go over what Pastor Gonzalez preached on Sunday and discuss how we’ve applied it to our lives this week. First, let’s pray to ask God to help us understand His Word.”

Ivan thought that Sebastian’s prayer was short and succinct. Then Sebastian handed Ivan an extra printout of the sermon notes from Sunday. Ivan was at Willow’s church in Atlanta the Sunday before, but he couldn’t remember what was preached.

All he knew was that he missed Seaside Chapel and wished there was something like that near Willow. She didn’t want to drive more than five or ten minutes, so Midtown Chapel was out of the question, since he had to carpool with her. Willow’s church was around the corner from her house. The congregational singing was passable, but the pastor’s sermons had put him to sleep every Sunday.

Yeah, I miss Seaside Chapel.

Sebastian swiped his iPad and found the Bible verse. He read Mark 8:36 aloud. “‘For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’”

Ivan had since sold his iPad. He held his three-dollar paperback Bible open as he scanned the sermon outline in his hands. Pastor Gonzalez had taken apart the verse, but it all boiled down to the last point on the printout.

Nothing in this world could compare to what a Christian had in Christ.

Yes, Ivan had the basic intangibles in Christ—salvation, eternal life—but he didn’t have the peace and joy that he should have.

“It’s funny how we sometimes think of the verse as it pertains to an unsaved person losing a soul while gaining the world, and while that is true, for a saved person, our souls are secure in heaven forever and we can never lose them.”

“No one can pluck us out of God’s hand.” Tristan flicked that bookmark in his fingers and for some reason it annoyed Ivan. It fell on the floor.

Ivan quickly reached it, and flipped it over, but there were no writing there.

What am I thinking?

He gave the bookmark back to Tristan, who mutteredthanks.

“I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have anything in this world and have my soul be right with God.” Sebastian looked around the room. “Truth is, that’s a struggle for me. My girlfriend wants things. Things, you know.”

“Mine’s the opposite.” Tristan shrugged. “She keeps giving things away. I mean—huh?”

Sebastian was clearing his throat and mumbling something.

“Pardon?” Tristan turned an ear toward Sebastian. “You said something?”

Sebastian cleared his throat again. “Let’s see if we can memorize this verse and we’ll take it through another week. It’s important for us to think about this long and hard.”

Whassup?Ivan looked from Tristan to Sebastian.

“Okay. Thanks, Seb.” Matt uncapped his pen, ready to write on a clipboard. “So any prayer requests?”

“I need a job,” Ivan admitted.

“Got a few new positions you can apply for,” Matt said. “My cashier had her baby, but she’s not coming back. There’s that and a few backroom jobs.”

“I’ll do it. Do you need me to reapply?”

“Nope.” Matt gave Ivan two thumbs up.

They went around the room adding prayer requests to the lists. Only four guys here today. Sparse. Everyone jotted down the prayer request. They moved on to the next. And the next.

It’s good to be home.

Ivan finished his coffee as he listened. Sick people needed healing. Career people needed directions.

“You know, that’s what I like about our group,” Ivan said before they began praying. “We pray for one another, care for one another, help one another.”

“Brothers in Christ, Ivan.” Matt slapped Ivan on his shoulder. “Brothers in Christ.”

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