Page 200 of Share with Me

Chapter Sixty-Two

“Good to see you back!” Pastor Tom Gonzalez pumped Ivan’s hand vigorously. His handshake was firm and purposeful.

Ivan had no idea how Pastor Gonzalez had found him after church. He must’ve seen him enter the sanctuary with Matt Garnett at the start of the service. The Seaside Chapel pastor missed nothing. At all.

Once again, his sermon was apropos. Ivan hoped Brinley was paying attention, if she were at church today.

Why does everything make me think of her?

After church, Ivan found a dark and obscure flower pot corner of the lobby to stand and wait for Matt Garnett to finish chatting with the ladies. He, on the other hand, had no intention of talking to anyone, no plans to explain why he was back in town though he doubted if anyone cared, and hoped nobody came to talk to him, especially Brinley. Well, she might have left through another door because he hadn’t seen her at all.

And yet.

Yet here, in a dark corner of the old church, his pastor had found him.

“How’s the wrist?” Pastor Gonzalez asked. The fifty-something man towered over Ivan’s six feet. An imposing figure at the pulpit.

“It’s healing, Pastor. Not a hundred percent, but getting there.”

“Fractures take time to heal. I remember when my son fell off his bike and broke both wrists. We had to baby him. It was more painful for his mother than it was for him.”

Ivan chuckled. “It’s no fun being down.”

“Certainly. How long has it been for you? A few months?”

“Yes. Two more months to go and I should be able to use my wrist again.”I hope.“There’s a bit of tendon damage, so it’s touch and go.”

“Keep up the therapy.”

“Painful therapy.”

Pastor Gonzalez laughed. “If it were easy, it wouldn’t be calledphysicaltherapy.”

“Good point.”

“We’ve been praying for you. We’ll keep praying until God completely heals you however He chooses to.”

However God chooses to?

Ivan could take that in many ways. How God chose to heal him hadn’t been revealed. Ivan prayed it was what he wanted: to be able to play the violin again.

“The most important healing, though, is never physical,” Pastor Gonzalez continued. “My son Lance had to learn patience. What’s God teaching you through this?”

Ivan wasn’t sure how to deal with the pop quiz.

“I think I’m learning to trust God more,” he finally said. “That was a good sermon this morning. It helped me.”

“Glad to hear that,” Pastor Gonzalez said. “As Christians we know we have the basics in Christ such as salvation and eternal life in heaven. But speaking for myself, I sometimes miss out on the other intangibles such as peace and joy and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit when I let the tangibles, my corporeal needs, my physical problems, whatever, overwhelm me.”

“You too?”

“Yep. Me too. Like when that hurricane took out the roof of the church a few years back. You remember that?”

“Oh yeah. The whole church was soaked.”

“Just the building. No one died. No soul perished.”

“Thank God for that.”

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