Page 35 of Share with Me

Chapter Twelve

The air wasnippy as Ivan McMillan pedaled his bike to the Seaside Chapel Men’s Bible Study at Argo Perry’s independent bookstore by the pier surrounded by numerous cafés. He had sometime taken his dates to those cafés. The cafés were still there, but Ivan’s relationships had been short-lived.

He couldn’t date anyone long-term at this time. He had Grandma Yun’s mortgages to pay off, an old house to save from foreclosure, massive medical bills to settle, and a music studio to maintain. Earning money was all he could think of right now.

It had been a mistake to go out with Emmeline the summer before. The harpist had just arrived on St. Simon’s Island and had no friends. Ivan decided not to repeat the same mistake again with newcomers.

Brinley Brooks is not a newcomer to the islands.

Brinley? How did she enter his mind?

Ivan hit the brakes. He chained his old bicycle outside the bookstore. The wordScrollswas etched on the old door under theClosedsign. During warmer months, the Men’s Bible Study Group often met at the Seaside Chapel beach pavilion every Friday morning at six o’clock if no wedding was being conducted in the vicinity that day. In the winter, they met in any available heated room that generous church members could offer them to use for free.

When Argo Perry, one of the deacons at Seaside Chapel, had found out about the need, he said they could meet at the café nook inside his bookstore from six to seven every Friday morning.

Once inside the bookstore, Ivan made a beeline for the coffeemaker. Sitting at the counter and chatting with Argo Perry’s daughter, Talia, was his friend Sebastian Langston, restaurateur and caterer. Sebastian always made it a point to show up at the Bible Study especially now that it was held in his future father-in-law’s bookstore.

Sebastian and Talia had been dating on and off, and had been engaged on and off. Ivan wasn’t sure if it was Talia’s indecisiveness or Sebastian’s assertiveness that had caused the two of them to go nowhere. Perhaps it was God’s intervention to prevent a disastrous relationship.

“Coffee!” Ivan embraced the cup as the door chimes went off a couple of times. Matt Garnett, whose antique store was a few blocks away, filed in, followed by a couple of other guys who weren’t regulars, Gunther and another guy whose name escaped Ivan. He was glad to see them attend more frequently now.

“Several guys are out of town so attendance is going to be a bit thin this morning,” he said.

The door chimed again. A couple more guys trudged in.

“Coffee, bagels, whatnots are on the counter here,” Sebastian said from his perch. “If you need anything else, speak up now before Talia leaves.”

No one needed anything else.

Ivan watched Talia give Sebastian a peck on the cheek. Sebastian grabbed her and kissed her soundly before letting her go.

“Let’s not forget we’re in a Bible Study here.” And Ivan wasn’t joking.

“Shut up, Ivan,” Sebastian said. “You don’t know what it means to be in love.”

The hoots and howls were too much to bear. Ivan tried to take the high road and not respond, but Sebastian’s words grated him. He counted to ten and then some and then prayed for the right response. He loved his brothers in Christ.

“I’m glad you brought that up, Seb. It’s exactly what we’re talking about this morning.” Ivan swiped his iPad. “Turn with me to Proverbs 3:5-6 as we focus on how to trust God no matter what people say or do to you and no matter how difficult life is day by day.”

There was near silence in the café save for the flipping of pages in Bibles or stray notification sounds from iPads and Galaxy tablets.

“Let’s open with prayer before we check out these verses.” Ivan looked at each face. “Matt, would you pray for us?”

Matt Garnett. Such a good friend to him when Ivan had struggled both emotionally and spiritually. He was getting out of the funk now and things were looking up. Although not the life he had planned for himself, he felt that what he was doing, where he was on St. Simon’s Island, was where God had wanted him to be at this time of his life.

For such a time as this, God had chosen to deny his request to tour the world as a concert violinist.

And yet…

Taking care of Grandma Yun after Grandpa Otto died should be more fulfilling for Ivan though he didn’t feel it. Not yet. Some days he felt that he was just going through the motions of family obligations. And there was no one to talk to about it except his best friend from high school, Matt. He couldn’t broach the subject with Grandma Yun because it was about her.

“Let’s pray.” Matt closed his eyes and everyone else followed. “Father God, thank You for another day. Help us to listen to Your Word and learn from You. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.”

Ivan straightened up as he read Proverbs 3:5-6. “‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.’”

Ivan checked off his outline. “Thing is, I’m still learning about this. You know my grandma reads the Bible all the time and this is her favorite verse. I wrote down what she highlighted in a devotional entry about this verse. Let me read it to you. ‘Unless I trust God with all my heart, I would fall back to trusting my own finite vision. If I fall back on human understanding, I would be too proud to acknowledge the Hand of God and His Lordship over my life. As a result, I wouldn’t have God’s perfect navigational skills applied to my life’s paths.’ Anyone has examples you’d like to share?”

“I’m trusting God for Talia,” Sebastian Langston said. “Pray for me that she’ll come around and marry me. This on-again, off-again thing is wearing me down. I want a long honeymoon and at least six or seven kids.”

---