The Promise of Christmas

by Vanessa Miller

  The Promise of Christmas

  Book 3

  Spirit of Christmas Series

  by

  Vanessa Miller

  Prologue

  David King was captivated by the woman standing not more than three feet away from him. His heart beat fast as he gazed in her direction. Everything in him was screaming, ‘get back to work’. David had just started this job and although working in a hotel, setting up tables and chairs for conference events didn’t seem like much to some, it was everything to David, because this job got him off the streets and away from the criminal element he had been hanging out with.

  David’s father never approved of the way he had been living his life. David promised that he would make his father proud, but time ran out on that promise a month ago, when a heart attack stole his father’s life away. When he received the call about his father’s death, David wept for three days straight.

  One of his friends stopped by to see if he wanted to hang out… stand out on the corner and sell some weed. David then remembered the promise he’d made to his father and what had once seemed like fun, was now repugnant to him. David got up that very morning and applied for the very job his dad had told him about months ago; so, David did not want to lose this job in no way, shape or form, but he had to know who this woman was. Something pushed him forward, urging him to be in her presence.

  Dressed in an off-white suit that was trimmed in gold, she looked more angelic than mere mortal. David wondered if she was even real, or had she simply been sent from heaven on some type of Godly assignment. He wanted to touch her arm, just to make sure that she was real; but before he could reach her, three other ladies approached, they grabbed hold of each other’s hands, bowed their heads and prayed.

  David stopped walking and just stared. The door behind the ladies opened and he could hear a man preaching like fire and brimstone. He realized then that the lady standing before him was attending some kind of church event. David had attended numerous conferences himself as a child because his grandmother stayed in church at least three, four days a week; and she took him right along with her as much as possible.

  The door to the auditorium closed and he could no longer hear the preacher. The lady he desired to know was once again standing by herself. David didn’t think, didn’t question whether he should approach her, he just did it. “Excuse me, ma’am. My name is David King. I don’t mean any disrespect to you, but can you tell me your name?”

  She shook the hand he offered and said, “I’m Tina Jones.”

  “Well Ms. Tina Jones,” he said in his most ladies-love-D-smooth kind of voice, “I’m just wondering if I can take you out to dinner or a movie.”

  But Tina was immune to his charm. She pulled her hand out of his as she told him, “I’m sorry but I don’t date unsaved men.”

  David’s head almost swiveled off his head. He knew about being saved or unsaved because of all the years he spent in church with his grandmother. But not one woman in all the women he’d dated had ever told him he had to be saved in order to take her out. David couldn’t explain the strange feeling that came over him, but he knew two things for certain: He wanted to know more about the God this woman served and he wanted God to make this woman his wife. “What church do you attend?”

  “Revival Church.” Tina even gave him the address and invited him to attend services at the church the next day.

  The door to the auditorium opened again. A woman peeked her head out. “Tina come on, the choir director is calling for you.”

  Before walking away, Tina told David, “It was nice meeting you. But I’ve got to go.”

  “Wait a minute.” He tried to get her to stay with him. “If I come to your church, do you think God would allow you to go out with me?”

  Holding onto the auditorium door, she smiled at him. “You never know what God might do.”

  ~~~~

  Normally a late to bed, late to rise kind of guy, David woke early the next morning. Showered and changed into a long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. He wished he had a suit, but since he hadn’t attended church in more than seven years this shirt and jeans was as dressy as he could get. But David didn’t sweat it. The church that he used to attend with his grandmother was a come-as-you-are kind of church, and he had a feeling that Revival Church was just the same.

  He grabbed his keys and headed to the twenty-year-old car his dad had given him. David laughed each time he got inside the car, because he was only a year older than the car he drove. But old Bessie got him back and forth to work so he wasn’t complaining. The added bonus that the car had once belonged to his father, was enough to keep a smile on David’s face as he drove in it.

  But there would be no smile this morning, because the car wouldn’t turn over. “Are you kidding me?” David popped the hood, tinkered with the car. He did everything but kick it and it still wouldn’t start. David was about to throw in the towel, go back into his apartment and go to sleep. But then he heard Tina’s voice telling him, ‘you never know what God might do’.

  Glancing at his watch, David tuned his eyes toward the sidewalk. If he started walking now, he could most likely make it to the church in time for service. Shaking his head, David couldn’t believe what he was about to do. He wouldn’t be going back into the house, he was going to walk a full three miles to the church that Tina Jones attended.

  And so, he did just that. With each step, he wondered if he had lost his mind. But the further he got from home and the closer he got to the church, David felt as if something more powerful than him was calling out to him… leading him towards something greater than anything he’d ever known. David prayed to God as he walked, “Lord, I promise that if you make Tina Jones my wife, I’ll do right by her. And I’ll do right by You too. I will serve You for the rest of my days, Lord.”

  When he opened the doors to the small church the first thing he saw was Tina standing behind the pulpit area with three other women, singing praises to God. He smiled and waved at her. When Tina waved back, David thought he had died and gone to heaven. He waited anxiously to speak to her. He wasn’t just at the church, but he had walked three miles to get there, so he was positive that she would go out with him now.

  But when they finished singing, the pastor took one of the microphones and said, “Praise the Lord. I hope you all enjoyed listening to Sister Tina sing the praises of the Lord, because she will be on a plane first thing in the morning. She will be starting her new career as one of the lead singers for a new group called the Four T’s. But we sure hope Sister Tina finds her way back to her home church every now and then.”

  Tina nodded. “You know I’ll come back as often as I can.”

  What? No! She can’t be leaving when he had just found her yesterday. David was beside himself with grief. The woman of his dreams, the woman he’d prayed that God would make his wife was leaving.

  David wanted to rush over to Tina and beg her to stay and give him a chance, but the pastor started preaching, so he took his seat and listened. Truly, he had walked all the way to church for Tina, but the more he listened to what the preacher had to say about this Christ centered life, the more David began to hunger and thirst for the same righteousness that Tina possessed.

  He made one more journey that day, but this time it was a short walk to the altar. He fell on his knees and asked the Lord Jesus to come into his heart that day. In an instant, David’s whole life had changed and he had Tina Jones to thank for that. Because if he hadn’t been chasing after her, he never would have realized just how much he needed a savior in his life.

  He left the altar and scoured the room, looking for Tina. But she wasn’t in the sanctuary now. Was she in the fellowship hall? He opened
the door and just as he stepped out, he saw Tina hop in the back seat of a limousine with the three other women she’d sung praise and worship with. The car took off and sadness over took his heart as David told himself, “Well, I guess that’s it, then. I won’t be seeing her again.”

  1

  Tina was on the last leg of her concert tour and everything was gravy. She had been singing R & B solo for the past five years while her former group members were off doing their thing. Trinity Thomas-Harland was a solo gospel artist, married to a preacher. Theresa Manning-Black had become a big time, well sought after song writer for gospel artist’s. Theresa was now married with five children. Her husband retired from football last year and was now an assistant coach in the NFL.

  Tara had even cleaned up her act. She finally got off drugs with the help of rehab and a fine gospel singer named Rance Edwards. Last year Rance and Tara got married and she is now working on a project with him. It seemed like everybody had a hyphen to their last name these days… everyone that is, but Tina.

  As she sat down at her dressing table and brushed her hair, Tina looked at her reflection in the mirror. Since she was fifteen, guys had been telling her how gorgeous or how pretty she was. But then those same guys just turned right around and cheated on her with the next woman. Showing Tina that she really, never meant anything to them at all.

  She’d even gotten herself arrested for burning down the house of her NFL boyfriend. Tina was thankful that Theresa had been with her the night her heart had shattered into so many pieces that she couldn’t control herself anymore. She started the fire knowing full well that Drake was too intoxicated to know what was going on. Tina ran out of the house and jumped into the car, wanting Theresa to drive them away from the house so that her broken heart could burn right along with Drake.

  But Theresa wouldn’t do it. She jumped out of the car and ran into the house to get Drake. At the time, Tina thought Theresa was some sort of back stabbing friend, choosing to save a man who had humiliated and cheated on her best friend repeatedly. But after Trinity had some sort of out of body experience or whatever it was, Tina had been spooked and realized that Theresa was still the best friend on earth.

  She still couldn’t believe that five years had passed since that Christmas when the Four T’s split up. The Four T’s were with her tonight though, because Tina was doing a Christmas special on the eve before Christmas. Tina left her dressing room and headed toward the stage to thunderous applause.

  The crowd loved her, Tina’s following had doubled since she left the Four T’s a fact that should have thrilled her. But year after year as each member of the Four T’s seemed to get their lives together and find the man of their dreams, her success meant less and less. Tina hadn’t been able to deliver a new single in over a year because her voice kept cracking. Her manager told her not to worry about things like that, they would just amp up the music and no one would notice, but Tina noticed.

  Tina sang a few of the songs that had become hits during her solo career, the music was amped up so few could hear the cracking in her voice. She had always wanted to go to Italy, and last year she took some time off and treated herself. Tina had loved every minute of her visit, but by the time she arrived back home, she’d become so sick she had to be hospitalized. Pneumonia had been the diagnosis, and she had hacked and coughed so much, that it tore her vocal cords. But only her manager knew that the doctors had warned that she might never sing the same way again. Once Tina was tired of hearing the imperfections in her once perfect pitch, she called on the Four T’s.

  Trinity, Theresa and Tara didn’t sing R & B anymore. They had given their talents over to the Lord, but there was one song that she could always get them to join in with her on. It was the last song the four women had collaborated on… “Thankful For My Girls”.

  Few people knew the meaning behind the song. But it all began on a Christmas Eve just like this one. Trinity had been unhappy with her life so she wished upon a falling star that she had never been a part of the Four T’s. Then through some miracle, God had shown her what life would have been like if she had stayed in North Carolina and never ventured out into the world of R & B.

  Life would have turned out well for Trinity, because God showed her that if she would have stayed, she and Pastor Jarod Harland would have married and had two perfect children. The only problem was the simple fact that, if Trinity had never been a part of the group, Theresa would have been dead, because of a botched abortion. Trinity had been the one to talk Theresa out of getting that abortion. Tina would have been in prison because Theresa wouldn’t have been alive to ride with her that night she set her ex-boyfriend’s house on fire. Drake would have died in that fire, so instead of getting community service, Tina would be doing twenty-to-life. And Tara would have died of a drug overdose that very same Christmas that Trinity had her visions. It was all still so hard to believe, but, yet and still, Tina would forever be thankful for her girls.

  As they finished singing and took a bow, Tina glanced over at the smiles of joy on each of their faces. She wondered why she didn’t have joy like that. The women hugged each other and then walked off the stage. Tina wanted them to come to her house and hang out, but they each had to fly back out so they could be home on Christmas morning… they had families who wanted to be with them.

  Theresa practically begged Tina to come home with her so that she could see the kids, but Tina didn’t want to see how in love Theresa and Tony were. She didn’t begrudge her friend love, but Tina didn’t want to see it in living color at this point in her life. “No, I’m just going to order food in and hang out at the house.”

  “Are you sure, Tina? I hate for you to be alone at Christmas time.” Theresa hugged her friend.

  “I’m really not feeling that family thing right now,” Tina assured her.

  Theresa opened her mouth to say something else, but Trinity stopped her. “Let it be Theresa, you know how Tina is.”

  Tina’s eyebrow went up. What was that supposed to mean. But since Trinity didn’t bother to clarify her statement, Tina just rolled her eyes and went about her business. She went home alone, propped her feet up on the recliner and began reviewing her social media pages.

  Her tour manager had taken tons of pictures at the concert and had already posted them to her Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages. Her fans always made such wonderful comments and helped to lift her out of these blue moods she’d been drifting into lately.

  One lady commented that her Christmas Special was the best concert she’d been to in years. Another said that she’d watched it on television and wished that she’d been there in person. Tina kind of half smiled, her fans were so good to her, she only wished that her heart had been into tonight’s event, because she truly wanted to give them an event to remember.

  Tina kept scrolling down reading the comments. But as her eyes passed over one of the comments, she sat up and gave it a double take. Pastor David King had left a comment. He said, “I enjoyed the Christmas Special, and despite it all, I’m still grateful that you caused me to walk three miles to church.”

  That remark truly caused Tina to smile. She hadn’t known at the time that David King had walked to church just to get another chance to speak with her. She did remember seeing him walk through the door that last Sunday that she attended her home church, just before she left for California and stardom and the Four T’s. But it wasn’t until about five years later that David wrote to thank her for being the catalyst that got him hooked on Jesus.

  Tina clicked on David’s picture to go to his page. Every now and then for some reason she stalked his Facebook page, just so she could see what happiness looked like. David had married a girl from the church about seven years ago. He started his own church four years ago, and the church had been steadily growing.

  Every time Tina checked David’s page out, she was always greeted by his smiling, happy family and news of his church. Even though Tina hadn’t been back to her own church in fifteen year
s, she liked to think that she had earned an extra point with God because of David King.

  But today was different. There was no picture of a smiling family, just a simple post stating that today was anniversary of his wife’s death, and that he was feeling sad.

  Anniversary of Malia’s death? How did she die? Had it really been a year since she checked his Facebook page? Tina kept scrolling until she found the messages of sadness from the members of his congregation. Those messages told the story of a car accident that had claimed Malia’s life. It wasn’t fair.

  But the more Tina thought about things that night, she came to the conclusion that her situation wasn’t fair either. She was alone on Christmas Eve, when she desperately wanted a family to call her own. David was alone as well. And that’s when the idea hit her.

  What if she had known that David had walked all those miles to church that day? Would it have flattered her? Would she have stayed and married him? Tina jumped up and ran over to her window. She threw open the curtains and stared up at the sky, hoping to see a falling star just as Trinity had one fateful Christmas Eve. But the sky was still, nothing moved at all.

  Tina was just about to close the curtain and deal with her current situation by calling all the men in her contact list to see who else was alone and in need of a warm body at Christmas. But then a sudden movement in the sky caught her eye. Was that a shooting star? She saw it again, and realized what it was… snow.

  It never snowed in California. What was up with that? Tina smiled. Maybe God was letting her know that he was listening. She didn’t know if that was the case or not, but Tina wasn’t waiting to figure it out. If Trinity could change her life by sending up a prayer, then why couldn’t she? “Lord, I don’t know if you are listening, but I’m not happy. But I think I could have been happy with David King. Did I miss my chance, or can you please do for me what you did for Trinity?”