CHAPTER 3
“Here you go.” One of the girls who’d helped me in, stood there smiling, raincoat dripping and holding a cup with steam rising from it. “Take it, its hot chocolate; it will warm you right up.”
“I don’t have any money, I can’t pay for this.” I stammered then glanced toward the glass doors, wondering if I could make it out before they could stop me.
“Nonsense, take it, it’s on the house.” She shoved the steaming cup toward me again. I timidly took the cup.
“Thanks.” I began to sip at the hot liquid and immediately felt the warmth spread through my body. I closed my eyes and sighed.
A booming voice behind me nearly caused me to spill the hot chocolate.
“I’m Israel Medina, but you can call me E-Z. Who are you?” I turned and there stood a giant of a man with plate of rolled tortillas in hand.
“I’m uh, Adira Gonzalez.” The young man smiled at me. I blushed and felt butterflies dancing in my stomach.
“Well here you go, Adira. Fresh hot breakfast tacos. You slid into Debby’s way on the right day.” He motioned to the other girl who had brought me into the church. “What were you doing walking around out there in this weather anyhow, don’t you know you could catch pneumonia!”
“E-Z!” The girl named, Debby slapped his arm. “Don’t be rude.” She glared at him and turned to me. “Please excuse my brother. He is a Neanderthal and doesn’t have any social graces.” He just shrugged.
“I was just asking, anyhow, do you live around here? Because I’ve never seen you around the church before.” Another slap on his arm, this time from a short blonde girl. “What now?” He was genuinely confused.
“E-Z, why don’t you run along and see if Sister Jessie has some dry clothes to fit Adira.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Here are your tacos anyhow. I’ll see you later.” E-Z rubbed at his well abused arm and walked off with Debby at his heels, chattering and scolding him along the way.
“Sorry about E-Z, Adira. He is the typical male and asks all the wrong questions.” The short blonde apologized. “I’m Karen Wallace. Debby and I work with the young adult ministries here. How old are you, 21 or 22?”
“I’ll be 22 in a few months.” I whispered, looking down at the empty cup in my hands.
“I thought so. I’m pretty good at gauging ages.” Karen grinned. “So, are you warming up alright?” I nodded noting my fingers weren’t numb anymore.
“Here’s some more chocolate and eat your tacos! They are gonna get cold.” Debby had rejoined us and held out another cup. “Your lips don’t look blue anymore but you still look like you might fall over, now eat.” Debby was just as boisterous as her brother, though not as intimidating.
As we sat there, the coffee shop was getting crowded. Most people walked by and smiled or nodded at us, not staring at the new addition. I fairly inhaled the tacos, holding back enough to not look like an animal while I ate.
“Church is about to start, why don’t we get you cleaned up and you can join us.” Debby took the cup and plate from the table and dropped them in the trash can nearby.
“But I don’t go here,” I repeated for the third or fourth time, I’d lost count. “I mean I won’t fit in.” I didn’t move.
“Come on, you will fit in just fine.” Karen held her hand out. “Looks like E-Z found you something.” Sure enough, he was coming down a hall with a bag.
“Sister Jessie said to get with her after church.” He tossed the bag to Debby. “I gotta get to the sound board.” He turned to me. “See ya in service, soggy!” He grinned at me again, then jogged off.
“UGH! What a beast!” Karen made a face. “Any who, let’s go and you can use the bride’s room to change.”
“Come on silly. You wanna be in dry clothes before church starts!” Debby grabbed the towels and blanket. Going against my better judgment, I followed them warily. What can it hurt? I thought to myself. What I didn’t know, what I couldn’t have known was this decision would change my entire life.
The girls dragged me through the huge lobby and down a never ending hall with several turns. I was certain I’d never be able to find my way out of the maze. Then we finally got to main church section, I stood with my mouth hanging wide open. I hadn’t set foot in a church since I was a little girl. Even then I had never stood in such a grand building. The ceilings were super high and on either end of the church was a humongous stained glass window of a man. This was surreal.
“Come on, the bride’s room is just outside those doors.” Debby motioned to some large wooden door at the far end of the building. They’d been so kind to me, and now they were going to toss me back out into the cold. What a cruel trick to play on someone. So this had been their plan all along. Karen must have seen the fear and distrust on my face because she jumped in to explain immediately.
“What Debby meant to say is, just on the other side of those doors there is another lobby where the bride’s room is located. You don’t have to go outside for a while.” I relaxed just a bit. Even if I didn’t have to leave right away; eventually I’d have to face the cold and bitter wind outside.
“Yeah, what she said.” I snapped out of my bleak musings and saw Debby grinning sheepishly. “Sorry, I forget not everyone comes to church with us regularly.” We walked through the huge auditorium to the bride’s room, which was just as fabulous as the rest of the church.
“Here we go, let’s see what is in the bag.” Debby opened the bag and pulled out a whole outfit. Including shoes and socks. I was admiring the clothes when we heard a knock at the door.
“Karen? Are you in there?”
“Sister Jessie!” Karen pulled open the door. “I thought E-Z said you wanted to see us after church! Ooooo, I wish he would learn how to relay messages.”
“Oh yes, I do need to see you after church, but I brought something else for Adira.” My head whipped around at the sound of my name. How did she know who I was? “I brought you a sweater and a coat. It doubles as a raincoat.” She held up a heavy coat and a beautiful sweater.
“Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say.
“I hope it fits. E-Z wasn’t much help with sizes. He just said you were tiny.” She laughed.
“You know E-Z, if it doesn’t have tires and an engine, he just doesn’t get it.’ The girls laughed at some inside joke.
“Well I’ll see you inside, Adira, and I’ll see you two after service.” The older lady quickly left.
“You need to get changed. We only have fifteen minutes before church starts.” Debby grabbed the bag out of my hands and dumped everything out on one of the chairs.
I gathered the new clothes, treating them as though they were priceless jewels. It wasn’t often I had new clothes these days. I stepped into one of the stalls and quickly changed; shoved my dirty clothes into a plastic bag; tied it up and threw it away. I didn’t ever want to see them again. I exited feeling like a brand new person, until I saw my hair. There was no helping the mess on my head.
“You look great!” Karen exclaimed. .
“Thanks.” I whispered. I looked down at my shoes and thought to myself I must be dreaming.
“Look what I found!” Debby waved a giant zipper bag filled with stuff. “Brush, comb, hair ties, toothpaste, toothbrush and all kinds of other goodies!”
“Come on!” Karen dragged me over to a vanity in the corner. “You brush your hair out.” I got to work as they talked.
“I can’t believe we get to have a banquet this year!” I watched them through the mirror. “I already saw the dress I want. I just hope they have it in my size.” Karen patted her slightly pudgy midsection sadly. I half smiled wistfully as I remembered shopping for my homecoming gown. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
“I already bought our tickets, E-Z turned in the money on Wednesday.” Debby was checking her make up while talking to Karen. “I don’t know how mom is gonna get him to wear a suit though. He already
told her he is gonna wear his jeans and sneakers. He is refusing to wear a tie. I wish he wouldn’t be such a pain.” My hair was as untangled as it was gonna get, so I pulled it up into a ponytail. I frowned at the mirror and sighed again.
“I appreciate this.” Karen smiled and Debby came over and fluffed my bangs.
“Oh, it was nothing. It’s what we do here. I wish my hair was like yours.” Her brow furrowed deeply.
“Thou shalt not covet, Debby.” Karen almost couldn’t speak, she was laughing so hard.
“Shut up, Karen.” Debby stuck her tongue out.
“You’ve never looked better.” The way these girls teased each other was something I’d had with my friends a lifetime ago. I laughed and they both looked over at me.
“Oh Adira, I’m I mean we, we’re so sorry. You must think we are horrible.” Debby cried out.
“Not at all.” I smiled at them both; I hadn’t felt so light in a long time. Maybe, just maybe this day wouldn’t be so horrible after all.
CHAPTER 4
“Welcome to your house of miracles. Welcome to your house of grace.” There was a man standing up on the stage talking to the crowd of people. “Let’s open our service with a word of prayer. The man began to pray and ask God to come and walk among His people while everyone had their eyes closed. I had to hold back a laugh, these people had to be crazy, did they think God was gonna come into the church? If He fit inside a church then He couldn’t be as impressive as I’d always heard; I mean this HUGE creator of all things shouldn’t be able to fit in any kind of building.
A sudden swell of music interrupted my thoughts. The small choir on the stage had started singing. I was a little puzzled, for such a big church I would have thought they’d have had a bigger choir. Still they sounded beautiful. They weren’t wearing big bulky robes, but they all wore similar colors and it was beautiful.
The songs they sang were unfamiliar to me, not surprising. It had been years since I’d been in a church. Then the music slowed down and grew quiet, very solemn. Great, I thought to myself, this is gonna get boring. But it didn’t, I felt this strange feeling come over me; it was overwhelming. Tears welled up and I began to cry, no it was more, much more. I tried choking back the sobs, but it was too much. Too much emotion had built up inside of me. I was like a soda bottle shaken up to the point of exploding. Everything came rushing out in wave after wave of tears.
I felt scared and relieved at the same time, something very difficult to understand. Then all at once I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and I was lead out of the bench where I’d been sitting. I didn’t know where I was being taken, but I felt no fear. Only peace and love I’d never felt before. A man, not the one who had started the prayer, spoke to me. I raised my head and through the tears in my eyes I saw him.
A kind smile crossed his face as he stood before me. “You have suffered a great deal in your life.” He said, he wasn’t asking me any questions, just stating a fact. “You have suffered a great deal in your life,” He repeated, “but God has never left you alone. He has always provided for you, even when you could not see. He is preparing you for great things. Don’t limit God.” I started feeling overwhelmed by intense emotions. I felt mocked by this man. How could he say God had never left me alone? I was alone, all alone. I had to fend for myself. God had given me nothing. I wept bitter tears of anger and disgust. All these people were being taken in by this so called man of God. Well he had another thing coming if he thought I was going to buy it.
A woman was standing next to the smiling man. “This morning, when you were forced to leave the store and then the first church you went to, God already had a plan for you. He led you here. You don’t have to figure it out. Just accept God’s love.”
I was stunned, no one knew. I hadn’t said a word to the girls. Were they following me? The woman put her hand on my shoulder and I felt a flash of heat and a surge of electricity go through my body and suddenly I was on the floor. I didn’t know what had hit me and I didn’t care. The music continued to play and I heard beautiful songs. I wept until I had no more strength.
All of a sudden I felt different, lighter somehow. I looked around and saw the bright figure once again.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“A messenger.”
“From who?”
“The Almighty. The Great I Am. The Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and The end. He who was and is and is to come.” I didn’t understand the words he spoke, but I knew somehow he was speaking of God. I should have been terrified but I wasn’t. I felt nothing but calm, and peace.
“Why are you here?” I asked, more in my own wonder than actually as a question to him.
“To remind you; you are not forgotten.”
“What?”
“God has never forgotten you. He has been watching you and guiding your path.”
“Fine job He’s done.” I scoffed.
“Things that happen and choices made have only served to get you to where you need to be. Do not allow doubts to cause you distress. At the end of your journey you will find what you seek.”
“What am I seeking?” At the moment I just wanted a safe place to sleep at night, farther than that even I didn’t know.
“At the end of your journey you will find what you seek.” He repeated and slowly faded from sight.
When I sat up Debby and Karen knelt next to me.
“What happened?” I asked them, confused.
“We’ll talk about it after church.” Debby assured me as they helped me up and led me back to our seats.
Another woman took the stage.
“I want to welcome all the visitors today. If this is your first time here please raise your hand. Our ushers have a little packet to give you with information about our church.” I sat still, not moving. Debby raised her hand and pointed at me.
“Welcome to the young woman sitting with Debby and Karen, I hope this won’t be the last time we see you here.” She smiled and went on to greet other visitors and then to speak about upcoming events. An usher came over to us and handed me a packet. I saw there was a little card asking for name, address and phone number. I shoved everything into my knapsack, how could I fill out any of it. I had nothing.
Offering baskets were then passed around the church. I was amazed at how much people were giving. Then the smiling man and the friendly looking woman took the stage and began to speak.
“Welcome to your place of miracles.” He said. It was the third time I’d heard the same phrase and it made me wonder if they believed it was a place of miracles or if it was just some catch phrase. “Welcome to the Coat of Many Colors Ministries. For those of you who are visiting for the first time, I am Pastor Gershon Suan and this is my lovely wife Pastor Sandra Suan. We are delighted to have you here today on this special day. Now you may ask yourself, ‘What is so special about today?’ This is the day the Lord has made! Every day is a special day when we allow God the top spot.” He looked over at his wife. “Do you have a word for the church?” she shook her head. “Okay then.” He helped her down from the stage and took his place behind a podium. I’d seen this kind of stuff on TV in the shelters before. He was about to start screaming and yelling at everyone.
I was regretting having let the girls sit on either side of me. I couldn’t get out of the bench without having to get by one or the other. This was not gonna be fun unless I was able to fall asleep. Who knew I might catch up on my rest?
“Isaiah chapter 4 verses 28 through 31” the smiling man, who I knew now to be the pastor, began to read aloud:
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He in
creases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
I stared at the congregation as they stood there and prayed. Then, as one, the congregation sat. It was getting a little bit weird and I shifted uncomfortably in the hard bench and hugged my knapsack close.
The pastor began to talk about how God was always watching over His children; I tuned him out right then. How could I believe in a God who allowed this to happen to me? I had a hard time comprehending the situation to be honest. A God who was supposed to be alert to everything going on had allowed me to be destroyed.
I’d talked to my mother, I told her what my step-father had done to me. She didn’t believe me. She said it was all my fault, because he said so. She’d threatened me with a butcher knife. Told me she would kill me before she let me take her husband. I left right then and didn’t look back.
My eyes grew heavy and the pastor’s rhythmic voice was so soothing. I wondered at having seen angels twice in one day. Maybe I was losing my mind. I’d heard how homeless people were at risk for mental illness. It must be from depression, I thought to myself as sleep overtook me.
CHAPTER 5
A gentle nudge to my shoulder woke me. I blinked several times and heard the pastor still talking. I looked around me, disoriented and saw Karen and Debby both staring straight ahead, grinning. I squirmed uncomfortably and stifled a yawn.
“Bad things happen because we live in a world governed by sin. It is an imperfect world. God is still on His throne and when we don’t see a way out, we need to remember GOD is the way.” Was God really the way? Apparently the pastor was done with his speech and he had never hollered.
A prayer was said and before I knew it everyone was standing and shaking hands and talking to one another. Too soon my time in this nice warm church had come to an end. I gathered my new coat and my ratty old knapsack ready to brave the elements once again.
Wings of Eagles Page 2