A Christian Romance

Chapter 31 - Reality check

It was Sunday in Melbourne. Newlyweds Chloe and Ben had gone on their honeymoon - somewhere in the Maldives - leaving their family behind, as it usually is after a wedding. The remaining family attended their local church in the morning.

The church where Joel used to congregate was very different from the Larkings'. It wasn't a sophisticated auditorium, however, it was well-lit. Some places highlighted the bad taste for decoration. The seats weren't all the same color, and some chairs were damaged. The worship team was small and the sound was far from the quality of the church in Sydney, but the word...! Powerful, preached with authority, just like the Bible characterizes it: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper, than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12).

It had been a long time since Debora was so impacted by the word she heard in a church. She was so used to the superficial, filled with positivity preaching of the Larking church, that she didn't think of taking a deeper look at herself. Sure, it isn't the church's entire responsibility to lead their members into a deeper and spiritual level, but the church sure plays an important role in the way people live their lives.

If in the past, Debora had considered abandoning the Larking church, now she was sure that her way was out of there. She needed spiritual food, not a human and self-centered, prosperity gospel about how successful one could be in life with God's help. Since when was the Almighty Creator of the universe supposed to be serving His creatures? But could she really judge anyone for living the prosperity gospel? She couldn't. Because how many times had she followed her own projects hoping for God to bless them no matter what? A thousand times, at least. Now, fortunately, she had the chance to ask for God's plan instead.
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Moses was the head chef of a kosher restaurant in Melbourne, so cooking wasn't a problem for him. He quickly prepared a meal for lunch, Mim and Debora helped set the table, and Joel walked up and down the building just to make sure that Debora's and his bags were in his SUV.

When they sat at the table to eat, Joel was stressed out, because he planned to arrive in Sydney before dusk, and that lunch could jeopardize that. His father tried to distract him from all that pressure by introducing a topic about Ben and Chloe.

"They kissed at the altar for the first time!?" Mim nearly screamed. "I don't know if I'd be able to take it until the end."

"Well, apparently they did," Moses said as he put a piece of unleavened bread to his mouth.

"But weren't you and mum the same?" Joel looked at his father.

"Our first kiss was before the altar." He declared.

Mim wasn't really enjoying that conversation. It was hard to hear and imagine her parents romantically. Therefore she decided to call Debora to the mix.

"Debora, would you also wait for the altar to kiss?"

Debora didn't reply, she was so lost in questioning her convictions that she wasn't paying any attention to that conversation. Joel had noticed a little and uncommon distraction in her, but he hadn't had time to work out how he would address it. Now, there she was: distracted with Mim calling for her in vain.

"Debora?" Joel, next to her, touched her shoulder gently.

She looked at him feeling very confused.

"I was trying to call you, you seem distracted, are you alright?" Mim tried to give her a heads up.

"Yeah." Then she went back to eating her food.

"Debora, I believe Mim was trying to ask for your view on having a first kiss at the altar." Moses suspected it would be awkward for Joel to rephrase the question to Debora, so he stepped in.