A Christian Romance

Chapter 34 - Announcement

Joel could barely sleep that night, struggling with the distraction of knowing that the only thing separating him from the woman he loved was a wall. He couldn't remember that physical attraction could be that strong, and he was failing to use the weapons with which he had once overcome sexual sin. The temptation of knocking on the bedroom next door and spend the night with Debora was raging. It was so overwhelming that he eventually did that, but in his dreams. He was startled by the alarm and woke up sweaty all over the place.

"Oh no..." He regretted the lack of self-control.

He got up and even though that wasn't a warm morning - because it was winter - he chose to take a cold shower. How he needed something cold to refresh him!

After placing his clothes and the bed linings in the washing machine, he devoted time to reconnect with the Heavenly Father and renew his mind - as he always did. He needed to remember that he was physically attracted to Debora as a woman, for sure, but she was way more than just a beautiful African female specimen. She was intelligent, God-fearing, committed, a great friend, easy to talk to, kind, caring, talented, creative, fierce and courageous. But if his mind quickly deviated to her fleshly value, then it was definitely better to move out.

When Debora arrived in the kitchen, all dressed-up to go to work, Joel locked eyes with her, and smiled, all loved-up.

"Hey Joe, did you sleep alright?" She asked him, while fetching a mug for the tea to accompany the pancakes that he had prepared.

"More or less." He replied, observing her, with a clean mind again.

She felt that something wasn't right with him, while putting her mug on the counter. Looking at him in the eyes, she asked:

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's just that..." He was reading the bible and holding a propelling pen in his hand, when she arrived. He put the pen down, trying to find guts to be honest. "I'm gonna try to hand the keys over to Florencia, today." He faced her. "She might know of something to rent nearby."

"You can stay here until you find something." Debora embraced him, showing him the support he seemed to need.

"Better not." He giggled, holding one of her hands. "Last night I didn't get much sleep, just knowing that you were sleeping next door."

"I'm so sorry." She thought he was cute and cuddly as well, so she embraced him even more and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I totally understand your position, but where are you gonna stay until you find something?" She faced him.

"I'll just go to a hotel nearby, until something comes up. I wanna commit to our vow."

"Joel, if you're having second thoughts on keeping pure until marriage..." She couldn't finish her reasoning, because he interrupted her.

"What kind of man would I be, if I couldn't keep my word?" He tried to prove his point. "Would you marry a guy like that?"

"No, I wouldn't." She recalled that that was one of the reasons that helped her realize why Adam wasn't the right one for her; he didn't love her enough to commit. "Anyway, are you ready for your special event today?"

"Our." He corrected. "This is our victory."

"We do make a great team." She acknowledged. "But, are you ready?"

"I'd rather be at Ralph's today, honestly." He confessed, recalling that that was the day they met to pray and study the Bible. "Did you realize that this week we won't congregate at all?" He meant: getting together with fellow Christians to study the Bible and encourage one another.