Sunday morning.
"Hey T, what you up to?" asked Zac.
"Getting ready for church," Fatima responded.
"Ok, make sure you say a prayer for me too."
"I definitely will."
"Alright, have fun and I will talk to you later. Love you."
"Ok, bye."
Fatima hasn't said the words, I love you, yet to Zac. He told her he wanted her to say it on her own time.
It is now time to head to church. She puts on her shoes and grabs her purse. Today is the second Sunday, the Young Adults Choir's turn to sing. That's the choir that Fatima and Summer sing in.
At Ray of Sunshine Baptist Church
Church had started and the doors to the church are open. Everyone stands as the choir sings the first song.
Lord you are good
And your mercy endured forever.
Lord you are good
And your mercy endured forever.
(People from every nation)
People from every nation and tribe
From generation to generation
We worship you
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
We worship you for who you are
We worship you.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
We worship you for who you are.
(Come on sing)
(And you are good)
*Clapping*
And you are good
All the time
And all the time, you are good
You are good
All the time
And all the time, you are good
*Clapping and cheering and instrumental*
After a few minutes, the song ends.
"Now we will have the scripture read by little Patrick and then prayer by one of the Deacons," said one of the church members.
Fatima's brother, Patrick read the scripture. The deacon prayed and then Pastor Fred comes in. They sing two more selections of songs before he preaches.
"The topic today is, He's an all-time God. Please turn to your neighbor and repeat after me, God loves you and so do I," said Pastor Fred. The entire congregation did as they are told and then he began to preach.
The sermon was over, so the choir sings one last song. Lady Pat gets up to direct the choir while Fatima and Summer lead.
"Sing Tima," Yelled one of the members.
*Joyful, Joyful-Sister Act 2 version*
[Fatima Wilson]
Joyful, Joyful
Lord, we adore Thee
God of glory
Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Giver of immortal gladness
Fill us with the light
Fill us with the light
Oh, fill us with the light of day......
[Choir]
Joyful, Joyful
Lord, we adore Thee
God of glory
Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin, sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Drive it away
Giver of immortal gladness
Fill us
Fill us with the light of day
Light of day!
[Rap]
(Check the rhyme)
Joyful, Joyful
Lord we adore Thee
An' in my life
I put none before Thee
Cuz since I was a youngster
I came to know
That you was the only way to go
[switch rapper]
So I had to grow an' come to an understandin'
That I'm down with the King so now I'm demandin'
That you tell me who you down with, see
Cuz all I know is that I'm down with G-O-D
You down with G-O-D?
(Yeah, you know me)
You down with G-O-D?
(Yeah, you know me)
You down with G-O-D?
(Yeah, you know me)
Who's down with G-O-D?
(Everybody)
[Fatima and Summer]
Come and join the chorus
The mighty, mighty chorus
Which the morning stars begun
The Father of love is reigning over us
[Fatima] Right away
[Choir]
What have you done for Him lately?
Ooh, ooh, ooh yeah
What have you done for Him lately?
He watches over everything
So we sing
Joyful, Joyful
Lord, we adore Thee
God of glory
Lord of love
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee
Hail Thee as the sun above
Melt the clouds of sin, sin and sadness
Drive the dark of doubt away
Drive it away
Giver of immortal gladness
....
([Summer] We need you, come right away,
we need you, need you today, we need you,
I'm here to say fill us, fill us, fill us, fill us...)
(Choir) Fill us with the light of day
Light of day!
....
The entire congregation stands up clapping and cheering.
"Thank you choir for that awesome selection," said Pastor. We will now turn it over to Mrs. Jones for the announcements and offering."
Mrs. Jones reads the announcements and then asked if there are any visitors to please stand. All visitors stand. She then asked them if they would please introduce themselves and if they have any words please do so.
One of the visitors in the congregation speaks," Hi my name is Zachary Taylor, and I just want to say that I'm glad to be in the house of the Lord." Then he sits down.
Fatima's POV
"Oh my God, what is he doing here?" Fatima asked herself as her mouth begins to drop. "Zac, I thought we agreed that I would talk to my parents about you first. Now you are here, at church in front of everyone." She looks directly at him and he smiles.
After the offering, the Pastor gives a closing prayer and lets everyone leave.
Fatima shoots Zac a text.
Fatima: Zac, what are you doing here? What happened to what we discussed?
Zac: Don't worry, I'm not going to put you on blast. I just thought I would surprise you and visit your church today. I will see you later. FYI. Your voice is beautiful.
Fatima: Thank you. I will talk to my parents today when we leave here.
***
The Wilsons have left the church and are now at home. Lady Pat has fixed Sunday dinner as she always does. At first, she wanted to invite Summer, her husband, and her parents, but Fatima talked her out of it. She told her she had an announcement to make, and she wanted it to be just the four of them.
They all changed clothes and Lady P finished up dinner and then sat at the dining room table.
They said grace and then started plating their food.
"Fatima, what is it that you wanted to tell us?" asked her mom.
"Umm. I have a boyfriend."
Patrick jumped up excitedly, "I told you she had a boyfriend."
"Well, when you mentioned it, we hadn't made it official. We've been together for a month now."
"Oh, that's great, Fatima," said Pastor Fred. "When will we get to meet him?"
"I don't know yet, but soon."
"What does he do for a living and is he in the church?" Lady Pat asked.
"He is in real estate, and he isn't frequent in church, but that doesn't mean that can't change."
Her mom had a nasty look on her face.
"Mom, can you at least give him a chance? He's a nice guy. He even got me to take the bar again."
"I can't make any promises, but I will try," Lady Pat said.
"Well, I can't wait to meet him," said her dad.
"And that's all I'm asking for."
