A Christian Romance II

Chapter 14 - Questioning

A week had gone by since Miriam had started working at the restaurant. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Michael's feelings were reciprocated. In the beginning, he was sure that she felt the same way while playing hard to get, but his assumptions proved to be wrong. Maybe, Debora could be the love he had been looking for all along. Therefore, there he was at the coffee shop around the corner from Debora's building, waiting to meet her. This time he intended to finally find out whether he should entertain a future with her.

As he waited, he couldn't help but silently whine about his sweaty legs in a pair of long slim-fit jeans. If it wasn't for the scar and half-eaten calf that he found horrendous, he would have been able to wear a pair of shorts to cope with the scorching heat of the end of that summer.

While his attention was somewhere else, some women in the coffee shop put their attention on him. Fortunately, Debora arrived and greeted him with a hug that made those women take back their interest.

"How are you?" Debora asked as she took her seat.

"I'm gonna go right into it if you don't mind."

"Alright..." she was suddenly adamant about her decision to meet up with him.

"What assurance do you have that Joel is the right guy for you?"

Debora wasn't expecting such a raw and personal question, but it didn't bother her. Before she began replying, a smile drew on her face.

"The assurance I have comes from God."

Michael wasn't a Christian nor did he believe in what he called silly fairytales, so hearing such an intelligent woman like Debora say something like that sounded ridiculous. But he had to respect that, and as someone who was pretending to be a Christian, he needed to show that this response was familiar to him.

"I understand." He replied. "I'm just asking because you and Joel seem to be so in tune with one another." He made an excuse, although it was true.

"Yeah, we get along." She acknowledged. "But Joel is wonderful."

Michael let that comment die and strategically introduced another topic, still about Debora and Joel.

"What if you eventually find a more suitable partner? Doesn't that thought ever cross your mind?"

"Well, I could think that I'd be better suited with someone else, but I'd rather not be distracted by that." She giggled. "Plus, since I know that Joel is the one, there's no way I'm gonna jeopardize what we have."

"Alright!" Michael was disappointed that he wouldn't have any chance with Debora. He could take no for an answer, especially in romance. "I'm glad you've found the one."

Looking at Michael, Debora sensed his sadness and blamed it on the fact that he hadn't found the one. She placed her hand on his arm, and tried to comfort him with compassion and the following words: "Michael, I pray that you find the one God has for you." She expressed. "If that's what you want."

"Of course, I want to find the one." He sighed, not hiding his disappointment. "I mean, is there any other option?"

Like many other people, Michael lived in the delusion that finding the one was the key to happiness. He believed that all of his expectations of bliss would be fulfilled in that one person.

"You could want to be a celibate living solely for the Lord, like the Apostle Paul in the Bible. There's more to life than romance, after all." Debora declared as if this was something that Michael knew wholeheartedly.

"Easy for you to say it, you've found perfect Joel." He was discouraged.

Debora empathized with him. Not long ago she also saw romance the way Michael did. Idolizing and worshipping romance as if there wasn't anything more to life than finding the right person. Only when she fully committed and surrendered to Jesus, did she find deep healing and complete soul satisfaction.

"Have you ever prayed about the plan of God for your life, like surrender this part of your heart to Him and trust His doing?"

Michael looked at her feeling dumb and numb. What was he supposed to say, since he wasn't a real Christian? And even if he were a Christian what kind of response was expected? At that point, it was clear that pretending to be a Christian was a mistake.

Debora saw the doubt in his face and concluded that this topic was new to him. "Maybe it's time you do it." She smiled sympathetically.

Michael didn't know how to react to that. To make matters worse, there was no other topic that came to mind, that he could use to divert their attention.

"Uh..." he finally reacted. "You got me." He admitted, assuming that it had been clear to Debora that he wasn't a Christian.

"I got you?" She wondered what he meant.

"I'm not a real Christian." He confessed what he thought was very clear.

"I thought that too when I was faced with the same question." Debora could easily relate.

Michael looked at her confused.

"It doesn't mean that you're not a Christian. It's just that you've improved in your walk with the Lord. At every step closer to becoming who God created you to be, you might feel that your old way was completely off, but that doesn't mean that you weren't a Christian before. It just means that you're maturing."

And with that, Michael realized how dumb Christians were if they couldn't see through his façade. He would even start using that maturity sentence to justify his shortcomings as a fake Christian.

"You're right." He agreed. "I'm maturing." He declared. "Speaking of maturity, how is our event maturing?"

Debora suddenly switched her focus to a more secular topic. She tried to remember what was left to be done, and what were the things she had already started working on.

"Before we send out the tickets, we must select the bands and speakers, or else there will be nothing to attract an audience." She declared. "Unfortunately, even in the Christian world people are attracted by names and not by Jesus only."

Michael didn't know what to say to that, so he just moved forward.

"Knowing you as I do now, I'm wondering if you already have a list of names that I should look into..."

Debora smiled. "Yeah, I do." She removed a tablet from her bag and showed him a list of Christian artists.

"You take care of the speakers, alright?" He demanded. "I'd rather stick to the music."

"Deal!"

"Send that list to me, please!"

"Don't be too picky, or else we might end up with no one. Remember that some of these artists are highly requested, with busy schedules and high cachets."

Michael didn't understand what she meant but was about to find out.