Lucy was in a conundrum. She promised Keisha to go to get groceries with her. She also promised Priya and Sonia that she would go to Popeyes with them and grocery shopping afterwards. Today.
Lucy lay in bed, still snuggled under her warm covers and tried to rub the exhaustion from her eyes and tried to figure out what to do. She thought about inviting Keisha out with Sonia, Priya and herself. But then she wanted to save Keisha from the constant criticism and judgment from Sonia and Priya. Lucy barely tolerated it and still bought what she wanted, but truly did not want Keisha subjected to it. She knew that Keisha would rather go on her own instead of having to deal with that. She would not blame her.
There was no way she was going to let Keisha go by herself, though. That just left how she was going to go with Sonia and Priya. Should she go with Sonia and Priya earlier in the day, then with Keisha later in the afternoon? She did not have that kind of money and it seemed foolish to do. Should she tell Sonia and Priya that she'll come later to the store with Keisha then the four of them would head back to their halls? She thought about it then quickly scrapped that plan when she realized how cramped up they would be in the vehicle. Plus, since Keisha just returned to the country, she would have a lot to buy. There simply would not be enough space in the vehicle.
Lucy loosed a deep, loud sigh and sat up with her head in her hands. She considered telling both parties she was not feeling well and could not go anywhere. Again, she could not do that to Keisha. She closed her eyes and visualized herself putting the problem on a platter and presenting it to God.
"Please help me figure this out, Father," she said and closed her eyes, and fell back asleep.
Two hours later, she heard a chime from her phone and picked it up.
"Hey, my girl, let us know if you wanna do mass in about thirty minutes". Lucy slapped a hand to her forehead. Today was Sunday! She had completely forgotten about mass that her family does every Sunday, via WhatsApp. Thirty minutes. Wait, was this not about the same time that she, Sonia and Priya had planned to leave for Popeyes?
This was perfect. She would inform them that she had a meeting with her family and would not be able to go! This was amazing. Their meetings normally last about three to four hours, sometimes only an hour or two. She heard her phone chime again and picked it up.
"Hey Luce," the message from Sonia read, "You up? Getting ready to go?"
Lucy replied an apologetic message that she would not be able to go and they should have fun without her. She messaged Priya as well, and felt a weight lift off of her shoulders. God truly does answer prayers.
She loved speaking to her family. She felt like it re-energized her and made her feel on top of the world. Invincible, almost. After the four hour meeting with her family, Lucy felt tired and lay back down on her bed with her novel. This was a fantasy one with Fae, and witches and evil kings and Assassins. It was amazing so far, although she found the author's love for killing off amazing characters did not speak well of her sanity.
She opened the book, then her eyes fluttered closed and she fell asleep. Sometime later, she heard the phone buzz and realized it was Keisha asking if she would still be able to go with her in about thirty minutes. What was with everyone and the thirty minutes? She shot a quicky confirmatory message to Keisha and jumped into the shower.
Forty-five minutes later, she met Keisha outside and set off the the store. The store that they originally went to was closed early and they took a short walk to nearby store. She loved shopping with Keisha. There was no judgement. No condemnation, no swatting her hand away from the double fudge chocolate chip cookies that made her mouth drool every time she passed it on the shelf. She swore it had eyes and a wicket mouth that taunted her, daring her to pluck it off the shelf. Promising her things that no other cookie could do for her. It was correct.
As they walked through every single isle of the store, Lucy told Keisha some of the tales of when she went shopping with Sonia and Priya. As if in answer to them, Keisha grabbed a handful of snacks off the shelf and said, "Luce, let's you and me be unhealthy together," which of course had Lucy howling with laughter.
It was strange.
She did have a feeling from early in the morning, that she should tell Keisha they should come to this store instead of the one they normally went to, but like an idiot, she ignored it.
When Lucy helped Keisha with her four grocery bags, she kept thanking Lucy for coming with her, because she did not know how she was going to manage all of it. From then, Lucy knew that she had made the right decision. She thanked God silently for helping her make the right decision as they left the store.
The next morning, Lucy was supposed to go to the hospital. She turned off her alarm that went off at five, as it was supposed to and rolled over. She woke up exactly and hour later. Enough time to get ready and reach the bus with time to spare.
But for what?
All they had scheduled for today was rounds. It would be over in an hour, two, tops and then what? Wait for the bus from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon? She thanked God for showing her what a waste of time it would have been to go today and went to sleep for a few more hours.
When she finally got up, she recalled the dream that she had last night. There was a man with red eyes and skin the color as dark as the night sky during new moon. He was possessed by a demon. Lucy shouted at him "In the name of Jesus, leave!"
She heard him, more than she saw him laugh at her. She tried again "In Jesus's name, leave him and never return!" This time it did not laugh but made no facial expression. She felt something grow in her, like a tree growing bigger and claiming more space in her belly and her chest.
"In the name of Jesus, come out of him!" she saw it open it's mouth to scream then woke up. Her body covered in goosebumps. She looked at the time.
3:45am
Figures. That's when these nasty things do their business. She remembered looking at the ceiling, trying to recall what she said and what she should have said instead. Phone still in her hand, she decided to calm her nerves with the verse of the day. It read:
'When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!" '
- Mark 9:25
Lucy did not believe in coincidences. Were these the words she was supposed to say? Was this God's purpose for her? To actually be able to ...and to actually exorcise demons from out of people? She felt like that would actually be amazing if she could actually do it. It seemed a hefty feat to accomplish, but with God loving, helping, guiding and directing her...she knew it was possible. Still, it felt surreal to have a calling like this.
This was Lucy's thought process because this was not the first time she has had a dream like this. Specifically about exorcising demons. She did not watch horror movies where people were possessed doing all sorts of crazy things. That scared the crap out of her and unnerved her more than she would care to admit. But this calling was from God. How she was going to do it...she did not know. But...just like her doing her rotations here when she was sure he would never in a million years even step foot in this country....she knew God was working it out. All she had to do was trust him. And follow in Jesus's example that he already set for her.
She would cast out the demons, in his precious name...
...Amen.
