Rose | Ashton Irwin

chapter seven

Rose's POV

As church began I scanned the room for Joseph, but he was nowhere to be found. By the time I got home last night I had missed multiple calls and messages from him wondering if I was okay. I felt guilty for lying this morning, saying I had fallen as soon as I got home from helping clean up.

He hadn't responded since, and now that he hadn't shown up to church worry started to stir in me. Had he really been that upset last night? A frown covered my face at the thought of him missing church over me. 'I'm sure it's something else', I thought to myself to ease my subconscious. I reminded myself to text him after church as the first songs began, the offering bowl passed down the rows.

Not surprisingly, Russell hadn't shown up at church yet either, and part of me didn't expect him to. He didn't come home last night, and I couldn't help but wonder what happened after I left.

I did my best to focus, pushing my thoughts away once I realized that the sermon had already began. "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living."

As Pastor Wells continued on, I felt eyes glance over their shoulders to me and my family, hearing whispers echo through the church.

"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." At those words I noticed quickly that our Pastor had his eyes glued on us as well. Was he talking about us? I looked over to my parents to see them looking down at their clasped hands with red cheeks, my mother's eyes watery.

I realized that he had to be referring to what had happened after church last Sunday. My father's outburst had been a touchy topic since then. Multiple people had approached us hesitantly, asking if we were okay as if something much worse had occurred. My brother's consistent behavior had always cast a shadow over our family, which just encouraged my parents to get more involved with the church. People had looked over my brother by now, praising us as a well-represented family in the church, but the shadow had started to creep back over us.

I knew that the sermon wasn't angled towards us with bad intentions though. As he continued the shadow was pushed back. He went on to conclude that all families go through hard times, but we must stay strong because God has a plan for us and would never put us in a situation we can't handle. He is always listening to our struggles, and all will get better.

"God, I lift up our church families. God, you are in the business of doing amazing things in people's lives, and I ask that you cover us in your love. Help us to choose you, God. Amen." Pastor Wells gave the final prayer and we dispersed to talk amongst ourselves.

My father went to talk to the pastor, and by the time I found my mother she was surrounded by a group of older ladies dabbing their eyes with tissues.

I felt I tap on my shoulder which caused me to jump. I hoped it would be Joseph but instead it was his sister Callie. Her curly brown hair was pinned back, and her usual smile was plastered to her face. "Hey!" I matched her smile as she pulled me into a hug, "How was the church revival?"

She spoke quickly as she told me about the past week, and how she already felt closer to god. She wished that Joseph and I could have came, but she was happy due to the number of converts they gained.

"That's really amazing Cal! I hope I can go to the next one, but it'll be hard until I graduate." She nodded in understanding. Callie had already graduated from high school and was taking a year off to volunteer and focus on her involvement in the church. She had just applied for The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, and I was almost positive she would get accepted. "Speaking of, where's Joe?" I asked, once again looking around in case he had come in late.