Three Days Later – Sunday Morning
For Drake, today was a special day in the life of El Shaddai Ministries, special because of who was sitting in the first row of the temporarily constructed pews. Beginning with Sasha, who sat to his immediate right, Hunter and Kevin sat in the middle, while Suanne sat to the left of them. Basically the entire Beckford clan was in attendance, except for Armando and Annalise. Drake had invited them to join the family, as this was Kevin and Hunter’s confirmation service. Kevin and Hunter needed all the support they could get as they christened the next phase of their lives both as newlyweds and born-again Christians.
But as Drake had expected, Armando and Annalise found every excuse in the book not to attend the service. He’d been on the phone for ten minutes, trying to convince Armando of how important it was to support family, of how ungrateful it was to disregard the blessings of God. But to no avail, Drake couldn’t get through to his brother. Drake, however, was not deterred in his faith to witness Armando and Annalise giving their hearts to Christ. As a matter of fact, Drake was praying to witness all of his unsaved family and friends accept the Lord as their personal Savior. That would be his greatest joy.
And speaking of friends, Drake cast his gaze upwards and spotted Levi making his way down the aisle. He gave Drake a slight nod of the head before taking a seat right behind the pew where Sasha and other Beckford family members were sitting. In response, Drake smiled appreciatively, because Levi had kept his promise that he would show up today. These past three days, they’d been spending a lot of time together, catching up on those moments they’d lost over the last ten months. Levi was a natural-born comedian and Drake never laughed as much as he did when he was with Levi. And although Sasha didn’t agree with Drake inviting Levi back into their lives, Drake felt at peace to finally have his best friend back.
For a brief moment, Sasha thought Drake was smiling at her, but his gaze seemed to zero in on the pew behind her. She stealthily turned around and got the surprise of her life. The hell you doing here, Levi? Trying to cause problems for me, no doubt. Obviously someone invited you, because you wouldn’t think to come on your own. Sasha gritted her teeth in suppressed anger. Should she even ask who invited Levi? Her gaze landed hotly on her husband. I know it was you, Drake...you are just so downright naïve. Why is it so important for you to splurge your forgiveness on the one man who’d almost destroyed our marriage? My God, Drake, I still can’t believe you gave Levi a brand new car!
That husband of hers was taking things too far. If only she could get Drake to see the error of opening his heart again to Levi. Certainly it was a disaster waiting to happen, especially with Mrs. O’Grady seeming to hold the cards of their future. There was really no telling what Mrs. O’Grady would do at this point, but whatever she was planning, Sasha wanted to be one step ahead of her. She turned to the side and stared at Levi through her peripheral view. He still hadn’t responded to her last text – the one where she told him she hated him.
Granted, she was being extremely mean to him, but it was necessary, because it helped keep a healthy distance between them. Nonetheless, she hadn’t expected him to ignore her for so long. He always had a snappy comeback to put her in her place – more like his way of making himself appear as the victim. But did she really care at this point what Levi did? Sasha rolled her eyes inwardly. The man was obsessed with her and it would be a blessing to know that he was finally learning how to deal with it.
Levi, on the other hand, was on a different wave length altogether. He couldn’t care less what Sasha thought of his presence in church, or that she was dredging up all sorts of crazy scenarios about him. In fact, he was so busy thinking about Yasmine and that heartbreaking note she’d left that Levi barely even noticed that Sasha was trying to get his attention. All Levi could focus on was how long Yasmine had been gone without so much as a phone call or a text. Three days to be exact and Levi had to wonder if his relationship with Yasmine was officially over. It had to be, because Yasmine had sent him a clear message regarding their future. They were never going to be together and it was time he started accepting that.
Drake may have invited him to church, but if Levi were to be honest with himself, he would have to reveal that he was looking for his heart to be consoled. He couldn’t take another disappointment, especially in relation to his love life. So maybe, coming to church was just what he needed to take his mind off of his pathetic life. Really, why was it so hard for him to find real love? And just as Levi was about to drop his head toward his lap, Drake announced his message for that morning.
“Today, I plan on talking to you from the topic: Love Knows No Bounds.” Drake scanned the smiling faces and saw that the congregation was happy with his announcement of the message. “But before I get into the sermon, I would like to bring you up to speed on the progress of construction for our new sanctuary. Two days ago, I met with one of the most gifted architects on the island. And we spoke for well over three hours about the design, the building schedule and the estimated amount it’s going to take to bring to fruition the grand edifice of El Shaddai Ministries. I can assure you that come next year this same time, we will be cutting the ribbon at our new location.”
The congregation jumped to their feet and went up into a jubilant praise. The organist slammed her fingers on the organ keys, the guitarists plucked their strings and the percussionists rolled their sticks in one accord. Some of the congregation ran out of their seats and began dancing in the aisle like they’d lost their minds. Even Hunter, Kevin and Suanne were up on their feet, thanking God for blessing Drake and Sasha with the money to fund projects that had once seemed impossible.
The atmosphere was suddenly charged beyond what Drake could control. He had trouble getting his words in and the more he tried to fan the crowd to silence, the more the noise level increased. A loud scream erupted to his left, then another one to his right. Soon, more and more people began screaming and shuffling in their seats. The ushers had to get in and assist those under the power of the Holy Spirit. The only thing left for Drake to do was to join the people in their spontaneous praises.
It took about twenty minutes before things began to simmer down. Drake, with tears flooding his eyes, took the microphone and said, “The power of God is so strong in here today and I’m convinced that it has come to do a work among us. In your spare time, please read 1st Corinthians, Chapter 13. It goes into detail about what I wanted to use as the foundation of my sermon. Truly, real love knows no bounds.
“It forgives lavishly. It heals and restores the open wounds. It seeks to make peace and strives to remember no wrong committed against it. It is the very essence of God’s love. In Greek it is known as Agape, and it is through this kind of love that Jesus sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world. I admonish that we do everything in our power to love as Jesus loves, expecting nothing in return. For Jesus died for us when we were yet alienated from the throne of grace…”
Levi stood to his feet at that point and locked his gaze with Drake. The tears in Drake’s eyes encouraged the tears in Levi’s eyes. For as long as Levi had known Drake, he’d never heard or seen Drake speak with such passion. Now he was beginning to understand why Drake could be so kind and so forgiving toward him, despite all of the mess he’d put Drake through. Drake possessed the genuine love of God and Levi knew at that moment he needed to experience that same love that Drake had brimming in his heart.
Levi didn’t wait for Drake to call an altar call. He moved out of his seat, unashamed and undisturbed by those who were looking at him. He had one aim in mind and that was to reconcile with the God who’d created him. He kneeled at the altar and began to pour his heart out. Hunter, Kevin and Suanne were next to step forward, falling down next to Levi with the same earnest of spirit. Their action provoked many others, drawing them down the aisle to recommit their lives to the cross and to the commands on love that Jesus had left behind.
Witnessing such a divine transformation of his friend was more than Drake could take. He bawled like a baby, because Drake knew it was his example of showing God’s love to Levi that had made all of the difference. It was the seed that God used to prick Levi’s heart and to bring him into a loving relationship with Him. Drake stepped down from the podium and made a beeline toward Levi. He knelt behind him, prayerfully resting his hands on Levi’s shoulders.
When Sasha saw the scene, the tears she’d been holding back, suddenly popped out of her eyes. Because up to that point, she’d been fighting the temptation to believe that Levi was not being sincere. However, deep down, Sasha knew Levi wasn’t pretending, because church was the last place Levi would ever think of making himself look like a fool. And as unbelievable as it was, Levi’s step of faith forced Sasha to examine her own heart, which had hardened over time with hatred, bitterness and unforgiveness. She too needed to repent, more so than anyone because she knew better than to allow sin to take up residence within her life.
It took a lot out of her to ditch her pride and make the necessary steps toward the altar. But she didn’t stop there. She knelt next to her husband, reached around and took Levi’s right hand. And by the way he’d gripped it, Sasha knew that Levi sensed it was her touch. She was asking for his forgiveness and at that divine moment, no words needed to be spoken.
****
During the same time
Mrs. O’Grady reached for her cell phone the minute her husband got up out of bed to use the bathroom. She watched in disgust as his fat behind jiggled and swished as he walked. It was more than she could stand. A woman with all her curves didn’t roll as much as her husband rolled when he walked and she’d had it with this man and his laziness. All he did was eat, poop and sleep – just like a blithering newborn baby. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed having sex with him. Oh, Levi, where are you when I need you?
She punched Levi’s number into her phone, but it rang and then went to his voicemail. Mrs. O’Grady couldn’t determine whether Levi was avoiding her or not. He didn’t show up to her office that day. Granted he’d called and explained that something urgent had come up and he could no longer attend the faculty meeting (of course it was simply a ruse to get him alone), but still, that had been three days ago and Levi had failed to make contact with her since then. What was left for her to think? Her thoughts could be summed up in one word: Sasha.
Mrs. O’Grady was willing to bet her life that Sasha and Levi were together somewhere, probably holding hands – maybe not holding hands – but nonetheless, they were together. The nerve of that woman to string Levi along, knowing she had no intention of leaving her husband. That was what irked Mrs. O’Grady about this entire situation. Sasha had two fine men, one attached to each arm, while she was forced to be with her fat husband, who could barely get out of his own way. Why should she allow Sasha to enjoy the pleasures of these men at her expense? It was time she turned up the heat another notch and showed Sasha, rather than told her that she wasn’t one to mess around.