His dad hadn’t experienced that himself, since he hadn’t become a Christian until after Jude’s mom had divorced him. Still, once he’d become a Christian, he’d been committed to learning all he could about living a life that glorified God. And he’d been eager to share all he learned with Jude.
“Here we are,” Jude said as he pulled into the parking lot of the church.
It was a large building with a steeple that towered over the neighborhood. The church had two morning services, but he usually attended the second one, since that was the one that Cooper and Melanie attended.
As they walked from the car to the entrance of the church, Jude turned toward Angela and held out his hand. Shetransferred the Bible she carried to her opposite arm and took his hand with a beaming smile.
Seeing how much joy she got out of just holding hands warmed Jude’s heart. Her hand was small in his, but he could feel the strength in it. That strength was no doubt from the work she’d done on the homestead and in the bakery.
Her grip tightened as they walked into the foyer. As usual, the space was filled with people who had been there for the first service and also those who had arrived for the second one.
Keeping hold of Angela, he wove his way among the groups of people who stood together talking and tried to keep out of the way of others who were milling around or making their way to the exit.
Reaching the sanctuary, he guided her to where Cooper and Melanie usually sat. When they reached an empty row in the general area, Jude allowed Angela to go into the row first, then followed her in.
After Angela had settled onto the cushioned pew, placing her Bible in her lap, Jude glanced around, then sat down beside her at the end of the row.
The sanctuary gradually filled around them, the gentle murmur of conversation creating a pleasant background hum. Jude noticed her looking around at the stained glass windows that lined the walls and the wooden cross hanging above the stage.
"It's beautiful," she whispered, leaning closer to him.
He nodded, though in truth, he rarely paid attention to the aesthetics of the building anymore. Seeing it through her eyes made him appreciate it anew.
"Cooper and Melanie should be here soon," he murmured, leaning close enough that his shoulder brushed against hers.
She gave him a smile that made his chest tighten. "I'm a little nervous about meeting them," she admitted.
"Don't be. They're good people."
Before Angela could respond, Jude spotted Cooper's tall frame moving down the aisle. He raised his hand slightly in greeting, and Cooper's face broke into a wide grin when he spotted Jude.
"There they are," Jude said, standing as Cooper and Melanie approached them.
Cooper clapped Jude on the shoulder before turning his attention to Angela. "You must be Angela. We've heard a lot about you."
Melanie, a petite woman with a warm smile, nudged her husband. "Not that much, because Jude barely shares anything." She extended her hand to Angela. "I'm Melanie. It's wonderful to finally meet you."
Jude watched as Angela shook their hands, her initial nervousness giving way to a genuine smile. He was glad that she seemed to quickly relax.
There wasn’t time for conversation right then as the worship service began. Jude wondered how similar the service at his church was to the one Angela had attended.
She seemed at ease with everything, though, and when they stood to sing, she clearly knew the lyrics of the songs.
Would she want to come with him every week?
Jude hoped she would because he enjoyed having her there, worshipping with him. It felt like it added another layer totheir budding relationship. A layer that would help build a firm foundation.
When the pastor got up to preach the sermon, Angela unzipped the cover of her Bible, revealing a small notebook and a couple of pens. He watched as she flipped through the notebook to an empty page and wrote something on it.
They were going through the book of Philippians, and when Angela opened her Bible, he could see that she’d already highlighted some passages.
When she struggled to hold the Bible and still make notes, Jude took the Bible from her and held it open between them.
She looked over and smiled at him, then mouthed, “Thank you.”
Jude was discovering so many little things he hadn’t considered he’d appreciate the way he did. The most recent one was sitting next to her in a worship service, listening to the same sermon. Given the conversation they’d had in the truck on the way there, Jude was confident that they’d discuss what they were hearing on the ride back to the estate.
That week, the sermon was on a passage of Philippians he was very familiar with. His dad had talked to him many times about being content in his life, regardless of what was happening. He’d explained that that didn’t mean he couldn’t seek to make changes in his life, but that if he was seeking God’s will, he should be content with where that led him.
