He thought about Olivia in the candle shop by herself with her twins. She hadn't mentioned not having a good relationship with her parents, nor had she mentioned any siblings. He wished he would've asked, because he wondered now if she was truly alone. As alone as he was. Although he didn't really think of himself as being alone, not with his church family. But not everyone was as involved in the church as he was, of course, considering that he was the pastor.
Still, there was a nagging sense of needing to make sure that Olivia was okay. He wasn't entirely sure that it was just because she was alone, either.
He felt an interest in her that went above and beyond his pastoral duties.
Lord, I don't want to be inappropriate or act out of place. If how I feel about Olivia is going to cause me to stumble, I pray that you'll show me somehow that I need to change things so that your work is never in jeopardy.
That was one thing about being a pastor. Other people had a tendency to hold him to a higher standard than what any normal person was held to.
He already held himself to a high standard, but with the added pressure of other people, sometimes it got to be a little much.
That's when he would go to the Lord and admit that he cared a lot about what other people thought, but it was mostly because he didn't want to drive people away from the Lord because of his actions.
The single biggest reason that people gave him for not going to church was because it was full of hypocrites.
He couldn't always square that, because no one was perfect. Every single person who came to church was a sinner, no matter how long they had been a Christian, up to and including the man behind the pulpit. He ought to know.
But still, people acted all holier-than-thou at times within the church walls, and then after they left, it was shocking to him how Christians could act worse than non-Christians.
He shook his head. Those were all thoughts of a pastor, and problems that he couldn't solve. Yes, there were hypocrites in the church. There always had been, and they always would be, because humans were sinful creatures. And they were just as prone to being hypocrites as they were to being liars and adulterers and thieves and fornicators. Unfortunately.
But of course, that didn't mean that it wasn't his job to preach on all of those things from the pulpit, as well as to remind everyone that no matter how much they sinned, God still loved them. It was themessage of hope and grace that he loved the most, but sin still needed to be preached on as well.
His next sermon was practically writing itself, he thought to himself as he finished folding up the sleeping bag and carried it through the room that connected the parsonage to the church. It was clever the way whoever had designed it, where a person could walk from the church to the parsonage without ever setting foot outside.
He put his hands on his hips and looked around the big activity room. Most of the tables were down, although there were a few up in the corner where people could eat if it came to that. There were plenty of spaces for families to stake out an area for their own. He even had a few tents, cots and camp chairs as well.
Lord, I don't want anyone to get hurt in the storm, but I am thankful that we have a place for people to go. Please let people be willing to come and be safe here. Help me to be a blessing to them.
Curious to see if the snow had started, Mark walked to the window to look out on the road, as headlights flashed and a car pulled into the parking lot of the church. It didn't seem like it was going very fast, and he couldn't tell exactly what was wrong with it, but it didn't look quite right. Maybe it was lopsided in some way. He squinted to get a better look, noting that there were a few flurries coming down, but nothing major had started, at least not yet.
Maybe his eyes were deceiving him, and there was nothing wrong with the car. Maybe someone was stopping by the church to deliver some supplies.
Or it could just be someone meeting someone else. Regardless, he turned around, walking back into the parsonage where he could grab his coat, purposefully shoving his arms into it and opening up the door and hurrying out.
Whoever it was had already gotten out of their car and was looking at the front wheel.
It looked like a woman, although they had a hat and coat on, and in the dark, with only the streetlights for light, he couldn't tell for sure.
Still, he was pretty sure it was someone who needed help.
"Excuse me?" he said as he came around the front of the car, not wanting to startle whoever it was.
The person looked up, her eyes wide, and immediately he recognized Olivia.
"Olivia," he said, thinking it interesting that he had just been thinking about her. He glanced at the wheel in front of her. "A flat tire?" It was a question, but a statement as well, because it was obvious the tire was flat.
"Yeah. And I know I don't have a spare, because I didn't replace it when the other front tire went flat earlier this fall. I had intended to put snow tires on closer to winter, and I guess I was hoping they would hold out a bit longer."
"I've done that before. You always hope there's a little more life in them." That, and he always hoped that he would somehow have more money in the next month than he did in the current one. But he didn't say that. If that was what Olivia was doing, he didn't want to embarrass her by pointing it out.
"Exactly."
"Do you have the boys with you?" he asked, as a gust of wind blew and he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his coat, while a long strand of Olivia's hair blew across her face.
She pushed it back with one mittened hand and glanced at the car.
"Yeah. I just got finished delivering the candles that needed to go before the storm, and I have one more delivery to make, although... it doesn't have to go."
