"Exactly. I don't know how to recover from the crash, but I do see that that's the issue. It was me. My pride, wanting to be perfect, the pressure that I placed upon myself, and fear that I wouldn't measure up to the standards that I had for myself. Not standards that anyone else had for me."
"Although, I understand that there probably are people who are looking at you and just waiting for you to fail so they can gloat. Everyone has people around them like that. Unfortunately, that's the way the world is right now."
"And I suppose it's a good thing, because that shows me that that's not the kind of person that I want to be. And it's more important that I be like Jesus than I be perfect. Because if I were perfect, then I wouldn't understand people who weren't. Does that make sense?"
"I think that's exactly right. There are a lot of reasons why Godwouldn't want us to be perfect. But I think it's obvious that He doesn't, because the only perfect person in the Bible is Jesus. And even though He was sinless, He still had times where He cried out to God, asking to have God take a trial away from Him. He was so anxious He sweat great drops of blood. It shows that's a very normal human thing, and not necessarily sin."
Even though Grace knew that, it was good to hear someone else say it. To let her know that even Jesus was nervous, anxious, and wished to avoid what He knew lay in His future.
"You guys are just so cute together. I've had six different customers come up and tell me how good you guys look, and I just couldn't stop myself from coming over here and letting you all know." Bree, their waitress, set the check upside down on the table and gushed a little. "You guys need to be careful, because people already have wedding bells ringing in your future." She laughed. "You can take care of that at the cash register or just leave the money on the table. Up to you. Have a great day."
"You too," Noah said.
Grace was too busy blinking. Wedding bells? They looked cute together?
"That's just small towns. Don't let it bother you," Noah said, his voice sounding relaxed. He had already taken the check and looked at it. "If you don't mind, I'll just leave enough money for the bill and the tip right here on the table."
"Oh, I don't—"
"I'm the one who suggested this. I'm gonna pay for it."
He interrupted her, and his voice had a tone that allowed no argument.
"Well then thank you. It was very nice. The conversation, the hot chocolate, and the whole afternoon. I feel like we are on the right track."
"I do too. And hopefully all the buzzing that's been going on with my phone are people who have been messaging me letting me knowthat they or one of their kids are going to be playing in one of the other groups that we're starting."
"Oh! Can you look really quick?" she asked. They had already stood up, but his words made her excited. Maybe she already felt like they were going to be able to do it. But they needed the people. If he was correct and he had a bunch of people signing up, that was just one more step in the right direction.
"Don't mind at all." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and swiped a bit.
Scrolling up, he seemed to be counting and then he said, "I think we have 10 people for the adults and too many to count for the kids. If... If you don't mind coming over later, we can go over it together. But I better get back to the store. I have a text here from your Aunt Vivian that says that it's starting to feel cool in the building and the heat doesn't seem to be kicking on."
Her stomach sank. "You called it."
"Don't look so worried. God'll work something out."
"Are you for real? You really don't have money to buy a furnace, do you?"
"I do not."
"And you're just gonna be calm about this?"
"Yeah. I guess if people come in the store and it's cold, they can hurry up and buy something, right?" He laughed a little and then set money and the check on the table before allowing her to walk before him to the door, which he opened for her.
She couldn't believe it. He was so calm. So totally chill.
Well, she had a few messages of her own, and maybe she could answer one.
"I know you said five thousand dollars together. And I don't mean to pry, but how much do you think the furnace would be?"
"Probably a little under half that. But honestly, I'm not sure. I haven't priced furnaces out for a long time. They might've gone drastically up in price."
"I see."
She thought about a couple of the offers that she had been determined to dismiss out of hand. She didn't want to do anything big, but she could do something small.
Yeah, she smiled to herself as she thought about it.
