Andrew wanted to slap him but he shook his offered hand instead. “See you and the wife on Sunday.”
Andrew watched as Luther strode out of his office, renewed pep in his step. He shook his head. He’d been blackmailed in his church office. How bold was that? He dropped down in his chair. He had just agreed to pay this guy’s mortgage. How was he going to make that work without confirming that he’d won the lottery? All Luther had now was a strong suspicion based on seeing those lottery tickets. Once the church paid his mortgage, he’d have evidence.
Andrew didn’t have much time to ponder the question as there was a knock at his door and Sandra walked in. “Who was that guy?” she asked. “He looked familiar.”
“His name is Luther Williams. You’ve probably seen him before. He’s a Praise City member who’s thinking about moving his membership over here with us.”
Sandra gave him a full-watted smile. “Well, that’s good news. I know you gave him the counsel he needed to make the right decision.”
Sandra’s faith in him was a heavy burden since he knew he didn’t deserve it. “I did my best,” he said. “The guy is out of work and needs money for his mortgage.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that Showers of Blessings takes care of its own.”
She lifted a brow. “You know he’s going to expect us to take care of his mortgage payments, don’t you?”
Andrew nodded, an idea forming in his mind. “What if we did?”
Sandra leaned against the edge of his desk, facing him. “We can certainly afford it, but we’d have to develop some policy around the kind of help we give and in what situations so we would be fair to all our congregation.”
Andrew nodded. “We should discuss it with the leadership team.”
Sandra stood. “Speaking of which, they’re assembling in the conference room now. We’d better get in there.”
Andrew followed his wife out of his office and down the hallway to the conference room. Once all twelve members of the team were seated around the conference table, he opened the meeting. “What are our numbers looking like for our first Sunday service?” he asked Michael Ray, the associate pastor in charge of Outreach.
“We’re looking at a minimum of two hundred, two hundred fifty folks. Most of them are coming from Praise City, though. Those folks are committed and they’ve worked hard to get the word out about what we’re doing here at Showers of Blessings. It’s a challenge, though, because there are so many churches in the metro area. The motto and new building help, but we need more to distinguish ourselves if we want folks to check us out. Religion editors at seven of the eight newspapers we contacted are either coming to the first service themselves or sending a reporter. We should see some benefit out of their coverage, but not this week.”
Andrew smiled. He’d just figured out how to solve two problems with one stone, so to speak. “You’re right, Brother Ray, but we don’t have to come up with a way to be different. We are different. It’s right there in our motto, ‘Showers of Blessings—a place to bless and be blessed.’ We’re going to be the church that blesses its members practically and spiritually. We’re going to meet people’s everyday needs.”
“How are we going to do that, Pastor?” Rob Moore, the associate pastor of Christian Education, asked.
Andrew grinned. “This Sunday we’re going to ask all the unemployed folks to come to the altar. When they get there, we’re going to ask them to put their name and financial need on a slip of paper and put it in a basket. Then we’re going to meet those needs.”
“What?”
“How can we afford to do that?”
“What if it’s a lot of people?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Andrew said, answering the questions from his team in a single matter-of-fact statement. “We’re going to do it, and by doing it we’re going to build our reputation as a church that cares.”
“And we’re going to end up with a lot of poor members who take more than they give,” said Associate Pastor Ray.
Andrew shook his head. “It may start that way, but folks with money will be drawn here because they see that we’re taking the Bible seriously. You all will have to trust me on this. If we take this approach, our membership will grow faster than we ever thought.” And I’ll have a cover for getting Luther off my back.
He glanced in Sandra’s direction and saw her love and pride in him in her eyes. He didn’t deserve her, but he was going to do everything he could to keep her. And that included keeping Luther quiet.
Chapter 10
“Good night, sweetheart,” Sandra said into the phone. She sat on the floral upholstered chaise in her church office. As usual, she and Andrew were working late. “Mommy loves you, too. You and your brother be good for Grandma and Grandpa.”
“We will, Mommy,” ten-year-old Andrew, Jr. said.
Sandra held the phone close to her breast after the dial tone told her that her son was no longer on the line. She missed her children, but she understood that they enjoyed staying with her parents on the horse farm. She enjoyed it out there as well, despite the disapproving looks her mother gave her when she thought no one was looking. Sandra had given up trying to make her mother understand that the good she and Andrew were doing with the money more than made up for the lie they told about getting it. The older woman would just have to see for herself.
Sandra yawned. Today had been another busy day, and she was ready to go home. Actually, she was ready to go to their new home, but the contractor had told them just today that it would be at least two more months before they could move in. She was getting the dream house she always wanted, but it was taking some time. She yawned again. She could wait.
She got up from the chaise and headed to Andrew’s office. As usual, she would have to drag him out. When she opened his office door, she found him sitting at his desk, head lowered over a pad, a pen in his hand. Her heart grew full as she watched him, thinking of how much their lives had changed in the last few months. Their dreams had finally come true. Her husband was now pastor of his own church, she was First Lady, and together they would make a difference in a lot of lives. They’d show the naysayers, namely, her mom, and Pastor McCorry and Vickie, just how wrong they were.
“Sweetheart,” she called as she walked toward her husband’s desk. “It’s time to go home.”
He looked up and gave her a weary smile. “I’m sorry. I lost track of time.” He put the pad and pencil on the desk and then rubbed the back of his neck.
When she reached him, she pressed a light kiss against his lips. “It’s okay. I’ve gotten used to it.”
He pushed his chair back from the desk and pulled her down on his lap. “I promise I’ll do better,” he said, rubbing a finger down her cheek. “I was working on Sunday’s sermon.”
“How’s it going?”
He inclined his head toward the pad on the desk. “Why don’t you read it and tell me what you think?”
She leaned over and picked up the pad. She read the words of what she knew would be one of her husband’s most powerful sermons. A tear rolled down her cheek.
“That bad?” Andrew teased, wiping away the tear.
She turned to face him. “No,” she said. “That good. This is wonderful and powerful, Andrew. You’re going to bless everybody on Sunday.”
“That’s the plan,” he said, pulling her close. “We are Showers of Blessings, after all.”
Sandra eased off his lap and