Chapter Five
How is one guy suppose to sit here and wait patiently for the woman he knows he's suppose to marry? Goodness, waiting on a woman. How long was God going to make me wait for this one?
I glanced down at my watch. It was only a minute after seven, so Jane wasn't here right at seven. No big deal right? She was after all a teenager. And human. No one would expect perfection from her. Especially not me.
*DING*
That was the fourth person who had come in here in the past five minutes, and each time I always jerked up to see if it was her. And of course it wasn't. God was sure messing with me this morning. Bet He was up there in heaven now just laughing. Or not.
Come on, Lefroy, get a hold of yourself man. She's coming. She said she would come. There is nothing to worry about, Lefroy. You got this.
I started going over the conversation from the day before when Jane had called. There was something different about the way she was talking. Maybe she was actually in a good mood this time. And if I was going to be completely honest with myself she sounded a little excited. Sure she declined my offer for coffee that morning, but did agree to dinner the next day. So she still needed some time to recover from the previous events. That was totally okay with me. I decided on a small Itailin place around the corner from where she went to school. She knew where it was and said she would meet me there at seven.
I looked down at my watch once more. 7:03. Not that big of a deal. She'd be here.
*DING*
Okay, God, that's not funny anymore. Jane is coming. I know she is. She wouldn't just stand me up...
"Hey," a sweet voice spoke, "Mr. Lefroy?"
I looked up from the table and looked into the eyes of the woman I would one day call mine. Was it really possible to be this happy? Even the girl didn't know she was going to marry you? Wait had she said something? Oh gosh what was it again?
"Mr. Lefroy, are you okay?"
Mr. Lefroy? Oh great. This was just perfect now. She was already concidereing me too old for her to just call me Henry.
"Please, Jane, call me Henry. Mr. Lefroy is my father."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Hey, no harm done. Here let me get your chair."
I stood up to pull her chair out. She sat down and slid her jacket off her shoulder. She was wearing a light blue cotton polo that complemented her eyes every nicely and some tan shorts that were too short, at least in my opinian. She was still beautiful though and very much a teenager. How was I suppose to have the following conversation with a girl who was still in highschool.
Lord please be with me, guide my words, let Jane hear what I have to say.
I am with you, son. Trust in me.
I made some small talk about the weather and what the pastor had talk about earlier that morning. He had spoken on Lamentations 3:22-23.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.
"So what did you think of what the pastor had to say this morning?"
Jane didn't answer right away. She twirled some noodles onto her fork and sat quietly. Probably thinking about an answer. Or maybe trying to remember what the pastor actually talked about this morning. Either way her silence was getting the better of me and I wasn't a man of patience. I decided the best way to solve this was to refresh her memory.
"Remember, Jane, he talked about how God's mercy and blessings begin new each morning."
"Oh right."
Okay, so she was trying to remember what the pastor had talked about. Maybe she wasn't paying attention this morning? That was understandable. But it still bothered me in a way I didn't expect it to.
"Um. I thought the service was good."
Good? No thoughts or comments to make about what the pastor had said? It was just good?
Lord, how am I suppose to talk to talk to this girl about You if something like this doesn't even attract her interest? Surely she would have something to say, right?
"Did I say something?"
I looked over at Jane and noticed she looked upset. Had i upset her?
"No you didn't say anything. I was just thinking."
"About what?"
About the fact that my future wife doesn't even get excited over things that can turn my days around. That the woman I was suppose to marry didn't even care in the least bit about God.
"Nothing too important," I lied, "Listen, Jane, we really do need to talk about something...important to both of us."
I glanced down at my watch. It was only a minute after seven, so Jane wasn't here right at seven. No big deal right? She was after all a teenager. And human. No one would expect perfection from her. Especially not me.
*DING*
That was the fourth person who had come in here in the past five minutes, and each time I always jerked up to see if it was her. And of course it wasn't. God was sure messing with me this morning. Bet He was up there in heaven now just laughing. Or not.
Come on, Lefroy, get a hold of yourself man. She's coming. She said she would come. There is nothing to worry about, Lefroy. You got this.
I started going over the conversation from the day before when Jane had called. There was something different about the way she was talking. Maybe she was actually in a good mood this time. And if I was going to be completely honest with myself she sounded a little excited. Sure she declined my offer for coffee that morning, but did agree to dinner the next day. So she still needed some time to recover from the previous events. That was totally okay with me. I decided on a small Itailin place around the corner from where she went to school. She knew where it was and said she would meet me there at seven.
I looked down at my watch once more. 7:03. Not that big of a deal. She'd be here.
*DING*
Okay, God, that's not funny anymore. Jane is coming. I know she is. She wouldn't just stand me up...
"Hey," a sweet voice spoke, "Mr. Lefroy?"
I looked up from the table and looked into the eyes of the woman I would one day call mine. Was it really possible to be this happy? Even the girl didn't know she was going to marry you? Wait had she said something? Oh gosh what was it again?
"Mr. Lefroy, are you okay?"
Mr. Lefroy? Oh great. This was just perfect now. She was already concidereing me too old for her to just call me Henry.
"Please, Jane, call me Henry. Mr. Lefroy is my father."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Hey, no harm done. Here let me get your chair."
I stood up to pull her chair out. She sat down and slid her jacket off her shoulder. She was wearing a light blue cotton polo that complemented her eyes every nicely and some tan shorts that were too short, at least in my opinian. She was still beautiful though and very much a teenager. How was I suppose to have the following conversation with a girl who was still in highschool.
Lord please be with me, guide my words, let Jane hear what I have to say.
I am with you, son. Trust in me.
I made some small talk about the weather and what the pastor had talk about earlier that morning. He had spoken on Lamentations 3:22-23.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.
"So what did you think of what the pastor had to say this morning?"
Jane didn't answer right away. She twirled some noodles onto her fork and sat quietly. Probably thinking about an answer. Or maybe trying to remember what the pastor actually talked about this morning. Either way her silence was getting the better of me and I wasn't a man of patience. I decided the best way to solve this was to refresh her memory.
"Remember, Jane, he talked about how God's mercy and blessings begin new each morning."
"Oh right."
Okay, so she was trying to remember what the pastor had talked about. Maybe she wasn't paying attention this morning? That was understandable. But it still bothered me in a way I didn't expect it to.
"Um. I thought the service was good."
Good? No thoughts or comments to make about what the pastor had said? It was just good?
Lord, how am I suppose to talk to talk to this girl about You if something like this doesn't even attract her interest? Surely she would have something to say, right?
"Did I say something?"
I looked over at Jane and noticed she looked upset. Had i upset her?
"No you didn't say anything. I was just thinking."
"About what?"
About the fact that my future wife doesn't even get excited over things that can turn my days around. That the woman I was suppose to marry didn't even care in the least bit about God.
"Nothing too important," I lied, "Listen, Jane, we really do need to talk about something...important to both of us."
Across the table...
Great, here it comes, he wants to talk about my almost being raped doesn't he? I should have known this was coming.
"Okay, what's up?"
Henry sat there looking at me as if he was trying to look through me. Or look inside me. To my soul. He wouldn't find much there.
"Well, Jane, I believe there is something between us."
Like the fact that i feel more attracted to you then I have with any guy I ever dated? Oh no that certainly couldn't be it? There was no way that Henry really just said that? Guys like Henry weren't suppose to even look twice at a girl like me.
"I don't think I understand what you're talking about, Henry."
He put his head in his hands. No doubt I was frustrating him. But really, if Henry thought there was something between us then he must be crazy. We came from two different worlds. Two different stands on what and who God was. Two different people who could never be together. At least not in any universe that made sence. How could there be something or anything for that matter between the two of us.
"I know what you're thinking."
His voice took me off gaurd and pulled me out of my ranting about how different we were.
"What am I thinking then?"
"You're over there thinking about how could it be possible that the two of us would have anything together. You think we're too different."
What? How on earth did he know something like that? I slowly lifted my eyes from my dinner and looked up into Henry's glowing green eyes for the first time that night. A sudden peace game over me. And for a minute I could have sworen there was a still small voice that spoke to me.
This is he, beloved. Your future is in this man I have set before you.
Impossible. There was no way that voice could be right. There was no way that I, Jane-Elizabeth Swan, could possibly be the wife to this man before me, Henry Lefroy. There was no way. It was the unthinkable. The impossible. This had to be some sort of sick joke. What kind of man was this Henry Lefroy.
"You feel it, don't you Jane?"
"What...what kind of sick joke is this?"
"Joke? There is no joke Jane? Unless I'm missing the punch line."
"There is nothing between us, Henry. That's impossible."
"That's the way God works. By doing what we think is the impossible."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There was no way that Henry could be suggesting that God was doing this. There was only way to solve this problem. Run. Just like I always did. I run away from the impossible until reality finally balcence out. I had to get out of here. Out of this place. Away from this man trying to convence me that we had a future. So that's what I did. Before Henry could react I had my purse in one hand and my jacket in the other. Thankfully i had worn shoes I could actually run in this time. And I was off. Running away from everything that didn't make sence. Searching for something I knew was right.
