* * * * *
As soon as Pastor Rick got back to his office he picked up his phone and called Robert. “Hey, Robert, I just got back from visiting your buddy.”
Robert rolled his eyes. “Funny.”
Both laughed uncomfortably.
“How did it go?” Robert asked.
“Okay. He needs guidance, that’s for sure. He wants me to come back, so it’s a good start.
“Yeah, I suppose.”
An awkward moment passed without either saying a word.
“How about you?” Rick asked. “Are you okay?”
Robert was sitting in a chair he’d felt glued to for much of his short time at UTA, the hard wooden one in his dorm room’s study covey. He had been trying to catch up on advanced calculus when the call came. He was feeling overwhelmed for the first time since classes had begun. The time he was now spending in Bedford at the law office and in Darkwell had finally taken its toll.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“No, seriously, how are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t do this,” he said. “I know you better than you know yourself. How are you?”
Robert’s eyes moistened, but he fought the urge to cry. More prying from Pastor Rick, he knew, would burst the dam, and he knew that “fine” wouldn’t stop the inquiry. “It’s tough,” he finally admitted.
“In what way?”
“I believe in destiny. I believe that nothing happens without God’s direction, either by letting things happen or making them happen, so I’m a little confused right now. I want to find God’s purpose in this mess, but I can’t, no matter how hard I pray or how much I read the Word.”
“Gotcha.”
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say?”
Pastor Rick laughed, more genuine this time. “Sorry, I wish I had more. The good news is that you’re searching. Most people wouldn’t do that much.”
“Great. So I’m doing what others don’t, but how does that help me?”
“God will be faithful, that’s all I know for sure. Keep searching. The answers will come in God’s time.”
Broken: A story of hope and forgiveness Page 56
