Lance’s eyebrows shoot up. “We’ve definitely got to play this safe, Felicia. My wife is friends with the other players’ wives. We don’t want this to get back to her until I’ve made all the moves that I need to make. I don’t want you getting sued.”
“Oh, right. You’re so concerned about how this may impact my wallet. I keep forgetting. How about I don’t care if she sues me. If we’re going to raise our child together, her little lawsuit is the least of my worries.”
“Felicia . . .”
“No. You said you were coming up with a strategy for how to make this work. You said you wanted to be with me. I haven’t heard the strategy yet, and I’m starting to think that there isn’t one.”
“There is. It is just going to take time to execute. I didn’t want to tell you about this, because I really don’t think it’s any of your business, but Jasmine is cheating on me. I had an investigator follow her around and she’s been sleeping with a guy we went to high school with.”
“Wow. Are you okay? I know you two have been together for a long time.”
Lance nods slowly. “I’m okay. Why would I think that she wouldn’t be stepping out there on me? I’ve stepped out on her. Karma, right?”
“I guess.”
“Look, babe. I just want you to trust me. I got this. Jasmine is not going to threaten our happiness. I promise you that. Just let me deal with things in my own way.”
“Okay, babe. I trust you.”
I allow Lance to hug me, but his affection doesn’t erase my concerns. I hope he knows what he’s doing and really does plan to address the Jasmine situation, because he doesn’t want me to address it. And I will if I have to. No one, not even a first wife and a child, are going to stand in the way of my blessing.
CHAPTER 15
NYA
Bishop and Lady Bowens have invited me and Greg to dinner at their home to share some “exciting news.” They called it exciting, but I’m assuming that they will want our church to join the family of churches under their mentoring. I hope I’m wrong, because Greg will decline and it will be offensive to the Bowens. And embarrassing to me. They don’t bring just anyone into their inner circle. The churches in that group are hand selected.
“What is this about?” Greg asks as we’re driving over.
“I have no clue. Maybe they’re doing another conference or something. Maybe this time they want us both to participate.”
“We don’t have time for any conferences right now. We’re about to do the grand opening of our new church. We’re extremely busy.”
It’s been two months since we closed on the building, and although all of the renovations are not complete, we have done the majority of them and are ready to open our doors.
“Just hear them out, Greg. Don’t be so quick to say no until you have all the facts.”
“As long as you aren’t so quick to say yes because it’s the Bowens.”
“I can’t believe you said that. They have been a blessing to us.”
Greg stops at a red light and glares at me. “God has blessed us—not them.”
“Well, God used their ministry to bless us. Why are you so against being connected to them?”
“Listen, I’m sure they are nice people. I just don’t agree with their ministry methods.”
I let out a huge sigh. “Not this again. Do we have to keep having the same conversation over and over?”
“Nope. We don’t have to have it ever again. I think you know how I feel.”
“Good!”
I’m still angry as Greg pulls up to the Bowens’ estate. The long circular driveway has a beautiful and meticulously groomed rose garden in the center of it. The smell of the roses almost overpowers me.
Greg walks into his office and slams the door. He looks different. It’s the beard. He has a full beard. There is a bouquet of roses sitting on the desk, but Greg angrily pushes a stack of papers on the floor. Then he picks up his phone from the desk. He sees something that makes him smile. He presses a button and makes a call. The smile is stuck on his face like it’s glued there.
He speaks. “Thank you. You don’t know how much I needed that right now.”
He laughs now. “Yes . . . maybe later . . . I would like that . . . Thank you.”
He places the phone back on his desk and takes one of the roses out of the vase. The rose has wilted. He smells the rose, then tosses it in the trash.
There is a smile on his face. He looks content.
I snap out of my vision as Greg opens my car door. That was strange. I don’t know what to make of it. I’m not sure what God is trying to show me. There is something—that much I know. I don’t have a prophetic vision without it having meaning.
“You okay? You look a little pale,” Greg says as I step out of the car.
“Yes, I’m fine. A little carsick, maybe.”
I decide not to tell him about the vision until I have more time to think about it, maybe even pray for God to reveal its meaning.
We are ushered into the mansion by Bishop and Lady Bowens’ daughter Penelope. She’s only thirty years old and already she is a force to be reckoned with. She and I connected on the tour. She opened up in song for me every time I spoke, and her voice is definitely anointed. I was glad she was there with me. I felt less alone with her there.
“Hey, Nya!” Penelope squeals as she hugs me. “I can’t wait for you to hear this news!”
“Wait, you know about it?” I ask.
“Yes, it’s about both of us, but my mom has sworn me to secrecy.”
Okay, now Penelope’s really got me wondering what’s going on.
Penelope reaches out and grabs Greg’s hands. “Nya has told me so much about you, man of God. I’m so pleased to finally meet you. One day God is gonna bless me with a covenant partner like He did Nya.”
Greg gives her a bashful smile. “I’m sure you have them lined up around the block.”
“I’d prefer quality to quantity,” Penelope says with a laugh. “I call them the men of the most low, because they can’t possibly be from the Most High!”
Penelope leads us to the dining room, where Bishop and Lady Bowens are waiting for us. Lady Sandy looks classy as always in a cream-colored wrap dress. Bishop is a very small man. He’s small, brown, and shiny. Standing next to Lady Sandy they look like wedding-cake toppers.
Bishop claps his hands together. “Pastor Hampstead! Or I should say Pastors Hampstead. Welcome to my home. Please, please have a seat.”
We wait for Bishop and Lady Sandy to choose their seats first. And then Penelope. Greg sits next to Bishop and across from Lady Sandy. I sit next to Greg and across from Penelope. It feels strange, just the five of us sitting at this long table that seats about fifteen.
As soon as we’re all settled, Bishop Bowens says a prayer over the food that’s coming. When we say amen, the caterer’s staff starts bringing in salad and bread as if they were listening on the other side of the door for the signal.
“So, Bishop Bowens, please don’t keep us in suspense any longer,” Greg says. “Nya and I have been discussing what the news could possibly be.”
“Greg, please call me Bill. The news is all because of how anointed your wife is. She really impressed some powerful people on that tour.”
“She is anointed. I’ve known that since our very first date,” Greg says.
“What did she do on the first date?” Penelope asks. “Was your date at church?”
Greg and I share a glance and giggle. Our first date wasn’t exactly at church. It was worse than that.
“Our first date was at a youth conference. I wouldn’t go out with him without a chaperone, so we went to service together the whole week.” My hands fly furiously as I describe the memory. “We ate hot dogs, bags of popcorn, and church punch.”
“I got so tired of hot dogs,” Greg says. “I didn’t eat another hot dog for ten years.”
“I hope you don’t mind that we’re having hot dogs for lunch,” Lady Bowen
s says.
For a half second I think she’s telling the truth, but she bursts into laughter and everybody else laughs with her.
“What let you know that the hand of God was on her, son?” Bishop Bowens asks.
“I saw her prophesize for the first time at that conference. There was a prayer service before the main service, and she just laid hands and prayed for a young woman who was prostrate at the altar. She told that girl everything she’d ever done, and she led her to repentance that day.”
“I remember her,” I say. “I wonder what happened to her.”
“I knew then that I wanted to marry her. I wanted to go into ministry with her,” Greg says as he squeezes my hand under the table. “To me the single most important ministry function is repentance. We can’t get to any of the rest of it if there is no repentance.”
Bishop Bowens nods slowly. “What about the redeemed who are downtrodden? What about them? They’re crying out, looking for their purpose, and they want to experience the abundant life.”
Greg squeezes my hand. I wish that Bishop Bowens would just go into the news before he starts preaching a prosperity message to us.
“Listen, I know you don’t agree with our platform,” Bishop says to Greg.
Greg’s eyes widen. “Sir . . .”
“You don’t have to say it. I can tell by how you look at me with disdain when I said abundant life.”
“It’s j-just that . . .”
Bishop holds up one hand. “No, don’t explain. I’ve had experience with much bigger and much more important preachers than you. They don’t like me either.”
“I understand, but I don’t have any disdain for what you do,” Greg says. “I just disagree that should be the focus.”
“That is fine. What I’m about to propose to you doesn’t require that you agree with my theology. And it should line up with yours. The reconciliation and relationship part.”
Penelope is smiling now. Lady Sandy too. I wish I could share their enthusiasm, but of course they already know what’s being proposed.
“What is it?” I ask
“Well, there was a producer from the Faith Women’s Network in the audience in Atlanta. They want you and Penelope to have a faith-based TV show where you help people with troubled lives start over and discover their purpose. It’ll be called Suddenly Blessed.”
“A TV show?” Greg asks. “For Nya and Penelope?”
Bishop Bowens nods. “Yes. It’s a women’s network. Their whole objective is to empower women, and they believe that you can help them. And Penelope will have a segment for at-risk teens.”
“Where would the show film? Here in Dallas?” Greg asks with a tremble in his voice.
“No, it will be in Atlanta,” Penelope says. “But we’ll only have to be there for a couple of weeks. We’ll film eight episodes to start and see how the audience receives it.”
Greg looks at me with a blank expression. I don’t know what it means.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to grow your brand, honey,” Lady Sandy says. “It’s not often that a minister can find their signature message so early in their career. But you’ve done that with one prophetic word. That is an awesome move of God.”
“How soon do we have to make a decision?” Greg asks.
“Yes, I want to pray about this before we go forward,” I say in concurrence. But from the look of Greg’s scowl, I said something wrong.
“We need to pray and fast over this,” Greg says. “A signature message is great, but I don’t know that Nya wants this to be her signature message.”
Bishop Bowens says, “I believe Nya is the one who should seek God about her anointing. As husbands, it is sometimes difficult to see our wives coming into their season, maybe before we’ve realized our own goals. But just know that God has put the two of you together. Her destiny is intertwined with yours. There is no need to feel anything but blessed by this opportunity. It will enrich you both—spiritually and financially.”
Greg scoffs. “With all due respect, Bishop Bowens, I am not in any way bothered by Nya getting an opportunity. I will pray with and for her, because I am her covering. She has shared with me what God has called her to, and we will pray together to see if this is in alignment with that.”
I’ve never been so relieved to see food being brought to a table. I know Greg, and I can tell that he is plenty hot under the collar right now. The only thing keeping him from making a complete donkey of himself is the fact that we’re talking to the most powerful preacher in Dallas. Bishop Bowens can make and break careers. Greg knows to tread carefully.
“Greg, I apologize, I seem to have offended you,” Bishop Bowens says. “That was not my intent. I’ve just been where you are. I just want you to know that it’s all going to work together for the kingdom. I pray that you come back with a favorable response. This is an open door for my daughter as well.”
Bishop Bowens’s apology seems to soften Greg. He relaxes his defensive posture and slackens his shoulders, which were squared as if he was ready for battle. Bishop’s words must’ve hit home too, because I definitely think Greg is only in his feelings about this because he is jealous. This hurts me. If it was the other way around—if Greg was getting this shot—I would be nothing but supportive of him.
“I don’t know about you,” Penelope says to me, “but I’m excited.”
Lady Sandy touches Penelope’s arm and shakes her head. “They haven’t decided yet, honey.”
“They will say yes. I feel it in my spirit. I’m praying with you both!”
I give Penelope a look that I hope says I’m excited too! because there is no way I’m going to let this chance pass me by. I don’t know how many prayers and fasts Greg needs to do to get on board with the plan. Maybe he needs to put on sackcloth and rub ashes on his body. Maybe he needs to lie face down in front of our spanking-new altar until he gets a revelation. Maybe God needs to part the heavens and send down an angel to personally hand him a scroll.
Who does he think he is, anyway—the Ike Turner of the Body of Christ? Shoot, when the windows of heaven open, you don’t slam them closed and put on shutters.
All of these blessings in such rapid-fire succession make me think that perhaps that prophetic word wasn’t fake at all. Maybe it was a word from God, and maybe it was for me.
CHAPTER 16
NYA
Today is the grand reopening of Love First International. After two months of hard labor, we are finally able to share this wonderful building with our congregation and our community. Greg and I have prepared a special message, and I can’t wait to deliver it. Then, Mother Olivia has planned a huge friends-and-family dinner. Everyone who attends this service, and we’re expecting close to one thousand, will be able to get a chicken, pasta, or fish dinner, prepared by the church mothers and friends.
Greg stands in the mirror of his office, creating an intricate knot in his necktie. “Do you think I was wrong for not accepting Bishop Bowens’s offer to come and consecrate our new sanctuary? He seemed to want to be a part of today’s service.”
I’ve kept mum on this, and I wish Greg wouldn’t have asked me, because now I’m gonna have to tell him the truth. When Bishop Bowens called Greg and asked if we wanted him to have words at our grand reopening, it was a huge thing. It meant that he and Lady Bowens accept us into their circle. That they approve of our ministry and what we’re doing in the city.
It’s also an endorsement, just like Lady Bowens putting me in front of the women at her empowerment conference and on that tour. An endorsement from the Bowens was priceless, but Greg had turned it down. To me, it seemed like an insult, but Greg had shrugged it off.
“I mean, how could I not have Bishop Lipford do it? He’s our father in the gospel.”
We love Bishop Lipford, and of course there is no way we would not have included him in this service. He is the one who helped us get started. He helped me hone my prophetic gift with prayers and fasting.
“We absolute
ly had to have Bishop Lipford, honey. I agree. But we could’ve allowed Bishop Bowens to have words too. You basically snubbed him.”
Greg turns around to face me and he’s wearing a scowl on his face. Even when he’s angry, he’s still incredibly handsome. I just noticed that he has a few silver strands in his goatee. It becomes him. I hope it’s not because of stress, though.
“Why should I give him words? Because he’s going to put you on television?”
My jaw drops a little. “Greg, I thought we were done talking about the show. We decided that—”
“No. You decided that you were doing it, and I told you I wasn’t going to stand in your way.”
I bite my bottom lip. I keep hoping that Greg will come around on the talk show. No matter what he thinks of the Bowens, he’s got to admit that this is the biggest opportunity either one of us has ever had.
“Having Bishop Bowens speak, well it means that he is putting the stamp of approval on us. People in the neighborhood will come, just because they think we’re connected to the Bowens.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I don’t want his stamp of approval on this ministry?”
“It did. But Lady Bowens is the reason we have this new building, honey. Don’t deny that they’ve opened doors for us.”
“God has opened doors for us.”
“And He used the Bowens for that purpose. Don’t be like that, Greg.”
Greg relaxes and smiles. “Okay, maybe I’ll let Bishop Bowens stand in and preach with me one Sunday while you’re out.”
“Or you could just let him have words this morning. He’s on the program.”
Greg looks confused until he picks up a copy of this morning’s program from our dresser. He scans the pages slowly then looks up at me.
“You invited him without telling me?”
“I extended an invitation from both of us. I explained how Bishop Lipford is the one who set us out on our ministry path, but that we would love for both Bishop and Lady Bowens to bless our service this morning. They said yes.”
Greg closes his eyes and strokes his goatee again, smoothing the hairs down with each rub. I can tell he’s furious, from the vein throbbing on his right temple. I watch his chest rise and fall slowly, as if he’s trying to decrease his heart rate before dealing with me.
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