Linda continued to stare at me as if she didn’t know what to say. “I can’t let you do that.”

“You can and you will. Now let’s head to your house and tackle this mess. I’m young and I don’t need a lot of sleep. If I were you I wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of my generous offer.”

She cracked a smile. “I probably should take you up on it.”

“Yes, you should. As for me being up early, I think you were probably up at around the same time. Let me do this for you to show my appreciation for all you’ve done for everyone else.”

To my utter surprise, Linda tossed her arms around me and hugged me. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Let’s get to it,” I said.

The van had been unloaded and I followed Linda to where she’d parked her car and we drove to the house. Going down to the basement, we found Linda’s husband wading around in water, looking exhausted and unsure what more he could do on his own. He had a push broom in his hand and was sweeping the water toward a drain.

“The cavalry has arrived, and looks like we got here in the nick of time,” I told him.

Lloyd blinked. “I hardly know where to start.”

Stacks of magazines were soaked through, as well as boxes that had been on the floor. To put it mildly, the basement was a mess.

We worked together for an hour until it was clear that Lloyd was too tired to continue. Linda sent her husband upstairs to brew coffee. Fifteen minutes later he carried down a cup for each of us, apologized, and then left.

Linda and I worked companionably, sorting through the boxes, taking out what could be salvaged.

“I heard Lilly mention that you’re going to be working as the bookkeeper for the center.”

“Yes, I’m excited to get back into the kind of work I enjoy. This is an opportunity I never expected to have.”

She didn’t say anything for several minutes. “Lloyd counts the money from the collection every Sunday after church, which is one of the reasons we’re often the last people to leave.”

I knew the Kincaids donated a great deal of their time to the smooth operation of the church.

“He’s going in for surgery next Wednesday and will be out of commission for a couple weeks. He asked me if I’d take over the task for him. I was wondering if you’d be willing to step in for me.”

The suggestion was much more than counting out the offering. Linda was saying I had her trust, that she believed I was capable and honest. “I’d be honored.”

“Good. That’s one less thing on my plate,” she said a bit gruffly.

Not letting her see my smile, I continued working. I’d met women like Linda before. They liked to be in control, and giving up even one small piece of their control was difficult.

“I’ll let Drew know that you’ll be putting together the church deposit,” she said.

I realized this was her way of letting Drew know that she accepted me as worthy of his love.

And to think, all it took was three hours spent in a flooded basement.

My sermon series inspired by popular movies had gained a lot of local attention. The religion editor for The Seattle Times had heard about it, and unbeknownst to me visited the church one Sunday. The next week he wrote his column about the topic of my message. Since then, every pew in the church had been filled for the last two weeks.

Again, I had Shay to thank for the idea, which had inspired other similar ideas. I’d decided my next sermon series would be on ten of the most popular downloaded songs from iTunes. I’d been listening carefully to the lyrics. I believed songwriters were the sages of their generation and said a lot about the society in which we live. I’d done a bit of research on the artists’ backgrounds along with their lyrics. My goal was how best to relate the words of the music to Scripture and then apply it to life.

I stood in the lobby as the choir sang the final hymn, preparing to greet my church family as they exited the building. My heart was full. For the first time in a long while I felt effective as a pastor. My sermons were being well received and I seemed like I was reaping the rewards of the years I had invested in the ministry.

As I was getting ready to head over to the house for dinner, Alex Turnbull sought me out. His look was dark and serious. For just a few minutes I was tempted to turn away. Alex had been a thorn in my side even before the incident involving Shay and her brother. He’d made his opinion of Shay clear. He wanted her gone, and if not her, then me.

To be fair, I had to admit that he’d accepted the defeat of his vote of confidence with good grace. I appreciated that he didn’t hold any resentment. He’d accepted the support of the other elders and had gone out of his way to show his support since that time.

“Do you have a few minutes, Pastor?” he asked.

Making a show of checking my watch, I let him know my family was waiting for me to join them for our noonday meal. I’d already left them waiting longer than I planned.

“It won’t take more than a couple minutes,” he insisted.

“Sure.” It was probably best to discuss this now rather than later, I reasoned.

He hesitated, which was odd, seeing that he seemed eager to chat. “This is a delicate matter. Perhaps it would be best if we talked about this in your office.”

Apparently this was more serious than I realized. “Sure.”

Alex followed me to my office and entered after me, closing the door. I leaned against the edge of my desk.

“I realize, Pastor, that you and I have had our differences over the last few weeks. I hope you understand this has nothing to do with any of that.”

While it was true we tended not to agree, especially when it came to Shay, I didn’t hold any resentments. I let Alex know that. “True enough, but I also accept that you have always had the church’s best interests at heart, as do I.”

“I appreciate you saying that.”

“The church is doing well,” I commented. “Better than it has in a long while.”

No denying that attendance was up substantially. “But you’re here because you believe there’s a problem,” I said, urging him toward the reason for this meeting.

Alex stiffened and stared down at the carpet for several seconds as if gathering his resolve. “It gives me no pleasure to tell you this.”

“What is it, Alex?” He was beginning to worry me.

“It’s about Shay.”

My relaxed pose instantly dissolved and I straightened and crossed my arms. It bothered me that he’d targeted Shay almost from the first moment she’d come into my life. I couldn’t imagine what she had ever done to deserve this man’s dislike. “What now?” I demanded.

Alex met my eyes and I read a mixture of emotions, the most prominent one was regret. “I know you think I carry hard feelings about what happened with her a few weeks ago. That incident with her brother.”

“She had no control over that situation, as you well know.” I refused to let Alex blame Shay for her brother’s behavior, especially when I was the one who had led him to her.

“I was never keen for the church to rent her the apartment. In the last few weeks, though, I’ve had a change of heart.”

I relaxed somewhat, encouraged by the news.

“Shay has been great,” Alex said. “I’ve kept a close eye on her and there’s nothing she isn’t willing to tackle. She volunteered to work in the nursery this morning, rocking the babies when the woman who was scheduled had to stay home with a sick child.

“Last week, Shay filled in for one of the Sunday school teachers at the last minute.”

I knew about both incidents. The children in the Sunday school class had loved Shay. She’d been creative and fun. She’d told the story of the Good Samaritan and asked the children what they would do if they saw someone in need. Then she had them write letters she planned to give to Richard and Chuck to let the men know they were loved.

This morning I noticed the bin for the collection for the food bank was full and I was convinced it was because Shay had opened the children’s eyes to the needs of those less fortunate.

“When I saw that Lloyd Kincaid wasn’t able to fulfill his duty because of his recent surgery, I was mildly surprised that Linda asked Shay, on Lloyd’s behalf, to fill in for him.”