Sign (Man of God)

Lord, can I ask one question? I know you wouldn’t mind.

I take a deep breath as I knelt in prayer at the front pew of the church one day. It’s been my habit to visit Him once in a while.

Why am I still single?

I’m now 26 years old, and still an NBSB. I used to be proud of it, but as I grew older, it was starting to make me feel insecure.

Okay. I know I should be patient. Sorry for asking you such a dumb question.

I close my eyes and bow my head in humiliation.

Then I looked up at the crucifix. I thanked him instead for all the blessings lately.

For Dad’s recovery from the hospitalization, for my younger sister’s graduation from college, for our dog’s successful delivery of four cute puppies.

Then my mind went blank.

The next thing I knew, I was having this feeling of desperation again.

Can you just please give me one sign?

I close my eyes again.

It’s been very quite here in the church, and I doubt if there’s someone else here. So…

I felt so young again as I prayed to my Father.

If I see someone here in RED, then it means I would meet my man of God soon.

I close my eyes tightly and thanked him once more. I stood up, my heart pounding. What if my sign wouldn’t happen? I’d end up an old maid. Simple.

My shoulders sagged at the thought. How horrible!

I was so distracted by the thought that I turned to leave the church, and forgot totally about the sign. I was out of the church when I realized I didn’t look around the church to find someone in red.

I ran inside again, as if it was the end of the world. I regretted the action. My shoes clattered noisily against the floor.

My eyes grew wide when I realized there was someone else inside the church.

He was in red.

He turned and I felt he was looking at me, but I was too humiliated that I stared on the floor.

~

I didn’t meet anyone new after that though. Instead, one of my close guy friends, Keith, came home from abroad. He was not my type, but I enjoyed being with him. We were so different, yet got along very well. He was athletic, I was so lame I trip on even a small stone; he was outgoing, I was shy; he seldom went to church, I visited at least thrice a week.

“Why do you visit the church so often?” He asked me as we were watching a basketball game one day.

“I don’t know.” I sipped my orange juice. “Maybe I just feel secured when I talk to him often.”

“You can always pray anywhere.” He took a bite of his sandwich.

I shrugged. “Yea. But it’s different if it’s done in His territory.”

He nodded. “Same here.”

Then the crowd went wild as a buzzer beater shot was made.

“What was that again?” I said louder than normal as the crowd was still noisy.

“Nothing.” He shook his head.

We saw each other often. There was even a point when I thought he was ‘the one’. But I was always disappointed by the fact that he seldom went to church. I prayed for a man of God, not just a man.

When he was about to leave for abroad again, he did something I never knew was coming.

He called me up, and asked if we could go to the church together. We went there at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, like what I always do.

We sat in the last pew, both silent.

“You made me happy today.” I confessed.

“Really? You always make me happy.”

I was shocked. He never showed affection for me ever before. Our talks were always casual.

I faced him, still with the shocked expression.

“Kidding.” He smiled. “Going back, tell me why I made you happy.”

I hesitated.

“It was a joke.” He let out an assuring laugh.

Silence.

I cleared my throat. “Because you finally went to church now.”

“Oh. I always come to church.”

“Really?” How many times will he surprise me today?

“Yes.” He smiled peacefully. I’ve never seen him like that before.

Having nothing else to say, I knelt and he followed. After we prayed, he said he was scheduled to leave again next week.

“But I’ll come home two months after. For good.” He promised.

I smiled. I was happy to hear the last two words. Why was I happy? I was struggling with the thought while we left the church. Then the guard waved to him. I wasn’t surprised. This day has been full of surprises.

He approached the guard, I followed.

“Good to see you two finally together.” The guard greeted us.

Keith smiled shyly, then rubbed the back of his head. He looked like a little boy as he did that. Wait. Why was I looking at him?

“This is Andy.” He introduced me. I waved, still pre-occupied by my strange thoughts.

They talked for a while; I was engrossed with my thoughts.

I thought I heard the guard say something like he always saw us visit the church at almost the same time, but I was too busy thinking that I didn’t manage to ask him about it.

Keith said goodbye, I waved to the guard again and we walked to his car.

We were already near the car, but were still silent. I can’t believe I was seeing him more than a friend.Lord, please give me a sign ----

“Ow!” I screamed, holding my right ankle. I looked at the ground. I tripped over a stone. Lame.

He hurried over to me, opened the door of the car, and assisted me so I could sit down. He bent over to take a closer look at my ankle.

“Oh.” He said, shocked.

“What? Is it that swollen?” I asked, nervous.

“No.” He chuckled.

I looked at him, confused.

He seemed so amused about something I don’t know.

“What is it?” I started to feel impatient and irritable. The pain was not getting any less.

“Your shoes.”

“Got torn?” I panicked.

“No! “ He smiled. “These were the same shoes you wore that day you ran frantically inside the church.”

MVJLO 10.11.10

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