“You mean I’d have real grandparents?”
“You do have real grandparents.You’ve always had your mom’s mom, of course, but now you’ll have my mom and dad as well.”He smiled.“It’ll be fun to see what they want to be called.I reckon you should call my mom Granny and see what she does.”
That earned a flicker of a smile from Gen, who could probably imagine just what his mother would make of that, seeing as she’d never liked references to her age.How she would cope with being acknowledged as the grandmother to a nine-year-old remained to be seen.
“So, Bella, I know it’s a lot, so you can think about it if you like and let me know.But regardless of whether my parents come or not, I’d still like to go somewhere with you both and enjoy a meal.Would that be okay?”He rubbed his back.“It’d be nice to sit somewhere where it doesn’t feel like the chair is trying to eat me.”
“See Mom?I told you we should all sit at the dining table.”Bella grinned, and this time he noticed she was missing a tooth.“She thought you’d prefer that couch.”
“I bet she did.”
This scored him a slanted look from Gen, as if she caught the wryness in his tone.
“That was very thoughtful of her.”
Okay, this time that was definitely a lip flicker, like she was on her way to a smirk, but thought better of it.
“Then yeah,” Bella said.“I’d like to have dinner.I’m not sure about meeting your parents yet, though.”
“That’s okay.You can tell your mom when you decide.It’ll be fine either way.”
“Cool.”Bella’s head tilted.“Hey, do you want to see my favorite toys?”
He nodded, and she hurried to her room, leaving him alone with Gen.
“It’s not going to kill you to spend time with me, Gen,” he said softly.
“I don’t understand why you’re being so nice,” she murmured.
Neither did he.Except, actually, he kinda did.
When Gen’s response had finally arrived, two days after he’d sent his message, he’d had enough time to think and pray and finally realize how he was to act.Not with fire and brimstone and offense and accusations, but softly, meekly, gently.Like Jesus had treated the broken.
Because Kyle realized it now.Gen was broken, just as he had been, and she needed time to get her life made right with God before she was ready for anything else.
And as much as his own feelings toward her were conflicted, enough softness remained for him to want her best.To want her to find hope and healing and wholeness in God.
Ryan had been right to advise Kyle to wait.
Because love, real love, wasn’t based on feelings.It involved actions, prioritizing others’ needs above one’s own, washing the feet of those whose hearts were set against him.And while he certainly wasn’t Jesus, Kyle was trying to follow in His way, which meant sacrificing his own agenda for a bigger plan.An eternal one.
So if God was prompting Kyle to extend grace and forgiveness and mercy, Kyle would pray that God would give him the grace and strength to do so.
But how to explain all that to a non-believer…
Maybe just explain all that, like that, to her.“You know the other day took me by surprise.”
“Really?”She rolled her eyes.
He bit back his own sarcastic remark.“And I might not have acted with much grace and understanding.And to be honest, it’s still quite challenging to come to terms with.But I’m trusting that God will help me.”
“God.”She checked out the ceiling again.“Why do you have to keep going on about God all the time?”
“I do?I didn’t realize.”He wanted to continue but felt an inkling to cease.So he waited.Waited some more.Then, sure enough, she sighed.
“Okay, you don’t.Not all the time.But it seems to be all I hear these days.And it’s really annoying.”
Lord, what do I say?
