Angel Unawares

Life Way Church

When they arrived at the church, Amber could see right away that it was radically different from the one she'd attended while staying at Our Father's House. Instead of the men being dressed in expensive suits and ties and the women wearing designer dresses and sporting hundred dollar hairstyles, everyone was casually dressed in t-shirts and jeans or similar attire. A few of the men had long hair, and some even had tattoos.

The sanctuary itself was very different as well. It was much smaller, and rather than expensive carpeting and padded pews, there was a plain wooden floor and wooden benches to sit on. Amber and Danny quickly found seats and waited for the service to begin.

The minister turned out to be a stout, middle-aged woman with short brown hair. Her name was Erin Vincent. "Welcome to Life Way Church," she began. "I'm so glad to have you with us this morning. To begin our service on this beautiful Sunday, please turn to page forty-two in your hymn book."

The congregation sang 'Morning Has Broken' and 'Everything Is Beautiful', and then after a short scripture passage, Reverend Erin began her message. "Here at Life Way, we accept you just as you are," she said. "We don't care if you're not dressed in the latest fashions, or if you arrived in a motorcycle instead of a Cadillac or a Lincoln. To us, what's in your heart is much more important than what you look like on the outside. When you read the Bible, you find that Jesus associated with prostitutes and lepers, the dregs of the society in which he lived. Rather than passing judgement on them, he showed them nothing but love and acceptance, and as his representatives on earth, we are called to do the same."

Amber listened raptly to the entire sermon. "Wow, I've never heard anything like that before," she said to Danny after the service had ended. "I didn't know churches like this even existed." Danny only grinned at her.

The two of them joined the line of congregants waiting to shake Reverend Erin's hand before leaving. "I really enjoyed your sermon," Amber told her.

"I'm glad you did," she replied. "Have you recently moved to this area? I don't remember ever seeing you here before."

"I just moved in with a new foster family and changed schools," Amber replied. "I'm Amber, and this is my friend Danny."

As Danny shook hands with the minister, Amber saw a knowing look pass between them. "I recognized you right away," Reverend Erin told Danny. "It's always an honor to receive a visit from one of you."

"It's my pleasure," Danny replied. "I wanted Amber to meet you."

He walked her home and bid her farewell, and she went inside, where she saw that Paul, Susan, and Bailey were already eating lunch. "Where were you?" asked Susan.

"I went for a walk with Danny and he took me to church."

"Well, it would have been nice if you'd told me before you left," Susan replied. "I was beginning to get worried about you."

"I'm sorry," said Amber.

"What church did you go to?" asked Bailey.

"The Life Way Church," Amber told her.

"I've heard of it," said Paul. "It doesn't have a very good reputation. Isn't that where all the trailer trash goes?"

Susan frowned. "That's not a very nice thing to call them."

Paul laughed. "I'm sorry, but it's true!"

"It's so good to hear you laugh," Susan remarked. Amber remembered Bailey's twin sister and felt a little bit sad.

Jade lay in bed, thinking hard. Perhaps she'd panicked prematurely over Gideon's departure. After all, when Danny read the message she'd sent him, he was sure to understand how much she still truly cared for him...wasn't he?

She felt an empty, gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach and realized that it was loneliness. She felt exactly the same way she'd felt at Danny's funeral three years before. She and Gideon had been together for so long that she'd quite forgotten what it felt like to be all alone. Now, for the first time since she'd met Gideon, she felt the icy fingers of loneliness gripping her heart and wondered how long it would take for Danny to read her message and respond to it. She prayed that it wouldn't take very long.

Bailey was playing the Sims that evening when she suddenly thought of her friend Maggie from the sibling loss support group. She hadn't attended any of the group's meetings since Amber had moved in with her family, and she hadn't talked to Maggie since the day she'd met Amber. It occurred to her that the arrival of her foster sister must have filled a hole in her life that she hadn't even realized existed.

On impulse, she picked up her telephone and dialed Amber's number. "Bailey!" Maggie exclaimed, instantly recognizing her friend's number. "I missed you at the last meeting! How have you been?"

"Super busy lately. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch for so long. Remember that day we said good-bye in front of the library? Well, right after that, I met up with this girl named Amber. She needed a place to stay, so I invited her to stay with us for awhile."

"Amber?" Maggie sounded surprised. "Danny's girlfriend Jade had a little sister named Amber. How old is she?"

Bailey suddenly felt her heart hammering in her chest. "Danny was your brother who died, right?"

"Yes. I thought you knew that."

"I'm sorry. I'd forgotten what his name was. He had a girlfriend named Jade who had a younger sister named Amber?"

"Yes. Why?"

Bailey took a deep breath. "I don't quite know how to tell you this. You'd better sit down."