The Calling Dream

Chapter 3-3

Sister Clark set a cup of coffee on the table beside me. I reached over to take a quick sip and felt my lips burn in the process. “Aoum!” I exclaimed as I quickly set the cup back down.

“What was that?” Miss Moore asked.

“Ouch, that hurts,” I blurted, not really as an answer to her question.

“I’m sorry, Pastor Dennison,” Miss Moore said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I just burned my lips a little on a hot cup of coffee. I should have blown on it some, since it came right off the stove.”

Sister Clark grimaced and whispered, “I’m sorry. You want me to get you some cool water?”

I shook my head and focused back on the telephone. “Ah…Miss Moore…the reason I called is to take you up on the offer of meeting the gentleman you told me about in Nashville. I’m sorry. I don’t remember his name.”

“Jacob Clayburn,” she responded.

“Ah…is the offer still open?” I questioned with part of me hoping that it wouldn’t be.

“Yes, yes, of course,” she replied. “I will be happy to set an appointment for you. You can come to Nashville and meet him.”

“Well, I don’t know if it will be as easy as that,” I explained. “My family has only one vehicle, and that is a truck most often used for farm work.”

“Could you take a bus to Nashville?” she questioned.

“Yes, I suppose I could,” I acknowledged. “I-I…ah…I just really don’t know how to arrange all this. Actually, I have never been away from home before. I’ve never stayed in a hotel or taken a bus. I don’t even know how to go about arranging for a hotel, and actually, right now, I’m at a neighbor’s house borrowing their phone because we don’t even have a phone of our own. I-I…think I’m going to need a little guidance.”

“Hmmm,” she pondered. “Where is the nearest hotel close to where you live?”

“That would probably be over at Pocahontas,” I replied. “It is about twenty miles from our house, and it has a population of a couple of thousand, I think. I assume they must have a hotel there.”

“Black River Motor Inn,” Sister Clark blurted out, obviously listening in on the conversation.

I looked over to see her sitting on the other side of the table. I hadn’t even noticed that she had sat down with her coffee or that Brother Clark had come in as well. Sister Clark had placed the cookies on a plate in the middle of the table, and they were both nibbling cookies with their coffee while listening to me talk. I was so engrossed that I hadn’t realized any of that.

“My neighbor says it’s the Black River Motor Inn,” I told her.

“Hold on,” Sister Clark directed. “I think I have a Pocahontas phone book. I’ll be right back.”

“Well,” Miss Moore suggested, “if you can wait a couple of weeks to go to Nashville with me, I can come up to stay at the motel in Pocahontas and then pick you up the next morning to drive over to Nashville. Once there, you will be able to stay with Mr. Clayburn. You should expect to stay about a week.”

Sister Clark came back into the room and placed a phone book on the table in front of me with her finger pointing to the number for the Black River Motor Inn.

“I have the number for the hotel here,” I said. “When would we do this?”

“I can get the number from information,” she replied. “Let me contact Mr. Clayburn to see when we might be able to arrange this. If you don’t have any conflicts as to when you can come, then give me your mailing address, and I will write to you when I have the arrangements made.”

“Ah…okay…my address is 169 Sassafras Trail, Ravenden, Arkansas.”

“Tell her she can call here,” Sister Clark interrupted. “Give her our number.”

I looked up at Sister Clark. She wrote their number on a piece of paper and laid it in front of me.

“My neighbor says you can call them if you need to get hold of me,” I said into the phone.

“Okay.” Miss Moore questioned, “What is their number?”

I read the number from the paper, and Miss Moore said, “All right, Pastor Dennison. As soon as I have arrangements made, I will get back to you. Most likely I will simply send you a letter outlining the suggested dates and times. However, I will call your neighbor if I need to. In the meantime, please be patient as this could take a few weeks. Mr. Clayburn is going to want to make arrangements for you to speak to a congregation here, and he will want to do a screen test and some vocal tests. That could take some time to get arranged.”

“Yes, ma’am. I understand,” I said, but I didn’t understand anything at all. I had no idea what a screen test or a vocal test was. The truth is I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but despite my trepidation, I had determined that I was going to do it.

“All right then,” Miss Moore said, concluding the call. “Call me again if you need to, but otherwise, please wait a few weeks for me to get back to you.”

“Well?” Sister Clark questioned eagerly.

“Well, they are going to take me to Nashville for some screen and vocal tests,” I acknowledged.

“Praise be to the Lord!” she exclaimed, clasping both hands in the air before her. She had no more of a clue than I did what a screen test was, but she did know it could mean an expansion of my ministry, and the Clarks had supported me in my preaching more than anyone.

I was too much in shock to be excited. I sat there feeling stunned and humble. I reached for a cookie and dunked it into my now lukewarm coffee. As I was pulling it from the cup, the soaked half fell off and disappeared beneath the dark liquid. Hmmm, I thought, I hope that is not an omen.

Hmmm, I hope that is not an omen.