The Space Between You and I

Chapter 1

Using his teeth to pull down on the coffee tube, Henry Hart filled his coffee cup at Mama P’s Coffee Shop with their house coffee and then proceeded over to join his father, Jasper, at a table. The smell of fresh coffee lingered in the air that early February morning. Sounds of hushed conversations filled his ears as he journeyed toward the only father he had ever known, even if he wasn’t blood-related. He was almost to the table when a woman in line at the counter dropped her keys a few feet from him. Stopping, he turned and saw her with a baby on her hip. Moving closer, he bent down and retrieved the keys for her.

     

Henry rose to his feet and handed her the keys.

“Thank you, sir. It’s sure been one of those mornings!” Adjusting the baby on her left hip, she flashed a friendly smile and took the keys.

 

“Have a nice day, ma’am.”

 

Continuing to his father’s table, Henry was greeted with a warm smile. Pulling out a chair, he hung his coat on the back and sat down. A smile grew on his lips and in his heart as his father folded the newspaper he was reading formerly to his arrival. He loved seeing his dad, an occurrence that didn’t happen as often as he had hoped since he moved out of his parents’ house six years ago.

   

“Hey, boy. It’s good to see you. That weather is a bit bad this morning.” Jasper took a deep drink of his coffee.

 

“Yeah, I think I heard thirteen degrees on the radio on my drive over.”

 

“Yep. Hey . . .” His father leaned in slightly across the table with raised eyebrows.

“Your mother and I don’t see much of you unless it’s Christmas. What’s going on with that?”

  Taking a drink of his coffee, Henry set his cup down on the table and rubbed the rim lightly with the side of his thumb. He nodded lightly. “Work has been busy, Dad. You know all those new renting houses regulations I told you about a few months back?” His father nodded. “They finally rolled out to the production server and it’s a mess. One of the new testers on our team marked a ton of things as useful when they weren’t. We had to roll the entire update back and slowly release bits and pieces at a time. Lots of cleanup, and that means long hours of work and work.”

     

Raising a hand, Jasper shook his head. “I don’t know what most of that means, but I believe you, Son. Just give your mom a call occasionally and let her know you care. Would you?”

   

Henry nodded in agreement. “I can do that.”

 

Silence fell across their conversation for a few moments. Then his father changed the topic elsewhere.

 

“Any word on scholarships to get into Bible college?”

 

He shook his head. “I’m going to have to let that dream go, Dad. If I focus hard at my current job and dedicate it all to the Lord, He will bless that. God will just have to use me where I am.”

  “That’s the right mindset to have about it. If it’s God’s will for you to attend Bible school, you will.

 “I know.”

   

“How’s Noelle?”

   

Henry stifled in his seat. He knew the basic reason of his father’s question. Noelle wasn’t just any girl in Henry’s life but the girl, according to everyone but him. Henry and Noelle had gone to high school together and had been best friends for six years. A year ago, she had started attending the same church as he did, First Baptist. This last year, he had seen her more and more because of it. Their friendship had deepened and tilted back and forth on the fence toward a relationship, according to everyone around them. But Henry didn’t want more than friendship when it came to Noelle. He feared a relationship would only mess up their friendship, and he couldn’t put something so lovely at risk.

 

Clearing his throat, Henry nodded as uneasiness rose within him.

   

“She’s good, Dad. You know she and I aren’t ever going to happen. You and Rachel and Mom should all just give it up.”

“Is it because she’s black and Nigerian, son?”Jasper took another sip of his coffee.

“Geez Dad, I’m not racist.” Henry chuckled

“Then what exactly is the problem, son?” Jasper leaned to hear his son’s next words.

“Dad……uhm how do I start….”

     

“Son, listen.” Jasper interrupted his son, his voice lowered, and grew more serious. “Women like her don’t come around very often. She’s God-fearing, never been married, sweetest girl in the works and she’s single. You’ve been her friend for years, and that’s a very good start, but only a start.”

 Henry  smiled politely at his father’s words. “I know . . .”

 

A moment passed, then Jasper glanced away for a moment. His gaze came back to Henry. “What else is going on?”

 

Taking a sip of his coffee, Henry remembered his upcoming schedule ahead of him. His eyebrows furrowed. “We have a business meeting tonight at the church.”

   

“Oh, yeah?” His dad took a drink of his coffee. “You don’t seem too excited about that.”

 

a gut feeling Terry is going to be proposing more money going to that homeless camp in Campside Park across the

 

“Son, there’s nothing wrong with that. We have to take care

 

does so much for the poor. Believe me. Even that particular homeless camp, we’ve done a lot for it as it is right now. I just don’t feel we need to keep pouring money into helping those people when they want to be there in the first place. If we keep

 

around it, and you know that. It’s a

 

what else is good? Using your own personal finances to do it, not the church’s money. You know what Terry did last week? He bought a BMW. Then tonight he’s going to come beg for more money to go into the homeless project. Something doesn’t seem right

all this time. He only held a look of

 

Henry sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that about Terry The guy just bugs me, and I don’t feel his heart is in the right

 

all seriousness of tone, Jasper asked, “Is your heart in the right place, Son?”

wanting to be a good Christian of his resources given

His father shrugged. “If that’s true, why did you apologize

 

rude and it upset you.”

and your heart is

 

what you’re

 

hands on the table, he peered directly into Henry’s eyes.

 

“Don’t look away from me, Son. Look at me. Don’t turn away from your father.”

difficulty into his father’s eyes even though it was uncomfortable.

 

but that doesn’t

 

father’s instruction, he had been taught what it meant to be a true man of God. His sister, Rachel, was taught what it meant to be a woman of God from their mother. He had caught most of the teachings handed down by his

 

his biological parents. Jasper had found him in a manger when he was but

to be his

 

and pray about my heart

 

a drink of his coffee. “Real men conduct their battles from their knees,

     

     

       

           

       

       

* *

   

Bible and coat down on the long bench. He joined in the singing of the last chorus and then took his seat in unison with the rest of the congregation. Terry took to the stage. Just seeing him up

Under Armor clothing, buy a BMW, and walk around like you’re some spiritual guru, but when it comes to supporting the homeless, that’s all on the church? Give me a

   

doing tonight?” Terry surveyed the audience with a smile on his lips.

 

  Shouts of ‘Amen’ lifted from the congregation.

   

She’s our guest of honor tonight. She comes from the camp across the street, and I want to tell you a little bit about her.”

 

zoned out at the ceiling for a few minutes, then glanced around the sanctuary at other people to pass time as Terry went on and on about the woman. After he was finally

   

ask a special blessing over these tithes and offerings. May we give back a portion of what you’ve been so gracious to give us. It’s only through

 

felt agitation eating up his soul. Even the man’s prayers fanned the fire of Henry’s annoyance. Concealing behind every word from Terry’s lips  was Henry’s blame and judgment. He didn’t like the way he felt toward Terry but didn’t feel as if he had any power over it. He felt the man was actively working his own worklist in the church

 

Terry melted away. His heart warmed and suddenly, everything was fine inside him. She was his favorite person in the world and the only woman besides his mother and sister whom he had ever loved. Everyone wanted him to date Noelle but he didn’t want to confuse up the perfect friendship they had. Henry knew he’d be the luckiest man on earth if he

finished collecting the offering, Pastor Jacob took to the stage.

around you. Then we’ll jump into the Word of God.” Before the pastor could even finish speaking, Henry was out of his seat and into Noelle's bench

 

question came as her brown eyes caught his gaze. The very next moment, she smiled that smile that lit up Henry's face and made everything else seem not important. Her dark skin matched her

 

“It’s my first time here, actually.”

 

laughed and then embraced in

 

this

 

for dinner. I hope you know it’s all just for you. By

 

His lips curled into a smile. “What fun is normal? Plus, I barely left the office before heading here.”

 

face and in her voice. “If you didn’t take

 

both

   

near the back. His eyes still on her, he watched as she talked and laughed with Mary, the woman Terry had introduced earlier. He loved Noelle's personality and the fact that every person who knew her loved to be around her. That was just her. She was dark yet so shiny. She glowed with some sort of spiritual aura that seemed to attract everyone to her. She was everything he wasn’t and everything he wanted to be.

the sanctuary. “I love to see you all playing and talking, but we’d better get started if you want to make it out of here

 

sermon and then asked everyone to turn in their Bibles to Judges, chapter eleven.

lived the party and club life for many years before coming to Christ, and it wasn’t until late one night when a man found me passed out in an alley behind a bar that my life changed forever. That man was a Christian. I’m not talking about a ‘went to church on Sunday’ Christian, or a fire insurance Christian, but a real Christian. A Christ follower. He helped me get home that night,

 

led him to Jesus too. I’m a pastor now, but my start was in an alley behind The Spark. You see, brothers and sisters, God can use us no matter where we are in life, no matter who we are. Now, let’s get into the Word. Judges eleven, starting in

 

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