Page 97 of Gideon

“Rhetorical question. It will take a miracle. So, when God moves, there will be no doubt it’s really Him.”

“You’d think so, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to see a miracle and find a way to dismiss it.”

“Yeah, but if He does something impossible, we can’t put it down to our own strength.”

“You’re saying we should get rid of some more?” His heart skipped a beat, but he shrugged it away.

“Don’t get carried away. Our numbers are low enough as it is. And I know you want positivity, but I’m a little afraid about what Fairfax will do. I trust God completely, and I also don’t. I hope you aren’t relying on my positive attitude too much in this because my faith is not always as strong as I like to pretend it is.”

“No, you’re right.” He shouldn’t be looking to her for strength. He was the one God had shown over and over again that this was real. She should be able to lean on him, and she deserved to know the full reason he was still here.

He scrubbed a hand down his face. “And there’s something I haven’t told you.”

“Is this a bad something or a good something?”

“It’s the reason I’m here right now. Why I didn’t leave town.”

“Then it’s a good something.”

“You remember after I spoke to Eric, I said you’d probably think I’m crazy?”

“Yeah.”

“Things got crazier.”

“Did Eric come back and speak to you again?”

“No. This was…weirder.”

“I’m listening.”

He told her about the mat and the towel, then let her sit in silence for several minutes. He wasn’t sure what to make of the frown on her face.

“I feel like I should say something,” she finally said. “But I don’t know what.”

“It’s crazy.”

She shook her head. “I’ve never heard anything like it. I shouldn’t believe you.”

“I’d understand if you didn’t.”

“I’m making all of these excuses in my head about how you must have gotten it wrong.”

“Like I said, it’s easy to dismiss a miracle. I did too at the time.”

“I always thought, if God did a real miracle, like what you’ve told me, that I’d be so excited and overwhelmed and amazed, but I’m none of those things. I’m more confused and scared.”

“Scared?”

“What if we believe it’s true, and we get it wrong?”

“We could.”

She sat quietly for another minute, then said, “All of that aside. I’m still with you in this.”

“Does that mean you don’t believe me?”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore. I’m trying to figure out what God’s doing, but every time I start to get a handle on it, He pivots.”

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