Page 118 of Muskoka Blue

“God?” His father snorted. “I don’t want to hear about any more of this God nonsense.”

“Dad.” Dan fought to stay calm.Lord, help me say this right.“God has brought me more peace and joy than anything—more than hockey or money or anything else. I’m more…more me because I know who God is.”

“That’s nice.”

His insides writhed. Mom’s encouragement sounded so patronizing.

His father pushed back his chair and stood. “Daniel, I hope you’ve had a nice birthday, but I’ve had about enough now. I think it’s time for us to go.”

“Okay. Bye, Dad.” Dan swallowed the rejection.

“Bye, dear. Happy birthday.” His mother gave him a little hug before following his father outside to the car.

Dan exhaled noisily, slumping back in his chair away from the table. Why couldn’t his parents be more like Sarah’s, with all that warmth and huggy stuff? He wished—

Nope, no good wishing.

He turned to Sam, who’d watched it all silently. “You going too?”

“No. It’s your birthday, Dan. You still need to celebrate.”

“I’m not really in a celebrating kind of mood.”

“Well, I’m here for you, bro.”

Dan blinked back the burn in his eyes at his brother’s compassion as Sam continued. “I guess I get it now. I’ve always wondered what it was that changed you.” Sam shook his head. “My memories aren’t great. I know I was struggling with school, but I do remember you changing from being an arrogant S-O-B to someone almost completely different.” He grinned. “I liked you more after.”

Dan managed a wry smile. “I liked myself more after meeting God too.”

“So…” Sam hesitated. “Can you tell me more about…about this God thing?”

Dan blinked. Wow. So not what he’d expected. But hey, if God wanted to use Dan’s failure to bring Sam closer to Him, who was he to argue?

Over the next couple of hours, they slowly picked at their desserts, drinking copious amounts of coffee as they continued their discussion at a slightly more private table next to a big window where they could watch the snow falling outside.

Sam looked at him seriously. “You still love Sarah, don’t you?”

A giant ball of heartache lodged in his throat. He could only mutter a raspy, “Yes.”

Sam was thoughtful. “Maybe I’ll have to have a word with this God of yours, see if He can change her heart or something.”

Dan clenched his jaw to avoid tearing up again. That wouldn’t be cool for his baby brother to see. “You do that. I need all the help I can get.”

After watchinga stupid action movie with Sam that had finished far later than he’d wanted, Dan finally felt ready to face his lonely apartment. Funny. While today hadn’t been the best of days, his brother’s new interest in God was nothing short of amazing. He’d even promised to think about coming to church sometime.

Dan pushed out a smile, recalling a prayer made not too long ago in Muskoka. Something about God somehow turning things around for good?

He unlocked the front door and threw the keys on the side entry table, noting the missed calls on his phone, which he’d earlier switched to silent. He bet one was from Luke. He always tended to ring him late on his birthday, like he’d forgotten and been reminded by his wife or Mom and now felt obliged to call. Dan grabbed a bottle of water, then pressed speaker and settled down on his favorite couch that overlooked the city lights. Sure enough, Luke’s voice soon filled the room, wishing him a good day. Nothing deep or terribly personal—they didn’t have that kind of relationship—but it was still nice to hear.

Luke’s message clicked off, and Dan stared out at the cityscape.God, help my family know You.The birthday congratulatory messages continued: Mike, Beau, and a few other Bible study guys, Brendan, a friend from college, a manager from the club. Most people these days were too busy to care to send much beyond an impersonal text or email, so it was nice to actually hear a voice if he couldn’t see them. Then the next message came on.

“Hi, Dan, it’s Sarah.”

His heart clenched and he sat up straighter, as if it would help him hear better.

“I, uh, wasn’t expecting to get your voice mail…”

She made a noise halfway between a nervous giggle and a sigh, and he was instantly transported back to those early days, back in Muskoka, when she’d look at him with sassy tease. He blinked.Stop it. Don’t go there.

---