The Color of Hope

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Wednesday, August 11





Janelle took a pad full of notes to Travis’s office, poking her head in the door. Seeing him with a phone to his ear, she thought to come back, but he waved her in. She took a seat across from him. Every time she’d ventured into his office this week, her eyes went to one place—past the stacks of books, random piles of paper, and scattered sticky notes to a single framed photo.

It was taken in the late eighties in Grandma Geri’s backyard, four ten-year-olds making silly faces at the camera—Travis, Libby, Janelle, and Todd, in that order. When she’d first noticed it, it jogged the memory that Travis was always bugging Libby, always teasing Libby, always pulling pranks on Libby—always near Libby. And that was only the times Janelle was there to see it, when she was visiting during summers, Christmas, and Easter. But given that Libby grew up nearby, she saw Travis much more than that.

The picture had been Todd’s, who’d mentioned finding it when he packed to move back to hope springs several months ago. Janelle and Travis had asked for a copy. But Janelle was surprised to see that Travis had had a notion to frame his and display it on his desk.

He ended his call, looking hopefully at her. “Good news?”

She affirmed with a single nod. “Lots. First this fun part.” She turned to a page of notes. “Did some Googling and found instructions for how to upload your sermons to iTunes so people can download them for free. I’m going to get on that right away.”

“Such a great idea, Janelle,” Travis said. “I thought we were doing something when we started recording sermons and selling the CDs at cost. But iTunes is where our younger members live. They’ll be able to listen wherever.”

“And not just members. People can recommend particular sermons to friends and family, and they’ll be able to download them in seconds. It’s a great way to reach people far and wide. And, of course, so is a website.” She turned to another page. “The web guy from my old church got back to me. He can redesign New Jerusalem’s site for a fraction of the other two quotes you got. And he’s good.” She laid the page of notes comparing price quotes in front of him.

“What?” Travis picked it up to see better. “If I hadn’t seen the sites he’s already done, I’d be skeptical about the quality. Why so much lower?”

“It’s not his main job,” Janelle said. “He does it for the love, says he gets to work a different side of his brain. But since it’s not his main job, he only does it by word of mouth, as he has time. Plus, he’s a bit of a perfectionist, so oftentimes it takes him longer to be happy with the look than the client. The upside is he doesn’t charge an arm and a leg.” Janelle added, “But if you’re in a rush, he’s not your guy.”

Travis turned to his computer, where he’d pulled up the New Jerusalem website. “I’ve waited this long. I don’t mind waiting a little longer to get a quality site for a good price. It’s a go. I’m looking forward to hearing his ideas.”

“Cool. I’ll let him know and put you two in touch.” She flipped the page. “Last piece of business I came in here for . . .” A smile spread over her face. “Kory and I have a date. That is, if it fits with your schedule.”

He looked confused. “What does my schedule have to do with it?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Like Grandma Geri used to tell you, ‘Don’t play with me, boy.’”

He laughed. “I can hear her now. And you know I’d marry you and Kory even if you didn’t want me to. What date are you looking at?”

She crossed her legs. “Since it’s a second wedding for both of us, we want to keep it small—”

“How small?”

“Maybe just Kory, me, and the kids.”

“Uh-huh. You’ll never pull that off. Go on.”

“We can dream, can’t we?” she said. “Anyway, however small it is, it won’t take much planning. And we don’t see the point of a long engagement. So we’re thinking the first weekend in October.”

He checked his calendar and made a notation. “All clear on this end. We need to schedule premarital sessions too. I’ll check with Kory—”

The church phone rang.

“I’ll get that,” Janelle said. She reached over and picked up. “Good afternoon, New Jerusalem Church.”

“Hi . . . Janelle? This is Charley.”

“Hey, Charley, why didn’t you call my cell?”

“Actually, I was calling for Pastor Travis. I knew I’d see you later.” She had a smile in her voice. “Is he available?”

“Let me check. One moment.” She put the call on hold. “Charley wants to speak with you.”

“I’ll take it,” he said. “Wait right here.” He answered, “Charley, hello, what can I do for you? . . . Membership? . . . I don’t understand.”

Janelle wished she could hear Charley’s side of the conversation.

“Sure,” he said. “Friday at four will work. See you then.”

He hung up the phone slowly.

“Charley’s doing it, isn’t she? Taking steps to become a member?”

“You knew about this?” Travis said.

“She’s been talking about it all week,” Janelle said. “But it’s not like it’s out of the blue. She was here on Sunday.”

“Which was also a problem.”

Janelle moved forward in her chair. “A problem?”

“When Skip found out, he told Todd it was an unfortunate byproduct of the joint service. When they find out she wants to join . . .” He stared off, thinking.

She looked at him. “I can tell you’re still disappointed about the joint service.”

“How can I not be?” He sat back, let out a sigh. “You were there, Jan, when Todd and I realized we felt God called us back to Hope Springs to do a new thing, as Isaiah 43 says. That’s when it hit us that we needed to pray together. And what we kept hearing was unity between the churches. Everything pointed toward the combined service.” He paused several seconds. “I feel like we took a giant step forward, focused on God. But when the focus shifted to reaction and opinion, we took several steps back.”

Janelle pondered that. “But like Todd said, you have elders to answer to, and a church membership. You’re not islands unto yourselves.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I just think we gave up the fight too easily.” His gaze shifted to the photo. “And the hardest part is I don’t feel I can tell Todd exactly what’s on my heart and mind. I have to tread lightly because I don’t want to get between him and his elder board.”

“That discussion last week was treading lightly?”

“You know me. I tried. But now, thanks to Charley, I’ve got another issue that’s related to Todd’s elder board, literally.”

“So you’re focused on reaction and opinion?” Janelle smiled. “From what I can see, Charley’s experiencing a ‘new thing’ in her life as well. She wouldn’t be doing this if God wasn’t moving in her heart.”

Travis eyed Janelle, steepling his fingers. “You just earned your paycheck for the week.” He nodded to himself. “I’ve been duly checked. I’ve got to keep my focus on God.”

“You sure do,” Janelle said. “By the sound of it, things may get worse before they get better.”