Chapter {11} Destiny

My search for a church had proven to be fruitful, I had found a beautiful medieval period church that was still intact, well from my phone's view that is.

I woke up about thirty minutes ago and just dedicated that small time to God through prayer and scripture reading. I mean when we want something we expect him to answer but we can not even spare a few minutes of our time to talk and learn more about him.

I brushed my teeth, not rinsing them as the dentist had suggested for a clear and white clean. Taming my wild, curly hair I brushed it out of its tangles so it wouldn't hurt and break apart when I washed it.

My hot water was now lukewarm- just how I liked it, as I toke my time in the tub, just soaking and relishing the warmth of the water.

An hour later I was dressed in a check-wool blend pink midi skirt, white sweater, my black stockings, and a pair of white block heels.

My hair cascaded down my back in curls- a difference from its wild 4a type of style and texture. Today I decided I would go somewhere new without makeup; just me and my natural self.

I placed my New International Version Bible into my tote bag, I would've used my Bible app but sometimes I just didn't find it satisfying to the soul like somehow I couldn't get the filling of the holy spirit, but we differ as people so while another would find it fine I would not, which is completely okay. I added a lip balm, a mini packet of tissue, hand and nail cream, a pen, and a journal and that's when I noticed Samuel's laundry basket which I could return because he was not home yesterday so I decided that I would just give to to him today, when I got back form church.

Holding on to my phone, I left my neatly cleaned room, gently closing the door behind me.

Thato and I had spoken last night as I invited her to come with me to the unknown church and she said she would sleep on it, which was understandable as it was short notice.

Making my short trek to Thato's room, I hummed softly to myself before reaching her room which was a door away from mine with only the main bathroom separating our rooms. I softly knocked on the flush door.

A few seconds later, the door opened revealing my tired-looking best friend, still in her nightwear and bonnet, rubbing at her droopy eyes. A loud yawn shortly followed, making me chuckle at her.

"Good morning," I smiled down at her, yes I was pretty tall for most girls, and the only person that seemed to tower down on me was Nio who had been ignoring my repetitive calls and texts since yesterday. Why? I did not know.

"You are so chippy, this early morning," She gruffly commented as she blinked to rid all of the sleep.

"Well, that's because I am wide awake and ready to go to church!" I excitedly exclaimed. I was really happy to have gotten a church though I had not seen it, I am sure it would be a great church and it was better to worship with others than alone after all Matthew 18:19-20 said;

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

A groan made me turn my attention to my best friend who had her hands on her head, "Urgh, I totally forgot that you had invited me to church today."

One thing about my best friend was that she forgot almost everything said to her before sleep and remembered when she was reminded, so I was not surprised but I had hoped she would remember what we had spoken about yesterday.

"It's okay, we can go together next week, if you are up to it," I said with a smile.

"Absolutely! Next week I will be up before you can say good morning!" She said with an apologetic smile.

"Okay, I will see you when I come back. Okay?"

"Okay."

"See you then, love you," I said as I gave her a brief hug.

"Love you too," She said as she tried stifling a yawn, which was an unsuccessful attempt as it escaped her mouth.

"You better go back to sleep before you start drooling on me," I joked as she playfully hit my shoulder.

****

Getting here was a challenge and I felt like a war was being fought just so I could be here, firstly the driver of my cab could not hear English, so I had to use Google Translate then when I got off I had to still walk as public transport was not allowed in the established area, me being the newbie I was felt like I was walking in circles before by God's grace I found a beautiful church lurking behind some trees.

And now anchored before me was a building similar to the one I had seen on my phone but only now it was way bigger and brighter. White seemed to be the dominant colour with specks of yellow. The mediaeval style made it look stylish in this modern world. Freshly cut grass glowed in the distance and to my astonishment, there was a cross made of grass! A cross made of grass, what in the world?!

A few minutes after taking a few shots of the beautiful, artistically done work, to show to my best friend I walked to the entrance of the church where people of all ages were walking in, women wore long dresses and cocktail hats, whereas the man wore suits, making the whole setting feel formal as only a few people were wearing casual jeans and a shirt.

The entrance was beatified by white stone pillars and grey tile, two gigantic doors stood open as I walked through them.

Soft instrumental music played softly in the background as I walked to what seemed to be miles and miles of chairs all put in the middle of the huge room, in front was a podium and a stage where a consort of instruments lay, shiny as ever, a violinist sat on a counter stool playing a violin.

I made my way over to an empty chair as the church seemed to be filling up as people chatted and greeted each other, I kind of felt out of place. Alone, with no one to talk to or familiarize myself with.

I toke a seat but not before taking the programme that was put on the chair, it stated that church would only start at 9 am and it was currently half-past eight, so I would be sitting for the next thirty minutes.

Ten minutes had passed and that's when I got a huge suprise, I saw Nio, he was dressed in a black suit, looking as dashing as always, beside him was a little girl that had a resemblance to him, but in a more beautifully-cute way. I was not expecting him here, it didn't seem like a place he stepped foot in but I was too quick to judge because all of us are allowed to come before the presence of the Lord.

He didn't seem to notice me as I walked up to him as he stood talking to whom I thought to be the pastor, with a bible in hand, clad in a white blazer and black slacks. For a few minutes I just waited as they conversed hushedly in Italian, the pastor then put his hand on his shoulder before tapping it, much to Nio's displeasure but he put on a grimace which was supposed to look like a smile before the pastor made his way up to the podium.

"Nio?" I called as he turned to walk to the other side of the church, his back looked rigid underneath the expensive-looking suit as I called him.

"Destiny," He acknowledged as he turned around. He looked so different, his whole demeanour was so closed off, and his eyes did not have that colour, almost as if life looked black and white in his eyes.

"How are you doing?" I smiled, hoping to get him to open up.

"Fine," He replied curtly, glancing at his wristwatch.

When all I gave him was silence he asked, "Was that all?"

"Yes... I mean n-no, are you really okay?" My brows were now furrowed in worry.

"Yes." Once more he gave me one-worded answers.

"Okay, so... not to seem clingy and all but why did you drop the call yesterday? And not reply to my messages," My frown deepened.

"I was busy."

"Okay."

A few seconds later he walked away making me feel confused, one moment we were friends and the next we were not, I needed to get to the bottom of this problem but for now he would have to wait.

"Vi saluto tutti nel meraviglioso nome di Gesù Cristo nostro Signore e Salvatore, oggi inizieremo con lodare poi passa alla parola del giorno." The pastor's voice broke out of the loudspeakers, quieting down the chatter and soft music. I sat next to a kind middle-aged woman, we tried speaking but her accent was so dense I could not understand it so we stopped at our greetings.

I tried to understand what the pastor had been saying, but to no avail when suddenly an angelic voice started singing in English.

Thank you, Lord.

The voice belonged to a girl that looked to be in her teenhood, she had shiny blond hair that stood out and wore a leaf green dress on top of a white t-shirt.

'You are Alpha and

Omega, We worship

you, our Lord. You

are worthy to be

praised.

You are Alpha and

Omega, We worship

you, our Lord. You

are worthy to be

praised.

We give you all the

glory, we

worship you, our

Lord, you are

worthy to be

praised.'

By the second verse, everyone was singing along in harmony, some just praying whilst others were walking around with their arms raised up high just singing. It was a beautiful sight to behold. My arms were up in the air, and tears trailed down my cheeks as I worshipped him with all my heart and soul.

Three more songs played as he worshipped, I even forgot that Nio was there as we sat down for the word of the day.

"Che bel nome è davvero," The pastor commented as to what I thought was about the last song, what a beautiful name.

A young man made it up to the podium as the pastor paged through his bible.

"Oggi leggeremo dal libro di Romani 8:38-39." He said.

"Today we will be reading from the book of Romans chapter eight verses thirty-eight to thirty-nine," The young man said, oh so he was the translator, I couldn't thank my Father who art in heaven enough.

"It says, I am persuaded that neither death or life, or angels, or power, or principalities, or thing in the now or things in the future, or height, or depth, or any other careature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is Jesus Christ our Savior, " The translator efficiency said, without missing a beat, he even imitated the pastor, like a professional.

"The apostle Paul wrote this to encourage everyone to continue believing in the love of God because nothing in this world can separate us from the love of God."

I wrote down the verse in my journal, under today's date and themed it God's Love.

"Despite the situation, despite the problems we face on a daily basis, God's love does not change, it remains the same, it is the love we have read from in the book of 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-8, that indescribable love, that overwhelming, reckless love. A love like no other."

Immediately, I felt his love, his presence fill up the entire room and my heart which beats for him.

"When all others leave you, stop loving you, ignoring you, God does not, neither will he ever, his love is everlasting even when you ignore it, even when you reject it, he will keep knocking at the door of your heart, just waiting for you to answer and then open the door so he can enter your heart and love you as nobody else can."

"Now it is your choice whether you will open the door of your heart and let him remember he is waiting for you to open. God loves you."

Two more hours passed with more preaching, that indeed pulled at the strings of my heart.

"We will close the sermon with prayer," He said moving off the podium to the seats section.

The soft, soul-moving music from before filled the whole room.

"Celeste Signore ci inchiniamo davanti al tuo trono. Ti ringraziamo per il respiro nei nostri polmoni, grazie per averci riuniti qui oggi perché se non fosse stato per te non ce l'avremmo fatta. Grazie per averci benedizione con la tua parola..." He continued praying in his native tongue as we prayed in our native tongues, my prayer started in English and ended in tongues as his fire touched me.

****

"What a beautiful sermon," I commented to the older lady I was sitting next to.

"Sí," She smiled, waving her hand goodbye as she left the church.

I stood up and ambled around, searching for Nio but he was nowhere to be found, maybe he was avoiding me by leaving earlier. But what did I though?

_______

Vi saluto tutti nel meraviglioso nome di Gesù Cristo nostro Signore e Salvatore, oggi inizieremo con lodare poi passa alla parola del giorno-

'I greet you all in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, today we will start with praise then move on to the word of the day-'

Che bel nome è davvero- 'What a beautiful name it really is.'

Oggi leggeremo dal libro di Romani 8:38-39- 'Today we will read from the book of Romans 8:38-39-'

Celeste Signore ci inchiniamo davanti al tuo trono. Ti ringraziamo per il respiro nei nostri polmoni, grazie per averci riuniti qui oggi perché se non fosse stato per te non ce l'avremmo fatta. Grazie per averci benedizione con la tua parola... -

'Heavenly Lord we bow before your throne. We thank you for the breath in our lungs, thank you for bringing us together here today because if it weren't for you we wouldn't have made it. Thank you for blessing us with your word...'

Sí- Yes.