Angels of Humility: A Novel by Jackie Macgirvin Page A

them?”
    “I think that got nipped in the bud pretty quickly.”
    Paul leaned back in his well-worn office chair and let out a deep breath. “I think I’ll let it go for a while then, if she’s not causing problems in the church now. Maybe Jessica could sit by her this Sunday and get an idea about what’s going on. If Sarah’s got some kind of fixation or need to be recognized by us, I think Kathy and I should keep our distance for the time being. She probably needs grief counseling, but I sure shouldn’t be the one to do it.”
    “I’ll remember to ask Jessica when I get home,” Mike said, but he forgot.
    After Mike left, Paul had a counseling session scheduled with one of the college-aged church members, Luke. Paul had spent some time praying earlier in the week for Luke who was struggling with a call to missions. The Lord had showed Paul that it was His will for Luke to minister in India, but he knew better than to give a directional word.
    Paul listened with compassion as Luke poured out his heart. He felt a strong call to India, but wondered where the finances would come from and if he should drop out of the community college and enroll in a mission’s training program. Paul sympathized; he remembered struggling with his decision to enroll in seminary.
    “Luke, I’m not going to give you an opinion one way or the other. I need to let the Lord bring you to the right conclusion; that way, if you go, when things get hard you won’t doubt your call or blame me. I know that doesn’t seem to help much,” he said with a sympathetic grin.
    “Here’s what I’m going to recommend,” he said as he stood from his desk and scanned his book shelf. “I’m suggesting you read these two books. One is about the life of William Carey and the other is about Amy Carmichael. She ministered 55 years in India without going on furlough! Also keep praying, and I’ll pray for you, too. After you read the books, call me and we’ll meet again.” He gave Luke a big hug, looked at his watch, and then headed home.
    Finding a balance between church and family is going to be harder than I thought
.

C HAPTER 7

     
    “Depth under depth of self-love and self-admiration. Pride! It was through Pride that the Devil became the Devil; it is the complete anti-God state of mind. Pride is essentially competitive in a way the other vices are not. Pride is a spiritual cancer. It is my besetting sin.”
C.S. Lewis 1
     
     
    Kathy poured the boiling water into the kitchen sink, catching the spaghetti in a colander. She glanced at her watch for the third time and prayed another quick prayer asking for patience with her husband, who was late again. Valoe smiled and gave her a download of grace.
    She strapped Jordan in his high chair just as Paul came into the kitchen with that “tail between his legs guilty dog look.” He had decided he wasn’t admitting to anything unless she brought it up, in spite of Saldu’s encouragement that he should immediately apologize. Kathy bit her tongue and started portioning out the spaghetti.
    “Alright, Kathy!” shouted Valoe, “way to not give it to him. Love is patient, kind, and doesn’t keep track of wrongs.” 2 Although Kathy’s ears didn’t hear Valoe’s words, her spirit received their message.
    As Paul ate, he shared what he had learned about Sarah. “It sounds like she’s just real needy, real lonely, and still grieving. She’s also been hearing voices and attributing them to God; then she went to her Sunday school class and tried to tell everyone what the Lord said about them.”
    “Maybe she has a prophetic gifting,” said Kathy as she picked Jordan’s garlic bread up off the floor and inspected it for dirt. Paul looked up from his plate at that moment and grabbed the bread from her hand. “Thanks hon, don’t mind if I do.” And before she could say anything, he’d taken a big bite.
    “Maybe she’s loony. Her
gifting
wasn’t well received by the class so she must have been