“The Common Prayer” — Episode 13

Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter 37

Lincoln hurried out the door past his father, down the steps, and through the gate. Turning left, he sped past the line of houses not knowing exactly where to go.

One thing I do know, and that is, I am not going back, he muttered to himself as he glanced up at the night sky. I’m a grown man and I can do for myself. I’ll show him I don’t need him now and I won’t be needing him going forward.

Lincoln forced himself not to look back; he knew his father was watching him, and would watch him until he was out of sight. Having reached the end of the housing complex, he stopped by the main street trying to decide which way to go. If I hurry I can make it to the convenience store before it closes and give Bruce a call from there, he thought glancing at his watch. He stepped inside the convenience store just as the attendant was getting ready to lock the door. The attendant was kind enough to allow him to use the store phone.

“Bruce, Lincoln here. Can you come pick me up? I need a place to stay for the night — maybe for the weekend.”

“What do you mean a place to stay? I just dropped you off about an hour ago at your house. Where are you?” Bruce asked.

Lincoln told Bruce what had happened. “I’m just tired of him controlling my life. I want to live my own life now,” Lincoln said as he and Bruce drove to Bruce’s apartment which he shared with one other roommate — Manny.

“You’re welcome to stay here until you decide what you’re going to do,” Bruce offered. “I don’t want to put any ideas into your head, but we have enough space for you to move in with us. We’ve talked before about you moving in with us after graduation.”

Bruce was wrapping up his first year at the Community College majoring in physics. He had graduated from the same high school that Lincoln was attending and the two knew each other quite well having played on the school’s soccer team together. Bruce was able to secure a job at the financial aid office at the college on one of the student work programs to help take care of a portion of his tuition. The other part his parents took care of. Bruce also did volunteer work on the weekends at the hospital.

Manny should have been graduating with Lincoln, but he dropped out of high school and opted to take a job. His family was well off financially, but he had had several run-ins with them as well as with the law stemming from spraying graffiti on the school walls more than once and speaking disrespectfully to some of his teachers. Taking the savings that his father had set up for him, he moved in with Bruce. He started his own lawn business and was doing quite well.

A third friend, Duke, would be moving in with them after graduation. Duke was a prankster and loved to see what he could get away with. Once he walked into Radio Shack, picked up a pair of expensive headphones, and calmly walked out. He later called and spoke with the manager telling him what he had done and told the manager they needed a better security system. He was interested in law enforcement and did volunteer work at the local police station. He was enrolled in the college’s six month training program to work as a security officer.

Lincoln was able to secure a job working the evening shift at the convenience store, stocking shelves, running the register, and cleaning up after closing at one in the morning. It did not pay as much as he would have liked, but it did cover his portion of the apartment expenses with a little change to jiggle around in his pocket.

Three weeks after moving in with Bruce, Manny, and Duke, it was time for Lincoln to graduate. I wonder if they are coming. I mean they have no reason to, he thought as he glanced around hoping to catch a glimpse of his parents sitting among the other attendees at the ceremony.

As soon as the Clarke family took their seats in the auditorium on the evening of the graduation, Laverne scanned the program moving her eyes down to the ‘C’ listing of names. Her heart rejoiced to see her son’s name: Lincoln Benjamin Clarke. She eagerly showed it to her husband. “That’s my son,” she said proudly to the lady sitting next to her when the president called her son’s name for him to receive his diploma. At the end of the graduation ceremony she eagerly made her way toward the graduates.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Lincoln swung around to see LaJoi smiling at him. She was standing next to a young lady whom she introduced as Denise. His parents were standing behind them.

“Congratulations, Lincoln,” they all greeted him. His sister and mother gave him a hug, and his father shook his hand. “We’re proud of you. Are you coming home?” Laverne asked her son.

Lincoln’s heart started to soften, but he was determined to show his father that he could make it on his own. “No, Mom. I won’t be coming home. And you do not have to worry about me. I’m making it.”

“Are you sure you won’t be needing anything?” his mother asked. “I mean, you left all your clothes and everything. Are you going to come and get them? Do you have a number where we can reach you in case there is an emergency?”

Lincoln reluctantly gave his mother his number to his new cell phone. He hated that she was caught in the middle of this fiasco with him and his father.

“Well, if you need anything, let us know,” his father said. Pulling an envelope out of his inside jacket pocket, Larron handed it to Lincoln. “We had this set aside as part of your graduation gift. We also wanted to take you down to the car lot and have you pick out your car, but things did not work out for that to happen. Anyway, we hope that this will help.”

Lincoln did not know what to say as he stared at the envelope.

“Do you want to go out to eat with us?” his mother asked. “And I promise it won’t be at Marjorie’s.”

“Sorry, Mom, but I already have plans with my friends. Thanks again,” he said as he quickly walked away.

“You don’t have to act like a stranger,” LaJoi called after him.

“It was so good to see him again,” Laverne said to her husband once they got home and were in the privacy of their bedroom.

Larron saw the hurt in his wife’s eyes. He heard and felt the heaviness in her heart for her son. Giving her a hug, he said, “Don’t worry about him. God is watching over him, and He’s not going to let anything happen to him that is not for his own good. I do not believe God ignores the prayers of parents for their children. Let’s pray for him right now.”

Heavenly Father, we come before You asking that You would answer our many prayers for our son, Lincoln. Lord, You know where he is at this time. You know what’s going on in his heart right now. You know what will happen to him on tomorrow. Whatever life lesson You want him to learn, I pray that You would bring about circumstances in his life to teach him that lesson. And, Lord, I ask You to do it quickly so he will not waste too many of the years of his life wandering around aimlessly and full of bitterness. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Laverne shuddered at her husband’s last request, but knew it was made out of love for their son.

I can’t believe they still want to do things for me. A car? I missed out on a car. My own car. Man, that stinks! Lincoln’s father’s last words to him before he had walked out kept resonating in his ears throughout the evening and dampened his celebration:

You may want to think long and hard before you make a rash decision.

You think you’re ready but you’re not ready especially when you are irresponsible, when you don’t think of others, when you don’t respect authority, and when you’re acting like a child.

You’re an overgrown, immature child and you’re acting like one.

Well, this day was sure to come, Lincoln thought.

The words stung deep within his soul and as much as he tried to block them out of his mind, he was unsuccessful.

Chapter 38

“You seem to be a million miles away,” Bruce said slapping Lincoln on the back when they arrived home after ending their graduation celebration at a burger joint. The foursome stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking and discussing their plans for the future. “Does this have something to do with your parents? I saw them talking with you after the ceremony.”

“Yeah. I was surprised they even came — considering my father and I hadn’t been getting along too well. Things just got so bad I walked out. It seemed every direction I turned he was blocking my path. I felt so suffocated I had to remind him that I was no longer a boy and that according to state laws I am a grown man.”

“It’s amazing how soon our parents forget,” Manny said. “I got tired of my mother wrapping her apron strings around me. She was boo-hooing and carrying on when I told her I was getting my own place. She begged me to give her the address, but I know better than to do that; she would be over here every day. I have to control that relationship so I call her when I feel up to it just to let her know I am still in the land of the living. You saw how she was crying at the graduation. Man, that was embarrassing!”

The boys chuckled.

“What’s getting to me is that my father gave me some money — $1500.00,” Lincoln said. “I was not expecting anything. He told me they had already planned on giving it to me as part of my graduation gift and that just because I left that was no reason for them to go back on their original plans.”

“I sure wish I had a father to do that for me,” Duke said matter-of-factly. “Sometimes, I feel a little guilty leaving my mother like that; but I could not take being treated like a little boy anymore.”

“I know that feeling,” Manny said.

“What your parents did for you is true love right there,” Bruce said. “What was the other part of their graduation gift?”

“You guys wouldn’t believe it — a car. He was going to take me down to the dealer and let me pick out my own car.”

“Oh, man, that’s a bummer,” Duke said.

Bruce spoke after a few seconds of silence. “If I were you, I’d go and apologize to your father. You know, make things right. Hear me out first before you cut me off,” Bruce said when Lincoln started to protest. “You don’t have to go back to living with your family, but I think you should apologize to your father; that’s the right thing to do. I know you feel guilty whenever you think about it. What if you need him further down the road?”

“What are you getting at?” Lincoln asked.

“Yes, why would you say something like that? His father was stifling him just like my mother tried to do me,” Manny said. “My mother was stifling me, and now that I walked out she’s reaching out for me. I don’t know how many times she’s apologized to me begging me to come back home.”

“This is different. Take it from me: a father is different,” Bruce said. “I had my run-ins with my father. He gave me the option: get myself together and stay, or not change and leave. My mother took me aside and told me the best thing to do is to get myself together and stay if for no other reason but for the free room and board. She told me that they did want me to go out and learn to live life on my own, to be a man and to take on some responsibilities, but they just wanted me to leave on good terms. She also told me that if I left right and not in anger they would have my back whenever the need arose. One day, I asked my father why he was so hard on me and he told me he did it because he wanted me to be a responsible and disciplined man; he wanted me to be responsible for myself, and if I planned on being a husband and father one day that I needed to begin acting like that now.”

“Well, how did you end up getting your own place?” Duke asked.

“Oh, I shared with my Dad that I wanted to go out on my own to start learning how to be a man like he said. Those words were music to his ears,” Bruce said. “He helped me get in here and he told me if I ever run into any financial problems to just give him a call but only after I’ve looked at all my options. He pretty much told me to act as though I had no family but at the same time to know that he would be there for me as a last resort. He also told me that whatever I decided to do to do it honestly.”

“That’s because you have a good father,” Manny said. “I have no father.”

“Well … I believe you can work with your mother by respecting her,” Bruce said. “I just don’t think any good parent would desire evil for their children. Your parents may handle you differently from how my parents handled me but it all boils down to the same.”

“That sounds like something your father said,” Duke said with a laugh.

“Yep, you got that right,” Bruce said. “Lincoln, you should consider fixing things between you and your father; it will work in your favor in the long run. For them to go ahead and still give you the fifteen hundred dollars says they have no hard feelings toward you and are willing to forgive. The ball’s in your court.”

Lincoln went to bed thinking on Bruce’s words. I appreciate the money, but I just don’t feel I should apologize for anything. I still feel he was being too hard on me. Plus, I got my own life to live. Knowing him, he would probably come dropping by every evening on his way home from work to try to tell me what to do. I’ll just leave things as they are for right now.

Chapter 39

Laverne and Denise had a quiet ride home from the zoo.

That’s what life is all about: loving and caring for one another, and not always putting yourself before others, Laverne thought. Lord, just help me to love Denise and help her to feel that love.

The Clarke family welcomed Denise into their home.

“You know,” Laverne’s husband said to her as they climbed into bed that night, “I believe God sent her here to remind us that we need to get out of ourselves and begin thinking of others. When we have to share our things with others, it teaches us to be more appreciative of what we have.”

“You’re right,” Laverne said. “Larron, I’ve been acting like a nut giving you a hard time about the financial and spiritual changes you are leading this family to make. I’m sorry about that. The Lord used Mrs. Whitaker and Denise to show me that life is not all about getting, and neither is it all about me; it is all about God and giving.”

“That’s a lesson we all need to learn,” Larron said. “LaJoi seems to be getting it. I heard her and Denise giggling and carrying on in the room like old friends, and that’s a good sign.”

Laverne smiled. “I guess when God takes someone or something away from you, He replaces it with another person or thing of equal or greater value.”

Larron placed his hand on top of his wife’s hand. “Don’t worry about Lincoln. God is watching over him.”

“I just wish I knew where he was — you know — how he’s doing. I fear for him.”

“We’ll just have to continue praying for him. Sometimes love means letting a person go,” Larron said. “Some of us just have to learn things the hard way.”

The family attended church on Sunday, and everyone was glad they did especially for Denise’s sake. She seemed more cheerful and at peace after hearing Pastor Tourneau’s sermon from Psalm 139.

“If the thought ever crosses your mind that nobody loves you, don’t believe that lie,” Pastor Tourneau said. “If you begin to think that you’re a nobody, don’t believe that lie; if you think that others are out to get you, don’t believe that lie. All those are lies from the devil to make you begin to doubt God’s love for you. The Bible tells us that ‘God is love.’ It goes on to say that ‘the love of God constraineth us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.’ That is true love. And because Christ died for us we don’t have to believe the devil’s lies.”

Denise’s face lit up at those words. She thought of how Mrs. Whitaker loved her and sacrificed for her; and now, it seemed the Clarke family was showing her that same love. If that is what God’s love is like, then I want it in my life, she thought as she listened to more of the preaching.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Pastor Tourneau continued, “God is always watching over you because He cares for you. He knows all about you. We can say the same words as David: ‘I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!’ God loves you so much that He not only took the time to make us in His image, but He took the time to make each of us a unique individual.”

My substance being yet imperfect…, thought Denise over and over. Yet, He still loves me with my imperfect leg. God still loves me. A cheerfulness that she could not contain seemed to overtake her.

“I believe that Mrs. Whitaker’s God loves me,” she told the Clark family at the dinner table, “and I love Him too. Now I do not have to wish I was like other people. I no longer have to worry about what people are saying about me or even thinking about me.”

And so the Clark family continued with Denise as a joyful new member. They prayed for Lincoln’s safety everyday. Laverne looked around as she drove to and from work hoping to catch a glimpse of her son… hoping today would be the day he would return home.

Copyright 2014. Torch Legacy Publications. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner, except for brief quotations included in a review of the book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Originally published at christianserials.com on November 21, 2014.