The Fight For Love (Joshaya)

Chapter 22

  The couple walks down the the streets of New York, the whole time Maya not being able to actually walk normally. She consistently bounces as she moves forward and tells Josh about what happened with God. She just can't contain her excitement and the amount of joy that has come into her soul.

  Once she has finished exclaiming the good news to Josh, he stops her in the middle of the sidewalk and places his hands on either side of her shoulders with a smile on his face. "I cannot tell you how incredibly happy I am to hear that you have accepted Christ into your life. You are living for him now. You have found true joy. You are beyond satisfied with Jesus and you don't even need me. But guess what? You have me, too. We now get to continue our relationship with Christ at the center of it. Are you ready for it?"

  Maya takes in an excited breath then exhales. "I'm more than ready for it. Let's do this."

  "I love how he's changed you. Not that I didn't love you before, I just love seeing you evolve into something better."

  "I love how he's changed me, too. Thanks for pressing on with the Christian stuff, Josh. If you hadn't, I'm not sure if I would be where I am right now."

  "I'm glad I maintained it, too. God works in mysterious ways."

  "He sure does. A week ago I wouldn't have believed you if you said I was about to become a Christian."

  Josh drops his hands from her shoulders. "Now we just have to get you familiar with the music associated with Christianity."

  "Sounds like a plan." Maya smiles and takes Josh's hand as they head back in the direction of her apartment.

  That night Josh sits on the couch talking with Maya's mother while Maya throws some spaghetti noodles in a pot and waits for them to cook thoroughly. 

  On her phone, she is listening to a playlist of songs that Josh insisted she must know now that she has changed her life for Christ. So far she seems to like the songs, but she doesn't hear enough hardcore music, which is the type of music she's more familiar with. She wants to holler at Josh to see if any Christian music does have more of a hardcore sound, but he's engaged in a discussion with her mother.

  Trying not to think about whatever the two of them may be saying to one another, Maya tests one of the noodles to see if it's soft enough. For her sake, the noodles deem to be ready to be served on the plates. She does exactly that and then adds the marinara sauce, along with some Parmesan cheese on top. She sets the plates on the table and sits in front of one of the plates.

  Neither her boyfriend, nor her mother seems to have noticed that dinner is ready. She doesn't want to interrupt their conversation, so she picks up her phone and types in the google search bar HARDCORE CHRISTIAN MUSIC and hits the search button. She comes across a list of bands and notices one that says Thousand Foot Krutch. She stops listening to the playlist Josh created for her and starts playing this band she found.

  She isn't able to listen to too much of their music before Josh and her mother walk over to the table and take a seat. She turns the music off and the three of them take each other's hands in preparation to pray.

  Josh speaks then they all bow their heads. "God, I thank you so much for this beautiful day. I thank you for bringing Maya to come to know you. I thank you that Katy is able to be understanding of her daughter's choice to do so. I thank you that I got to be one of the first calls after this exciting news. I just pray that you would continue to help guide Maya in her new relationship with you. And I thank you for this food and pray that you would bless it in your mighty name. Amen."

  Her mom points out the obvious. "You're very thankful."

  Josh only nods. "I am."

  Maya defends Josh. "It's not a bad thing. Being thankful is a very good thing to be."

  "I'm just going to eat my food in silence now if that's okay with you," her mom said.

  Maya hangs her head down as she nods. She wants her mom to experience the same joy that she has been experiencing this day. She hopes it isn't long before her mom begins to come to realizations about herself and her need for God. She knows her mom wants the evening meal to be quiet, but she can't help saying what she does next. "I love the Lord. He does so many amazing things. He created the universe. There is so much to the universe. The fact that he created it is absolutely magnificent."

  Her mom appears to be ignoring her daughter's words and continues to stuff spaghetti noodles into her mouth.

  Josh places one of his hands on the hand Maya isn't using to eat. "We'll talk later." Then he removes his hand from hers and continues eating.

  Maya bites her lip before taking another bite of food. She's wondering if Josh is going to tell her about the conversation he had with her mother. She can't think of anything else he may want to talk about with her at a later time.

  After dinner Maya is standing in front of the window and leaning against her arms on the sill. Josh sits on her bed and leans on his arms behind him for support.

  Josh doesn't wait for any correct given moment, but dives right in. "Your mom has a story to tell you. It's about when she was little." He pauses before speaking again. "I'm not going to tell you; you have to ask her yourself to tell you the story. But you really need to hear it. I think it'll help you a lot."

  At that Josh walks out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him on his way out. Maya is then left alone to her thoughts and dwells on what her mom's story could possibly entail.