Unfold

Chapter Twenty-Six (26)

Jean was sitting in the passenger seat of his car on the way to his mom's house for dinner. His dad was out of town for a couple weeks on a business trip, and she wanted the company. He was surprised when Jean had said yes right away, without any hesitation, and he was more than pleased. Yet, he watched as she stared out the window and twiddled her hands. She had a lot on her mind.

"You nervous?" Shawn said, eyeing her hands. She shook them out and looked at him.

"Actually not," she said. "I really like your mom." She noticed his bible that he had sitting up on his dashboard and she grabbed it, flipping through it so she wouldn't mess with her hands.

"Did you buy this after you gave me yours?" She said, leafing through the pages. "There's no tabs with the book names! How do you find stuff?"

Shawn laughed. "I had that one too. I guess I've gotten good at it from experience."

"Wait, there was this verse you really liked that I also really liked," Jean said, flipping to the index. "I'll know it when I see it."

Shawn couldn't help but smile. She was actually reading the Bible he gave her? Excitement rose up in him at the confirmation of his prayers getting answered.

"How'd you know I really liked it?" Shawn teased.

"Because," Jean said, her eyes glued to the pages. "You highlighted and underlined it. You usually only choose one or the other, but this one had both."

Shawn laughed. "You just have me all sorts of figured out."

She was quiet and he couldn't help but look at her, her eyes squinted and head leaned down to look closer at the words.

"Any luck?" He asked, wondering which one it could have been.

She shushed him. "I need to focus," she said, but she quickly glanced at him to wink so he knew she was teasing. He smirked in amusement and let her continue to search.

"Here it is!" she exclaimed after a good amount of time. She brought her knees up to rest the Bible on, and used her finger to track the words as she began to read.

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

Shawn really wished he wasn't driving, because he didn't want to take his eyes off of her. Chills ran through his body as he realized this was a direct answer to the prayer he had prayed on Zeiler's wedding night when he held her close. Jesus was showing her his love, whether she was ready to receive it or not.

"And what do you think of all that?" Shawn asked, slightly in shock, not expecting anything serious in return.

Jean shrugged. "I mean, I don't know. This is all so new. I think it's a beautiful verse. I want to believe it, and maybe one day I will, but right now it's all so overwhelming." Jean smiled at him. "I like that you obviously liked it so much."

He knew God was working on her heart. "That's my favorite chapter in the entire bible."

Jean curled up and continued to read the Bible on the drive to his mom's. Only this past spring had she sat in that same seat, makeup all over her face as she sat petrified without her phone or purse after waking up st his house. Even then he had no way of knowing all that she would become, and this was just the beginning. He couldn't help the smile that hinted at his lips as she read silently beside him.