Steven Easton

Divine Appointment

Saturday, May 11

This weekend is just going to be rough, and there is nothing I can do to remedy the situation. I regret the timing I chose to tell Ava about her Dad as it brought up questions about her mother when tomorrow is Mother's Day. Originally, we were going to go to the amusement park tomorrow because it would've been something Ava and I could've done all day tomorrow, but it's supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow.

Also, I don't really want to go to church tomorrow because they always talk about how important mothers are, and I agree. Prince Harry said the other day that losing your mother is like losing your security. The truth is that I didn't have that security in the first place, so there's a part of me that's just bitter about the whole thing. To avoid the whole situation, I decided to get a room at at waterpark hotel, so then Ava, Morgan, and I could hang out and swim.

We ate sandwiches at our house this evening before heading to to the hotel. Morgan and Ava went down the slides about 100 times. I stopped after about ten times because I had already worked out this morning, so I laid back on one of the lawn chairs. Even though we were inside, I decided to just relax because I was tired, and it's been a long week. I sat down next to a man, probably about ten years or so, older than me, and he was drinking a non alcoholic drink as he had his laptop out.

I didn't have anything to do other than read my Bible because I'm trying to get though the Bible in the year of 2019. Even though I would consider myself well read, I cannot seem to really understand the Bible, so I'm going through a study Bible right now.

"Sir," I heard him say after like ten minutes of reading, "what book are you in?"

I looked over. "I'm actually in Luke." Thinking that maybe this was a sign for me to spread the Gospel, I said, "Why do you ask?"

"I'm a pastor."

"Oh, really? What church?"

He told me that he worked at a church close to where my uncle has a church.

"Do you know Mike Easton?" (Yes, I my mom had us keep her last name.)

"I do!" he told me. "He's a good guy."

"Yeah, he is." I paused. "How long have you been a pastor for?"

Thinking about this for a moment, he said, "Like, 14 years, I think?" He paused. "My Dad was a pastor in the St. Paul area where I went to school, so I worked with them after college. I guess I've worked in the church as a pastor for even longer."

"What brought you to Iowa?"

"Umm, a conference for church leaders, actually. Accidentally made a friend, and the rest is history."

"How long have you been here?"

"About five years." Closing his laptop halfway, he said, "Are you originally from here?"

"No, actually, we're from Alabama."

"Oh, really? How long have you been here?"

"Almost two years."

"What do you do?"

"I'm an English teacher."

"What grade?"

"Well, right now I'm an eight grade teacher, but I'll be a high school teacher in the fall."

"Awesome. We need good teachers. Happy teacher appreciation week."

"Well, thanks." Nodding towards his laptop, I asked, "What are you working on?"

"My sermon for tomorrow."

"What's it about?"

Giving me a weak smile, he said, "Mother's Day."

"Oh, duh."

Sighing, he ran his hand down his face. "Yeah. I procrastinated this week."

"Busy?"

"No. Not really. This is just a hard...like, it's a weird topic to preach on because there are so many different stories, and...yeah." He shrugged.

"Yeah, we're not even going tomorrow," I confessed.

"You're not the only one, believe me."

"What are you here for tonight?"

"My kiddos are over there." He pointed to a boy and a girl, playing basketball with some other kids. "And, my parents got this hotel, so they could swim. What about you?"

"That's one is mine." Pointing to Ava, I wasn't not in the mood to explain she's not mine biologically. "And that one's my fiancée." I pointed to Morgan. 

"Oh, nice. When y'all getting married?"

"Next month." Putting a hand up, I promised, "Don't worry, we got a suite, and my fiancée is staying in her room. I get the couch."

"Hey, hey, no judgment either way." He put both of his hands up.

We chatted a little more, and he ended up telling me his story. His wife passed away from suicide; she was also deployed in 2010, the same year I was deployed. I told him my story, too. It was a really good conversation, and God set up that divine appointment.