Chapter 29

Crisis of Faith 1

Karen Gregg wept bitterly as she recovered from her injuries after the car accident.

It was all her fault!

If she hadn't tried to take the pills, Luke would be back at the center posing for pictures for that pushy reporter's news article. If she hadn't stolen the money, her friend would have never walked her home, and never needed to be in a car in the first place. He would still be alive.

The week after the crash, she was in a haze of depression ignoring her domineering father's edict that they be the first family to pay their respects to Pastor Daniel Brewer's household. Couldn't the man see that the pastor needed a time to mourn? No one should have to endure her father's personality any more than they should. She could barely stand it.

Karen wanted to run away. She was 16, she could make it out of the state and work odd jobs to rent a small efficiency apartment. The girl would just have to last two years before she could be considered an adult and out of the brute's household. The man didn't even deserve to be called father. She could raise her child on her own.

Luke, he had the best father. A kind and gentle man, Pastor Brewer always had a willing ear for any troubled person. It was inconsiderate of her to want his attention when so many people – a big time reporter, his wife, other members of his parish – clamored for his attention. She was just a quiet whisper in a shouting mass of people.

After their heartfelt revelation on the snowy rooftop, Karen thought everything would be alright after Luke's father made his emotional sermon extolling God's mercy. Maybe her father would act the same.

He didn't.

Mr. Gregg, his domineering authority challenged by his only daughter getting pregnant out of marriage, believed she was an affront to his moral standing in the city.

"You are not my daughter anymore," the man coldly hissed.

With that edict, one of the many her father had made, he remorselessly kicked her out of the only home she had ever known.

Karen was devastated, but the good shepherd was always there to tend to his flock. He welcomed her into his own.

"We certainly have the room now," his wife mournfully commented.

The husband and wife shared a mutual look of commiseration. He had spoken to her about Monica's revelation, how there were angels all around them that day.

Gloria Brewer gasped, "God knew this was going to happen to us! He sent angels to us, to help us through our heartache."

"And to guide me back on the right path," Pastor Brewer acknowledged. He shuddered to think what would have happened if the red haired angel was not there to reinvigorate his spirit. The man would have abandoned everything, not only losing his son, but most likely his church, his wife, and his eventually his own life.

The older couple was a balm to the young teen as she moved in and pondered her choices - to keep the baby, give it up for adoption, or terminate it during the early stage. She prayed and consulted with others in her situation. Hers was not the first story.

She decided to keep her child. The father wanted nothing to do with it, and her own father too still refused to acknowledge her.

Daniel and Gloria Brewer quietly converted Luke's bedroom into a nursery, finding a crib and bassinet from donations from the congregation. If a manger was good enough for their Lord, then a second hand crib was fine for the trio.

It was a miracle she held in her arms. A red-faced screaming miracle, but one just the same. Karen nearly despaired during the midnight feedings and teething tantrums, but she made it through thanks to the older couple's aid. They were more her parents than her real ones.

Her son grew quickly and to her delight, the kindly couple was still there to help her raise him even as their bodies grew older. Karen passed her high school courses, even obtained her Bachelor's in social work, not in accounting as her father dictated so many years ago. She proudly gave a portion of her first paycheck to the Brewers in thanks for their compassion.

Pastor Brewer shook his head as he grudgingly accepted her offering. He didn't tell her that the money they had saved for Luke's college education was now dedicated to her son's. The man's baritone voice was still strong, despite the years tolling on him, "Helping you raise your son was like seeing Luke again."

Karen could see that now as she saw the man gently coach her son on his stance and the best angle to arc the basketball to make a free throw. The teen center was still going strong all these years later. So many youths had been helped since it first opened that fateful day.

The man, mother, and child could not see another heavenly trio watching them with joy a little ways off the court. The handsome man who escorted the souls of the dead to the afterlife gave the red-haired woman with a childlike exuberance a look of divine happiness. The motherly angel let out a big belly laugh, "See angel babies, I told you that the good Lord would provide him with a matchup, and what a blessed one-on-one game it looks like it's going to be."

The pastor cheered with delight as Karen's son successfully made his first basket.