The Makeover (37 page)

But why
would being compared to salt be such a compliment?
Phoenix leaned forward,
intrigued.  She glanced at Paulo who was furiously writing notes in a
notebook.

“—and the only
way to understand why it would be an encouragement is to understand the
function of salt.”  The pastor walked back over to her notes. 
“First, salt functions as a preservative.  When people didn’t have
stainless steel refrigerators, people rubbed salt into their meat to keep it
from rotting.  Much in the same way, we, as Christians are called come
into contact with people who are rotting away in their worldly pursuits and to
keep them from further being spoiled.  Second, salt is an
antiseptic.  As a means of first aid, it can be applied to a wound.
 It stings, but the sting proves that the wound is being healed from an
infection.  As Christians, we may have to be around someone who is wounded
and infected by darkness.  When we share the Gospel, they may feel a sting,
but we are being used by God to stop that darkness from continuing to infect
them.”

“Wow,” Phoenix
was amazed that such a powerful correlation could be found in the Bible. 
She began to think about ways she may have been salt in her own past but couldn’t
remember a time since she had met Cedric.

After the
pastor discussed the ways in which salt adds flavor and is a fertilizer, she
continued.  “And lastly, salt, when used, causes people to become
thirsty.  Christians should, by their knowledge and actions, cause other
people to thirst for Jesus Christ.  When we live by God’s Word, and live
primarily to bring glory to Jesus, we cause other people to become intrigued
with Jesus and to begin thirsting for Him.  That is what each and every
Christian ought to do.  Be as salt.”

Phoenix touched
Paulo’s arm briefly as she leaned over.  “You are the saltiest person I’ve
ever met,” she whispered into his ear.

Paulo’s wide
smile was only outshined by the light in his eyes.  “Well, praise God,” he
whispered back.

Phoenix got
lost in Paulo’s profile for a while.

But the pastor
wasn’t done and her next words got Phoenix’s attention.  “So how does a
Christian lose his or her saltiness, so to speak?”

Phoenix quickly
dug her pen and journal out of her purse. 

“By pursuing
the things of this world that are not of God.    When we, as
Christians, decide to return to the act of conforming to the patterns of the
world, we lose our light and our saltiness.  When we long for the things
that are valued by the world—and put them before our relationship with the
Lord—we end up just like the rest of the world again.  We can become
pleasure-seeking, or materialistic.  We can lose our faith or end up
repeating behaviors we once knew to be evil.  We begin to seek ungodly
relationships, relationships we know go against the Word of God.  We
engage in practices that satisfy our lusts, instead of practices that
strengthen our walk with the Lord.  Before you know it, you backslide into
a life God already delivered you from.”

Phoenix felt as
though God was speaking through this woman pastor right to her.  Everyone
else in the sanctuary began to slip away and it became only God and Phoenix in
that room.

“But thank God
we serve an awesome Savior.  He is merciful and just.  He is faithful
to forgive us, even we end up losing our flavor—our saltiness.  Let us
turn to a picture of a young man who had lost his flavor, if you will. 
Please turn to Luke, chapter fifteen, verse eleven, the Parable of the Prodigal
Son.”

Paulo’s jaw
dropped as he shook his head in awe.  “Father, You are awesome,” he
rejoiced.  His eyes were shining when he leaned over to whisper, “If
that’s not the Lord speaking directly to you, I don’t know what is.”

“We were
just
talking about that this morning,” Phoenix’s eyes were wide. 

They both
turned back to the pastor as she read the scripture out loud that discussed the
story of the man with two sons.  She described how the younger son asked
his father for his inheritance early, went out into the world and spent it all
on earthly pleasures.  The pastor described how the young man found
himself alone, desperate, without any of his possessions left.  The pastor
continued, saying, “He ended up working with pigs—the most disgusted animal in
Judaic law.  The young man became so destitute, that he yearned to eat the
food of the filthy animal.  Finally remembering that he had a father, the
young man humbled himself and returned home, asking for forgiveness and mercy. 
The father, who had been watching and waiting for his son’s return, received
the young son with open arms, throwing a feast in his honor.”

“So you see,”
the beautiful lady pastor reaffirmed, “the young man had gone out, away from
his father, trying to spend what his father had for him on the worldly
things.  He spent it all, leaving him broken and alone, without anything
left.  The fact that the young man had to take a job feeding pigs
represents how low he had fallen.  But when he came to his senses, and
decided to return home to beg for mercy, his father did not consider any of
that.  All he did was welcome him back with open arms.” 

The pastor
paused as she walked the length of the stage.  The congregation continued
to cheer for several minutes.

As Paulo
continued to cheer and glorify God, Phoenix struggled with these words that
were knocking at the walls of her heart.  She sat there, letting the words
fill her, speak to her, touch her, as though they were alive.  She wanted
to weep.  She wanted to run back to her father.

But she
couldn’t.

She was afraid
of what that would mean and what would be expected of her.  She had things
she still had to do and was afraid that her Father would require her to give
those things up.  She had no desire to go out and party or have sex or
dance in clubs.

She did,
however, need to make Cedric pay.  And deep in her heart, she knew that
the moment she ran back into her Father’s arms, she would want to let go of her
plan.

A part of her
yearned to do just that.  But she couldn’t.  She had been a doormat
all of her life.  She had been mistreated and used.  If she didn’t
fight back this time, the fight would leave her altogether and where would she
be then?

And as these
thoughts fought against the Living Word that came straight from the pulpit,
Phoenix couldn’t bear the struggle.  She laid her head down in her lap and
began to weep.

Paulo gently
rubbed her back.  The pastor gave the altar call for anyone and everyone
in the church who had lost their salt and was afraid to return home to the Father.

“Please,
church, don’t be afraid.  I know I am talking to someone this
morning.  The Lord is right here waiting for you, through Jesus
Christ.  You don’t have to be perfect.  You don’t have to have the
answers in your mind or the right plan in your heart…”

Phoenix’s head
snapped up.

“…just come
home to your Father in Heaven who loves you.  He’s been watching and
waiting with open arms.  He’s ready for you.  He knows you’ve been
hurt by people that promised to love you.  He knows you’ve been out there doing
things your way and have fallen far lower than you ever thought possible. 
But He is ready to lift you back to your rightful place.  He is ready to
restore your inheritance, which is everything He has for you.  Please come
back home to Jesus.”

Phoenix stared
at the many people who’d had the courage to go to the altar and wished that she
was ready with all her heart.

“Do you want to
go?  I will go with you,” Paulo’s hopeful words caressed her ear.

Phoenix felt
the words tugging at her heart but she stared, letting the battle
continue. 

Finally, with a
heavy sigh, Phoenix turned to Paulo and shook her head.

The smile
remained, but the light dimmed in Paulo’s eyes.  “Are you sure, Baby?”

“I’m not going
to the altar…not-not now,” she stammered, before dragging her eyes away. 
Her stomach churned as she longed to just get up and go home…home to the Lord.

But she had to
take care of things first.

Paulo, grabbed
her hand, and silently prayed.  He knew the war was not yet won, but he
thanked God in advance for it.  He also thanked his Father for the victory
over the battle He’d won that day.

Chapter 21

You were
running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? 
It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom (Galatians
5:7-8)

Following the
service, Paulo and Phoenix walked quietly to the parking lot to reclaim Paulo’s
car.  Paulo was quietly praying that the seed that had been planted in
Phoenix would not be snatched away.

Phoenix was still
back at the church in her mind.  Her heart was grieving because a part of
her felt like she’d had the chance to run to God, to make it all right again,
and had thrown it away.  What if that was her last chance?  She knew
that she could have spoken the words she remembered the pastor had prayed with
those who had responded to the altar call.  She could have also gone to
the altar in her heart, right there in the parking lot.

But she didn’t.

How could God
accept her when she was still so angry and needed to go through with her
plan?  She couldn’t fool God because He knew her heart.  And her
heart wasn’t right.  She had no right to approach God until she was truly
ready to be her best.

At least that
is what Satan whispered to her as she stood next to Paulo waiting on his car.

Paulo could see
the war behind Phoenix’s eyes.  He wanted to reach out to her, comfort
her, say something Christian-like and poignant.  But he chose to be
quiet.  The Holy Spirit didn’t need Paulo’s help unless He commanded
it.  After all of his mistakes and failures, he was finally learning not
to get in God’s way.

He would not
say a word unless God told him to or Phoenix wanted him to.

They silently
got into his car and drove.  When they ended up at Fairway Supermarket on
West 125
^th
Street, Paulo squeezed Phoenix’s hand.  “Wait here,
Tesuda
.”

Phoenix wanted
to ask a bunch of questions but found she couldn’t speak.  Every thought
in her head was wrapped around the fact that she had missed an important
opportunity to meet with the Lord.  She knew she could speak the words she
needed to say right in the car, but just couldn’t bring herself to do it yet.

“I’m sorry,
God,” she whispered.  “Please don’t give up on me yet.”

Several minutes
later, Paulo returned with several shopping bags.  With a wink, he got in
and drove off.  Phoenix was surprised when Paulo parked at Riverbank State
Park.  He got out, retrieved his bags and a large blanket, then helped
Phoenix out of the car.  She followed him quietly until they reached a spot
near the Westside Highway overlooking the Hudson River. 

Phoenix
immediately felt relaxed and breathed.  “This is perfect.  I love the
water.  Maybe it’s because I’m a Pisces.”

Paulo frowned
as he laid out the blanket he had brought with him.  “Or maybe because
that’s the way God made you.  Believe me, your date of birth has nothing
to do with it.”

Phoenix
cringed.  “Sorry.  It’s not like I’m into the astrology thing.”

Paulo gave her
a knowing glance and he grabbed her hand and pulled her unto the blanket. 
“I know.  We’re all so used to attributing our personality traits to our
signs that we do it without thinking.  Still, I don’t believe in any of
that at all.” 

Phoenix sighed.
“You are so intense, P.”

“I know.” 
Paulo grabbed her hand and kissed her palm, deftly taking her mind off the
subject.  “So, Ms. Phoenix, will you be my date at this after-church
picnic for two?”

Phoenix
giggled, feeling like a teenage girl again.  “Of course, Mr. Paulo. 
Only, I need to know what you’ve arranged for our meal before I change my mind
about staying here with you.”

Paulo raised
his eyebrows.  “Is that right?  So you would leave me high and dry if
I picked the wrong foods?  Whatever happened to the thought being the
thing that counted?”

Phoenix rolled
her eyes.  “That saying was created by someone who wasn’t thinking. 
Probably was some guy who bought his wife a set of pots and pans for their
wedding anniversary.  Suddenly it was the thought that counted.”

Paulo
chuckled.  “That makes sense.  In this case, thank God, it is both
the thought and the food that counts.  I got us fruit, of course,
different cheeses, crackers—”

Phoenix started
to get off the blanket.  “Cheese and crackers?  Dude, that only works
in the movies.  I need real food.  Oops, time for me to hitch a ride
to Dinosaur Barbeque.”

Paulo shook his
head in mock indignation.  “You are so ungrateful.  But you’re
right.  That’s why I also got various cold cuts, whole grain French bread,
tuna salad, chicken salad, whole grain pasta salad, and blue corn tortilla
chips and salsa.  I didn’t know what you’d have a taste for. 
Everything is organic, of course.  I also got lots of bottled water and
lemons so we can have your new favorite drink.  I bought some
Stevia
in case you wanted sweeter lemonade.  And we
will have a toast with some sparkling cider, if you wish.  Whatever we
don’t finish, we can share with our homeless brothers and sisters in this
park.”

“Thanks,
P.  That’s perfect.  Then again, everything you do is perfect.” 
Phoenix felt her face grow hot the moment the words slipped out.  She
looked away, the desire to lean forward and kiss him became so strong, she was
growing faint with it.

But Paulo
leaned forward and lightly caressed her lips with his.  “
Mmmm
, best tasting dish yet.”