A Moment of Weakness by Karen Kingsbury

even be near her without wanting to
kiss her, to hold her, to … Lord help me. What I really want is for Jade to come to know you. I should be leading her to you, not … well, you know.”
    It was a feeble prayer, but it was all he could manage.
    No temptation has seized you except that which is common to man.…
    The words echoed deep in his soul, and he felt a wave of reassurance. God was with him. He heard Tanner’s prayers and he understood. Tanner recalled the rest of the Scripture and knew that God would not let him be tempted beyond what he could bear. And that when he was tempted, the Lord himself would provide a way out.
    Tonight, without a doubt, God had done exactly that.

E ight
    I T WASN’T THAT J ADE HAD EVER SUFFERED A BAD EXPERIENCE IN church. Rather it was simply that her father hated the place. He insisted it was some church back in Virginia that had forced them out of town, across the country to Kelso.
    “Church folk are hypocrites,” her father would say when Sunday rolled around each week. “They like pointing fingers at ya. They’d recognize you as the daughter of a whore and make you leave the building.”
    Jade had heard that a hundred times, and as she drove with Tanner south on I-5 she heard it again and again in her mind.
    “What are you thinking about?” They passed Ridgefield and were heading toward Vancouver. According to Tanner’s calculations they’d be at Crossroads Church in fifteen minutes.
    Jade stared out her side window. The rain of the week before had disappeared, and the past few days had been brilliantly sunny. With the blue sky as a backdrop, the layered brush and trees along the freeway looked vibrantly green. She turned to Tanner. “Whether they’ll like me.”
    “Jade, they won’t even know you. Crossroads is a big church. We’ll just be two more people sitting in the pews.”
    Still she had the feeling someone would know. Someone would spot her and recognize her for what she was and ask her to leave the building, just like her father had always said.
    The parking lot was full, and traffic attendants directed the flow of cars leaving the earlier service as well as those arriving for the next one. Jade had never seen this kind of crowd at anychurch gathering. The thought of being among so large a sea of people made her relax. Maybe she’d be safe after all.
    Tanner walked alongside her, and for an instant Jade wished he would take her hand. He’d been careful not to since she’d pulled away that first day after the meeting. Of course, he’d held her hand that night at his apartment when she told him about her mother. But that was only for comfort. Now, even though it would never be true, she wished he’d hold her hand for different reasons: to show the world she belonged to him.
    The church was filling up quickly, and they found seats near the back. Jade saw how comfortable Tanner was, reading the bulletin, filling in the blanks on the sermon outline form inside. She clutched her papers tightly and sat low in her seat. People greeted each other, hugging and smiling, and Jade took in all of it. In one of the pews, a cluster of people bent their heads together in what Jade assumed was prayer. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, only that they were saying it quietly, out loud.
    Okay, God, I’m here. I’m finally in a church. Help me last through the hour without getting kicked out
.
    Jade’s conversations with God were always very simple and to the point. She talked to him like she would a friend, as if he was always with her ready to hear what she had to say. This other prayer, this thing these people were doing, was not something she understood. She sat stone still, uncomfortable around so many good people.
    The music started, and Jade was struck at how it filled the building. Full and professional sounding, the band up front included a piano, several guitars, drums, and a keyboard. The music filled Jade’s heart with peace, and again she felt the