Authors: Leona Norwell
Nathan’s parents stood with him at the back of the worship center as he greeted the church members after church. They heard all good things about him. After the crowd left, he directed them to his office where Faith waited for him.
“We wanted to say goodbye, Faith.” Marc said after they talked a moment. “We have to go get on a plane to California. I have a speech at a fundraiser there.”
“I am so glad you came to see Nathan and that my family got to meet you too. I want you to know that I love your son very much and that he is special because of you.”
“Marry this girl, Nathan.” Marc stated
“I plan to, Dad.” Nathan responded hugging Faith. Faith exchanged hugs with his parents and Nathan walked them out to the waiting limousine. “I love you.” He said as he hugged them.
“When are proposing to that girl?” his father asked
“I have the ring in my pocket and we are going to a very special place after lunch.”
“Your grandmother’s ring?” his mom said through her tears
“Yes, Mom. Granny’s ring.”
“Who knew that your help with Grandma all those years ago was preparation for your future bride?”
“God knew mama.” Nathan responded
“We love her, we love you and now we have to go. Bye son. Call us with good news.”
“I will Dad.”
Nathan waved them off, took a deep breath and went to get his girl. “I’m back, are you ready to go to lunch?”
“Absolutely.” Faith answered. Nathan drove them to a nice restaurant and helped her with her order. As they waited, they discussed his sermon and the events from church. “Did Beth hug you today?”
“Yes, she did. And told me again, how happy she was for me.”
“She is so excited about us. She emails me every day to check on us.”
“No way” Nathan exclaimed
“Yes, everyday. “Hi, how are you and Nathan doing?” is usually what she asks. I just reply that we are doing just fine.” Nathan laughed.
“Did your parents have a good time here this weekend?” Faith asked after they had eaten their lunch.
“Yes they did. They enjoyed meeting your family and Tom.”
“Dinner last night was lots of fun. And your father surprised me with his blessing.”
“My parents are as enthralled with you as I am.”
“Enthralled? That is two things you have to explain to me now.” Faith stated.
“Which do you want first?”
“Enthralled”
Nathan held her hand while he explained “I am enthralled with you. Your beauty holds my attention quite well but who you are has me captivated. When I think about you, I forget the time, what I supposed to be doing, if I am watching a movie and I start to think about you, I lose all track of the movie and have to shut it off. And believe me that happens a lot lately.”
Faith smiled at him and squeezed his hand with hers. “Now, the quiet strength.”
“I draw strength from you. It isn’t that you build me up with words, you do that too don’t get me wrong, but when you sit near me I can feel your prayers, your encouragement, your confidence in me, your love for me and your hopes for me and I love that. I know you prayed for me when you sat in the back also, but I can feel it when I’m sitting right there beside you.”
“Oh Nathan, I’m so glad to hear that. I have prayed for you every day since that first phone call. Even when I was gone, I prayed for you. I want to give you all the strength I am supposed to give you. I want to always be there whenever you need me and I pray that I always can give you what you need to be the man God wants you to be. I love you.”
“Will you change clothes and go with me somewhere?”
“Sure, where are we going?”
“Can it be a surprise?”
“I suppose so.” She agreed reluctantly. Nathan helped her into the car and drove her to her house to change clothes. “Are these clothes matching?” she asked coming downstairs again
“Yellow neon shirt, lime green plaid pants, orange neon shoes, looks perfect to me.” he said taking her hand and hugging her.
“Nathan Lindstrom” she grumbled happily “So, do my clothes match?”
“Yes, blue jeans, pale yellow top and tennis shoes. You look gorgeous. Now, we need to go to my house so I can change clothes.” He said turning to the door to usher her out.
“I’ve never been to your house.” Faith remembered as they had been on the road for a few minutes.
“Well, you had your chance last fall and skipped out on me.” Nathan grumbled “I’m teasing. There is a tall row of bushes that separates my house from the neighbors. The house is off white with brown shudders or do you already know that?”
“How would I know that?”
“I seem to recall that you organized a painting party on my house.” He joked opening the front door and guiding her inside.
Faith cleared her throat to hide her embarrassment “I …never mind.” She conceded smiling
“Gotcha” he teased in her ear. Faith felt him close by and reacted to give him a nuggie like he always gave her. Nathan burst out laughing and tried to fight her off. “Stop that” he said swinging her up in his arms. Faith was caught off guard and stopped rubbing his head. “You gave me a nuggie.”
“You deserved it.” She answered back smiling at him
Nathan kissed her quickly “I did. But your face was priceless. You knew what color my house was?”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t need to know the colors to send people here to paint. I…” Nathan kissed her again to stall her
“What was that for?” she asked
“Because I wanted too.” He said urging her up. “Sit here and don’t wander too much. I don’t want you getting hurt by not knowing the layout of the house. I am going to go change.” Faith nodded and Nathan ran to change clothes.
“How do I look?” he asked returning to the living room
“Very handsome.” She answered honestly
“Thank you.”
“You goof.” She laughed as he took her hand “You are in an exceptionally good mood today.”
Nathan had a secret and wasn’t about to give it away too soon. Nathan was still chuckling when he led her back to the car. He pulled out his cell phone and called the realtor to explain that he was running late.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he drove along.
“Remember my project, the youth center? I want you to do a walk through with me on the warehouse. I wouldn’t do it today but someone else is interested in the building that I want.”
“So what is it you like best about this location?” Faith asked a moment later.
“Location. It is in the neighborhood I would like to target. Close enough to the church that we can bus them over each week to church. It is near enough to an elementary school, two middle schools and two high schools.”
“Your target is all three ages of children. That is a big job.”
“It is a huge warehouse. You can tell space right?”
“Somewhat. I could tell your house was pretty good sized and I could tell your cabin was very good sized.”
“Anyway, if it works out, there will be space for a gym area, a study/learning area, a playground and a pool eventually.”
“Oh my goodness, that is huge.” She exclaimed “You can afford all of that.”
“Do you know who Stanford Lindstrom is?”
“Lindstrom Hotels, that Stanford Lindstrom” she answered confused by his question
“Do you know who Malcolm Jones is? Or the name “Maisie Daisie” food products?”
“Yes.”
“Stanford Lindstrom, Paternal grandfather. Malcolm Jones, maternal grandfather. Nathan Lindstrom, one of only four grandchildren. That answer your question?”
“Uh, yeah, but even still that is a lot of money.”
“My grandfather’s were best friends and had a great mission for their grandkids. If we came up with a way to reach others, actually, it is when we came up with a mission that reached out to the community we were to receive the funding necessary to fulfill that mission. The money is available believe me.”
“And on-going funding?”
“Shouldn’t be an issue.” He answered honestly “I’ll go over all the details with you when you want but I meant it when I said my monthly trust fund distributions are more than sufficient.”
“You are going to need a huge staff.”
“Somewhat. But what I’d also like to do is teach some of the high schools to mentor to the middle school kids and then the middle school kids mentor to the elementary school kids. And of course, lots of volunteers.”
“And who is going to organize all of this?”
“We are going to hire a managing director but I’d really like it if you joined me on the board of directors.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, absolutely. I need your help!”
“Okay, I’ll do my best.” She answered amazed at his goal “You are amazing!”
“No, I can’t do anything without the Lord’s help. And I feel Him leading me in this, that is why I took this appointment today, I believe this is the building we need.” He said slowing down to pull into the warehouse parking lot. He was describing the acreage and buildings while he parked.
“Hi Nathan”
“Hi Stan. Stan, I’d like you to meet Faith Lindstrom. Faith, this is Stan Keltner.”
“It is nice to meet you Stan” she said extending her hand
“It is my pleasure.” Stan returned her handshake and turned towards the building. He led them in the door and Nathan helped her negotiate around. They toured the building and then asked for a couple of minutes to talk about some things.
“Well?” he asked Faith when Stan left them alone.
“It seems huge.”
“It is. What is your opinion?”
“Nathan, I’m assuming you have prayed about this?”
“Yes, constantly.”
“Then I think you should find out the next steps.”
Nathan hugged her and they went to find Stan. “What’s the next step?” Nathan asked Stan. Stan had some paperwork for Nathan to sign and then the process could begin. After the paperwork was signed Stan excused himself to another appointment. Nathan took Faith back inside the warehouse.
“Faith…” Nathan began “I want you to be heavily involved in this project.”
“How so?” she questioned confused.
“I know this is a big empty ugly warehouse now but I have big goals for this place. But I wanted you here today so that this can be our dream.” Nathan pulled her close. “A romantic spot this is not but I hope you won’t care too much…. Will you honor me by becoming Faith Lindstrom and loving me forever and always and let me love you forever and always?”
“Yes, I would be incredibly honored to be Faith Lindstrom and to love you and be loved by you forever and always. I love you Nathan.” Nathan slid the ring on her finger and leaned over to kiss her.
“When did you get a ring?” Faith said examining it with her hand. “What does it look like?”
“This ring is my grandmother’s ring. My grandfather and grandmother were married for fifty-two years and when her and I spent all that time together she gave it to me to give to the woman I love and wanted to marry. It is a diamond engagement ring. I have something else for you too. Hold out your arm.”
Faith was crying but still held out her arm. Nathan fastened a fine gold linked chain around her wrist. “This bracelet is gold and the rings are linked together. There is a birthstone for your birthday and my birthday. We will add our children’s someday and any other charm that we choose to remember something special.”
“Nathan, I’m completely overwhelmed. I love you.”
“I love you.” He answered
“I have something to tell you.”
“Okay”
“I hope I can do this without crying. That first time you came to my house and brought me ice cream, I told you some concerns about if we got married. Do you remember?”