Dance Into Destiny (8 page)

“That's not what I'm saying. All I'm saying is you gotta start somewhere. You may not end up dancing with Alvin Ailey, but you can still dance. Start writing again. Just do
something
. If you sit around and dream about it and never do anything, nothing will happen. Each day, take some small action in the direction of where you want to be.” Shara walked over and sat at the other end of the couch.

“That's just it. I don't know where I want to be,” Keeva said. “I have no idea what I would do with my life if I don't get this counseling degree. I have no idea how to support myself and make a living. I'm not sure I'm willing to be a starving artist.”

Keeva looked around her apartment. “I guess you can tell—I'm used to having nice things. I'm not materialistic or anything, but I like knowing I'm gonna have a certain amount of money coming in.”

“So you're saying you'd rather be miserable with a steady income, than happy doing what you love without the BMW and the fancy apartment?” Shara asked.

“No. Well . . .” Keeva paused. It sounded so shallow when Shara said it that way. “You're saying ‘doing what I love.' I don't know what I love. I mean, I know I love dancing, but unless I'm gonna dance in a professional company, what do I do? I know I love writing, but I don't know if I can make a living at it. I don't even know if I'm that good.”

“That's because you've never given it a chance. Explore it. Or do something with dance. You may not dance professionally, but there's gotta be something you can do—like teach or something. If all you do is sit around and lament about it or think about what you used to love, you'll never do anything. You'll end up in a miserable career with a miserable life.”

Keeva hugged her yellow throw pillow. “You're right. I know you're right.” She let out a deep breath and stared into space. “So what do I do? Quit the program? At this point, I might as well finish. But then what? How am I supposed to know what's next?”

Shara shrugged. “I only know one way to get direction for my life and that's to ask God.”

Keeva didn't say anything. Maybe that God stuff worked for Shara, but it didn't make much sense to her. She didn't want to offend Shara by saying that, so she just nodded.

The phone rang.

Keeva knew it was Mark.

She turned to Shara. “You hungry? Mick's down the street has the best burgers and fries. We could eat . . . and maybe, you know . . . finish this conversation.”

Shara smiled and nodded. They grabbed their stuff and left with the phone still ringing.

A
fter track practice the next Friday, Shara grabbed her notebook and headed for the church office. She stopped to greet Mother Hobbs at her desk. After they chatted for a few minutes Shara asked, “Is Pastor Kendrick busy?”

“He's always free for you. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything's fine. I want to go over a few ideas with him.”

Mother Hobbs gestured for Shara to go into his office.

Pastor Kendrick was talking on the phone, but motioned for her to sit down in the chair in front of his large oak desk.

Shara admired the new family picture on his desk with Pastor Kendrick, his wife and their three children. She perused his tall bookshelf for any new books she might borrow. She noticed many of her favorite authors—Myles Munroe, Dutch Sheets, Rick Joyner, and Francis Frangipane. Her eyes settled on a Jim Goll book she hadn't read before.

Pastor Kendrick hung up the phone. “How are you, Shara?” He stood to give her a fatherly hug and then sat down in his chair. “Mother Hobbs told me about what happened to Tangela Madison. I know that must have been difficult for you. Are you okay?”

“It was difficult, but I'm okay. Thanks for asking.”

“Have you heard from her? Is she all right?”

Shara shrugged. “I don't know. Her mother made it clear I wasn't to call the house or come by. All I can do is pray for her.”

“You want me to try to stop by?”

Shara shook her head. “I don't think that's such a good idea. It may be best to let her mother cool off a little first.”

Pastor Kendrick nodded. “Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I know Tangee has a lot of potential and it would be a big loss for her to not be able to come back to the program. Don't lose heart though, Shara. Those types of things can make you feel like giving up, but you're really making a difference in these kids' lives.”

“That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I left that night feeling so hopeless and started praying about us being able to do more in the community. Not only for the kids, but for the parents as well. I feel that if we do more, we can make more of a difference.”

She pulled her notebook out of her bag and showed him the notes she scribbled the morning after Tangee's miscarriage, now typed and organized. She discussed each program, how they could implement it, and outlined a time frame in which it could be done. When she finished, Pastor Kendrick sat back in his chair shaking his head.

“What?” Shara asked.

He didn't say anything for a moment, then got up and walked over to his file cabinet and pulled out a large binder. He showed her the front—“Vision for Kingdom Builders Christian Center.”

She looked at him curiously.

“I always asked for God to send me like-minded people to help, but I have to say this is beyond what I expected.”

He turned to a section in the notebook headed “Community Outreach/Youth.” As Shara flipped through the pages, she realized their notes were almost identical, except Pastor Kendrick had several sketches of a very large community center and other sketches of classrooms and recreation rooms. On the last page it was signed, “Michael Kendrick, 1982.”

“God gave this to you all those years ago?”

“Yeah, but He had to do some work on me first—character building. God is funny like that. He gives you a vision, and then allows everything in your life to fall apart so He can produce His character in you. I promise you, though, there's nothing more fulfilling than seeing your dreams actually start to materialize. It's amazing to dream something, then pray and believe, and one day, see it happen. Life doesn't get any better than that.”

Shara nodded and lay his notebook on his desk.

“I'm glad to see you're so excited about the vision. Since you're here, I might as well tell you that we've reached a critical number of members where we can start hiring more staff. One of the first positions we want to fill is youth pastor. I want you to be a part of our search committee for a candidate. We really need your input because you'll be working very closely with this person.”

Shara nodded. It would be nice to have a full-time person there to help out with all that needed to be done.

After she finished talking to Pastor Kendrick, Shara chatted with Mother Hobbs for a few minutes then left. She decided to stop at Blockbuster's on the way home to pick up a video.

She browsed the shelves of movies, already knowing what she would get. As she approached the counter, the employee who waited on her said, “Let me guess,
Sister Act II
.” She smiled. It was her favorite movie and she had seen it a million times.

Travis was always on duty at the store on Friday nights when she came in to rent movies. They had chatted a few times and he seemed like a nice person. He always had a big smile and pleasant conversation for her.

“I have something for you. I kept it behind the counter—you haven't been here in a while.” He pulled a video box from behind the counter and she glanced at the label on it. “
Sister Act II,
previewed copy, $6.99.”

“You've bought this ten times with the number of times you've rented it. You might as well own a copy.” She took it from him and pulled out some money.

“Don't worry about it. It's on me.” Travis gave her a dimpled grin.

Shara blushed.

“How are the kids?”

“Fine. I just left them a little while ago.”

Shara had brought her group of rowdy teenagers one night to pick out some movies for an all night video night at the church. The kids wanted to get horror movies and movies with adult themes Shara didn't think appropriate for a church youth group. It almost turned into a riot as they argued with each other and with Shara about what they were going to watch. Finally, Travis came over and convinced them the movies Shara recommended weren't so bad.

Shara was so grateful for his help, she came back the next day to thank him. He asked her about the kids and she had explained her track program.

“Hey, Miss Shara.” He started calling her that after hearing the kids screaming her name across the store that night. “I picked out another movie I think you'll like a lot. It's called
Finding Forrester
. It's about this young black guy that lives in the 'hood that really has a talent for writing. He's not doing much with himself or doing well in school until he meets this old white guy . . .”

Shara wondered if Travis was so nice to all his customers. His special attention made her nervous. She quickly paid for the movie. “Thanks, Travis. See ya' soon.” He seemed like a nice guy, but then again, so had her ex-boyfriend, Keith. Her smile darkened and she quickly walked out the door.

A
few weeks later, Shara rushed into Pastor Kendrick's conference room after track practice with the kids. One of their most promising candidates had flown in from Chicago and Pastor Kendrick had scheduled an evening interview so all the youth leaders could come after work to meet him.

“Sorry I'm late. I . . .” Shara stood speechless at the sight of the most beautiful man she ever laid eyes on standing to shake her hand. She must have looked like a complete idiot standing there with her mouth wide open.

Pastor Kendrick stepped up to her. “Shara, this is Quinton Mercer. Minister Mercer, this is Shara Anderson, one of the other youth leaders.” She shook his hand.

“Hi, nice to meet you.” His smile was warm.

Shara stood there looking at him.

Pastor Kendrick motioned. “Come on in and have a seat, Shara, you're just in time. We haven't started yet. We've just introduced everyone.”

She looked around at the other youth leaders—Anthony, Tina, Nia, Malcolm, Danielle, and Terrence. A couple were missing. Her eyes settled on Mother Hobbs who had a big grin on her face.

Shara sat in the empty chair next to her, refusing to make eye contact. She smoothed her hair down, wishing she'd taken the time to brush it back. It was doing that wild thing it did by the end of the day. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mother Hobbs grinning wider.

Shara glanced down at his resumé on the table in front of her.
Bachelors in Finance from University of Arizona. Master's in Urban Ministry from Moody Bible Institute while serving as a youth leader at True Revival Christian Church. Promoted to youth pastor after he graduated, did that for a year . . .
He definitely looked more promising than the other candidates thus far.

They had interviewed a few church members, but Pastor Kendrick said he wanted to bring in some fresh blood from the outside. They interviewed a few people from other churches in the city, but Pastor Kendrick said he didn't feel too good about “stealing” someone else's members. Plus, most of them had traditional views about how to minister to young people and Pastor Kendrick wanted someone with innovative, new ideas.

Pastor Kendrick took his seat at the head of the large, oval-shaped conference table. “Let's go ahead and get started. Quinton, we're not formal around here so we'll ask you some questions to get to know you and please feel free to do the same.”

Quinton nodded.

Pastor Kendrick asked, “What made you interested in interviewing for this position?”

Quinton sat forward in his chair. “I know God has called me to work with young people. I can't think of anything I'd rather do with my life. I believe there's nothing more important than to help a young person discover and pursue their destiny. I'm looking for a position that will allow me to do that.”

Pastor Kendrick said, “Obviously, it's what God called you to do, but what makes you passionate about it?”

Quinton paused for a second. “I grew up in inner-city Chicago. I saw a lot of things growing up that were enough to make me angry and hopeless for the rest of my life. What bothered me most was all the wasted lives and wasted potential. It was like people's lives were finished before they even started.

“I decided as a kid I was going to get an education and get out of there and be somebody and then come back and help others become somebody. About a year after I graduated from college, I got saved and acknowledged God's call for me to help other young people out of that life of despair. I went back to get my Master's in Divinity so I could be well equipped to do so.”

Everyone around the table nodded, impressed with his candor.

“There seems to be a one year gap in your resume here. Can you tell us what happened during that time?” Shara asked.

Quinton smiled and Shara noticed a deep dimple in his cheek. “Guess you don't follow sports, huh?”

Anthony Thompson, one of the other youth leaders, snapped his fingers. “I knew that was you, man!”

Everyone looked at Anthony and then back at Quinton for an explanation.

Quinton smiled modestly. “I played basketball while at University of Arizona and then got drafted into the pros when I graduated.”

Anthony said, “You're too modest, man. You were at the top of your game, All-American. Yo, man, what happened? You played with Orlando for a year, then just dropped out of sight.”

Quinton's smile faded and he looked down at the floor. “My baby brother got killed about six months into my rookie year. I got real depressed and unfocused and ended up getting hurt. I guess more than anything, his death led to me getting saved and really making the commitment to reach out to youth.”

Everyone was silent.

Mother Hobbs finally spoke. “We're sorry to hear about your brother. It seems like you're using that pain and turning it into something good for the Kingdom of God. Bad things happen to everybody in this life. It's those who are able to take those trials and use them that rise to the next level in God. That shows a lot of spiritual maturity on your part.”

Quinton nodded gratefully at her comment.

Pastor Kendrick said, “Tell us about your vision for working with young people.”

Quinton explained, “I started quite a few projects at my last church. One of the most popular ones was the midnight basketball program for the young men in the neighborhood. We were in the inner city like you. I also started a mentoring program where we matched young people with adults in careers that the kids were interested in. They got a chance to see someone doing what they dreamed of doing. We also had an intense tutoring program where most of the kids improved to and maintained a B-average. It's a prerequisite to participate in any other program.”

Shara stared at Quinton. His programs sounded familiar.

Quinton continued. “We had also just gotten some grant money to purchase some used computers to do a computer training class.”

Quinton frowned. “One thing I didn't get to implement was an arts program. I wanted to get people from the church gifted in music, theatre, dance, and visual arts to start classes for the kids. Kids involved in the arts really perform well in every area of their lives.”

Pastor Kendrick nodded and looked at Shara. “Your vision lines up with a lot of what we plan to do here. That's encouraging to hear. We'd be just getting the programs started here so it's good that you have experience with getting them off the ground.”

Nia asked about the arts program Quinton was interested in starting. While he explained, Shara could barely focus on his answer. Why was her head spinning?

After he finished answering Nia, Shara cleared her throat. “Looks like you had a lot of great things going on at your church. Why are leaving?”

Quinton shifted in his seat and drummed his fingers on the table. “My ideas on how to minister to young people seemed to be a problem for my previous pastor. While they seemed logical to me, they were too ‘radical and worldly' for the leadership at the church. I guess because I didn't grow up in the church, I didn't have the ingrained traditions they had. We couldn't come to an agreement about a lot of things.”

Quinton seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “When I first started there, I was so excited about implementing the ideas I felt God had given me. After so many meetings where I was called into the pastor's office to talk about ‘my methods', I got burnt out. My ideas were being stifled to death. It was time to move on—hopefully to find a place of like vision and spirit.”

I knew this was too good to be true.
“Can you give us an example of your ‘methods' that caused such a conflict?” Shara asked.

Mother Hobbs kneed her under the table, as if to tell her to back off.

Quinton didn't appear intimidated. “One of the things I wanted to do was to create a Christian night club for the youth. Instead of them going to the club where there's drinking, smoking, and fighting, I wanted them to be able have fun in a church environment. You know, throw on some Mary Mary, Tonex, or Kirk Franklin and let them go for it.”

Shara's eyes narrowed. Why did it seem as if he had been thumbing through her vision notebook?

Pastor Kendrick looked at her again and smiled.

Shara pushed further. “What would you do if you found that your ideas clashed with the vision here?”

Mother Hobbs didn't hide her glare this time.

Quinton answered easily, “I learned from my last position that being on staff in ministry is very different from a secular job. It's like a marriage. In marriage, the partners have to have like vision and spirit. I would hope that before they committed to one another, they would take the time to explore what they consider to be their purpose and philosophy to make sure they're a good match. Even after discovering that, they would need to pray to make sure their union is God-ordained. Even if they feel like they're right for each other, unless God has put them together, it won't work.

“That's how I feel about my next position. I want to make sure I know there's a common vision and commitment to the things of God. Then I would hope the ministry leaders would pray as I would be praying to make sure it's the will of God.”

Pastor Kendrick and Mother Hobbs nodded at each other in approval.

Pastor said, “Does anyone else have any other questions?” He and the other youth leaders turned to look at Shara. She looked around innocently as if she hadn't been grilling Quinton.

Terrence asked for more details on the midnight basketball program. Everyone laughed when Tina asked how soon Quinton would be willing to move.

Pastor Kendrick looked at Quinton. “Do you have any questions for us?”

Quinton nodded. “I only know what I've read about your ministry on your website. I'm very impressed with the rapid growth of your youth department and I'm interested to know what you attribute your success to.”

Pastor Kendrick seemed impressed that Quinton had done some research. “I have to say it's the combination of a lot of hard work and innovation on the part of our youth leaders. Because of their devotion to intercession and their overwhelming commitment of time and energy, the young people have gotten excited and have begun reaching out to their friends. I feel like we're only seeing the beginnings of a great harvest of youth from this community.”

Quinton said, “I'm glad to hear you mention prayer as a key. It's definitely the foundation of any successful ministry. What programs do you already have in place?”

“As I mentioned, we're just getting started. One of our most popular programs thus far is our track/tutoring program Shara started almost a year ago. I'll let her tell you about it.”

Everyone turned to Shara. Quinton's eyes were intense. Shara couldn't help noticing how perfectly chocolatey-brown his skin was.

Mother Hobbs elbowed her.

Shara made herself focus on her answer. “We have a track program where the kids run after school and also a tutoring program on alternate days.” She stopped and looked down at her hands. Why were they sweating?

Everyone looked at her, expecting her to go on and on about her kids as she usually did. After a few moments of silence, Mother Hobbs spoke. “Shara is being far too modest. Her track program sounds a lot like your basketball program. We've already noticed beautiful changes in the children's attitudes about themselves and toward others. Most of them have also brought their grades up considerably. Shara organized both programs in the few extra hours when she wasn't at school.”

Pastor Kendrick added, “She's worked very hard to make it a success. Sometimes I think too hard. I'm sure she'll appreciate some full-time help. It's amazing that Shara has a lot of ideas for programs similar to the ones you mentioned. Perhaps she could tell you about them . . .” He looked at Shara who was still dumbstruck, “. . . at another time.”

Quinton nodded and smiled at Shara. “I'd like that. It's always good to share ideas with someone of like vision and passion.”

Shara looked down at the floor and then back at Quinton again. His teeth were absolutely perfect. Her stomach felt funny. Must have been that leftover pizza she had for lunch.

Pastor Kendrick stood. “Well, Quinton, unless you have any more questions, we'll have Anthony take you on the tour of our facilities. We have a lot of space here and we're renovating it room by room. Later I'll go over the long-term vision with you. I agree with you about making sure our visions match up to make sure this is a good fit.”

Anthony seemed excited about giving Quinton the tour. As they walked out of the conference room he said, “Man, I remember your championship game against Kentucky . . .”

Pastor Kendrick shut the door behind them. “Is he perfect or what? God never ceases to amaze me. I ask Him for something and He sends me more than I could have expected. I'm glad we decided to keep looking.”

The other leaders also gave their enthusiastic assent. Shara was quiet. Mother Hobbs watched her closely, frowning.

“Well Pastor, I don't see why we need to waste any time,” Mother Hobbs said. “Why don't we invite him to stay around for the rest of the week so we can spend a few days with him? He can come to service on Sunday and see what it's like. I'd be more than glad for him to stay with me. If nothing else convinces him to join us, my home cooking and hospitality are sure to do the trick.”

Pastor Kendrick looked pleased. “Thank you, Mother Hobbs. I'll bring him over later if he decides to stay.”

After everyone left, Mother Hobbs smoothed Shara's hair down. “Are you okay? You don't seem yourself.”