Read Online Heaven Right Here by Lutishia Lovely - Free Book Online

things.”
    “Did she have Darius?”
    “No, he’s still with his father.”
    “Thank goodness,” Vivian said. “It’s especially important for a male child to bond with his dad.” She bit into the cookie. “It can’t be an easy situation,” she added thoughtfully.
    “That’s an understatement. I can’t imagine anything harder than having your husband choose his male lover over you.”
    Vivian nodded.
    “Do you think it’s a sin, Vivian? Homosexuality?”
    Vivian sipped her tea and pondered the answer. “Honestly, Hope, I don’t know what to believe. The bible is clear—at least from all the interpretations I’ve heard and from what I’ve studied—that yes, it is a sin. And while we all sin and come short of God’s glory, people who live homosexual lifestyles don’t turn away from that sin. Someone very close to our family was a homosexual,” she continued. “And before meeting him, there was no doubt in my mind that people who lived this way were going to hell. But then I got to know . . .” Vivian hesitated, looked at Hope thoughtfully, and decided to be truthful. “But then I got to know Derrick’s uncle, Charles Montgomery. That’s when everything I thought I knew changed.”
    Hope didn’t try to hide her surprise. “The man who died two years ago, the one Derrick still speaks of with so much adoration?”
    “Oh, everybody adored Uncle Charlie,” Vivian said, a warm smile spreading across her face. “He was the kindest, funniest, most compassionate and generous person I’ve ever met. He loved God fiercely and loved Derrick like a son. He exemplified the meaning of being a Christian . . . Christ-like. Derrick owes a big part of why he’s in the ministry to the encouragement—emotionally and financially—his uncle gave him. I remember a brief conversation we had—a time when I asked him why he chose to be gay. I’ll never forget the look he gave me. He said, ‘Vivian, if you knew the hell my brothers go through, the pain, isolation, and guilt we suffer, that I suffered before I was sure God loved me just as I am, you’d know this is something no one would ever choose.’ So my position is that of my husband’s and Mother Moseley’s. If it is a sin, I’ll love the sinner and leave the decision of where he spends eternity to God Almighty.” Vivian finished her tea and sat back on the sofa. “Now, the reason I’m here.”
    Hope groaned. “Those fast hussies panting after Darius?”
    Vivian laughed. “Well, don’t sound so enthusiastic or skeptical. I personally think you’d be perfect to work with Melody and this group. As I watched them yesterday, executing their choreographed clapping and moving to Darius’s songs, I thought maybe somehow they could be incorporated into our youth ministry.”
    “I’m not so sure how much interest we’d get there,” Hope said. “It seemed pretty clear those girls were there to cheer for Darius.”
    “Maybe,” Vivian admitted. “But with a little training from the right teacher,” she looked pointedly at Hope, “they just might end up cheering for God.”
    Vivian and Hope spent the next half hour tossing around ideas about how they could encourage these teenagers by expanding the outlet for their talent and energy and redefining the object of their affection. No one was more surprised than Hope at the enthusiasm that began to build as they continued talking.
    “I’ve told you this before, but I never forgot the performance by your dance troupe when we attended Mount Zion Progressive’s conference a couple years ago,” Vivian said. “When we returned home, I toyed with trying to reproduce a similar group at Kingdom. With all the other responsibilities on our youth minister and director, I couldn’t bear to give them yet another task. But you’d be perfect, Hope. Will you think about it?”
    “I will, and I’ll discuss it with Cy. Maybe this is just what I need, something else to focus on besides myself . . . and my