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Tim walked up the stairs of the church and paused. He hadn’t been to church in so many years. His grandmother had taken him when he lived with her and he had fond memories of those days. He liked the crafts and pictures on the walls of the Sunday School room and still remembered some of the songs. The smile left his face. After his grandmother died was a different story.

The aunt he went to live with didn’t have a problem with church. She never stopped him from going to church and actually took him on Christmas Eve a couple of times. Yet the truth was that she worked two jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads and Sunday was a work day just like any others. When he got a bit older, Tim had gone to a few churches in the neighborhood on his own but never on a regular basis. He found there were other things he could do on Sunday and so church got left in the past.

He looked at the doors of the church before him. They reminded him of the doors at the chapel near the school where he did his training. There were always students who went to that chapel running around telling people they had to go and telling people that if they didn’t that God wouldn’t be angry with them. He felt a bit guilty and went once. He shook his head as he remembered the high-pressure sermon about how if they did anything wrong that Jesus would cast them into the fiery pits of hell. That didn’t fit with what he had learned from his grandmother about God sending Jesus into the world to save and not to condemn. The message and the fire and brimstone approach of the chapel had turned Tim off of church and religion. He actually hadn’t really thought about church or God until Sal started working with them.

Sal was the new foreman that was brought in when Keith had his heart attack. Since he had been working on the other side of the city, no one really knew what he was like and everyone was a bit nervous that he would disrupt the routines and pace on the site. The truth was though that he actually made things better. He kept the schedule they had worked out with Keith and didn’t mind when they staggered their lunch depending on the weather. He also stepped in when Larry’s wife had her baby and was good framing the inside of the rooms in the building, although his dry walling left a bit to be desired.

Tim smiled. It was actually when Sal was helping him drywall the first floor of the building one afternoon that they started talking about religion. They had been talking about Paul’s cousin who got married at the big church near the river and Sal had mentioned that he went there on Sundays. He had asked Tim if he went to church and Tim said that church wasn’t for him. Tim expected a big sermon about how he had to go to church and how his life would be empty without Jesus but Sal had only said. “You’re always welcome to come with me some Sunday if you want.”

Tim had thought about that for a couple of days. He then asked Sal what his church was like. Sal told him about the choir, the outreach programs, about the Bible study and how they had a square dance for the kids on Friday nights that everyone had gone to. After Sal had talked a bit about his church he had said “Why don’t you come with me and see what we’re about?” and to his surprise, Tim has said yes.

On the drive that Sunday morning, Tim thought about why he had said yes and realized that he missed church. He missed the feeling he had when he went with his grandmother and honestly, he also missed learning about Jesus and God. Since he and Lucy were getting serious and were talking about marriage and a family, Tim wanted to be right with God and raise his children to know Jesus.

The door of the church opened, and Sal gave him a big smile and shook Tim’s hand. “Tim, glad you could come. I’ve got a seat for us near the back with Jane and the kids, I hope that is okay.”

Tim nodded and as he entered the church he realized it was more than okay. He felt he was coming home and found himself looking forward to what was going to happen that Sunday and excited about his life.