Free Mama B - A Time to Dance (Book 2) by Michelle Stimpson Page B

about how she’d waddled her rump onto my
property and accused me of a being a two-timin’ hypocrite. And slapped my
nephew, too! She best be glad I couldn’t call the police on her.
    Whether her
blood pressure was up or not, whatever she said was probably how she really felt
deep down in her heart. If that’s the way she felt about me, she could just
pack her bags and get ready to move into a housing project ‘cause that’s what
you deserve when you treat God’s people ugly.
    I didn’t lift a
finger to get that flyer. Take that, Henrietta .
     

Chapter 16
     
    Now, y’all know
I didn’t even make it through the night without repenting. Barely made it
through the dinner with Frank without confessing my sin to him. I asked him if
the studio was open on Saturdays, thinking maybe I could go back and get the
paper. I figured the place Henrietta needed to call probably was closed all
weekend anyway. So long as I got the paper to Ophelia by Monday, we wouldn’t
lose no time and none would be the wiser.
    Like I said, I
told the Lord I was sorry about passing up the opportunity to help Henrietta,
and I knew in my heart and by His word that He had heard my prayer. Me and Him
camped out on Ephesians 4:32 for a good fifteen minutes. And be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake
hath forgiven you.
    Then we laughed
together as I flipped through the word looking for a verse that I’d heard
before about overlooking an offense. I couldn’t remember what the verse was, so
I opened up my Bible app on my iPhone and searched the words “overlook
offense.” The phrase popped up in Proverbs 19:11, NIV. A person’s wisdom
yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense .
    Yes, I’d known
all that before I had the ugly moment at the dance studio. But God’s so good.
He’ll lead us to repent, then remind us who we are in Him. Then He’ll give us
another chance to walk out what He already put in us through Christ. All His
ways are good, even when we mess up sometimes. Hallelujah!
    My plan was to
get my hands on that flyer as soon as possible so Ophelia could go ahead with
whatever good plan they could work up for Henrietta. Once I’d done my little
part, I could rest well knowing I had overcome evil with good.
    Well, that was my plan. But God said different.
    I’m usually up
with the hens, but the next morning, my phone did all the wakin’. “B, it’s
Ophelia.”
    I glanced over
at the digital clock. 4:52. “What’s wrong?”
    “It’s Henrietta.
Pastor said her sugar got too high and she slipped into a coma. Her daughter
found her passed out in the house last night. They don’t know how long she been
out. She in ICU and they not sure if she gon’ pull out of it.”
    I threw the
covers back off my body. “What time you plan on goin’?”
    “Around six. I
can pick you up at five-thirty.”
    “Okay. Just blow
the horn. I’ll be ready.”
    I ended the call
and slipped on down to my bedside to pray. Sure is a lot easier to pray for
somebody after you stop holdin’ a grudge in your heart.
     
    Ophelia and I had to sit in the waiting
room while the nurses changed shifts. She had coffee, I had a bottle of orange
juice. I told her about the flyer I’d seen at the studio.
    “Did you bring
it with you?” she wanted to know.
    “No. I was too
mad at Henrietta at the moment. Enemy had me all puffed up, and I fell for it.
The Lord straightened me out, though. Told me to put back on my spiritual
glasses.”
    Ophelia’s such a
good friend. She smiled. “You know that’s the funny thing. We both in our
seventies and, still, we sometimes forget who the real enemy is. Like my granddaughter
told her brother the other week, ‘Why you actin’ brand new?’”
    “Ain’t that the
truth?”
    We finally got
in to see Henrietta at nearly seven. Nearly broke my heart. My long-time church
member, my sister layin’ there in a tangle of tubes. One going down her