No ‘Moore’ Mess- Chapter Twelve (Serial Version)
Chapter Twelve- Nancy (Moore) Kobayashi Has A Boyfriend
Nancy and Richard enjoyed the long drive home. They chatted about several subjects. They teased each other as they traveled. The pair were having fun until Nancy went too far with a jab.
“You certainly are a choir boy, aren’t you?”
“Now that’s not very nice.”
“Sorry. It’s just you really are some sort of a saint.”
It was true Richard was one of the few good men. He hated the connotation he was somehow perfect because he was a Christian. Richard knew that was not true.
“I don’t know about ‘choir boy,’ but I seek to live the right way. I would like to think in a way that makes my God proud.”
God or Richard’s way of life didn’t impress Nancy. She had no use for religion or religious nuts in her adult life. Nancy burst into song as she sped down the highway.
“Choir boy!”
If Richard had a nickel for every time he got a similar insult, he would be a millionaire. People teased him for being Christian without a second thought. He felt Nancy meant no real harm. At least, he hoped she didn’t.
“It’s not a crime to believe in Jesus, you know?”
“I know. I grew up going to church. My mother made me go, especially after my mother’s health trouble. She thought prayer would make everything turn out all right.”
“Did it?”
“Did my mom look all right to you? God’s a fraud.”
“That’s not true, Nancy. He is real.”
“Then, he hates me. That’s for sure.”
“Nancy, God loves everyone, especially you.”
Nancy turned up the radio as she sped up to pass a few cars on the highway. Nancy stared straight ahead at the highway. She was done with this conversation.
“Let’s change the subject, okay Richard?”
“Fine with me.”
Richard ran into his share of unbelievers over the years. He found himself outnumbered in many situations. He let it go most of the time. Richard adored Nancy, but her stance on God troubled him.
“You don’t believe in God?”
“No.”
“At all?”
“At — all.”
Nancy once more turned up the radio. This time to a near ear-piercing volume level. Richard took the hint. He looked out the window as his mind wandered to his past.
Richard’s mother raised him better, and he knew it. Richard’s parents, Bob and Linda, were proud of him when he took his first missionary post in Africa. His family had always been close.
His mother cried every year when Richard returned to his little African countryside home after each long summer vacation in America. Richard’s heart and his life were committed to Jesus and saving “the lost souls of Africa.”
Richard first came to Africa as a volunteer while he was a college student. He accepted an English teaching job in the same little village. He had the good fortune of finding a wonderful girlfriend named Emily during the first year of his teaching stint.
They were the perfect couple. Emily was a beautiful girl from Spirit Lake, Iowa. She was a nurse in a volunteer program helping to stamp out diseases in the area. It was a dangerous job, but Emily was unafraid.
“If the good Lord calls me Home, I’m ready to go. But I’m in no hurry, that’s for sure.”
Emily’s faith was something Richard admired. He had been a Christian for years. His faith was not as strong as Emily’s belief in the Almighty. She helped him find a stronger connection with God. Emily pulled no punches.
“It’s one thing to believe in God. But it is quite another to put God first in all things. Until you do, your path will remain unclear, Richard.”
“But how do I know what my path is?”
“It’s not your path, it’s God’s path for you that you should be searching for.”
Richard and Emily had deep conversations over the next year. The pair found themselves attracted to each other. One evening at dinner Emily looked at Richard, and she smiled.
“You know, I’ve been thinking. We could make you and me a permanent thing in the eyes of our precious Lord and Savior. What would you think about that?”
“Are you asking me to marry you?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you say ‘yes’ or not.”
“I see.”
“Well?”
“Yes.”
The pair were deeply conservative Christians. This was also true of Emily’s family. She grew up with rigid rules about courtship and marriage. No physical contact permitted before marriage. Emily reached out her hand, and she held Richard’s hand in hers.
“But I thought you said your father didn’t allow that.”
“True. But do you see my father around?”
Richard laughed. He could not believe this rebel was his future wife. He teased her faux deceit.
“Wow! Look at you Little Miss Rule Breaker. Quite the troublemaker you are.”
“Stop that now.”
The happy pair called their families to tell them the good news. Emily’s father asked Emily if she was following his rules. She tried hard not to lie.
“Papa, I know what the rules are.”
“That’s my good girl. You’re the best. Love you.”
“Ditto, dad.”
Emily hoped God and her beloved father would forgive her for a little white lie. Richard’s parents were delighted. His mother was thrilled to see her son finally find someone special.
“That’s great news, son. See God is good.”
“No mom, God is great.”
It took some doing, but Richard got the money for two round-trip plane tickets back to America for the wedding. He asked his mother to sell his beloved comic book collection. And she did.
His mother wired him the money to pay for the tickets. Emily wondered how he got the cash. Richard lovingly mocked the sage advice Emily gave to him.
“Oh you know like you always say, ‘God will provide.’”
The truth was Emily would have never let him sell his comic book collection. He talked about how he and his older brother, Chris, went to garage sales every Saturday. Chris and the comic book collection meant a great deal to Richard.
Chris died at 23 years-old. He was a graduate student when he went out with some friends one Friday night. Finals were over, and everyone was celebrating. It was a grand time. Chris had a black and tan, and he came home.
His long-time boyfriend found him the next morning dead in his bed. They never discovered Chris’ cause of death. The incident shocked the entire university community. The doctors said it was one of those things, “That just happens.”
Richard took his brother’s death hard. He stopped going to church. His mother prayed with her youngest son every evening before bed. She lost one son to heaven. Linda Presser was not going to lose the other to the devil.
“Lord, we ask you to bless Richard. And we pray you let him discover a path back to you. Amen.”
“And amen.”
It took another year before Richard came back to church. He felt, “the pull of the Lord.” Well, that and there was a pretty girl who invited him to church. The girl had a boyfriend, but once Richard returned to church, he stayed.
He found his calling as a missionary. His family was proud of him for finding meaning in his life at a young age. Richard hoped Chris forgave him for selling off their collection for his wedding.
Three weeks before the pair was scheduled to leave for America, there was a virus outbreak in a remote village up the river. Emily’s medical unit was dispatched to the area. The pair said their final goodbyes at the dock early the next morning.
“You be careful out there. The world is a dangerous place.”
“No worries. God is good.”
“No God is great.”
“Richard, wait.”
“What?”
Emily reached over and kissed Richard right on the mouth. Richard enjoyed it, but Emily’s forwardness shocked him. He worried about her father’s wrath.
“But what about the rules?”
“It’s okay. I’ll ask for forgiveness later.”
The pair embraced, and they kissed. Richard moved towards Emily as she smiled. He kissed her a final time.
“I guess we both will have some repenting to do later.”
“I’ll see you when I get back my love.”
“I’ll be waiting for you my heart.”
Emily never came back. Three days later Emily’s rescue boat was going down the river when it was ambushed by some local raiders. Everyone on the team was shot dead and thrown into the river. The incident made the international news. They never found Emily’s body.
The director of the medical team broke the terrible news to Richard the next day. It was a brutal reality check for the young man. The director broke into tears as he delivered the terrible news.
“I’m sorry Richard. Emily’s gone. But they said she prayed right up until the end.”
He was distraught over Emily’s death. He went to America. There was little choice because the airplane tickets were non-refundable. Emily came to him in a vision on the airplane. Like always, she offered him counsel and hope for his future.
Richard knew God’s path for him. He devoted his life to God and missionary work. Nancy knew none of this about Richard. In fact, she was the first girl he dated in years. Despite her gruff exterior, he found something special about her.
“Moron! I’m driving here.”
Richard was brought back to reality by the sound of Nancy screaming at another car. The driver in front of her cut her off as she got off the freeway. Nancy was irate. Richard was petrified by her ‘Moore’ anger.
“Take it easy Nancy. It happens. Just let it go.”
“No! That jerk. He needs to learn how to drive. I’m going to teach him a lesson.”
Nancy pursued the offending car. The cars blew through several red lights and a school zone. Richard thought they were going to die or worse kill someone. He made one final, desperate plea to his girlfriend to come to her senses.
“Please, Nancy. That’s enough. Stop. For me. Please.”
Nancy caught her beet-red-reflection in her car’s rear view mirror. She lifted her foot off the accelerator, and she pulled the car off to the shoulder of the highway. Richard took the key out of the ignition as Nancy cried.
“I’m so sorry. I have no idea where all that came from. It builds inside me until it explodes, are you okay?”
“I’m good. But don’t you think it’s time to deal with your emotions in a more productive way?”
“That sure would be better.”
Richard led Nancy in prayer in the car for the next 15 minutes. Nancy confessed her sins, and she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Richard beseeched God to aid Nancy in her journey to quell her ‘Moore’ anger.
“Lord, we would ask as Nancy seeks to deal with her anger you serve as a beacon of hope. We ask you to give her the strength and faith to conquer the demons residing within her mind. Amen.”
“And amen.”
“You could start going to church with me again.”
“I suppose, that’s a good idea.”
Nancy went to church the next Sunday and every one after for years. She appreciated Richard’s support in getting her ‘Moore’ anger under control. Unfortunately, the pair didn’t work out in the end. Richard broke the news to Nancy as gently as possible.
“I’ve got to follow God’s path for me. You know?”
Nancy took the news hard. She nodded, and she let out a painful sigh. Richard held her in his arms as they spoke. His news was not unexpected. Nancy knew it was possible he would return to missionary work in a foreign country.
“I know.”
Richard’s superiors ordered him to Africa for a new assignment. He considered asking Nancy to accompany him, but Richard knew her life and career was too much for her to give up for him. He didn’t bring up the idea.
Nancy was glad Richard didn’t ask her to go. She loved Richard, but she was not “in love” with him. She was okay with his decision. Relationships run their courses, and people choose to move in other directions. That’s the way life goes.
Richard and Nancy’s time together was at its end, but there was no ‘Moore’ anger building within Nancy’s once cold heart at the prospect of breaking up with Richard. She was a confident woman who was in control of her emotions. Nancy changed, and her life was a happy one with or without a man.
The pair exchanged emails for several months before they lost touch. The last Nancy knew, Richard married a beautiful girl from the local village. Nancy was delighted for him, and humbled when Richard and his wife named their daughter Nancy.
