Just Past Oysterville: Shoalwater Book One by Perry P. Perkins

Author:Perry P. Perkins
Format: epub
Tags: christian, fiction, forgiveness, grace, oysterville, perkins, shoalwater

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Eight and a half hours later Jack was yawning and rubbing his eyes as he walked out of the coffee shop and down the street to the front door of the Long Beach Community Church.

A sandblasted wooden sign hung above the front lawn of the church, proudly displaying its name, Pastor Karl Ferguson's name, and the proclamation that LBCC was ASpirit Filled Fellowship.

Jack smiled at this.

If the sign didn't give it away, the sound of amplified guitars and drums pouring out the open windows, every Sunday morning, would have made it clear to anyone passing within a block (or two) of the building.

Karl Ferguson shook Jack's hand with a wide grin and a twinkle in his eyes. It was no surprise to anyone that Pastor Ferguson had been elected to wear the Santa suit in the Christmas parade every year for the last decade. Vivid sky blue eyes did little to draw the on-lookers attention away from a large bulbous nose, bushy beard, and the unruly shock of white hair that framed both sides of his shiny, bald head.

At sixty-one, a lifetime of sea winds and smiles had etched deep lines into his face, and the stocky, athletic build he had sported as a young soldier had softened and spread over the years. He still walked with the limp caused by German rifle fire on the beach at Normandy in June of 1944.

World War II had lasted only a month for Karl Ferguson, but his eighteen hours on the French sands of Omaha Beach would be carried with him, like with the shrapnel in his knee, for the rest of his life.

The two men sat at the Pastor's worn, pinewood desk and covered the preliminaries over cups of strong black tea.

Jack told about his youth, growing up on the peninsula and working with his boyhood friends at the Beckman Oyster Farm. His mug was refilled from a steaming copper pot as he spoke briefly about his time in Vietnam, and finding God as a lonely, frightened soldier.

Karl Ferguson listened closely, interrupted occasionally, and nodded often and knowingly. Jack talked about his years at Bible College, covering the basics: grades, classes, and the like. This led to a brief review of his year as a missionary in Africa, which led back to Long Beach.

After twenty minutes, Jack ran out of words, having covered his personal biography from birth to their present meeting in less than half an hour.

The moment of silence stretched into two as Karl poured himself a second cup of tea and settled his girth back into his groaning chair. Blue eyes studied Jack from beneath an explosion of bushy white eyebrows, as the older man stirred his tea and formed the only question he would ask his applicant.

"Tell me Jack," he asked finally, setting his cup down, "What is God's will for your life?"

Jack paused, taken aback by the directness of the question. God's will for his life? He had expected to be asked about his education, his philosophy of ministry, maybe even why he felt called to Long Beach Community Church.

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