A Test of Faith

“We’re going to be late for church!” Gayle called from the bottom of the stairs to her husband. She impatiently tapped her fingertips on the top of the curved, mahogany banister and sighed. It had been five minutes since she watched Joshua wolf down the remainder of his chicken fajita omelet and jot upstairs.

“I’ll be down in a minute!” he called back to her.

Gayle restlessly walked over to the elegantly carved fireplace mantel. She tenderly gazed at the wooden framed wedding photograph that rested between two delicately scented primrose pillar candles. By the glazed look in her eyes, it was as if she was reliving that moment in time from four years ago. The elegant gown she wore as she stood next to her college sweetheart was a flawless fit for a perfect day.

Joshua had made her the happiest woman in the world when he had arranged a private engagement party nearly five years ago at the place where they first met on campus. She remembered the scene all too well when he got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife. Gayle could hardly contain herself when he pulled the sparkling engagement ring from his front pant pocket and slipped it on her finger. The glimmer she had in her eyes on that day was the same gleam she held when they stood before God on their special day and promised to love one another until death.

“I can’t find my checkbook!” Joshua shouted, chasing Gayle’s nostalgic memories away. “I know I had it yesterday.”

Gayle’s fingers froze as her lips unconsciously parted. She allowed her purse to fall from the bend in her elbow down to the floor of their spacious home. She rushed to the office located just around the corner from her husband’s elaborate trophy room and flung the door open. Gayle’s glitzy silk wrapped heels clamored rapidly across the natural stone flooring while the outer skirt of her mauve and grey A-line dress flowed in the wind. When she reached the large computer desk overlooking the colorful, picturesque back lawn, Gayle frantically rummaged through the loose papers on the cluttered desk for Joshua’s bank book.

Each time Gayle pushed a stack of papers aside, she mumbled, “No, no, no…”