Rooms - James L. Rubart [89]
“I have two serious cravings,” Micah said as they walked hand in hand toward Haystack Rock.
“For?”
“S’mores and s’more of you.”
“Bad pun, bad, Micah. Really, really bad.” Sarah snuggled her head into his shoulder. “That doesn’t mean I don’t agree.”
Twenty minutes later they sat on the bluff in front of Micah’s house burning marshmallows and sticking them in between graham crackers and squares of chocolate.
“S’mores are better with dark chocolate,” Sarah said.
“Not a chance.” Micah stuffed the last of his third s’more into his mouth.
“So, if you get married someday, will you let your kids make their own choices? Whether to put milk or dark chocolate into their s’mores?”
Micah put another marshmallow on his homemade roasting stick and held it close to where the coals burned red. “How many kids do you want?”
Sarah stared into the fire and swallowed. “Who says I want any?”
“No one. But if you did?”
Sarah pulled off the shell of a burnt marshmallow revealing the pure-white sugar ball underneath. “Three. One boy, one girl, and one for chance to decide.”
“Sounds perfect.” Micah sat in the beautiful awkwardness of what they had just said to each other without really saying it and smiled. He wondered what Sarah was thinking. But not really. He knew. At least he hoped he did.
After he finished his fourth s’more, he pulled her close and gave her a kiss that lingered on his lips long after he pulled away. “Life would be utterly incomplete without you.”
“I agree.” She buried her head in his chest and held him tight.
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Micah went to bed that night feeling better than he had in days. Being around Sarah always settled him. He’d said life would be incomplete without her, but a more accurate description was she completed his life like no woman ever had. The next time he was in Seattle, he’d have to stop by E.E. Robbins. Just to see what kind of engagement rings were out there.
Sarah, his relationship with the Lord, his friendship with Rick, the beauty of Cannon Beach—RimSoft could wait. Couldn’t it? The problem was, there was no way to know for sure. Parts of his world up there could vanish without him knowing it till he got there. A sliver of fear worked its way into his mind.
He needed Archie’s next letter to be a good one.
September 13, 1991
Dear Micah,
Again I give you just one verse from Scripture today as the whole content of this letter. But it is a verse full of power and desire.
“God Almighty will be your treasure, more wealth than you can imagine.” (Job 22:25 The Message)
After you allow this piece of Scripture to sink down into your heart, I trust you will know which room you are to go to. Inside that room is the treasure of the Kingdom. Let me repeat myself: The treasure of God’s Kingdom is contained in that room.
Joining in His relentless love toward you,
Archie
Micah sat on his deck for a long time, meditating on the verse. He wanted to leap up and rush to the brilliant room, but he restrained himself, knowing the verse Archie had given him was not to be simply read but digested and savored before being acted on.
After an hour he rose from his chair, walked inside and upstairs to the door he longed to enter. The room had captured his mind, emotions, and deep parts of his heart. He had little doubt answers were inside.
Since his entry partway into the door two weeks ago, there had been no progress. He hadn’t even been able to get that far again, and the door remained ordinary wood. But now, with Archie’s letter and the verse as support, he held on to the hope that this time he would enter completely.
Reaching the top of the stairs, he saw movement on the surface of the door. Colors swirled like a slow-spinning galaxy of gold and silver. He pressed forward as if his feet were in honey. The instant the index finger of his left hand touched the door, he was caught up in a whirlpool of warmth, and his eyes closed involuntarily.
Peace consumed him. There were no cares, no worries, only an overwhelming