Hearts in Harmony. Gail Sattler

waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. He noticed Adrian didn’t say anything, either.

      Paul blinked again. “I can’t believe this. You, Celeste, are the answer to our prayers.”

      Celeste remained silent.

      Paul lowered his bass guitar into the stand. “If you can’t tell, we really need you. The church needs you.”

      “But…”

      Paul raised his palms to silence her protests. “I don’t want to pressure you, but—”

      “Oh, come on!” Adrian burst out. He stood between Paul and Celeste, his arms crossed over his chest. “You guys haven’t left her alone from the moment she walked in the door! Talk about pressure. She’s only just met you guys. And Randy, playing all your cute little tricks to get her sympathy. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.”

      “But…but…” Randy stammered, then turned to Celeste. “I think you can see the difference you made. You heard us on Sunday.”

      Paul watched the color drain from Celeste’s cheeks as she and Randy faced off. “But what about you?” she asked. “You’re the one playing the keyboard. You’re doing okay. Really. You are.”

      Randy cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair, an indication that for once, Randy was being serious. “Don’t try to be nice. I listened to the tapes, so I know what I sound like. That’s why I just quit, remember? My job is the sound system. That’s what I like to do best. We need you on the piano.”

      Celeste stood staring at Randy with her mouth hanging open.

      Paul turned his head to Bob, who had said nothing the entire time. One corner of Bob’s mouth turned up, he glanced at Randy, and shrugged. “I think she sounded great, too.” Bob turned to Celeste. “It’s up to you, though.”

      Paul shook his head. “I know this is rather sudden for you. Tell you what. If you decide to take up residence with our little church, think about joining our worship team.”

      “But I’ve never been on a worship team before. I don’t even know most of the songs.”

      “You did fine on the last one with no practice. I have a feeling you could be teaching us, even on the ones you supposedly don’t know. Did your old church not do contemporary songs?”

      “Actually, I haven’t been going to church very long. That’s why I don’t know very many.”

      Paul knitted his brows as he tried to think. He’d been asking God for a long time to do something with their worship team. They weren’t very good, but they were the best the church had.

      He turned to study Celeste. On the previous Sunday he’d been surprised when Adrian hadn’t sat with them during the morning service. Now he knew why. Because Paul wanted to see this person who had pulled his friend away, he was more than happy when they had all sat together for the evening service.

      He shouldn’t have, but he’d paid more attention to Celeste than he had to the pastor. She was obviously unfamiliar with the flow of the service, yet she showed a lot of enthusiasm over things Paul had long considered routine. She’d even taken notes when Pastor Ron was speaking, something Paul hadn’t done for a long time. Watching her had been a sad reminder of how easily complacency crept in.

      He told himself that was about to change.

      “I know you’re not sure, but I think it could work. We need you, and I think this is a good place for you to fit in, even though you’re new. I’d really like it if we could all pray about it. Together. Right now.”

      She glanced back and forth between all the guys. “Well… I guess so.”

      Celeste followed the men into the living room, unable to believe what was happening. She did want to join their worship team. The strength of that realization took her breath away. Because she’d been working on becoming a professional musician, all God’s music touched her.

      But she hadn’t been a Christian long enough to know about things like this. Not only was she a newcomer to this church, she was a newcomer to God’s family. In addition to her new faith, everything in her life was in a state of flux. Because she tried to keep to herself, she wasn’t even sure she was worshipping God properly. She had no one to ask if she was doing it right.

      She doubted she was ready for the responsibility of being part of a team whose purpose was to lead others to praise and to worship God. Paul appeared to be a strong leader, so she would be under his tutelage, but she didn’t know if that was enough.

      Adrian and his friends sat on the couch and loveseat, leaving the easy chair for her.

      Prior to praying with Adrian before they ate, and besides church, the only other time she’d prayed with someone else had been with her mother’s neighbor, the woman who’d told her all about God. She’d never prayed in a small group.

      All the men folded their hands in their laps.

      “Let’s pray,” Paul said, and everyone bowed their heads.

      The room fell silent. Celeste covered her face with her hands and bared her soul to God. She told Him how much being a part of their team would fill her empty heart, more than replacing what she had given up. She praised Him for the new friendships she could see, beginning with Adrian and his friends. She had liked them all immediately. And strangely enough, she trusted them as a group. Singly, that might be different, but when they were all together, she’d never felt more safe.

      From her first step into Faith Community Fellowship, she’d experienced an instant peace. She knew she’d gone to the right place.

      Adrian’s voice broke the silence. “Dear Heavenly Father. I pray for your guidance for Celeste as she makes her decision. I pray for your kindness and mercy upon her in this, and every area of her life. Thank you for your blessings and continued love, today, and forever.”

      “Amen,” Paul said softly.

      Celeste sat straight, trying to maintain her composure. “Yes,” she said, failing in her attempt to keep a tremor out of her voice. “I do want to be a part of this team. As long as it doesn’t matter that I haven’t been a Christian very long.”

      Paul smiled at her, his brown eyes sparkling with warmth. Just as with Adrian, she felt comfortable with him.

      “That’s great,” Paul said. “The only thing we have to do is talk to Pastor Ron. And then he’ll probably want to talk to you, too.”

      Celeste’s heart went cold. “The pastor is going to want to talk to me?”

      Paul nodded. “It will be just so he can get to know you a little, and, if I can be blunt, to know your heart is in the right place. It won’t matter that you haven’t been a Christian long. God doesn’t have a trial waiting period. He takes you just as you are, just so long as your heart and soul are open to Him. And so will Pastor Ron.”

      Celeste forced herself to smile. She wasn’t foolish enough to think just anyone who said they were a Christian and a good musician would be able to go up to the front and lead the congregation in worship. Pastor Ron would want to do more than just say hello. He would want to know about her, know something about her life before she walked in the door of his church.

      She had fooled herself in thinking that if she didn’t talk about it, it would go away. Now she would have to tell him everything, even though it was the last conversation she ever wanted to have.