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Staying on the Vine

By Gordon Castelnero

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CHAPTER 1
n a blistering hot morning in early July, a baby is about to be born. It is a moment in time that Nick and Lindsay Robinson had yearned for in their soon-to-be mid-lives. Drenched by a shower of sweat, in a sterile hospital room, Lindsay struggles to give birth. Her loving husband stands by helplessly, witnessing every second of her agony. It has been twenty-six hours since she went into labor the day before; they have just endured a long night under a half- shadowed blood moon. With the sound of the unborn child’s heartbeat echoing from the fetal monitor, the young maternity nurse coaches Lindsay to keep pushing, yet her face expresses a degree of concern. Lindsay, the spunky blonde whose own heart is as big as the world, clutches the strong hand of her dark-featured spouse, suddenly panicked about the delay of their baby’s arrival. Responding to her fears, Nick comforts his wife by reminding her, “Our long-awaited blessing from God is almost here.” Tired and tearful, Lindsay nods affectionately to her husband—before letting loose the most alarming shriek imaginable. Just then, the doctor on duty rushes into the room. An older man with peppery gray hair and a mustache to match, he quickly ushers the nurse aside to investigate the patient’s stalled delivery. After a brief manual exam, he diagnoses the problem. “The baby’s head is stuck in your opening,” he explains to Lindsay. He then consults with both expectant parents. “We have a few options at our disposal.” “What are they?” Nick asks. “We can try forceps, or a vacuum extraction…” The blood drains from the couple’s faces as they look at one another in horror at the thought of resorting to such grisly procedures.
“We can also keep trying for a natural birth,” the doctor continues, “but your baby’s face is likely to be badly bruised, with the probable chance of a broken collarbone, too.” The sound of the doctor’s voice rings with disparagement in the ears of the Robinsons. Every word from the physician’s lips stings with an authoritative reality that seems utterly bleak. This is not what they want to hear. This is not what they have prayed for. And this is definitely not what they believe to be the promise of God for their baby’s life. With that in mind, their faith guides them into a glimmer of hope. “Your only other option is an emergency C-section,” the doctor suggests. With mere seconds to make a decision that will impact the outcome of their family, their future, and their faith, the mature newlyweds gaze deeply into each other’s eyes, their entire lives flashing before them.
#
Over a year earlier, Lindsay Kish had been battling with the pressure of maintaining the perfect body image, pressure that society places on many women. As she approached forty years of age, every day was filled with reminders of what women “ought” to look like by the media. To her, the Barbie doll–like models on magazine covers, on TV, and in movies were not reality. They reflected a physical form that was nowhere to be found in her DNA. She knew that men judged her by her appearance, but she kept the hope that one day a man would step into her life and look beyond her “packaging” to embrace the hidden jewel wrapped inside her soul. Following a bitter breakup with her boyfriend, Lindsay went to her local church in suburban Detroit, as she normally did on Sunday mornings. Yet this time, she went with an agenda invisible to the world—but not from God. The breakup with her boyfriend had taught her something that she didn’t know about herself: the difference
between needing and wanting. She had always felt she needed a man to complete her, but her battle with her weight only led to wars with the men she dated. Even in the church, the “singles” ministry was primed into a blatant meat market stocked with hefty gals and shallow guys. The need for earthly love seemed to lead to a lonely street of emptiness. On this Sunday, Lindsay accepted that she would never be satisfied if her desire for love was always rooted in need. Maybe if it was more of a want, the chance of a blossoming romance would grow. This had already changed her perception dramatically as she began to become more comfortable in her own skin. And with the strength of God to lean upon, she knew He just might answer the prayer she made from her seat before the service began, as people poured into the auditorium. In an unknown moment of synchronicity, on the other side of town from Lindsay, Nick Robinson felt unhinged by the damage he endured from a temptress who systematically showed him the ugly truth behind his appearance-obsessed world. He wasn’t dealing with the first femme fatale in his life, just the latest, and to his reality—the worst! His stoic exterior masked his compartmentalized, pornographic viewpoint of women. They were objects of pleasure in his mind, which affected his judgment, and consequently led to the temporary punishment God had placed on him. A lifetime of nurturing eye candy had caused him to crash—spiritually, emotionally, and financially. His most recent girlfriend had bled him to death for a year, and his only way to stop the financial hemorrhaging had been to give her the boot. On Christmas Day, months later, Nick lay in bed alone within the walls of his bland home, in tears. The loneliness he felt gnawed at him, in direct contradiction to what Andy Williams sang was supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year.” It was like a virus without a cure. He was in his early forties and felt like he had
nothing to show for it. All of his friends and relatives had families with whom they could celebrate the birth of Christ, but Nick had no one. He knew that his objectification of women had everything to do with his current demise. So, who would feel sorry for him? Who would rescue him? At his age, could he even start over, or was it simply too late? Closing his eyes, he poured out his heart and soul to the Lord; begging for another chance to have the life he had squandered away for the better part of his adult years.
#
Online dating is a thriving business. But as much as the sites advertise booming success, there’s a plethora of unglorified horror stories told every day by word of mouth. At one time, Nick had thought about giving it a try, as he was intrigued by the photos of the women in the ads. They appealed to his physical criteria, which was dictated by his insatiable lust. His philosophy concerning women was typical of most men, as he placed them in one of two categories: the kind you marry and the kind you just want for sex. Believing that a Christian website might hold the key to fulfilling both of these needs in a single step, he decided to hunt for a “nice girl” whom his family would adore, but who he would secretly try to corrupt, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. He created a profile on the Meeting Christian Singles website, before a minor squall of morality took heed of his senses, forcing him to rethink his actions. Yet within days of his Christmas prayer, he sat down at his computer to surf the Net when a pop-up appeared on his screen advertising the Meeting Christian Singles site. In his present fragile state of mind, he thought that perhaps this was God’s response to his heartfelt prayer. This time he completed his profile, then wrote notes to a few women whose pictures he liked. His preference had always been exotic women of the brunette variety. So of course, they were the ones he pursued on the site. But
one girl who was pictured in a tight headshot caught his eye. Her blond hair and brown eyes didn’t match his touchstone, but there was something about her warm smile that compelled him to send a charmingly poetic note.
#
Lindsay had never liked the idea of online dating, for all of the same reasons that most people shy away from looking for love on the Internet. You never knew who or what you would meet on the other end of a keyboard. Too many of her friends had met frauds looking for sexual hookups. And since the church’s singles ministry had been such a letdown, her newfound independence had become more solidified. However, she knew God’s plan was not for people to stay single, as He had created the institution of marriage. Thus, she hoped that her life would someday be shared with someone—but because she wanted it, not because she needed it. Vegging out in front of the television one night, in the wake of the prayer for love she had made in church, she saw a commercial for the Meeting Christian Singles website. With clouds of skepticism floating through her mind, she pondered the idea of whether or not this was the answer to her prayer. Keeping in mind that nothing was guaranteed in life, other than its daily troubles, Lindsay impulsively decided to take the gamble. Seated at her computer in the spare bedroom of her elegantly decorated home, she created a profile page. As she neared completion, with only a photograph left to upload, she hesitated at the thought of what kind of picture to post. She scrolled through her database of stored photos, but none of them were to her liking—the obvious reason being that anything recent would reveal her plus-sized figure. She finally chose one with a flattering smile, and then, using an image program installed on her hard drive, she cropped her body out of the photo.
In just a matter of days, she started receiving notes from would-be matches. None of them were to her taste, though, which canceled any chance of her going out on her “dream date.” After several weeks of dodging prospective nightmare matches, Lindsay contemplated her gullibility in falling for the dating site’s TV gimmick. The last thing she wanted was to spend the holidays dealing with creeps who would likely have an unexpected “emergency” after meeting her in person, or worse, ones who didn’t understand the meaning of the word no. With New Year’s Day on the horizon, Lindsay decided it was time to delete her profile. A new year meant a fresh start, and she wanted to erase the embarrassment of her failed attempt at online dating. As predictable as the sunrise every morning, there was one last letter in her in-box waiting to be opened before she canceled the account. It was from a slightly older, well-tanned man with dark eyes and dark hair. His name was Nick. Intrigued by his handsome picture, she clicked on his carefully worded note and read it attentively. Immediately questioning the sincerity of his letter, Lindsay invited her mother over for a valued opinion that very day. Even though Lindsay had evolved into a spiritually mature woman, her troubled history with men warranted some parental advice, and she trusted her mom’s good instincts. Both women stared at the monitor screen. “Looks like he put a lot of thought into this note,” Mrs. Kish concluded. “I know…it’s very different from all the others,” Lindsay replied. “That’s why I wanted you to see it. I can’t tell if he’s sincere or not.” “He’s certainly the best-looking one of the bunch.” “Yeah…and that’s what makes me nervous. What’s he going to say when he sees the rest of me?” “If he took the time to write such a creative letter, maybe there’s more to him than that. You won’t know until you try. Just write him a short note, and keep it light.” Soon after her mother left, Lindsay composed an e-mail to Nick,
keeping her expectations low. At the break of dawn the next day, though, she crawled out of bed to check her in-box. A brief response awaited her from Nick asking to chat, via instant message, later that night. Feeling safe behind a computer connection, Lindsay accepted his invitation for a cyber chat.

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