Sex in the Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF

acquiescent mind. He grabbed his dick and rubbed it against her, higher at first and then lower and lower, positioning himself for entry. Could it be? he thought as a slight layer of perspiration broke out on his brow, and his heartbeat quickened. Suddenly Hope’s hand was against his chest.
    “Shawn,” she whispered, a mixture of longing and fear in her voice, “do you love me?”
    “With all my heart,” he answered. And the two became one.
    Life had been heavenly after Hope gave herself to Shawn. She was sure that marriage was their relationship’s destiny, even though no date had been set or ring given. But the summer after Shawn’s graduation, several months into this new level of their relationship, Hope noticed a change in his behavior toward her. It was almost imperceptible at first, like asmell that you notice but can’t quite define. There were sudden and unexplainable mood swings. They spent more and more time apart. Hope grew worried and questioned Shawn about the way he was acting. He became agitated. She did, too. Hope had thought by now they’d be making wedding plans.
    Summer passed. Shawn announced plans to relocate to Dallas and pursue a career in sports broadcasting. It wasn’t that Hope hadn’t known about his desire for such a career; she’d often encouraged it. It was the fact that she didn’t find out he actually had a job and was leaving until two weeks before he got on the plane.
    The signs became even more glaring once he moved. For instance, he insisted she not come down, saying he needed to get settled first and focus on his career. When after two months she still wasn’t welcome, Hope asked if he was seeing someone else. He was, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader named Tiffany. Hope never saw his apartment. Six months after this heartbreaking news and mere weeks after graduating from college with a degree in English, she moved to Kansas City.
    Hope was sure she’d heard God this time. As soon as she put the wheels in motion to leave Tulsa and the experience with Shawn behind her, good things began to happen. She’d been devastated by their breakup, but was determined to move on with her life. Rather than pining away about a past that could not be changed, she threw her energy into creating a new, more favorable future. However, a lesson had been learned. Hope would not compromise her beliefs with another man. She wouldn’t get ahead of God. The next time she made love, she’d be married.
    She’d barely put her resume on the Internet before receiving calls to schedule interviews. Then, as God would have it, a cousin she hadn’t seen in ten years and who was the assistant to a human resources director ran across her resume. Amonth later, she was putting her English degree to work as a copy editor for the city’s newspaper, the Kansas City Star .
    It was this same cousin, Frieda Moore, who’d told her about Mount Zion. Hope had asked her about churches within days of her arrival. Although not a member, Frieda had attended Mount Zion with friends a few times and had enjoyed the new way they told an old story. The preacher was forty-ish and fine. And they had a band, a real live band that backed up the choir. “Sometimes,” Frieda had gushed enthusiastically, “it feels more like a party than church!” Hope had smiled at this comparison. A Holy Ghost party was right up her alley.
    From the time Hope hit the steps of Mount Zion, she knew she’d found her church home. It wasn’t just the music, a wonderful blend of contemporary and classic gospel that was audible a block away from the church, but also the feeling that enveloped Hope the moment she parked her car and stepped into the parking lot. It was the smiles on the faces of the other people entering the sanctuary, the joy that pulsated up the steps and down the aisle as she entered. It was the courtesy and warmth that exuded from the usher as she placed a program in Hope’s hand and led her up the aisle. It was the hug from