Page 20 of Sugarplum Dreams
Wilson closed the door and followed her.
Getting the license had been uneventful, and Wilson was ready to go eat. His stomach was rumbling, and it had already been a big day. He wasn’t used to this much excitement. The idea that Charity didn’t think birth control was biblical had been a shocker to him. He didn’t necessarily agree with her, but he couldn’t think of any verses off the top of his head to argue for his position. If the Bible indicated that birth control was something that people shouldn’t do, he needed to get on board with it, but there was no prohibition against it, of course.
But like Charity said, God believed that children were a reward. And also, if he was trusting God with his life, shouldn’t He trust God with his family size? Wouldn’t God know howmany children to give him? What made him think that he knew better than God?
He had never considered those things before.
“It’s good to see you two today. Thanks for coming on such short notice.”
“I appreciate you being willing to marry us on Christmas.”
“I think Christmas is a perfect day to get married. Although I don’t want to take away from the celebration of Jesus, it is definitely a day to celebrate, and marriage is a reason to celebrate.”
“It sure is,” he agreed easily as Charity nodded.
“Charity, you’ll have to excuse me for a moment while I speak with Wilson about a prior conversation that we had. He admitted that the two of you were getting married, and he called it a marriage of convenience, I believe, without being ‘in love.’” The pastor used finger quotes for that. “And he told me that he didn’t find it in the Bible that a couple needed to be in love. I find myself agreeing with him, except the Bible does command us to love. We just don’t have more than one word for love in our English language, and I believe what most people consider to be ‘in love’ is actually in lust, or in attraction maybe.”
The pastor raised his brows and looked between the two of them.
Wilson nodded, and Charity did as well. He knew the difference between love and lust, and while he had never said “in attraction,” he understood that those were feelings that faded over time. And people should never invest and make plans for the rest of their lives because of the way they felt. That changed.
“I did want to make sure that I pointed out that the Bible does command husbands to love their wives. Now, it’s a different kind of love than what we think about when we say we’re in love.”
Wilson nodded; he knew that.
“So we go to first Corinthians 13, which tells us what true love is. ‘Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth…’
“We often hear that at weddings, and rightly so, because I don’t think that people often realize that love is more than gushy-gushy feelings. There has to be actions—you are kind, you forgive, you are humble, humility may mean accepting less than what you know you deserve, giving up your rights to someone else. That’s probably one of the biggest problems in marriage. Each person is determined to make sure that they get what they deserve.” The pastor paused. “Humility is whenever you know you deserve more, or the other person deserves less, and yet you give up for them. You make sure that you put yourself under them, delivering, giving more than what you need to, sometimes giving everything.”
Wilson sat silent. That kind of thing was not easy. Maybe humility was also admitting that he was wrong or not rubbing it in when he was right. Definitely humility was something that he struggled with, and he figured everyone probably did.
“So the Bible says that love is not proud. You need to remember if you love your wife, you must be humble toward her. You won’t rub it in when she’s wrong or make sure that she knows that you’re better in a certain way. It also means putting her first, because a humble person doesn’t need to be first. That, and kindness, will go a long way toward making a marriage great. So, while I agreed with our discussion that you said that maybe people didn’t need to be in love in order to get married, I do think that people need to promise to love, but to love in the biblical sense, in order for marriage to be great.”
The pastor looked at him, so he said, “I agree. I also agree that it’s not going to be easy. I don’t think that anyone finds it easy, or marriage wouldn’t be such a struggle.”
“The Bible says it’s a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. I think maybe that will be a good thing to keep in mind as well. The church doesn’t think that they can have authority over Christ, and the wife ought not to think that she can have authority over her husband. I know that’s not so popular in many circles, but it’s right here in this verse.”
Pastor Connelly was quiet for a moment, and Wilson resisted the urge to squirm.
“But, in tandem with that, when you think about how much Christ gave for the church, he gave himself, his very life for the church, he loved it that much. The husband actually has an almost impossible task set before him. To love his wife the way Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. So yes, it’s true that the wife is not to usurp authority over the man, and there are no stipulations on that. I know that modern-day people would have it to be so, but there just aren’t. But that’s why it’s important for a woman to choose wisely when she chooses a husband.” The pastor smiled at Charity. “And just in case you’re wondering, I feel like you’ve chosen wisely. I’ve known Wilson for many years now, and I’ve found him to be an upright man who wants to please the Lord. If there is anyone who will treat you the way Christ has treated the church, Wilson will. Of course, I can’t guarantee the way the future will go. Sometimes people who are good decide they don’t want to be good anymore. Sometimes people fall away. That’s just the way human nature is. And there are no guarantees.”
That was a little depressing, and Wilson didn’t exactly enjoy hearing it, although it was true. Absolutely true. No one could determine what would happen in the future, only God knew that. Even a person couldn’t say for sure whether or not they wouldfall away. Whether they would stop following the Lord and decide to live for themselves. It was sad, but true.
“All right. I don’t want to take any more of your time. I know both of you are busy, and I understand you’re heading out to lunch, which is probably a rare occurrence for you, Miss Charity.” The pastor smiled benevolently at her.
“It is. I can’t remember the last time I went out to eat. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Wilson was so glad he had suggested it. She actually did look excited and happy. Maybe relieved, now that some of the burden for everything that had been going on in her life was taken off her shoulders. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he thought she looked younger. Definitely more carefree. It made him happy that he had been able to do that, but his role was far, far from over. He was taking on the biggest challenge of his life, and it wasn’t just him who was involved, there were six other souls who would be looking to him to provide and protect and to be the man of God that they deserved to have in their lives.
He couldn’t think about that too long, because the responsibility was almost overwhelming. But where God called, He equipped, and he had to believe that.
It wasn’t too long before they shook hands with the pastor and made their way out of the study. One of Wilson’s goals was to get to know Charity and to develop a relationship with her. He didn’t know if falling in love was something that would happen between them, and he supposed he didn’t really care. He wanted…wanted a relationship built on mutual respect and admiration. And love. The biblical kind.
Chapter Ten
“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Charity said as they walked out of the pastor’s house and turned right toward one of the many restaurants in town.
“Yeah, it could have been a lot worse. Like longer. Did you hear my stomach growling?”
