The Bride Experiment

by Mimi Jefferson

  Tisha turned to Joan and Lila. Joan continued to eat. Tisha said, “Ladies, it has been a few years since we joined The Single Sister Experiment. We wanted to know what would happen if we gave up sex. Well, it took us a while to be obedient and we went through more drama than a little bit. It seemed as if we would not find our way. But God saw fit for us not only to find our way, but to make it to His side with our friendship in tact.

  “Thank you, Lila and Joan, for walking this walk with me. Thank you for listening to me when I couldn’t stop talking about my mother’s death, or my ex-boyfriend, or my money problems.” Tisha laughed. “I know I was getting on your nerves, but instead of telling me to shut up, you let me talk so I could heal.”

  “You could work a nerve, girl,” Lila said.

  Tisha grabbed Lila’s hand. “As cousins, we have always been a part of each other’s lives, but now that we are Christian women, we are a part of each other’s spirits. I watched God take you out of the darkness and bring you into the light. You have always been stunning, but now that you have overcome your food addiction, God has revealed a spark that I didn’t know existed in you.”

  Joan had to agree. Not only did Lila look like a new person, she acted like a new person. She was always smiling and energetic. She was like a dose of sunshine. Joan could see why single men would be attracted to her.

  Tisha grabbed Joan’s hand. Finally Joan put down her plate. “We have been best friends since middle school. What we have is rare, and I do not take it lightly. Thank you for introducing me to Jesus. I watched God change you and that’s how I knew He could change me. Thank you for giving me a place to stay when I couldn’t afford a place to lay my head. Thank you for being a great example of what a godly single woman should be.”

  Tears dropped down Tisha’s face. “Ladies, I just want you to know that you are the answers to my prayers. I thank Jesus for the changes He has made in all of our lives. I can’t help but cry every time I think of what God has brought us through in this short time of rolling with Him.”

  Lila looked up. “It has only been a short time, but we have made so many positive steps. I didn’t think I would ever get over it when Steve kicked my daughter and me out. But that was the best thing that ever happened to me. I surrendered it all to Jesus, and He showed me He is more than sufficient to supply all of my needs.

  “Now I have a decent job that allows me to provide for my daughter. I’m finally at a place where I can teach her not to go down the same path I did. And for the cherry on top of the sundae, I have been dating one of Pastor Benjy’s elite eight.”

  “What?” Joan and Tisha cried out in unison.

  Tisha said, “You mean our Pastor Benjy?”

  “You mean Minister Makita’s husband, Pastor Benjy,” Joan added.

  Lila laughed. “Yes, our Pastor Benjy. The senior pastor of our church, the Miller Street Church. Yes, the one married to Minister Makita. I am as shocked as you are. ”

  Joan and Tisha continued to look confused. Janet asked, “What is Pastor Benjy’s elite eight?”

  “Pastor Benjy is committed to making young men into godly husbands and life-changing Christians,” Lila explained. “Every few years, he takes a group of men with exceptional leadership qualities and mentors them personally.”

  Tisha added, “Janet, it is so clear that you are married, because every single Christian woman in Houston, regardless of where she attends church, knows about Pastor Benjy’s elite eight.”

  “What type of stuff does he teach them?” Janet asked.

  “Everything, I heard. They have to be studious Bible students. They need to be able to teach, understand, and live the Word,” Joan said.

  “They go on missionary trips abroad. They also teach and preach locally in churches, jails, and hospitals,” Tisha continued.

  “They pray for each other and hold each other accountable for living set apart lives for Christ,” Lila said. “Each week, they have accountability meetings. For instance, if they watched a questionable program or had sexually immoral conversations, they have to report that to the group.”

  “They are also not allowed to ask a woman on a date until they have tested her,” Joan said, staring intently at Lila.

  “Tested her?” Janet asked. “How so?”

  Joan repeated what she overheard from one of the older ladies in church. “First of all, they pray and ask God’s guidance about a wife. If they notice someone of interest, they have to watch her first. Some men even talk to the godly people around her, like her pastor, friends, and the other people in ministry with her. They want to make sure she is just not pretending to be a godly woman but is a godly woman. They compare her character to what the Bible says about a godly woman.”

  Janet looked impressed. “Wow! Lila, how did you snag him, and what’s his name, anyway?”

  Lila blurted out, “Kenneth Harrison.”

  Joan and Tisha turned toward each other in disbelief. Kenneth Harrison’s baritone voice led them into the Spirit every Sunday morning as he opened the church in prayer. It didn’t matter that church started fifteen minutes late, or that Sister So-and-So was singing off-key, or that the air conditioner was broken in the middle of the summer—none of that mattered when Kenneth walked to the podium.

  He was slim, spoke well, and all of his prayers were permeated with the Word of God. He didn’t mind showing his emotions. Some Sunday mornings as he prayed, he would start crying as he thanked Jesus for His goodness.

  He was the assistant principal at a local elementary school, where he was committed to molding young boys into strong Christian men. Each week, he had dozens of boys bussed to Miller Street Church for the church’s Youth Ministry meeting.

  “A few weeks ago, after Wife Prep class, Minister Makita asked me to stay,” Lila said. “She told me that a young man from the church had come in asking about me a few times over the course of several weeks. I begged her to tell me who, but she wouldn’t. She seemed really happy for me, so I stopped bugging her, even though I wanted to shake her until it came out.

  “Right after I left Minister Makita that day, I went to the church’s day care to pick up Jasmine. Kenneth was there, and he was reading a Bible story to the handful of children who were still there. Jasmine was right in front and completely engaged in the story. Well, instead of interrupting, I sat in the back, my mind racing with what Minister Makita had just told me.”

  Tisha blurted out, “Hold on! I got to go pee and can’t hold it anymore. Don’t say a word until I get back.” She ran down the hall.

  Joan shuffled around in her seat before getting up to get a glass of water. She was too involved in her thoughts to ask her friends if they needed something. Kenneth was the finest Christian man she had ever seen. He was the complete package. Once, he asked Joan for her phone number when they were working on a project for Minster Makita. Joan had gotten so excited, thinking maybe he was interested in her. But the only time Kenneth called was when he needed to get some information about something church related. He never tried to make the conversation last any longer than necessary. Joan was devastated.

  Tisha returned and Lila started again. “Well, the teenage girls who usually work in the day care started talking and giggling. Then they went and got the remaining children and took them to another part of the day care, leaving me, Jasmine, and Kenneth alone.”

  Tisha prodded, “That’s when you knew it was him?”

  “That’s when I knew Kenneth had arranged for Minister Makita to hold me up, and for the day care workers to take the other children away,” Lila answered.

  “Well, what happened next?” Janet asked, patting her oversized stomach.

  “Next?” Lila paused. “Next he asked if he could take me to lunch. Girls, I could have screamed, ‘Thank you, Jesus!’ We’ve been hanging out pretty regularly for two weeks.”

  Tisha stood up. “Two weeks! How dare you hold on to this kind of information.”

  “I know, I know. It’s just that if things didn
’t work out, I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Lila pleaded.

  “And now?” Joan questioned, rejoining the ladies on the sofa.

  “Well, it’s too late, my hopes are up. Kenneth is wonderful and everything I could want in a husband,” Lila paused. “Everything God wants me to have in a husband. I’m telling you now because tonight he asked me to meet his parents.”

  Tisha started jumping up and down. “I’m going to be in a wedding! I’m going to be in a wedding!”

  “You see why I didn’t tell you?” Lila laughed. “Kenneth hasn’t asked me to marry him.”

  “He hasn’t asked you yet,” Janet said. “Jerome told me he knew right away I would be his wife. Men know right away if they are going to make you a wife. Meeting the parents? Girl, that means you are in.”

  Janet waddled up and gave Lila a hug. “I’m so happy for you.” Tisha joined the hug. Joan looked around first. Sensing no way to flee, she joined the hug too.

  As Joan embraced her friends, her mind wandered to the day Minister Makita announced she was launching a new ministry: Wife Preparation class. She said the women would search and study the scriptures and learn what God said about being a wife. In addition to Bible Study, they would have homemaking and money management classes. They would get training on raising godly children and having a vision for their families.

  Joan and Tisha couldn’t join the class because it was a six-month commitment, and with their work in the bakery, they wouldn’t have time. But Joan wondered if that was what had attracted Kenneth to Lila, and why wouldn’t it? A woman who had made the commitment to the extensive schedule Minister Makita had proposed for the class—and the personal one-on-one sessions the minister had planned to have with the women—had to be showing all the single men that she was committed to being a wife. Joan could have slapped herself. She could have figured out how to rearrange her schedule to get into the class. Every Christian man in Houston was probably trying to marry a woman from Minister Makita’s Wife Preparation class.

  After the group hug, Lila started to gather her things so she could meet Kenneth. Before she walked out the door, Lila nervously looked back. “Would one of you pray for me?”

  Joan was glad when Janet stepped up to do it. “I know what you’re feeling right now.” Janet grabbed Lila’s hand. “I remember when Jerome asked me to meet his family. It was such an exciting time.”

  The ladies held hands in a circle as Janet prayed. “Dear Heavenly Father, Creator of heaven and earth, Lord, how we thank you. We thank you for sending Jesus to pay for our sins. We thank you that we have received Jesus’ death as payment for our sins, and therefore when we die, we will spend eternity with you in heaven.

  “We thank you for giving us what we need, instead of what we deserve. We thank you for friends and family. We thank you for homes, food, your mercy, and your grace. We thank you for your guidance and the security you provide. Lord, we pray for Lila. Lord, we have watched this woman grow under your attentive care. We thank you for her changed life. We pray, Lord, that you would guide her as she meets Kenneth’s parents. Allow her to be calm and free from anxiousness, knowing that she is fearfully and wonderfully made in you. If it is your will for these two to become one, Lord, we pray that you would make that clear. Please give them insight, Father, and direction, in Jesus’ name we pray.”

  After one more group hug, Lila left with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. Joan looked at Tisha, and Tisha looked at Joan—each knowing what the other was thinking. Bible Study would have to wait. There was no time to waste. Joan dashed to the computer in her home office. Tisha jogged to the sofa and yanked her laptop out of its protective case. They needed to go online and register for Minister Makita’s next Wife Preparation class.

  Chapter 9

  Joan rushed to Minister Makita’s office. The last thing she wanted to do was be late. Makita insisted on meeting face-to-face with everyone who applied for the Wife Preparation class. It was only a matter of time before the minister would be telling Joan how pleased she was that she decided to join the class. She probably called her in early because she wanted Joan to take an active role in the class, helping the other single women along. She had only completed her application that Saturday and Minister Makita called her in for a meeting the following Monday evening.

  Joan had only been at Miller Street Church for a short while, but everybody knew she was one of Makita’s favorite people. Joan had grown quickly and soon started teaching New Members Orientation classes and Women’s Bible Studies. When Minister Makita had to have an unplanned surgery in the midst of a women’s conference, where she was the keynote speaker, instead of using a more tenured member of the church, she chose Joan. People were surprised, until they heard Joan deliver an outstanding Bible lesson. From that point on, people in the church started to look at Joan in a different light.

  Minister Makita was one of the most influential people in Houston, but that’s not what Joan admired about her. Joan admired how she could make the scriptures come alive. Minister Makita didn’t preach so that people could be happy; she preached so they could be changed. Joan was only one of the women whom Minister Makita’s teaching had impacted in such a huge way. She had throngs of faithful Christian women who looked to her for guidance.

  Joan walked into Makita’s opened office door and tapped on the door. Makita looked up from a stack of papers, then asked Joan to close the door behind her.

  As Joan closed the door, she tried to ignore the worry she saw on Makita’s face. She had expected Makita to greet her with a smile, like she usually did, but Makita looked troubled. Surely there wasn’t anything wrong with her application. She had spent hours on it, inserting relevant scripture and interesting stories about herself. Besides, Makita loved her, Joan reassured herself as she sat down in the chair across from Minister Makita.

  “Hello, my dear,” Makita greeted Joan in her deep Southern accent.

  Joan nodded, wondering why Makita still hadn’t smiled.

  “Do you have any idea why I summoned you here today?”

  Joan’s mind started to race. If this wasn’t about the Wife Preparation class, what could it be about?

  “No, I guess I don’t.” Joan shrugged her shoulders.

  Makita shuffled through the papers on her desk. “I received your application.”

  Joan looked alarmed. “Yes, I completed it on Saturday. Is there something wrong? I could do it over.”

  Makita looked over Joan’s paperwork again. “Joan, you are the best Bible teacher I have come across in years. I look across the room when you are teaching and everybody seems engaged and actively learning.” Makita shook her head. “And that three-part lesson you did on the Book of Ruth, it was wonderful.” Makita laughed. “Pastor Benjy kept the CD in our car for two weeks. He was delighted a teacher of your magnitude had been discipled through our ministry.”

  Joan sat up straighter in her seat and took a deep breath. “Makita, you really had me worried. I thought I had done something wrong. Your mood seemed so somber when I walked in.”

  “I’m not finished, Joan,” Makita said tersely. Joan sank back into her seat.

  “Joan, while you are a great Bible teacher, there are some problems. I should have spoken to you sooner, because, well, now things are worse. And when I printed out your application for the Wife Preparation class, it became apparent that it was time for you and your spiritual mother to have a talk.”

  Makita shoved all her papers to the sides of her desk and made a clear path between her and Joan. Joan avoided Makita’s intense eyes and stared at a photo above Makita’s head.

  “Have you heard about Kenneth and Lila?” Makita looked like she wanted a reaction.

  Joan started fiddling with her handbag. “Yes, Lila told us all about her and Kenneth.” Makita looked like she wanted something more. “We are all so happy for her,” Joan added.

  “Joan, I’m up here.”

  Joan put her gaze on Minister Makita. She had not rea
lized she had started to look down while talking about Lila.

  Makita continued speaking. “Last week, Tisha taught her first small group meeting. I don’t remember seeing you.”

  Joan made a point to continue looking up. “James Jr. had a project I was helping him finish.”

  “I see,” Makita said suspiciously. “You remember when Sister Felicia criticized your interpretation of scripture in front of the entire class?”

  Joan perked up. “Yes, and I quickly corrected her. She had it all wrong. I studied that passage up and down. I don’t know who she thought—” Joan abruptly stopped talking.

  “Go on, Joan. Finish what you were saying about Sister Felicia.”

  “Never mind,” Joan responded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Let me finish for you, Joan,” Makita said. “What you were about to say is ‘I don’t know who she thought she was talking to. Doesn’t she know who I am? I am Joan Dallas. When I teach, there’s no need to ask any questions. If you didn’t understand, it was because you were not paying attention.’”

  Joan said nothing. She only glared back at Minister Makita.

  “What you really wanted to say to Sister Felicia was written all over your face that day, as it is today. You can’t stand the idea that somebody would criticize you. You were right that day, Sister Felicia did have it wrong. But it was the way that you dealt with the situation that has me concerned. It is the way you respond to anybody when they don’t seem to understand who you are.”

  “What do you mean?” Joan asked.

  “When they don’t understand that you are Joan Dallas, the queen bee in charge,” Makita explained. “You didn’t come hear Tisha teach because . . . Well, what was the point? I mean, she can’t teach like you. She couldn’t exegete a passage of scripture to the point where it was worth you coming out to listen. As a matter of fact, you never come to small group when new people are teaching. And then the time your best friend was teaching, you couldn’t rearrange your schedule. You knew months ahead of time, and poor Tisha, she didn’t even realize what was really going on.”