***
While driving home in Nick’s car, Piper envisioned the wedding. She saw herself in a flowing, white, and lacy wedding dress walking down the aisle of the Fellowship Church with her father by her side. Nick would be waiting for her at the end of the aisle, handsome as ever, just in front of the pastor.
His impressive appearance in a black tuxedo, white shirt, and aquamarine tie would lead everyone to think that the most eligible bachelor in the land was about to take the plunge. Piper was overjoyed that she would soon be his wife. Aquamarine was her favorite color because it reminded her of the ocean, so she planned to make aquamarine a featured color in the decorations of the wedding. She also planned to ask her sister to be her bridesmaid. Aside from that, Piper had no other plans for the wedding. She and Nick would need to work together to make sure that their special day together was perfect.
Then she thought of Nick’s promise not to drink after that day. Worrying a little of the way such a promise could stress him out, she said, “Nick, you don’t need to keep that promise about drinking. Just practice moderation. You probably just said you would quit altogether because of what happened that one night in Colorado.”
“Piper, I have to admit that the promise has been a little stressful to me and I’ve been thinking about it a lot. It would be much easier to practice moderation than to quit permanently.”
“Then do that. Nick, moderation is key. If you practice moderation, I don’t see alcohol impacting our lives negatively at all.”
“Piper, I had a dream about drinking last night. I was standing in a crowd of people at my house next to a long line of beer taps that were affixed to one of the walls on the back patio. It was a huge party and everyone was drinking and all sorts of people were there. The house was loud, as music was playing and lots of laughter could be heard. I knew some of the people at the party. They were old friends from high school and college. But others who were there were sort of random. I didn’t even know who they were or why they were at my house. Chase and Bob were there, with beers in hand. I was drinking too. All of the sudden, I noticed the man standing in the middle of the crowd, wearing a white robe. I knew right away He was Jesus, as He bore a very close resemblance to what Jesus looked like in my mind, similar to the way they make Him look in the movies. He appeared humble as He appraised the crowd and said nothing. People didn’t know what to make of the man in the middle of the room, so everyone continued partying as if He weren’t there. After everyone had finished one or two drinks, He posed a challenge. He asked all of us to limit the number of drinks we had to two. No more than two a day. Bob walked over to me with a beer in his hand and said, ‘Jesus challenged us, but I can’t do that.’
People left the party and soon the house was just about empty. Some didn’t want to accept the challenge. Some may have accepted it and left to do other things with their time. I stayed and watched everyone, whether they stayed or left. Jesus remained present the entire time too. Piper. I’ve decided to accept His challenge in life and will never have any more than two drinks in a day. I promise you that.”
“What if you forget the dream? People have dreams and over time, they forget them.”
“Not only am I going to write down the dream and save it in my memory, but every time I feel tempted to have a third drink, I’ll picture the way that Jesus paid for my sins. I don’t want Jesus to suffer any more for my sins. I can stop at two.”
“That’s powerful, Nick. I hope it works.”
“It will.”
“So, how many kids do you think we should have? I’d like to start working on having kids just after we marry.”
“It would be great to have a big family with maybe five kids.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Five. We’re definitely soul mates!” Piper said as she smiled from ear to ear.
Eyes on the Unseen Prize Page 22