“You don’t mean it, Ram. I know you don’t love me.”
Ramsey ignored Brandi. He didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he figured that what ever it was, it would happen while he was praising God. “Thank You, Lord for always being hear for me. I love You Lord. I thank You that my daughter will grow up happy, healthy and loved... and I thank You for the love I finally found.”
“I know you’re talking about Maxine. And I will never let you live to love that woman.” Brandi came at him with the knife.
Ramsey rolled onto his side and yelled. “Jesus!”
Arnoth, Steven and all of heaven had heard Ram plead with God to fight his battle. They’d heard him call on the name of Jesus in his time of need, rather than try to figure his way out on his own. The police pulled up to the house. And this time, instead of Arnoth hiding the house from them, he ushered them in by sending a soft wind that blew the front door wide open.
When the door flew open, Brandi stood over Ram. She lifted the knife, getting ready to jab it in his stomach. Ram screamed out loud, “Jesus, help me!”
The police officers rushed in and threw Brandi to the floor. As she was being handcuffed, Brandi was shouting, spitting and hollering, “Leave me alone. He doesn’t deserve to live.”
One of the officers looked at the other and asked, “Did we just interrupt an episode of Snapped or what?”
***
By the time his parents and Maxine arrived on the scene, Ram was standing on the front porch, listening to Brandi rant and rave while being put in the back seat of the police car.
His parent’s walked over to him. Ramsey Sr. put a hand on Ram’s shoulder. “We saw that woman tase you, son. I tell you what, I’ve never been so afraid in all my life.”
Ram tried to make light of the situation. His couldn’t even imagine how much heartache his impetuous decision had caused his parent. So he hunched his shoulders and said, “Who knew Brandi had a taser?”
“That’s why it’s always best to pray before you enter into uncertain situations,” Carmella reminded him.
“You’ll get no argument from me on that anymore, because I can tell you that I practically had a revival with just me and Jesus while I was lying on that floor hog tied like that.”
“Amen!” Carmella said.
Maxine had been at the bottom of the driveway answering a few questions that the police officers had for her. But the moment they got in their car and backed out of her driveway, she fixed her eyes on Ram. She ran to him with her arms open wide. “Ram, Ram, oh thank God that you’re alive.” She hugged him just as tight as she had been hugging Brielle earlier. “I don’t know what I would have done if we had lost you.”
Even though Maxine had not yet said the words, Ram knew in his heart that Maxine loved him. He loved her, also—more than he ever thought possible. And since God had shown him the error of his ways, Ram would not let the past stand in their way. He trusted this woman with not only his life, but Brielle’s life as well. With his arms wrapped around her, he said, “I heard what you told Renee, and I want you to know that it doesn’t matter to me. I love you and I want you to marry me. What do you say, Maxine. Will you marry me and make me the happiest man on earth?”
Maxine began kissing him like he was the oxygen she needed to breathe. When the kiss ended, she told him, “I will marry you today, tomorrow or any day you choose. I love you so much. You and Brielle have made my life complete. And I thank God for that.”
Epilogue
Maxine’s love for him and Brielle and her trust in God had helped to free him from his need to handle every situation on his own. Now, as they lay in front of the fireplace on their honeymoon, Ram was about to free his new bride from the guilt she’d carried for far too long.
“What’s in the box?” Maxine asked as she leaned against her husband. She was exhausted from the events of the day, but didn’t want to miss a minute of what was to come. They had done it the right way, so tonight would be the first night that they would lay in each other’s arms.
“Oh, just something I brought for our little bonfire.”
She sat up and gave him a quizzical glance. “A bonfire?”
Ram put the box in between them and opened it.
Maxine started laughing. “What are my ballet shoes doing in here?” She riffled through the box and saw the poster that announced one of the stage plays she had been in, her paint brushes and the sheet music she’d used while taking singing lessons. “Are you trying to make me feel bad about myself on our honeymoon?”
“No baby, I’m trying to help you free yourself from the guilt you’ve been carrying.”
“Excuse me?”
“There’s one last thing in the box, Maxine.”
“I didn’t see anything else.”
“Because I have it turned over. You’ll see it once we throw all of these things, into the fire.”
“You hated my cooking, too. Why didn’t you have a piece of cake in this box?”
Ram shook a finger in her face. “You don’t get off that easy. I’ve already asked Carmella to teach you how to cook. I plan to enjoy meals at home for many years to come. And on the days that my wife isn’t cooking them, I’ll cook for the family.”
“I like the sound of that.” Maxine looked in the box again, she hesitated for a moment.”
Ram said, “None of these things define you, honey. You’ve been running from the thing you love, because you gave up too much in order to have it. But if God forgave you, then that’s it. All that’s left is for you to forgive yourself.”
Maxine leaned over and kissed her husband. She then took a deep breath and threw her ballerina shoes in the fire. The fire sparked as if God Himself was encouraging her to keep it coming. So she threw the poster in the fire next, then the sheets of music and finally the paint brushes. She turned back to Ram and asked, “What’s left?”
“Now that all that other stuff is out of the way, I thought you’d be able to see it a little clearer. Look inside the box, Maxine.”
She did as he requested and didn’t see anything but an empty box at first, but then she saw it. It was a picture of her. She was on the cover of a magazine and she was absolutely glowing.
“I don’t get it. Why are you showing me this?”
“Because you loved modeling.”
She shook her head. “It cost me too much.”
“You’re a different person now. You won’t make the same mistakes. But you’ve been looking for your next career move, and I’m here to tell you that it’s right here.” He pointed at the picture.
“I’m getting too old to model; at the most I only have another one or two years in the business.”
“Then what about opening up your own modeling agency? You’ve learned about the good, the bad and the ugly parts of the industry. You could help other young girls steer clear of some of the things that tripped you up.”
Maxine kept looking inside the box, but she hadn’t answered him yet.
“What do you say, Maxine, will you forgive yourself so that we can live the rest of our lives happy with who we are?”
She nodded. “Yes, Ram. I think I can do that. But if I’m going to forgive myself, then I need you to forgive yourself for everything that transpired with Brandi and then one day, I’d like you to forgive Brandi also.”
“Okay, I’ll get right on that as soon as you open your modeling agency.”
Maxine laughed. “Thank you for loving me, Ram.”
“I will love you for a lifetime.” He took her hands and walked her to the bedroom. “Why don’t you go on in and get changed. I’ll be in soon. I just need to take care of one last thing.”
“Okay, but don’t keep me waiting too long.” She lightly kissed his lips and then disappeared into the bedroom.
Ram just needed a moment to give praise to the Lord. His family had been waiting for this... the day that Ram would write his first Praise Alert. Well, the wait
was over. He opened his email and began to write:
Hello fam, I’m on my honeymoon with the woman of my dreams, and the knowledge of that reminded me that I needed to take a moment to give God praise. He’s a good God. And I thank Him for always being there for me, even when I was too knuckleheaded to see that He was there. I thank the Lord for all the good and the bad that has occurred in my life, because every moment of every day has made me who I am... a man who loves his family, his wife, his child and most of all God.
God is awesome, and I thank Him for all that He has done and even the things that He has yet to do in my life and my wife’s life... I give Him praise!
After sending out his Praise Alert, Ram turned off his computer. He went into the bedroom and got to know his wife in every way that God allowed a man to know his wife. When they were spent, they rested on the promises of God and that was enough for Maxine and Ram.
The End
Look for Book 5 in the Praise Him Anyhow Series:
Escape to Love (Renee Thomas’ story)
Ramsey's Praise Page 11