by Gayle Roper
“It was never my intent to deceive you,” Trev said, facing his congregation. “I came originally to be interim for the summer. I thought my marital state wouldn’t make a difference for that short a time. But I didn’t leave. I should have told you from the beginning about Dori and me, and I ask your forgiveness for not doing so. Please know I never meant harm to the chapel or the cause of the Lord. We would love to stay and continue to serve the Lord with you here in Seaside, but even more than that, we want God’s best for this church. May the Lord give you wisdom as you decide.”
“He’s all a charade,” Jonathan Warrington had railed when it was his turn to speak. “He and his ‘wife’ have come here to steal the testimony of Seaside Chapel. They make a mockery of marriage and of commitment to the Lord. They are wolves in sheeps’ clothing, an embarrassment to all of us. He must go. If he doesn’t, I fear that we Warringtons cannot stay, and I’m sure there are others of you who feel the same.”
Dori always thought it was that ultimatum that was the deciding factor. Whatever the reason, the vote was strongly in Trev’s favor.
The Warringtons had left as threatened, and Jonathan, Judy, and Angie were attending another church where, if rumor was correct, Jonathan was already making waves. Bob Warrington was in the process of divorcing Shannon so he could marry Penni. As far as Dori knew, the two of them weren’t attending anywhere.
Shannon herself still had plenty of bad days, but they came less frequently. She and Grayce Warrington had become family for each other since Jonathan no longer spoke to his mother or his ex-daughter-in-law. After all, they had supported Trev. Dori and Shannon met together weekly with the Graces who prayed over them both. Dori didn’t know about Shannon, but she herself was growing in the Lord by leaps and bounds under the godly tutelage of these amazing older women.
The music changed again, and Dori knew it was her turn. She and Pop moved to the doorway. He patted her hand.
“Ready?”
Foolish question. She looked down the aisle to Trev, so handsome as he waited for her. Phil and Ryan stood beside him, Ryan so proud he could hardly stand it. Of course the boy had made the required complaints when told he had to wear a tux, but when he saw himself in the mirror at the fitting, he’d blinked in surprise.
“Whoa! Cool.”
Though he had gone home with Mae two months ago, he frequently came over to visit. Dori suspected Jack and Trudy were the real draws, but Ry was polite enough to refrain from saying so. He and Trev took the dogs for long walks on the beach, each holding a leash. Sometimes they let her come along, but she was careful to see that Ryan often had Trev’s undivided attention. What better way for the fatherless boy to see what a real man was like?
Her hand resting in the crook of Pop’s arm, Dori kept her eyes fixed on her husband who watched her approach with a smile that melted her heart. She thought of the wonderful secret she and her husband shared.
The bride was three months pregnant.
They planned to tell people the happy news after they returned from their two-night stay in Cape May. Their real honeymoon had to wait until fall because of the demands of the summer season. Then they would relax on a two-week trip through the Southwest, making a loop of the national parks: Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Dori had booked them into either the park accommodations or the most interesting bed-and-breakfasts she could find. She’d be quite chubby by then, and long hikes wouldn’t be part of the program, but just being together alone would be enough.
The ceremony began. At the proper time Pop placed her hand in Trev’s and went to take his seat beside Honey. Trev wrapped his large hand around hers and held tightly. He lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of hers.
“I love you, Dori-girl,” he whispered. “Now and forever.”
Dr. Quentin continued with the service while Dori’s heart swelled to bursting. God had been so good to her, even when she didn’t deserve it. He had preserved Trev for her until she was wise enough to value him and her marriage and was strong enough to fight for them both.
The winter winds that had blown through their lives had often been painful. The coming year would bring the baby, and with him more changes, more adjustments, but this time the winds would be gusts of love, zephyrs of joy.
And as always at the center of it all there would be Trev, only Trev.
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Dear Readers,
Have you ever watched a couple married for many years and thought, They are as comfortable together as someone is with a favorite pair of old shoes? What we tend to forget is that making those shoes comfortable was for that person a matter of time and effort.
We have great expectations when we buy the perfect pair of shoes, knowing they will complete our outfit and make us a fashionable whole. It’s disappointing to realize that our feet are still as big, our ankles still as thick, our thighs still as heavy. On top of that, the shoes are stiff on our feet. They even chafe a bit until we add that slight lift in the heel. Just when they finally seem right, they get scuffed or dirty and need a good polishing. Then the heels run down and have to be torn off, and new ones have to be nailed in place.
Developing a comfortable marriage is a long-time process, too. We have great expectations that our new mate will complete us and make us whole. How disappointing to learn that he cannot fulfill our expectations no matter how hard he tries. Then the need to impress—our “stiffness”—slowly falls away, and the real person appears. Perhaps differing ideas on issues like money cause chafing, and the answer isn’t anything as simple as a lift in the heel. Compromise that lets both parties function satisfactorily may be hard to find and harder still to live out. Often one or the other gets scuffed or dirty as anger, jealousy, a snippy tongue, or any of a hundred problems appear. A good “polishing” by the Holy Spirit is definitely needed. Sometimes the problems are quite serious, and the old habits and bad thinking patterns must be ripped off and replaced with things that are good and pure and right, a painful process.
But marriage merits the time and effort and even the pain. As the traditional vows say, it is a worthy estate. Nowhere else do we get to offer as much of ourselves, to be Christ’s servants, to the same extent. Nowhere else do we learn as completely to lay down our lives for another. While no union will ever be perfect, my prayer is that yours will be strong, resilient, and filled with wonderful moments of great joy.
Drop me a line. Ask me a question. Tell me your story, good or bad. I love to hear from readers at either [email protected] or www.gayleroper.com.
Sadly I have to qualify my above comments by saying I do not encourage anyone to stay in an abusive marriage. Sin must never be allowed to flourish in the name of submission.
Discussion Questions
1. Dori’s big issue is forgiveness. Have you found that some people have a harder time than others with this issue? Why do you think this is so? Personality? Severity of the offense? Read Ephesians 4:31–32. What escape hatch are we given on the issue of forgiveness?
2. In chapter 27, Trev says that forgiveness is “a willful choice to let go of something you know happened. There’s no denial in forgiveness. God knows full well that I’ve done many wrong things, but He has chosen to put them away. In the same way, we have to choose to let go of the wrong done us, the hurt dealt us by another.” Read Isaiah 44:22. To what does Isaiah compare God’s forgiveness of us? Is lack of forgiveness clouding your life?
3. Many times we hear, “Forgive and forget.” When God forgives us, does He forget? Can He forget? Read Isaiah 43:25. What is the alternative to forgiving and forgetting?
4. Bob and Shannon justified their affair by their feelings for each other. Is their argument valid? Read 1 Corinthians 6:18–20. What are God’s standards for us as believers?
5. In what ways do Pop and Honey’s actions mirror those of th
e Lord? Read Psalm 68:5 and Hebrews 12:7.
6. Dori, Joanne, and Maureen all suffered severe hurts in their lives, but they reacted differently.
Dori reacted as follows: “Keeping pace with the depth of her anger at Trev was her bitterness at God for letting her be so hurt. He’d snatched happiness from her twice, first with the death of her parents and then with Trev’s treachery. How could she ever trust Him again?”
Joanne thinks that “the only trouble with her prayer was that she wasn’t certain God listened to people like her. Didn’t you have to go to church and stuff to be on His good side?”
Maureen tells Dori, “My life was awfully bleak back then [when Adam died], and the stories taught me that living isn’t static but evolutionary. New plateaus of forward development would always be open to me if I stuck with the Lord. Hope was always there if I chose to grab it.”
How does God work in each of these women’s lives? What lessons can we learn for our lives?
7. Have you ever gone to church with someone like Jonathan Warrington? What personality traits and actions make someone like him a poor spiritual leader? Read Philippians 3:17. What example is Paul talking about? Read Philippians 3:12–16 to find out.
8. What is God’s standard for the church? Read Romans 15:5–7. Does your church exemplify this standard? Is this standard lived out in your own life?
9. It’s a major turning point for Dori when she realizes that not filing for divorce “didn’t show commitment to marriage but rather to the concept of marriage. If she’d been committed to marriage itself, wouldn’t she have been here, fighting for it instead of abandoning it?” Why is the concept of marriage so much more comfortable than marriage itself?
10. What do you find to be the hardest thing about being married? Why? What is God’s standard for relationships? Read Philippians 2:3–8.
TEARS ARE FALLING LIKE SPRING RAIN …
Spring Rain by Gayle Roper
Seaside Seasons, Book One:
Leigh Spenser, a young teacher and single mother of ten-year-old Billy, is thrown into conflict. Clay Wharton, the boy’s estranged father, comes home to Seaside, New Jersey, to await the passing of his twin brother, Ted—now dying of AIDS. Threats against Billy’s life ratchet the tension tighter, as Leigh wrestles with both tough and tender feelings for her old flame. Clay’s own conflict, as he seeks to come to grips with his brother’s lifestyle choices and the needs of the boy he fathered, underline the issue of Gods forgiveness in the hearts—and lives—of this modern-day family. An emotionally gripping read!
ISBN 1-57673-638-5
YEARNING FOR SUNSHINE, ABBY FINDS DANGER, LOVE, AND LAUGHTER IN THE SUMMER SHADOWS
Summer Shadows by Gayle Roper
Seaside Seasons, Book Two
The accident that killed Abby Patterson’s husband and daughter has left her with a limp and chronic pain. Abby strikes out, determined to build a new life for herself. She finds the perfect home: a cottage on the beach. At least, it would be perfect except for one tiny irritant: Marsh Winslow, her landlord. But when Abby witnesses a hit-and-run accident and the trauma leaves her with amnesia, she finds an unexpected source of help: Marsh! When mysterious events make it clear that Abby is now a target, she and Marsh join forces to uncover a dangerous secret. Together they discover that God is in the business of putting broken lives back together so that they are more beautiful—and more perfect—than ever.
ISBN 1-57673-969-4
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN WISHES AND REALITY … LIE DREAMS
Autumn Dreams by Gayle Roper
Seaside Seasons, Book Three
The proud proprietor of her own bed-and-breakfast in sleepy Seaside, New Jersey, Cass Merton is intrigued by Dan Harmon who arrives at SeaSong for an extended stay. Management and finance specialist Dan Harmon is there to contemplate his life’s significance as a result of witnessing the tragedy of 9/11. Meanwhile, Cass struggles to care for her feisty teenage niece and easygoing nephew for a whole year while their parents work in the Middle East. Add Cass’s aging, deteriorating parents, and her emotions swirl like the quickly rising hurricane that’s fast approaching Seaside.
But everyday cares aren’t Cass’s only problems. A troubled young employee unknowingly endangers her as well. When an alarm sounds in the middle of the night, bullets fly, and Cass is taken hostage by a gunman. Dan looks urgently to the Lord for help and recognizes a new emotion within himself: love.
ISBN 1-59052-127-7