I Promise (20 page)

“And you're practicing them, too, with your life,” Christy said. “I love you, Aunt Marti. I want you to know that I appreciate your helping me by doing what you do best, lining up everything. You are the perfect wedding coordinator. More than that, I'm glad you're here for my wedding. I'm glad you're not in Santa Fe.” Marti glanced at Christy and then looked away. “It's not easy. You'll find out soon enough. Life doesn't always go the way you think it will.”

“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for you, Aunt Marti.” Christy hadn't expected to say that. It just tumbled out. But her heart was filled with peace, and she longed for her aunt to know that same peace.

How can I tell her in a way she'll understand? Lord, what do you want my aunt to hear?

“I know the Lord will fulfill His purpose for you,” Christy repeated. “But you have to trust Him with all your heart and surrender your life to Him.”

Marti drew in a deep breath without taking her eyes off the coffee mug that sat on the counter in front of her. With slow, careful words she said, “I have been considering that, Christina.”

Christy's heart pounded wildly. She had waited for years to hear her aunt say she was opening her heart even just a sliver. When Marti didn't add any further comments, Christy leaned over and spoke softly, giving her aunt the image that was so clear in Christy's
mind at that moment. “Can I tell you some thoughts I've been having lately about weddings?”

“Of course,”Marti said. “That's what we're focusing on today, isn't it?”

“These thoughts are about heaven and how the Bible talks about Christ being the groom.”

Marti turned her dark, solemn eyes toward Christy.

“I don't know if you've ever heard it explained like this, but in a way, Christ has proposed to each of us and asked us to be His bride so that we can be with Him. Forever.”

Since Marti wasn't stopping her, Christy went on. “We can't come to God as we are because of our sin. He's pure and holy, and we're not. That's why God allowed His only Son to die in our place. Jesus paid the price for our disobedience. But you already know all that, Aunt Marti. You know that God wants us to be made clean so that nothing would separate us from Him.”

Christy swallowed her rising emotions. “I don't know if you know this, but He wants to give you a new heart, Aunt Marti. God wants you to take His salvation like a wedding dress. It's a pure, white, immensely expensive wedding dress. It cost Him His life. He offers it to all of us to wear as we walk this long aisle of life. But we have to put on His gift.”

Christy realized she was using her hands to demonstrate the act of taking off the old and putting on the new, pure, white gown offered by God. She tucked her hands behind her back and concluded her
thought. “Then, when we reach the end of the long aisle of life, we will stand before Christ. He is the true Bridegroom. He loves us with all His heart and has been waiting for us to come to Him since the day we were born.”

Marti didn't take her eyes off Christy. Tiny wrinkles began to crease her smooth forehead. Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes. “You believe this, don't you, Christina?”

“Yes, with all my heart.”

Marti pressed her lips together as if she were commanding her words to stay locked inside.

Christy couldn't believe how clearly she had communicated the message she had wanted to give to her aunt for years. She hadn't planned the words or the imagery; it was simply there. Todd was the one who always had the great analogies.

Maybe Todd's way of seeing things is beginning to rub off on me. Or maybe the more I trust God, the more He can use me just the way I am to speak the truth in love.

Marti reached over and covered Christy's hand with hers. Christy noticed how cold and moist Marti's hand felt. In a low voice, she said, “Don't give up on me, Christina. I am very close.”

Just as Christy's mom was about to enter the kitchen, Marti let go of Christy's hand.

Christy leaned closer to her aunt. “I won't give up on you, Aunt Marti. And neither will God. He is the relentless lover, and you are His first love. He won't give up because He wants you back.”

Marti turned to walk away. “I need to put on some lipstick, and then we must leave for our appointment with the photographer.”

“Is she okay?” Mom asked as Marti disappeared.

Christy's face was lit up with a huge smile as she nodded. “More than okay. She's great.”

“Do you want to have a quick look at this?”

Mom pulled the bag off the skirt to the wedding gown, and Christy released a long “Oooh.”

“I think it turned out real nice, don't you?”

“Mom, it's perfect. I love the way the folds add fullness without making it poof out.” Christy held up the bodice to the skirt. “It's going to be beautiful. Thank you so much, Mom! I love it.”

“Very nice,” Marti concurred when she reappeared. She seemed unaffected by the intimate conversation she and Christy had just shared. “It's simple and sweet. Just like you. Have you given any thought to what undergarments would work best with that, Christy? I think we should add lingerie shopping to our list for this afternoon.”

Christy had done plenty of shopping with her aunt over the years. Lingerie shopping wasn't something they had attempted yet, and Christy wasn't sure how she felt about shopping with her mom and aunt for fancy underwear.

“But first we must get to the photographer's.” Marti scurried them to the door.

They met with the professional photographer, looked through dozens of albums, and selected a plan
that they all seemed happy with. Christy thought the photo package was outrageously expensive, but Marti said it was one of the parts of the wedding she and Uncle Bob were covering, so Christy shouldn't worry her pretty little head about it.

“What matters is that you hire a quality professional who captures the look you want,” Marti said.

Christy thought of the picture she had seen of her parents' wedding on the hallway wall at her grandmother's. She doubted if a professional who charged extravagant fees had taken the picture. Yet the photo captured the mood of the day and the delight of the parents and happy couple.

“I'd also like to have a bunch of instant cameras on all the tables at the reception,” Christy said. “That way the guests can snap pictures of each other, and we'll have a lot of candid shots for our scrapbook.”

“We can do that,” Marti said as she drove down Pacific Coast Highway on her way to a restaurant she wanted them to try. She explained that the chef was available for catering weddings.

Christy suggested the chef at The Dove's Nest, but Marti shrugged off the idea. Then Christy reminded her aunt that the reception was being held at Rancho Corona, and it made more sense to have a caterer located close to the school. Marti said that caterers were used to traveling all over southern California, and the location didn't matter.

Christy dropped the subject. It wasn't worth arguing over now, after they had peacefully agreed on so
many other topics that day. She also felt a new sense of responsibility toward her aunt. Marti had willingly listened as Christy presented the Gospel to her that morning with the wedding analogy. Christy didn't want to invalidate any of that by being disagreeable with her aunt, who was doing so much to help with the wedding.

At the end of their full day, Christy decided to spend the night at Bob and Marti's and go to church with her uncle in the morning. She called Todd to tell him she wouldn't see him until she returned to her dorm room Sunday afternoon. She only got the voice mail again. She missed Todd. It would be so nice to feel his arms around her and to tell him about their cake having raspberry filling and the details of the photographer's wedding package.

She wouldn't tell him about the flowers or her veil. Or the beautiful assortment of lingerie Marti and her mom had bought for her that afternoon. Those would all be surprises.

Todd didn't call on Sunday after she returned to her dorm, but that didn't surprise her. He probably was exhausted after the backpacking trip and had a lot of work to do at the church sorting out the gear and putting things away.

While they had been shopping on Saturday, Marti had asked Christy if she had any idea what she would buy Todd as a wedding gift. Marti insisted the bride and groom traditionally gave each other gifts. The first thing that popped out of Christy's mouth was, “I'm
giving Todd a cell phone so he won't be so hard to get ahold of.” She had said it as a joke, but now it was beginning to seem like a good idea. They could get matching his-and-her phones.

Katie meandered into their dorm room at seven o'clock that evening with another bright bouquet of mixed flowers and a plastic pitcher full of water.

“He loves me,” Katie said simply.

Christy smiled. “Did Rick tell you he loved you?”

“No, he just keeps showing me that he does. I was a grump all weekend because I'm so behind on school-work. I haven't finished my economics paper yet; so instead of playing raquetball like we had planned, Rick and I spent the afternoon at the library gathering all the info and statistics. Then he gave me these flowers and thanked me for a wonderful day.”

Katie adjusted the flowers in the plastic vase. She seemed serene and dreamy in her relationship with Rick. That settledness was in sharp contrast to the way she had flown into their room on a caffeine high several months ago and asked Christy if it might be possible Katie was in love.

“You know what? I have a feeling this guy isn't going to give up on me.” The tone of Katie's voice reminded Christy of her aunt when she had asked Christy not to give up on her. The comparison between a forever love relationship with God and a bride and groom making a commitment to each other seemed stronger than ever to Christy.

That's how it is with relentless lovers, Christy thought. They don't give up, do they? In the same way Rick is wooing you, Katie, Jesus has been wooing Aunt Marti. And I don't think either of them is going to give up. Ever.

15
With her flowers perfectly arranged on her desk, Katie stretched out on what she called the surfin' sofa. “So how was your weekend, Christy? Did you make a lot of plans at Marti's?”

Christy excitedly gave Katie a rundown of all the details. She told Katie about her aunt's receptiveness as Christy talked with her about the Lord. She also told Katie about the flowers and the head wreath and how the flowers were going to come from Maui. Then she pulled two boxes out from under her bed and showed Katie her beautiful new lingerie.

“I've never owned anything like this,” Christy said. “I love it. And it actually was fun shopping for it with my mom and my aunt. It made me feel like one of the girls, if that makes sense.”

“What about the doctor?” Katie asked.

“What doctor?”

“Have you made an appointment yet with a gynecologist to get checked out?”

“No, I need to do that. It's on my list. I'm going to the same one my mom goes to in Escondido. She gave me the number a few weeks ago. I just haven't called yet.”

“How do you feel about all that?” Katie lowered her voice. “The honeymoon, I mean. Are you ready for, you know . . . everything.”

Christy felt like shouting, “Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!” But she nodded calmly and simply said, “Yes, I'm ready.”

“Do you guys want to have kids right away?” Katie asked.

Christy realized that even though they had talked about how many children they wanted and about giving them Hawaiian middle names, they hadn't discussed the specifics of when.

“We're still talking that through,” Christy said.

“Have you and Todd had any huge arguments?”

Christy wasn't sure where Katie was coming up with these random questions. “Yes, of course.”

“Rick and I had a huge fight yesterday. It took us about an hour and a half to talk it through and come to an agreement. I think it was good for both of us, though. I mean, if Rick wanted to walk away after seeing me at my worst, that would have been the moment. If he was going to give up on me, it probably would have been yesterday.”

“Sounds like your relationship is getting pretty real,” Christy said.

“Yes, it is. It's getting real.” Katie looked at Christy
and then gave her short red hair a little flip. “And I think I like it that way.”

On Monday afternoon Todd called Christy at the campus bookstore where she was working. “Hey, what are you doing tonight?” he asked.

She had to smile. They hadn't spoken in three days since he had left on the backpack trip. Still, he didn't start their conversation with a normal “Hi, how are you.” Although Todd never had started phone conversations with “Hi, how are you.” For a while it was, “Hey, how's it going?” Now it was just a leap right to the point.