The Cream of the Crop!

©

Written by Danny Bunn,B.A. (Born-Again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ)


Chapter 8
Marriage with the help of Cracker Jacks?

Joe gets off his knee and says, "Come on Cindy!" "Where are we going?" Cindy asks. Joe replies, "To somebody to marry us." They drive around checking different places but they are told that it needs to be set ahead of time, that they need to counsel them, etc. They get turned down for one reason after another, but Joe wants to marry Cindy today or he will sleep in his car. The temptation with such a good looking 'chick' is too much for him. So they go over to a brother that has been walking with Jesus Christ a long time and explain their situation. He explains to them how George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were married with just a bible and a couple of witnesses, they didn't seek state approval but God approval. He goes on to tell them how certain ones in the bible were married without any ceremony or anything close. After he explains marriage is more than a piece of paper, it is a heart committment. Joe and Cindy are following his logic and his use of the word seems to be rightly divided. They invite a couple of friends over as witnesses.

When their friends get there, Joe and Cindy tell each other how much they love one another and their desire to be with one another for their whole life here. How they want to try to help one another, encourage one another and whatever else was right for each other is what they wanted to do. The older Christian brother whom we will call an elder asked them do they take each other as husband and wife. They said that they do. They wanted their yea to be yea and their nay to be nay. They don't want to get into oaths or vows to God, from what they saw God just wanted a yes or no. They put on each other's hand a ring that they got out of a box of Cracker Jacks even a ring has its problems. They wanted to be committed to each other in the Lord Jesus Christ and that is what really counts. They hugged and kissed one another and thanked the brother for his help and advice. Their friends signed the family bible and so did the elder. They have this as their documentation to show the time, date of their being joined as husband and wife in the sight of God and in the eyes of man.

They leave and go out for a big meal at McDonald's to celebrate their union in the eyes of man and mainly in the eyes of God. As they were crunching down on french fries and a cheeseburger, laughing and talking about the freedom that they feel within. It reminded them of when they were children trusting their parents with their lives without even really thinking about it but doing it anyway. They knew that God was there, he was watching over them, caring for them and they now trust him with their futures, their decisions, their goals in life. Joe really celebrates, he tells Cindy to wait at the table and not to look at him. He goes up to the counter and gets her an ice cream cone. He brings it back to her at the table and he is so excited that he drops it in her lap. She jumps up and... hugs Joe, thanking him and telling him that it is the thought that counts. The people around are wondering if they are some sort of new fruit loops going around or was that cereal. Joe hands out some pamphlets on the way out the door. The people are shaking their heads in amazement, what is this as they look at the pamphlet, "Smile, Love is here!" Newlyweds! Well they will wake up to the truth soon enough, life is not a bowl of cereal.

From there Joe and Cindy go to the lake and park, Joe shares with Cindy the day that he parked here and how he was late getting home, his ticket and coming into an empty house. How she called as he was praying with news of a long haired guy and a flat tire. How they saw God's hand in one thing after another. Cindy says, "Joe, life is strange in many ways, there are so many things that seem to make no sense at all. How a loving God would allow all the evil, corruption, hate, lust, fear and so many other things to run amuck. Yet as you have shared with me in your talks with Clyde how sin is the reason for these problems because God gave mankind a choice. Yet Jesus came and bought us back with his precious blood. It is so incredible Joe, it is like living in a fairytale now. Joe, even though I loved you- so much of our life when we were just shacking up had it problems. I didn't really trust you even though I said that I did. My mind kept going to the lifestyle that we were living, if he would shack up with me, what about when he wants to shack up with someone else later?" Joe jumps in at this point. "Same thing that I would think, honey! We compared ourselves to animals and if animals can do it then by us admitting that we came from them, why shouldn't we? I was torn between the thoughts in my mind and looking at my lifestyle and wondering why they would not reconcile. Do animals have the same type of problems wondering if their mate is going to be with someone else tonight? I too was living in turmoil." Cindy comes back into the conversation, "Joe, marriage and commitment makes so much sense now! I feel so much more at ease with you even though I have lived with you for two years." Joe says, "Yea, I know what you mean Cindy!"

It is like the tale of two cities or is it two lives intermingled as one? But as we come into the life of God, that doesn't mean the problems are gone, in reality they increase but the strength, the ability to overcome is there now also.