“I see,” Christy said, hiding a smile. “Do I want to ask what the requirements are for entry to this P–31 club?”
“Very simple. We go by the first part of verse ten in that chapter. It says, ‘An excellent wife, who can find?’ ”
Christy raised her eyebrows questioningly as she waited for an explanation.
“Don’t you see? It doesn’t say, An excellent hubby who can find?’ It says a good wife. I would say that indicates the guy is the one who should be doing the seeking.”
Christy laughed and threw her pillow across the room. Katie ducked, and the pillow hit the wall.
“You think I’m kidding? Believe me, I’ve thought through every angle of this. From here on out, I’m completely available to God. I’ll just keep going about my business, right here, in the very center of God’s will for my life now. And if there’s a ‘beloved’ out there for me, then he can start seeking me for a change. I’ll be here, an excellent future wife, just waiting for him to find me.”
Christy was about to speak when Katie silenced her.
“Don’t you dare say anything about how you feel bad that you and Todd are so sure and so close while nobody special is on the horizon for me.”
Christy lowered her eyes.
“That’s what you were going to say, isn’t it?”
“How did you know?” Christy asked.
“Let’s just say that you and I are on about verse eighty-four of that familiar song. You know, eighty-fourth verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse.”
Christy walked over to sit on the bed next to Katie. “We do sound pretty good together when we sing.”
“Not this song.” Katie handed the Little Mermaid pillow to Christy for a backrest. “Not anymore. We need to give that old tune a rest. You are about to sing a brand-new song, Chris. Now your duet will be with Todd. Let me sing a new solo now, okay? None of the old verses apply to either of us anymore.”
Christy wondered if she had ever admired her dearest friend more than she did at that moment.
“You let God do His God-things in your life, and I’ll invite God to do His God-things in my life, and we won’t compare ourselves with each other. Okay?” Katie seemed eager for Christy to agree.
With a bow of her head Christy said, “As you wish.”
Christy noticed a genuine change in Katie as the week progressed. For one thing, she borrowed Christy’s nail file and worked on her fingernails Tuesday night. Christy had never seen her tomboy friend file her nails. Bite them, yes. Pick at the cuticles, yes. But never file them and then rub her hands with cocoa butter lotion.
Katie filed away cheerfully while Christy looked up information on the Internet for her report on Milton, the blind poet. Katie mentioned that she was on the brink of perfecting her latest herbal tea recipe.
By Thursday, Katie was certain she had the mixture just right. To celebrate her breakthrough, she had gone to Bargain Barn to buy a china teapot and enough mismatched cups to host a tea party in their room.
Four of Katie’s girl friends came on Thursday evening at seven-thirty. Katie said she would have invited more, but she had found only six china cups at Bargain Barn. Christy had cleaned their room and arranged it so all six “testers” had places to sit. Katie brewed her special tea in a hot pot plugged into the wall. While waiting for the tea to steep, Katie passed around a plate of Oreo cookies.
Sierra was telling the other guests about how her older sister, Tawni, was getting married at Thanksgiving and how Tawni’s fiancé had taken a job in Oklahoma.
Christy was interested to hear all the details, but she slipped off into the corner where Katie was straining the herbs from the tea as she poured each cup. “Katie,” Christy whispered, “I want to ask you this one more time. Please don’t get upset. But are you sure no one is going to break out in a rash after drinking your tea this time?”
“I’m 99.9 percent positive,” Katie said. “This is a completely different combination from what I used last spring. There aren’t any nettles in this one.”
“You used nettles last time?”
“I didn’t realize they were stinging nettles, all right?”
“Why do you grow nettles?”
“Because nettles are good for people who have a snoring problem. I just got the dried nettles mixed up with the dried hibiscus. And I only used a pinch. But not this time. This concoction is my Indian summer blend. It’s apples, ginger, cinnamon, and other spices. All safe ingredients, I assure you.”
Christy would have felt more assured if Katie hadn’t used the term “concoction” to describe the tea. Returning to her seat, Christy smiled graciously when Katie offered her a steaming cup of the fragrant brew.
“Katie, this is delicious!” Sierra was the first guest to sip her tea. Her positive report prompted the others to venture bravely where no woman had gone before.
“It is good.” Christy nonchalantly checked the skin on the inside of her arm to see if any spots were appearing. None so far.
“It’s a perfect blend,” Sierra raved. “I like the balance of the ginger and the spices. Is that clove I taste?”
“Yes.”
“It’s just right. Not too strong. You’ve done it, Katie! You’ve come up with a winner.”
Christy and the other guests soon agreed.
Katie beamed. “Then I officially announce the birth of Katie’s Indian Summer Tea!”
The group applauded.
After Christy had gone a full twenty-four hours without any spots showing up or experiencing any other adverse effects, she took a small bag of Katie’s tea to the bookstore. Donna often drank tea, and Christy thought she might want to try Katie’s new blend.
Donna liked the tea as much as Christy, Sierra, and the others had. Later, as Christy was about to leave work to make her weekend trek to Newport Beach, Donna asked if she could get some more of Katie’s tea.
“I can bring some in on Monday,” Christy said. “Or you could call our room and ask Katie for some more.”
“I’d like to pass it on to a friend of mine,” Donna said. “He recently opened a bookstore in Murietta Hot Springs with a specialty café adjacent to the store. I thought he might want to add this tea to his menu at the café.”
“Wouldn’t something like this have to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration before it’s served to the public?” Christy asked. She didn’t want to discourage such a terrific opportunity for Katie, but she could just see Katie whipping up a batch in a hurry and mistaking nettles for one of the herbs. Christy envisioned café customers doubled over from the tea, and Katie sued for damages.
“I’m sure you’re right,” Donna said. “The laws have gotten so strict. That’s good. But it’s also limiting, isn’t it?”
Christy felt glad for such laws. She didn’t voice her opinion, though.
“If you and Katie have a chance to visit the café, I think you really would like it. It’s called The Dove’s Nest. They call the bookstore The Ark. Clever, isn’t it?”
Christy studied Donna for a moment. She was wearing a pumpkin-colored turtleneck under a cream cable-knit cardigan, and her hair was pulled back in a wide gold barrette. With the rows of books behind her and the empty teacup in her hand, she looked as if she could be a model in an ad for Katie’s tea. Donna personified everything that was cozy, welcoming, and warm.
“It sounds like fun,” Christy said. “Todd should be able to get out more in the next few weeks. Maybe we could all go together sometime.”
“How is he doing?” Donna asked.
“Lots better.”
“And your relationship is still strong?”
“Stronger than ever. It’s all just about perfect.”
Donna placed a hand on Christy’s shoulder. “Then remember this time, Christy. Write about it in your diary. Write about this perfect time so you will remember what you know to be true and what you feel bubbling over in your heart. In the years to come, you might experienc
e a season of confusion or doubt. It will help so much if you have this time recorded.”
Christy appreciated Donna’s words, especially since she seemed to speak from experience. That weekend, Christy made sure she wrote in her diary everything she was feeling about Todd. Part of one of her entries read,
Right now I can’t imagine going on in my life without being partnered with Todd in whatever comes our way. It seems so natural and like such a perfect fit for us to be together.
I know he’s going to propose soon. I just know it. Maybe before this weekend is over I’ll hear those words dancing from his lips. I wonder how he will ask me. I’m sure it will be creative.
Or maybe not. Todd has a very practical side to him, as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just turned to me over tacos and said, “So do you want to get married?”
I don’t know how he will ask me or when, but I know I’m ready . . . more than ready to say yes.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. I will marry you, Todd Spencer, and I will spend the rest of my life loving you with all my heart.
And one more thing. Donna told me to write everything down in detail, so I have one detail to add. I love being in love. I love the way I wake each morning, and as soon as I do, I think about Todd and how I’m wildly, completely in love with him, and I smile.
I’ve been smiling all the time lately. Nothing gets me down. Katie said I had that mysterious glow of love in my cheeks last week. She said it looked as if my eyes were always laughing about some secret and that even my posture was improved. That made me laugh. She said Todd’s love for me had made me beautiful and that my love for him was healing him.
All I know is that love has enabled me to soar higher into the heavens and into my relationship with God than I ever have gone before. Love has given me breath as I have plunged deeper into the ocean of understanding and patience. Love has focused my eyes to the minutest details, as minor as a ladybug inching across a daisy petal. And at the same time, love has enlarged my embrace so that I can gather friends and family closer to my heart than ever before.
Love is . . . oh, how I wish I had the words. Love is God’s greatest gift and His most cherished reward. It is the echo of His own heart, sounded back to Him by us, His children, so that a decaying world might see firsthand the power of resurrection and new life. Love is all I know in my world right now.
I feel like laughing at my own giddiness.
I realize that I’m such a virgin in every way. I have never tasted a sensation as intoxicating as being in love. It has me reeling. Ha! I’m emotionally drunk on God’s greatest gift, love. Imagine that!
* * *
Christy reread her diary entry a week and a half after she had penned her “Ode to Love,” and she still felt euphoric. Todd had returned to classes and to his position at Riverview Heights Church. A little more than a month had passed since the accident. He was still moving slowly and sleeping a lot, but he had his life back. And Christy had Todd back. Life was rosy.
The report Todd gave Christy regarding Marti and Bob was that Bob was still pouring love over his wife. Washing her with words. Marti had neither pulled away from him nor pulled closer to him. She was stuck. Todd concluded that, for now, that was probably the best place for her to
Christy attended the two classes the church required for a person to be baptized and was signed up for the Sunday-evening baptism the week before Thanksgiving. She bought some beautiful ivory parchment cards at the bookstore and wrote invitations to her family and friends. As she addressed each envelope in her best handwriting, she wondered how long it would be before she was addressing wedding invitations to these same people.
Todd hadn’t proposed yet. She knew it was only a matter of time. They even had talked a few times, in general terms, about how Doug had gone to Tracy’s dad and asked him for Tracy’s hand in marriage before Doug had proposed to Tracy. Christy guessed Todd was planning to talk to her dad. But when?
They would all be together in a few weeks for her baptism. And for Thanksgiving her parents had invited Todd, his dad, Bob, and Marti to come to their home. Christy wondered if Todd would get on his knees right there, after the turkey and before the pumpkin pie, to ask Christy in front of their relatives to be his wife. That would be memorable.
Christy knew the suspense would be driving her crazy if she didn’t delight in surprises. That, and knowing she was ready. Any time, any place, in any way, Todd could pop the question, and she knew her answer would be yes.
The day before her baptism, Christy was in her dorm room, trying to finish typing a paper on Katie’s laptop, when her mom called. “We were a little surprised to receive your baptism announcement,” Mom said.
“You guys are coming, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Mom said slowly. “You do realize, don’t you, that you were baptized as an infant.”
“Yes,” Christy said. “And I completely honor that. Please don’t think I’m not agreeing with what you and Dad did in that sacred ceremony. I’m actually trying to demonstrate with my life that I agree wholeheartedly, and that’s why I want to be baptized as an adult.”
“Both your father and I were baptized as infants, and we didn’t feel the need to be baptized again when we were adults.”
“I know. And that’s what was right for you guys. I feel differently. Can you and Dad honor my choice to do this, even if you don’t agree completely?” Christy didn’t understand why something like this should unsettle her mom. Her parents were Christians. Why wouldn’t they be happy to see her take this step of faith?
Christy and her mom ended the conversation with both of them agreeing to try to see the other’s point of view.
When Christy’s parents arrived at Riverview Heights on Sunday evening, her mom came into the changing room, where Christy was waiting in a white baptismal gown. Her bare feet were freezing on the linoleum. She wished she hadn’t gotten ready so soon. She was the only woman getting baptized that evening, and so she felt especially glad that her mom had come to be with her.
“I’m so glad you guys came,” Christy said.
“We wouldn’t miss this for anything.” Mom gave Christy a hug. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t misunderstand my phone call yesterday afternoon. Your father and I have discussed this, and we do honor your decision. We are very proud of you. We always have been. I think you kids today are more emotionally connected to your faith than we ever were. Todd helped us see that you are taking ownership of your faith by doing this. Your father and I can see why this demonstration of your beliefs is important to you.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Christy said, giving her another hug. In many ways, this moment was a fulfillment of Christy’s wish that she and her mom could be closer and more like friends. She didn’t know if her mom felt any different right now, but Christy definitely felt as if the two of them had crossed a bridge into a new place where they were both women. As women, they could view each other more as friends.
Her mom must have had some of the same feelings because she gave Christy a tender smile. “Your father and I want you to know that we support all your upcoming decisions. And we’re very happy for you. For both of you.”
As soon as Mom left and Christy was alone again, with her bare feet tapping on the cold linoleum floor, she wondered what the last part meant about her mom being happy for both of them.
Did you mean you’re happy for Todd, too? He’s not getting baptized.
Christy remembered that Todd had taken their car all day yesterday and hadn’t returned in time for dinner in the cafeteria. He didn’t say where he had gone, and Christy hadn’t asked because she was so swamped with homework.
Mom also said that Todd helped them to understand why I’m getting baptized. Did he go to their house yesterday?
Christy’s heart began to beat a little faster. Did Todd go there to ask my parents if we could get married? Is Todd about to propose? Tonight?
The pastor tapped on the door and said she should come to the baptis
mal when she heard the music. Christy put aside her dreams and concentrated on the event at hand. She had prepared something to say and knew she would be first. Sounds of a familiar hymn echoed through the closed door.
“Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace.”
Christy smiled. She loved that hymn. It was one of her childhood favorites when they sang it at her old church in Brightwater. It felt as if a part of her childhood had joined her on this important evening. After spending so many years only singing contemporary choruses for worship, Christy loved having one of the oldies there to usher her forward into the built-in baptismal.
The baptismal was a square sort of “hot tub” at the front of the sanctuary and usually was hidden by silk ficus trees. This evening the trees were gone, and Pastor John stood waist-deep in the water, giving Christy a gentle smile and welcoming her to come into the water.
“Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed.”
Christy took a cautious step into the water and found it was warm.
“Finding as he promised, perfect peace and rest.”
She waded to the center and stood facing Pastor John, not quite ready to look out at the congregation.
The hymn ended, and Pastor John spoke about how Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. The pastor explained how Christy was responding in obedience to the command found in the book of Acts, “ ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.’ ”
Christy hesitantly looked out and saw Todd in the front row, his face beaming at her. He was surrounded by at least twenty students from the youth group. They all seemed serious as they watched Christy.
What a crowd of witnesses! I had no idea these guys were all going to come!
Pastor John quoted from Matthew 28. “ ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ ”