Contingency (Covenant of Trust) (41 page)

“It’s part of my job to notice little things, little changes,” he said. “So maybe you’re reconciling.” He waved his hand, passing the conversation back to her.

“All the ugliness has been brought to light, and now maybe we can start to put things back together. Well ... we could have.” Bobbi shook her head. “I don’t understand why God would take Phil from us. And that doesn’t even begin to touch on how much Donna and the rest of his family and the church still need him.”

“Apparently, you don’t need him,” Dr. Craig said.

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t want to sound cavalier about it, but if God took Phil home while he still had a lot of work to do, then God would have a big mistake to answer for, right?” Bobbi had to agree. “And we know that’s not the case.”

“It could also be that God took Phil to save him and Donna from greater suffering. What if Phil’s stroke had been debilitating rather than fatal, and he lived for years, unable to speak or take care of himself? Would that really be easier on him or his loved ones?”

“That’s hard to say.”

“It is, but I’ve found in dealing with death, that simplistic explanations are useless. People’s lives are too complex, too interconnected, to say with confidence why someone died when they did.”

“God doesn’t work that way.” He looked away for a moment. “Phil’s death will work God’s purpose in the lives of the hundreds of people that knew him. I can’t presume to know what all those purposes could be, but I know that ultimately God is good, His love is sure, and His timing is perfect according to
His
purposes.”

“But here’s the other thing,” Bobbi said, wiping her eyes. “The whole time I’ve been dealing with these issues in my marriage, I’ve felt God telling me over and over to trust Him. Trust Him for what? How can I trust Him when He does something like this?”

“I was going back through some notes I’d made on Hosea, but I can’t love Chuck the way God loves Israel. Restoration happened because of a change of heart on Gomer’s part and on Israel’s. How can I be sure there has been a change of heart in Chuck?”

Dr. Craig smiled. “Could it be that God is encouraging you to trust Him to bring about the necessary changes in Chuck’s heart? Or perhaps to trust that He’s already done it? Or to trust Him enough to initiate reconciliation?” He leaned back and dropped his hands to the arms of the chair. “God, many times, wants us to make a move in faith, then He is right there beside us once we take that first step.”

“You sound like Phil,” Bobbi said.

“I take that as a high compliment.”

*******

Sitting in her
car, Bobbi leaned back against the headrest. “You know what this is like, God? This is just like when we went to Florida, to Disney World when Joel was four. Chuck called out to him from the pool. ‘Come on, Joel. Jump. I’ll catch you.’

“He let him go under, God. Chuck caught him, but he intentionally let Joel go underwater. And he was terrified ... If I jump, I’m afraid You’re going to let me go under.”

She sighed and opened her purse to find her car keys when she saw the letter Phil gave her yesterday afternoon. She opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet written in Phil’s neat block printing.

With apologies to the apostle Paul and Philemon-

Phil Shannon, pastor of Preston Road Community Church and Donna, my beloved wife and partner,

To Bobbi our beloved friend and fellow laborer:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith, which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all of us. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because our hearts have been refreshed by you, our sister.

Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you, yet for love’s sake I appeal to you for my son, Chuck, whom I have counseled, who once was heartrending to you, but is beloved to you and to me. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart. But I didn’t want to do this without your consent, that your reconciliation might not be by compulsion, but voluntary. Chuck departed for a while and God has worked in Chuck’s heart, salvaging good from his sin against you, according to His divine purpose, that you might be reconciled to him forever.

If you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. If he wrongs you again, put that on my account, so great is my confidence in him. Bobbi, having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

“Phil,” Bobbi whispered. He took Paul’s letter to Philemon and rewrote it for her, assuring her, on his own character and reputation, that it was safe to take Chuck back. Besides that, he was confident she would do it.

The words she read last night ran through her mind. ‘How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I give you up?’

Rereading the letter, the pieces began to fall into place. God met her at the level of her trust. She trusted Phil Shannon, so God promised her through Phil that the changes she saw in her husband were genuine. She didn’t have to be afraid. She could take that step into her Father’s arms. He wouldn’t let her go under.

She searched through her purse until she found her rings and slid them on. “Phil, I’m sorry you didn’t get to see this.”

*******

As soon as
the bell rung that afternoon, Bobbi drove straight to Chuck’s office. “Mrs. Molinsky, it’s good to see you!” Christine smiled and waved when Bobbi walked into the law firm’s lobby. “Do you want me to call Mr. Molinsky?”

“Yes, but tell him it’s Mary Roberta Petrocelli,” Bobbi answered. She imagined the puzzlement on Chuck’s face as Christine relayed her maiden name.

“He’ll be right out,” Christine said.

Chuck strode into the lobby before she hung up the phone. “What’s going on?” In spite of his quick response, Bobbi could read him. Mental and spiritual exhaustion pressed on him.

“I need to talk to you,” Bobbi said.

“Of course, come on back.” Chuck motioned her towards his office. He followed her and closed his office door as she took a seat. “You, uh, caught me off guard using your maiden name. Are you trying to tell me something?”

He looked away for a moment. “It’s like when my dad … Phil … I owe him a lot.” He exhaled sharply and blinked several times before meeting her eyes again.

“Chuck, I want to apologize to you—”

“You don’t need to apologize to me.”

“Yes, I do. I said I forgave you, but I couldn’t let go of the anger, and the hurt, and the fear that it would happen again. That wasn’t forgiveness. Then I made you chase a moving target when it came to reconciliation.”

She paused and glanced up at the ceiling, trying to prevent tears from spilling onto her cheeks. “Yesterday ... it hurt like that first day, hearing you say it ... but I also know it could’ve been worse. If you wanted to have an affair, it would have been much easier after I made you move out.” She shifted in her chair and took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is, I believe you love me and you want to make our marriage work—”

“Oh, thank You, God!” Chuck knelt down in front of her, eyes brimming with tears, and took her hands. “I was so afraid after yesterday I was beyond forgiveness. I prayed God would give you whatever it took to see my heart now, not what I did to you.”

“Walter’s retiring March first. Now I won’t have to travel, and I’ll have control over my workload. Plus I won’t have to worry about impressing my boss anymore.” He smiled at her. “I’ll have the freedom to devote the kind of time to you and our marriage that I should have been doing all along. I always made a point of carving out time for the boys, but never for us. That was stupid.”

“I put the boys before us, too. I figured they were ours for such a short time, they had to come first.”

“I also promise not to be alone with a woman again. I promise to let you know when I’m struggling with temptation instead of keeping it inside. I want to continue with some sort of counseling or mentoring or whatever, so I never drop my guard on this again, and I promise to thank God every day for giving me the grace of a second chance.”

“Be patient with me. I’ve shut you out. I’ve been unreasonable ... There are things I need to change, too, for us to have the kind of marriage God intends.” She studied his face for a moment, and then reached into her purse ignoring her tears. She took out a small jewelry box, and when Chuck saw his own wedding band, he began to cry as well. “I believe that God has changed you, and I want to start fresh. That’s why I gave Christine my maiden name.”

She took Chuck’s left hand and slid the ring on his third finger. “Charles James Molinsky, I want you to come home. I want you to be my husband, and I want to be your wife. Until death do us part.”

Chuck took Bobbi in his arms and kissed her, held her, and then kissed her again. Several minutes later, their emotions exhausted, Bobbi said, “I want us to go see Donna.”

“Of course,” Chuck said, as he shut his computer down. “I’ll let Christine know I’m gone for the day.” While he closed folders, stacked files, and cleared his desk, Bobbi called home.

“Gotcha. Oh, Grandma called. She said everything went through at the bank, and she changed her plane ticket so she could be here for Pastor Phil’s funeral.”

“Dad or I will call her when we get home. We shouldn’t be too long. Love you.”

“Love you, too, and Mom, I’m really happy for you.”

“You’re staring,” Bobbi said, as she eased her Camry to a stop in front of the Shannons’ house.

“I can’t help it,” Chuck said. “I’ve pictured this day for months, and it’s finally here.”

“Well, I don’t want to climb over the gear shift, so you’ll have to loosen that death grip on my hand so I can get out of the car.”

“If I have to,” he muttered, but took her hand again as soon as he made it around the car.

She let him lead her onto the porch, and they waited several long moments after Chuck rang the doorbell. At last, David Shannon opened the door. “Bobbi,” David said, leaning down to hug her, then he turned and shook Chuck’s hand. “Chuck, good to see you. Thanks for coming.”

“She’s a very strong, courageous woman, and she would hang me if I didn’t bring you in.” He smiled and ushered them around to the living room where Donna sat in the corner of the sofa with a little boy on her lap engrossed in a book, while his toddler sister played in the floor nearby. “Mom, Bobbi and Chuck are here.”