CHAPTER THREE
Bill Hampton had always loved radio. Even when he was a small boy, he would find old radios in the junk pile at the dump and take them apart, rebuild them, and try to get them to work. It paid off in school and life, earning a decent living as a radio engineer.
Now, he was doing something he TRULY loved: working on a shortwave radio tower. The idea of taking a broadcast from Indian Village, Missouri, bouncing it off the ionosphere, and have that signal land downrange in Africa or the Philippines excited his engineering sensibilities. That, coupled with Elder Scott’s daily international broadcasts, gave Bill a sense of purpose for life that he had missed out on for decades.
Money was not a big issue for Bill. He made a significant amount each month serving on retainer with a number of local radio stations in northern Missouri. Whether he was ever called out to help get a station back on the air, he could count on a payment. If he wasn’t called, he got paid as well. This gave him the financial flexibility to work on the shortwave tower whenever it needed it, and also to invest back into Elder Scott’s ministry.
He and his family came here four years ago, moving from Tennessee, where he had grown up. But he felt called to come to Indian Village, and be part of the community that Elder Scott had established. In fact, the Elder gave Bill a prophetic word that he was supposed to move to the community. So, Bill, his wife and their six children packed up a Uhaul the next day, and moved into a used mobile home on the Indian Village property.
Bill was a godsend for the small community of forty believers. All had come from different walks of life, nearly all because Elder Scott had given the word from God to do so. However, most of the people who came were dreadfully limited in practical skills in rural living. Bill and his wife had been living ‘off the grid’ for more than a decade prior to the move, and he was quickly able to get the community in order, and this part year, they had cut off all utility ties with the outside world, save the electricity needed to run the powerful transmitters for Elder Scott’s international broadcasts.
The biggest project just completed was the construction of a chapel/communal hall on the Indian Village property made entirely of local materials. Timber and stone was collected from all over the 2000 acre tract that had been donated to Elder Scott nearly two decades earlier. The chapel provided the centerpiece of activity for the community, where nightly services were held, and bi-weekly communal dinners with all the residents. These changes, as well as the notoriety of Elder Scott’s radio broadcast, caused the population of Indian Village to swell to a little over a hundred residents.
This unique community, and the notoriety of Elder Scott’s broadcasts, was fueled by a passion for a return to ‘Biblical Truth’. This included many things, and seemed to grow year by year, but one peculiar belief stood out among others. This was a belief in the concept of Biblical plural marriage, or, as the outside world defined it, polygamy. Several families practiced the concept, including the leader of the community, Elder Scott.
The idea of living in a community dedicated to Biblical purity appealed to Bill, and he had already accepted the truth that the Bible did not limit marriage to monogamy years earlier when he lived back in Mountain Home. In fact, over the past several years, he and his wife had actually ‘courted’ several potential second wives, some within, and some from outside the community. Bill was the only member of the Indian Village council of five that did not have more than one wife. There was always a playful pressure on him to ‘step up his game’.
A year earlier, when one of the younger men of the community was killed in a hunting accident, Elder Scott offered to ‘reassign’ the victim’s young widow to Brother Bill. The engagement lasted three months, until the woman elected to move back home to her family. Bill and his wife were disappointed, but understood it as the hand of God at work in their lives. They continued to pray for God to complete their family in His time.
Church services drew in visitors from great distances, especially thanks to the shortwave and internet broadcasts. The biggest services were always on Friday evening for Shabbat, or Sabbath services. As the crowds grew, so did the offerings, and thus, so did the broadcast. Through shrewd contract negotiations by the leader’s assistant, and with Brother Bill’s help, the Hope for Tomorrow International Broadcast continued to grow on his and other radio stations around the globe.
Bill finished up his maintenance on the tower, changing out one of the main power tubes in the old transmitter. This was one of two analog transmitters that remained; the other two newer solid state digital transmitters were in a separate building. Although they required more maintenance and care, there was something poetic, beautiful and more ‘real’ about the older transmitters.
His cell phone rang. It was Denise, his wife. He answered, “Hey, Hon…how are you?”
“I’m fine; I was calling to see when you were coming home. I fixed you something to eat.”
He looked at the time on his phone, “Eat? You know that we are going to Richmond for dinner, right?”
“Yes, I know,” she answered, “But I thought you might be hungry beforehand, though. The two of you won’t be eating until later. It’s not anything fancy…just the tuna casserole you like. I guess King can have it….”
“Oh no you don’t!” He joked, “I just bought that dog a fifty pound bag of Ol Roy at Wal-Mart. There is no way he is eating my food!”
“Well, if you don’t get home soon, either he or one of these kids of yours will. I had to fix them something anyway since they won’t be going to the service. By the way, where is your red tie?”
He looked on the seat of the Ford F150 and saw the red tie he had worn last week to First Day services. Bill was notorious for ‘losing’ ties. He hated to wear them. “It’s not in the house?” He teased.
“Just bring it in. You KNOW you have to dress nice for a date. You men,” she laughed.
“Okay, hon, you got me. How’s the bride to be doing?”
“Better than yesterday. I think going to Kansas City with a couple of the other wives did her good. A better question is, how is the groom doing after last night?”
He laughed, “Oh, you mean our ‘wild’ groom party last night? Ha! The wildest thing that happened last night was Brother Merle going back for thirds on the ribs at Golden Corral. That, and all the guys gathering around to pray for blessing on the wedding. That got some strange looks….”
“So, no wild women?” she asked knowingly.
“Not unless you count the waitress. I think Merle is in love with her. He left a $10 tip and wrote his phone number on the bill! Don’t know how she would feel about cooking for him and his wives, though.”
“Listen, the teenagers are here to take the younger kids over to the fellowship hall, and I have to leave to help get ready for the wedding tomorrow. I laid out your shirt, suit, shoes, BLACK socks, and belt to put on. Do. Not. Forget. Your. Tie. William.” She ordered with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded laughing.
“Seriously, Bill,” her tone changed, “are we ready for this?”
“Yes,” he answered, “yes we are. I love you, and always will.”
“I love you, too, butthead.”
He knew that was Denise’s way of saying it would all be okay.
He packed up his tools, and drove in from the transmitter site back to the house that they had just finished remodeling and adding on the extra bedroom. It was only about a mile down the road from the Village, so it allowed his family the privacy of separation, but still allowed them to be involved in all the community activities.
He walked into the house, and he noticed something rare. It was quiet, completely empty. All the children were gone. Denise was gone. Even King was hiding somewhere outside. It was peaceful, maybe the last quiet alone he might have for some time in the future.
He shaved and showered, and found the clothes the Denise had laid out. He hated dress shoes almost as much as ties, and rarely wore them. He had to admit though, looking in the mirror, that he looked pretty good in a suit.
Tie! Back to truck, and trying to put on the neckpiece using the light from the porch and the side mirror on the Ford. Just as he was finishing up, another truck pulled into the driveway. It was Brother, recently classified as Elder, Ben.
Ben was Elder Scott’s bookkeeper and right hand man. He had come on board three years ago, having found out about plural marriage before even encountering anyone in the Indian Village community. Highly educated, with a shrewd insight for crunching numbers, coupled with his apparent command of Scriptures, ‘Elder’ Ben had been tapped by the community leader to manage the finances and day to day operations of the small fellowship of believers.
Although many gushed over the younger elder’s addition of his family, Bill was not one of them. From the beginning, something…SOMETHING…just was not sitting right about him. Maybe it was because of how smart he appeared, maybe it was how MUCH he was loved and respected….maybe.
One thing that stood out in Bill’s mind was an incident he observed with Elder Ben’s two wives. During an annual conference a year back, Bill had just come from picking up a load of chairs for the event, and the two young women were in the fellowship hall, and Elder Ben was harshly admonishing the two of them. What made this event stand out in Bill’s mind, is that anytime they were in public, the family always put on the appearance of the ‘perfect’ plural family.
Elder Ben took the idea of patriarchy to an extreme at times. Denise had shared on more than one occasion talking to one of the wives, and bawling about the pressure of living with Ben. But, the next time they would be seen together, they would be all smiles.
Something just was not right, Bill thought.
Which brings up today’s incident, no doubt why Elder Ben was there. Bill had attempted to order some parts for the transmitter using the ministry credit card. The customer service lady was polite enough, informing the engineer that the $5438 invoice could not be completed without a valid credit card. Valid? As soon as he got off the phone, he called the office and left a message for the younger elder.
“Hey, Brother Bill! My goodness, you clean up pretty good there!” Ben drawled in his prominent south Alabama accent.
“Hello,” Bill said, being polite as he should be as a Christian, “thanks…I hate wearing these stupid things,” he said, struggling with the tie.
“Hold still, Brother,” Ben said, facing Bill, and working to rearrange the noose that had somehow managed to be as far from a Windsor as it could be. Bill took the opportunity to read Elder Ben’s face, trying to get a clue in his own mind of what it was that bothered him. He always considered himself a pretty good judge of character, which while having his suspicions about the young leader, he also felt a twinge of guilt in questioning ‘God’s anointed’.
“I wanted to drop by,” the young Elder said, looking Bill straight in the eye, not blinking, “and let you know that I got your message. I wanted to apologize to you.”
“Oh?” Bill replied, “Apologize for what?”
“Well, my brother, I dropped the ball,” he said coolly, “we are in the process of consolidating some of the ministry’s accounts, and I forgot to tell you that we have been issued some new credit cards. I haven’t brought yours over to you yet. I have it over in the office. If you want to come over Monday and pick it up, you can.”
“Consolidating accounts? I don’t remember anything about new accounts in our last leadership meeting.” Bill queried.
“Just housekeeping issues. Elder Scott is fully aware of the change. We are simply closing out some accounts that were costing up money every month, and working to get a better rate on the long term investments. I will tell everyone at the next council meeting.” Ben explained.
“Oh,” Bill said, “okay, as long as Elder Scott knows.” Bill filed it in his mind to be sure to ask the senior leader about the accounts, but not tonight. He was running late now.
“There you go, my brother, “Ben boasted with a drawl, “a perfect knot.” He tightened the tie, just a bit too tight. “I was on my way over to the chapel for Sabbath services, saw you out here, and thought I better let you know what was going on with the money. Everything needs to be above board, you know. Too bad the two of you won’t be joining us tonight.”
“Well, you know I am always there,” Bill explained, “but tonight is special for the two of us, so we are going out to listen to some music, and then dinner at The Apple Blossom.”
“Wow, The Apple Blossom,” Ben exuded, “That’s pretty nice there, my brother. So, is tonight the night?” He asked with a wink.
“Maybe,” Ben grinned. He never liked to share a lot of personal information with anyone, especially when someone was fishing for that information. But, the maybe couldn’t hide the obvious; this was a big night.
“Well, let me pray for you,” the young elder said. He laid both hands on the shoulders of Bill’s huge six-two frame, reaching up a bit, and said a prayer of blessing of direction and for God’s will to be done. The prayer closed out with a mutual, “In Jesus’ name.”
“Well Brother Ben, er, excuse me, ELDER Ben,” Bill said, “I need to take off. Women are never on time, but God help us if a man is late!”
“Amen, Amen!” Ben replied, “I’ve got two of them, and have to deal with it myself! I would be in deep trouble if I would ever be late for an important date like this. You get out of here, my friend.”
Bill doubted in his mind that neither one of Bill’s wives would EVER admonish their husband. There would be hell to pay.
“By the way,” Ben asked, “do you know if Gary will be at the service tonight?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Bill responded, “I think Pastor has family coming in from out of town. His twin brother.”
“Gary has a twin?” Elder Ben asked. “My goodness, who would have thought that? Now THAT would be something to see!”
Bill had known Gary since their days back in Mountain Home. Bill still called Gary ‘Pastor’ even after all these years. He had actually met the twin once before. That was right after Pastor Gary had been asked to resign his ministry credentials, and both he and Bill’s families had been asked to ‘kindly’ not fellowship with their denomination anymore.
“He is his spitting image,” Bill replied. “Maybe he can talk him into coming over to the Village this weekend. I don’t know though; he’s some big time pastor in St. Joe.”
“I would love to meet him. If he is anything like his brother, it should be interesting,” Ben said with a bit of frustration. There was a very cool relationship between Gary and Ben, and more than once they had challenged one another in council meetings. “Well, off to chapel. Bless you, my brother!”
“Bless you,” Ben waved, climbing into the truck. He watched in the rear view as the other truck left, and kept thinking that he needed to talk to Elder Scott first thing.
“But not tonight,” he thought, “more important things tonight.”
He checked his pocket to make sure he had his mother’s ring, the ring she had given to her only child before she passed away. He had been carrying it all week, reminding himself every time he saw it to pray for this night, for God to guide, and for having the right words to say.
Tonight was a big night. First they were going out to see a bluegrass concert down on the banks of the Missouri River at the Richmond Fall Festival. Afterwards, dinner at The Apple Blossom, rural Missouri’s interpretation of a four star restaurant.
And then, on a clear autumn night somewhere on a gravel road just south of Indian Village where they had first met, he was going to ask a very important question.
He was going to ask Abigail to be his second wife.
Read chapter four HERE: http://www.biblicalfamilies.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3689
Bill Hampton had always loved radio. Even when he was a small boy, he would find old radios in the junk pile at the dump and take them apart, rebuild them, and try to get them to work. It paid off in school and life, earning a decent living as a radio engineer.
Now, he was doing something he TRULY loved: working on a shortwave radio tower. The idea of taking a broadcast from Indian Village, Missouri, bouncing it off the ionosphere, and have that signal land downrange in Africa or the Philippines excited his engineering sensibilities. That, coupled with Elder Scott’s daily international broadcasts, gave Bill a sense of purpose for life that he had missed out on for decades.
Money was not a big issue for Bill. He made a significant amount each month serving on retainer with a number of local radio stations in northern Missouri. Whether he was ever called out to help get a station back on the air, he could count on a payment. If he wasn’t called, he got paid as well. This gave him the financial flexibility to work on the shortwave tower whenever it needed it, and also to invest back into Elder Scott’s ministry.
He and his family came here four years ago, moving from Tennessee, where he had grown up. But he felt called to come to Indian Village, and be part of the community that Elder Scott had established. In fact, the Elder gave Bill a prophetic word that he was supposed to move to the community. So, Bill, his wife and their six children packed up a Uhaul the next day, and moved into a used mobile home on the Indian Village property.
Bill was a godsend for the small community of forty believers. All had come from different walks of life, nearly all because Elder Scott had given the word from God to do so. However, most of the people who came were dreadfully limited in practical skills in rural living. Bill and his wife had been living ‘off the grid’ for more than a decade prior to the move, and he was quickly able to get the community in order, and this part year, they had cut off all utility ties with the outside world, save the electricity needed to run the powerful transmitters for Elder Scott’s international broadcasts.
The biggest project just completed was the construction of a chapel/communal hall on the Indian Village property made entirely of local materials. Timber and stone was collected from all over the 2000 acre tract that had been donated to Elder Scott nearly two decades earlier. The chapel provided the centerpiece of activity for the community, where nightly services were held, and bi-weekly communal dinners with all the residents. These changes, as well as the notoriety of Elder Scott’s radio broadcast, caused the population of Indian Village to swell to a little over a hundred residents.
This unique community, and the notoriety of Elder Scott’s broadcasts, was fueled by a passion for a return to ‘Biblical Truth’. This included many things, and seemed to grow year by year, but one peculiar belief stood out among others. This was a belief in the concept of Biblical plural marriage, or, as the outside world defined it, polygamy. Several families practiced the concept, including the leader of the community, Elder Scott.
The idea of living in a community dedicated to Biblical purity appealed to Bill, and he had already accepted the truth that the Bible did not limit marriage to monogamy years earlier when he lived back in Mountain Home. In fact, over the past several years, he and his wife had actually ‘courted’ several potential second wives, some within, and some from outside the community. Bill was the only member of the Indian Village council of five that did not have more than one wife. There was always a playful pressure on him to ‘step up his game’.
A year earlier, when one of the younger men of the community was killed in a hunting accident, Elder Scott offered to ‘reassign’ the victim’s young widow to Brother Bill. The engagement lasted three months, until the woman elected to move back home to her family. Bill and his wife were disappointed, but understood it as the hand of God at work in their lives. They continued to pray for God to complete their family in His time.
Church services drew in visitors from great distances, especially thanks to the shortwave and internet broadcasts. The biggest services were always on Friday evening for Shabbat, or Sabbath services. As the crowds grew, so did the offerings, and thus, so did the broadcast. Through shrewd contract negotiations by the leader’s assistant, and with Brother Bill’s help, the Hope for Tomorrow International Broadcast continued to grow on his and other radio stations around the globe.
Bill finished up his maintenance on the tower, changing out one of the main power tubes in the old transmitter. This was one of two analog transmitters that remained; the other two newer solid state digital transmitters were in a separate building. Although they required more maintenance and care, there was something poetic, beautiful and more ‘real’ about the older transmitters.
His cell phone rang. It was Denise, his wife. He answered, “Hey, Hon…how are you?”
“I’m fine; I was calling to see when you were coming home. I fixed you something to eat.”
He looked at the time on his phone, “Eat? You know that we are going to Richmond for dinner, right?”
“Yes, I know,” she answered, “But I thought you might be hungry beforehand, though. The two of you won’t be eating until later. It’s not anything fancy…just the tuna casserole you like. I guess King can have it….”
“Oh no you don’t!” He joked, “I just bought that dog a fifty pound bag of Ol Roy at Wal-Mart. There is no way he is eating my food!”
“Well, if you don’t get home soon, either he or one of these kids of yours will. I had to fix them something anyway since they won’t be going to the service. By the way, where is your red tie?”
He looked on the seat of the Ford F150 and saw the red tie he had worn last week to First Day services. Bill was notorious for ‘losing’ ties. He hated to wear them. “It’s not in the house?” He teased.
“Just bring it in. You KNOW you have to dress nice for a date. You men,” she laughed.
“Okay, hon, you got me. How’s the bride to be doing?”
“Better than yesterday. I think going to Kansas City with a couple of the other wives did her good. A better question is, how is the groom doing after last night?”
He laughed, “Oh, you mean our ‘wild’ groom party last night? Ha! The wildest thing that happened last night was Brother Merle going back for thirds on the ribs at Golden Corral. That, and all the guys gathering around to pray for blessing on the wedding. That got some strange looks….”
“So, no wild women?” she asked knowingly.
“Not unless you count the waitress. I think Merle is in love with her. He left a $10 tip and wrote his phone number on the bill! Don’t know how she would feel about cooking for him and his wives, though.”
“Listen, the teenagers are here to take the younger kids over to the fellowship hall, and I have to leave to help get ready for the wedding tomorrow. I laid out your shirt, suit, shoes, BLACK socks, and belt to put on. Do. Not. Forget. Your. Tie. William.” She ordered with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded laughing.
“Seriously, Bill,” her tone changed, “are we ready for this?”
“Yes,” he answered, “yes we are. I love you, and always will.”
“I love you, too, butthead.”
He knew that was Denise’s way of saying it would all be okay.
He packed up his tools, and drove in from the transmitter site back to the house that they had just finished remodeling and adding on the extra bedroom. It was only about a mile down the road from the Village, so it allowed his family the privacy of separation, but still allowed them to be involved in all the community activities.
He walked into the house, and he noticed something rare. It was quiet, completely empty. All the children were gone. Denise was gone. Even King was hiding somewhere outside. It was peaceful, maybe the last quiet alone he might have for some time in the future.
He shaved and showered, and found the clothes the Denise had laid out. He hated dress shoes almost as much as ties, and rarely wore them. He had to admit though, looking in the mirror, that he looked pretty good in a suit.
Tie! Back to truck, and trying to put on the neckpiece using the light from the porch and the side mirror on the Ford. Just as he was finishing up, another truck pulled into the driveway. It was Brother, recently classified as Elder, Ben.
Ben was Elder Scott’s bookkeeper and right hand man. He had come on board three years ago, having found out about plural marriage before even encountering anyone in the Indian Village community. Highly educated, with a shrewd insight for crunching numbers, coupled with his apparent command of Scriptures, ‘Elder’ Ben had been tapped by the community leader to manage the finances and day to day operations of the small fellowship of believers.
Although many gushed over the younger elder’s addition of his family, Bill was not one of them. From the beginning, something…SOMETHING…just was not sitting right about him. Maybe it was because of how smart he appeared, maybe it was how MUCH he was loved and respected….maybe.
One thing that stood out in Bill’s mind was an incident he observed with Elder Ben’s two wives. During an annual conference a year back, Bill had just come from picking up a load of chairs for the event, and the two young women were in the fellowship hall, and Elder Ben was harshly admonishing the two of them. What made this event stand out in Bill’s mind, is that anytime they were in public, the family always put on the appearance of the ‘perfect’ plural family.
Elder Ben took the idea of patriarchy to an extreme at times. Denise had shared on more than one occasion talking to one of the wives, and bawling about the pressure of living with Ben. But, the next time they would be seen together, they would be all smiles.
Something just was not right, Bill thought.
Which brings up today’s incident, no doubt why Elder Ben was there. Bill had attempted to order some parts for the transmitter using the ministry credit card. The customer service lady was polite enough, informing the engineer that the $5438 invoice could not be completed without a valid credit card. Valid? As soon as he got off the phone, he called the office and left a message for the younger elder.
“Hey, Brother Bill! My goodness, you clean up pretty good there!” Ben drawled in his prominent south Alabama accent.
“Hello,” Bill said, being polite as he should be as a Christian, “thanks…I hate wearing these stupid things,” he said, struggling with the tie.
“Hold still, Brother,” Ben said, facing Bill, and working to rearrange the noose that had somehow managed to be as far from a Windsor as it could be. Bill took the opportunity to read Elder Ben’s face, trying to get a clue in his own mind of what it was that bothered him. He always considered himself a pretty good judge of character, which while having his suspicions about the young leader, he also felt a twinge of guilt in questioning ‘God’s anointed’.
“I wanted to drop by,” the young Elder said, looking Bill straight in the eye, not blinking, “and let you know that I got your message. I wanted to apologize to you.”
“Oh?” Bill replied, “Apologize for what?”
“Well, my brother, I dropped the ball,” he said coolly, “we are in the process of consolidating some of the ministry’s accounts, and I forgot to tell you that we have been issued some new credit cards. I haven’t brought yours over to you yet. I have it over in the office. If you want to come over Monday and pick it up, you can.”
“Consolidating accounts? I don’t remember anything about new accounts in our last leadership meeting.” Bill queried.
“Just housekeeping issues. Elder Scott is fully aware of the change. We are simply closing out some accounts that were costing up money every month, and working to get a better rate on the long term investments. I will tell everyone at the next council meeting.” Ben explained.
“Oh,” Bill said, “okay, as long as Elder Scott knows.” Bill filed it in his mind to be sure to ask the senior leader about the accounts, but not tonight. He was running late now.
“There you go, my brother, “Ben boasted with a drawl, “a perfect knot.” He tightened the tie, just a bit too tight. “I was on my way over to the chapel for Sabbath services, saw you out here, and thought I better let you know what was going on with the money. Everything needs to be above board, you know. Too bad the two of you won’t be joining us tonight.”
“Well, you know I am always there,” Bill explained, “but tonight is special for the two of us, so we are going out to listen to some music, and then dinner at The Apple Blossom.”
“Wow, The Apple Blossom,” Ben exuded, “That’s pretty nice there, my brother. So, is tonight the night?” He asked with a wink.
“Maybe,” Ben grinned. He never liked to share a lot of personal information with anyone, especially when someone was fishing for that information. But, the maybe couldn’t hide the obvious; this was a big night.
“Well, let me pray for you,” the young elder said. He laid both hands on the shoulders of Bill’s huge six-two frame, reaching up a bit, and said a prayer of blessing of direction and for God’s will to be done. The prayer closed out with a mutual, “In Jesus’ name.”
“Well Brother Ben, er, excuse me, ELDER Ben,” Bill said, “I need to take off. Women are never on time, but God help us if a man is late!”
“Amen, Amen!” Ben replied, “I’ve got two of them, and have to deal with it myself! I would be in deep trouble if I would ever be late for an important date like this. You get out of here, my friend.”
Bill doubted in his mind that neither one of Bill’s wives would EVER admonish their husband. There would be hell to pay.
“By the way,” Ben asked, “do you know if Gary will be at the service tonight?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Bill responded, “I think Pastor has family coming in from out of town. His twin brother.”
“Gary has a twin?” Elder Ben asked. “My goodness, who would have thought that? Now THAT would be something to see!”
Bill had known Gary since their days back in Mountain Home. Bill still called Gary ‘Pastor’ even after all these years. He had actually met the twin once before. That was right after Pastor Gary had been asked to resign his ministry credentials, and both he and Bill’s families had been asked to ‘kindly’ not fellowship with their denomination anymore.
“He is his spitting image,” Bill replied. “Maybe he can talk him into coming over to the Village this weekend. I don’t know though; he’s some big time pastor in St. Joe.”
“I would love to meet him. If he is anything like his brother, it should be interesting,” Ben said with a bit of frustration. There was a very cool relationship between Gary and Ben, and more than once they had challenged one another in council meetings. “Well, off to chapel. Bless you, my brother!”
“Bless you,” Ben waved, climbing into the truck. He watched in the rear view as the other truck left, and kept thinking that he needed to talk to Elder Scott first thing.
“But not tonight,” he thought, “more important things tonight.”
He checked his pocket to make sure he had his mother’s ring, the ring she had given to her only child before she passed away. He had been carrying it all week, reminding himself every time he saw it to pray for this night, for God to guide, and for having the right words to say.
Tonight was a big night. First they were going out to see a bluegrass concert down on the banks of the Missouri River at the Richmond Fall Festival. Afterwards, dinner at The Apple Blossom, rural Missouri’s interpretation of a four star restaurant.
And then, on a clear autumn night somewhere on a gravel road just south of Indian Village where they had first met, he was going to ask a very important question.
He was going to ask Abigail to be his second wife.
Read chapter four HERE: http://www.biblicalfamilies.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3689