What If... Page #5

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a woman from the rib

"he had taken out of the man

and he brought her to the man.

"The man said, this is noW bone

of my bones

"and flesh of my flesh.

"She shall be called Woman,

for she Was taken out of man.

"For this reason, a man Will

leave his father and mother

"and be united to his Wife.

"And they Will become one flesh.

The man and his Wife Were both

naked and they felt no shame. "

NoW, that's What

I'm talking about, hmm?

But seriously, Carl,

Why do you Want to get married?

Because We love each other.

Want my opinion?

This is isn't love.

It's hormones.

Carl, how much money

do you make per month?

What?

I'm guessing your

after-tax income

isn't much more than 3K,

am I right?

It's something like that.

And once you bring

your girl into the mix,

the monthly net doubles.

I mean, that's not gonna

kill you, but once she's got

a bun in the oven

and stops Working,

are you gonna

be ready for that?

And even if We assume that

you get your income up

the typical 10% over

the next couple of years,

that's not gonna be nearly

enough to protect you from

all the money arguments that

cause over 50% of divorces.

And then you two are gonna be

back in here saying,

"Pastor Ben, Pastor Ben,

Why didn't you stop us?

Why didn't you stage some

sort of intervention?"

He's just playing

devil's advocate.

See, When the Lord

blesses a union,

he sends a thousand little

consolations every day,

most of Which We never

even really notice.

Grace is to help us endure

the trials of life

and learn to treasure

the precious moments

along the Way.

They're his Way of

letting us know, to him,

marriage is sacred

and it is special.

Yeah, special.

It's like that 4 by 4

you drove up in.

I bet you're fond of that, huh?

Yeah, I love that truck.

Brittney loves me in it.

Mm-hmm, a year from noW,

it's a minivan.

Trust me on this.

Attractive, right?

It's hard to look hot

When your ride

has child safety

seats, isn't it?

Yeah.

What?

Well, that Went Well.

You Wanted me

to push 'em, right?

Within biblical parameters.

Ben, you compared marriage

to life imprisonment

Without the possibility

of parole.

What's next?

You gonna rewrite

the beatitudes?

"Blessed are they Who remain

single for they can be

"as selfish as they Want

drinking beer

and Watching ESPN all night"?

Where did that come from?

I feel like I don't

even know you right noW.

Kimberly, What's going on?

Dillon just dropped me off.

Why?

Everybody's talking about me.

What?

Why?

Daddy paid Dillon Jordan,

the most popular guy

in Clearville, $80 to

stay away from me.

Please tell me

that isn't true.

I knew I should have

given him a hundred.

He Wasn't supposed

to say anything.

How could you?

This is the Worst thing

that's ever happened to me,

and it's all because of you.

Kimberly.

Ben, are you kidding me?

You told me to handle it.

I didn't mean to hurt her.

Kimberly!

I don't know how to do this.

The Bessettes have always

been stubborn about staying

a family business and not

being owned by anyone else.

And in this case, it's

going to be their downfall.

You'd be wise to avoid

purchasing any of their stock

until this situation

is settled.

Couch again, huh?

Actually, it's more of

a doghouse than a couch.

It's your fault.

I know.

Any piece of their company.

Quite frankly, I think

they're in trouble.

Why are you

Watching this?

Bessette Industries is about

to become a takeover target.

Is that good?

I used to think so,

but I don't know noW.

Don't Worry,

it's all gonna Work out.

Ya think?

Hey, sugar bear.

Daddy and I have to have

a little talk.

Will you go upstairs

and get ready for bed?

Oh, thank you.

Where's mine?

I Wanted to ask you something.

Do you still like us,

this family?

Of course, I do.

Then Why are you

acting like this?

You know, back When you

Were still at Moody,

Dr. Heron's Wife, When she heard

We Were getting married, she

pulled me aside and she said,

"If you're gonna

"marry a minister, you need

to know about the moment.

"Every man Who dedicates

his life to ministry goes

"through one, When he questions

if he's been Wrong

about everything,

including his faith. "

Unless I'm Wrong...

This is my moment.

Will you read this to me?

Right there.

"Love is patient.

Love is kind.

"It does not envy.

It does not boast.

"Is not rude,

not self-seeking.

"Is not easily angered.

Keeps no records of Wrongs.

"Love does not delight in evil,

but rejoices With the truth.

"It always protects,

always trusts, always hopes,

always perseveres. "

NoW Which one of those

Would you say best

describes you lately?

Ben, this life is a life

that We chose together.

Minister, husband, father,

mother, Wife, friend.

NoW We're in this

for the long haul,

but if you're there's some

changes that you Want to make

about Where We're going

and What We're doing,

then We need to talk about it.

I'm not saying

I'm gonna like it,

but We need to talk about it.

I'm not gonna let you keep

doing What you're doing,

torturing yourself and

everybody else around you.

I don't Want it for me.

And I Won't let you

do it to our girls.

Do you understand?

Yeah, yes.

Yeah.

Hey, this thing

isn't working.

This thing?

Yeah, this what if?

I mean, my kids hate me.

Wendy's convinced that I don't

love her anymore.

I divide my time between

saying stupid things

and doing stupid things.

And the church,

the church is a disaster.

I mean, it's a race to see

which happens first,

the villagers grab torches

and pitchforks

or I reduce the congregation

to zero.

You need to end it.

It's not even close

to my decision.

But I'm hurting these people,

and I don't want to hurt them.

I mean, I keep doing

everything Wrong,

I mean everything.

That's simple,

do everything right.

But that's ridiculous.

Exactly.

NoW you're on the right track.

You're not even

listening to me.

I can't be the Ben

that they think I am.

Look, the guy Who

Won Wendy's heart,

the father of those children

didn't do anything

you're not capable of

by definition.

Yeah, but I'm not him.

Yeah, that's because

you don't Want to be.

You Want to be like him?

Then study him.

Learn from him.

Read what he read.

Feel what he felt.

Then maybe, maybe you'll

discover that you are him.

Can't be that simple.

Oh, you Want

to make it harder?

All right, simple, huh?

How's this?

Everything in life

boils down to this,

God loves you,

so love other people.

God sacrificed everything

to be With you,

so sacrifice everything.

That's not simple.

It is, it's just hard.

Okay, you know,

When this is all over,

I can still go back

to my old life?

Well, yeah, if

that's What you Want.

God's call always

involves a choice.

You can always say no,

in fact, you already have.

You know, When you Walked away,

you broke two hearts,

Wendy's and his.

Now he's giving you

another chance,

and you're not getting

out of this until you

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