Contingency (Covenant of Trust) by Paula Wiseman Page A

Saturday.”
    “Then consider this a visit to a friend’s house. You can always stop by a friend’s house on Saturday.” Phil ushered Chuck to the living room sofa. “Now, what can I do for you?” He eased into the recliner across from the sofa.
    “I’m an idiot, Phil. I’ve just come from talking to Bobbi. Things are worse than I thought.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?”
    “She wants me to move out.”
    “Did she ask you for a divorce?”
    “No, she wants to go through counseling. I told her I would do anything to make it up to her, but I’m not sure it mattered. She was nothing like the Bobbi I fell in love with.”
    “What can I do?”
    “I talked to my mom yesterday, and she said I should do the confession thing.” Chuck took a deep breath. “It’s just ... Phil, I’ve worked so hard, to be successful, and to look successful. It mattered a lot to me. I even hounded Bobbi a few years back about moving out to The Arbors, you know, a better neighborhood. None of that matters if I lose her. If she doesn’t believe that I’m sorry, that I love her, and I want to be a good husband, everything else is just pointless.” He raised his head and looked Phil in the eye.
    “Are you sorry?”
    “Of course I am.”
    “And you love your wife, and you want to be a good husband?”
    “That’s what I said.”
    “No, you said you wanted Bobbi to believe those things. There’s a difference.”
    “Phil ...”
    “You can’t fake this, Chuck. You have to be one hundred percent sincere for your own sake as much as for Bobbi’s. You have to be open and honest about everything from now on.”
    “Then let me be straight with you. I understand that I have sinned against God and against my wife. I realize that I did far more damage than I thought, and if I have any hope of getting Bobbi back, I need your help.” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep himself from dissolving into tears. “Please, Phil, I’m begging you.”
    “Now we’re getting somewhere.” Phil slid to the edge of his seat. “First of all, I need you to understand that God intends for marriage to show how Christ loves and cares for His church. It’s a serious insult to God to tear it down, and He’s going to vindicate Himself.”
    “So, even if I do this, I’m still facing some kind of judgment?”
    “Think of it like this. Say you drive a nail into a two-by-four, and then come back later and pull the nail out. The nail may be gone, but the hole is there. Even if you fill it, maybe so it’s unnoticeable, it’s still going to be there. The two-by-four will never be the same.”
    “My marriage,” Chuck nodded.
    “God removes the sin when you ask for forgiveness,” Phil continued, “but the effects of the sin never go away.”
    “So how do I fill in the hole?”
    “Now, that’s God’s business, working that miracle of restoration, but He often lets us have a hand in it.”
    “Which brings me back to confessing this to the church.”
    “Exactly.”
    “Tell me how to do it then,” Chuck said, grasping for that hope.
    “You sure?”
    “I want my wife back.”
    *******
    “ What are you doing?” Bobbi found Chuck facing the mirror in their bathroom, whipping his tie around into a perfect knot.
    “ Getting ready for work.”
    “ Today?”
    “ I do this almost every day.”
    She took his hand, and he frowned. “Chuck, your dad’s funeral was yesterday. Nobody expects you ...”
    He jerked his hand away. “What am I supposed to do here? Sit and stare at the walls, or waste my time on something stupid?”
    “ Not at all. You’ve never lost anybody. This is ...” The lines in his forehead grew deeper, and she risked him walking out. “You need some time. Trust me on this, and your mother needs you. She’s alone today.”
    “ She’s got friends there.”
    “ It’s not the same, and you know it.”
    “ Look, I’ve got commitments to clients.” His jaw twitched ever so