Topsail: A Week at the Beach: Story #3 (part 3 - the finale!)

Danny did not get very far in his retelling of the conversation before Lauren returned. She seemed to be in a perfectly good place attitude-wise. This made me suspicious.

Danny retold his conversation by letting Lauren know that he told Male "friend" (Mf) nothing he said to him was going to be kept from Lauren. "I will be letting Lauren know exactly what we discussed and I suggest you let her know you are perfectly clear on what we discussed too."

Lauren and I listened intently as Danny revealed the details of his conversation. It went basically like this. Danny asked him what his intentions were and Mf admitted he was interested in dating Lauren. Danny said that this was not an acceptable option. He told him it was not personal but that since Mf was not a Christian he was not qualified to pursue Lauren. Furthermore, even if he was a Christian, he still needed to meet other criteria. Then in typical Danny style he explained that the man who could pursue Lauren must not only be a Christian, but that he must be a priest, prophet, provider and protector.

You can imagine poor Mf's face. "Huh?"

Danny would have explained:
1. Priest - the man is capable of going to Go on behalf of his wife
2. Prophet - the man is capable of going to his wife with God's Word
3. Provider - the man is capable of providing for his wife's physical needs (job)
4. Protector - the man is capable of protecting his wife from all harm - physical, spiritual, emotional, etc.

Well, knowing Danny that could not be the end of the conversation. Danny went on to explain the kind of man he use to be before he understood those principles. He went on to explain who he was before he was a Christian and proceeded to share his testimony. He explained being a Christian was not about being perfect and that was not what made any man worthy of Lauren.

Mf actually revealed that his older brother use to be "messed up" and became a Christian and that his older brother has talked to him about it too. Danny encouraged Mf to recognize that maybe God was not interested in him pursuing Lauren, but that God was pursuing Mf.

In the end, Mf asked if it would be okay to be friends with Lauren. Danny said it was fine but for Mf not to be confused about the fact that under NO circumstances would there be potential for anything else and that Mf was not to pursue Lauren in that manner.

When Danny finished talking it was obvious that my strong, protective husband was vulnerable. He had put himself in a place that could put a serious bump in his relationship with Lauren. I couldn't believe what just transpired and I looked at Lauren waiting for her response of....?

She looked Danny straight in the eye and said with relief, "Thank you, Danny."

We were stunned. Well, that certainly wasn't the response I was expecting. Tears welled up in Danny's eyes and he was so grateful.

"I tried to tell him," Lauren said. She had gotten in over her head. She had wanted the attention but did not really want the attention. She needed to be rescued. I would have never known had I tried to be mother and father.

Before it was all done, there was a group hug and we held hands as Danny prayed over us. As Danny prayed over this not-how-God-designed-blended-family.

And Mf? He texted a bit for a day or two. But before the week had passed, Lauren did not hear a peep from him.......

Yeah, Lauren's step Daddy did his job. And my heavenly Daddy did his too.