For His Name's Sake (Psalm 23 Mysteries) by Debbie Viguié

That was her angry look and Cindy was doubly regretting setting up this evening. “All of this,” Geanie said, waving her hand around the room, “doesn’t matter. It’s about how a man treats you, who he is as a person, what’s in his heart. Joseph loves me, he loves God, and he is the most compassionate, witty man I have ever met. I would fight for him and he for me. I always know exactly where I stand with him and I always know I can trust him. Love is about mutual respect and admiration, commitment, friendship, and a meeting of the heart, mind, and soul. It has nothing to do with stuff.”
    It was beautifully and eloquently put and Cindy surreptitiously wiped a tear from her eye. She knew there had been some people who had given Geanie crap, intimated the same thing her so-called friends just had. But Cindy had seen the relationship between Geanie and Joseph from the very beginning and she knew that what the two of them had was real and special. It was the kind of relationship that every woman should strive for.
    “Sorry,” Veronica muttered.
    “Yeah,” Melissa said.
    Cindy doubted very much whether either of them were sincere, but Geanie seemed more than willing to let it go. The other woman took a deep breath. Color returned to her cheeks and she picked her sandwich back up.
    “Besides, Joseph is smoking hot,” she said.
    They all laughed at that and just like that the tension was broken for which Cindy was immeasurably grateful.
    “I do have to say,” she commented as she picked up her own sandwich, “that if you guys ever do any remodeling, I have dibs on these couches.”
    “No fair!” Veronica and Melissa echoed in chorus. That just led to more laughter and they chatted about the wedding and guys as they finished eating.
    When they were all stuffed and lounging on the couches Melissa finally spoke up. “Okay, so what are these wedding favors and what do we have to do with them?”
    “So glad you asked,” Geanie said, perking up. “There is some assembly required, obviously, and there are...quite a number of them.”
    She stood up and led the way over to the massive table that housed the supplies. Geanie opened one of the smaller boxes and then one of the larger boxes and began to pull things out.
    “You have got to be kidding me!” Veronica said, eyes bulging.
    “That is certainly...unique,” Melissa said, clearly struggling for words.
    Cindy smirked at the other women’s reactions. She, too, had been surprised when Geanie first laid out her idea to her. Fortunately now she could just look cool and calm in front of the others.
    “Perfect, aren’t they?” Geanie gushed.
    Melissa shook her head. “You really are taking this wedding to a whole other level. I don’t think in my wildest dreams I could ever come up with something like this.”
    “It’s you, very you,” Veronica said with a shake of her head. She looked admiringly at Geanie.
    “And the best part?” Geanie said. “Joseph has no idea.”
    “Wow. How long do you think you’re going to be able to keep it a surprise?” Melissa asked.
    “All the way until we get to the reception. I’m going to need some help getting all these placed when we set up the reception area.”
    “At least that will probably take less time than it’s going to take to put all this together,” Melissa said.
    “Don’t count on it,” Cindy said with a smirk. “You haven’t seen her plans for the table layouts.”
    “What have we gotten ourselves into?” Veronica asked.
    “A wedding. A glorious, perfect wedding and the only one I will ever have,” Geanie said with a glowing smile.
    Seeing the joy on her face made Cindy’s own heart flood with warmth. She was so happy for her and she was growing more excited to see how this whole wedding was going to come off.
    “Royal Wedding,” Cindy said.
    “Isn’t it just,” Melissa agreed, with the slightest tinge of jealousy in her voice.
    Cindy couldn’t blame her. Underneath all the joy and