“Although I must say, while I really did miss seeing all of you, I definitely enjoyed having an entire month off to spend with my beautiful new bride,” he said, and a vast number of “Amen’s” could be heard throughout the congregation. “Most of you know how hard it was on me when Satan robbed me of my first wife two years ago and how I never thought I’d find true happiness again. But I’m here to tell you today that through God’s grace, not only did I find true happiness, I also found the kind of genuine love every man ought to experience at least once in his lifetime.”

“Glory to God,” one woman said.

“Praise His holy name,” another added.

JT glanced down at his wife. “Sweetheart, stand up and say hello to everyone.”

Alicia smiled, stood, faced their parishioners, and waved. Many of them smiled back at her, chuckled, and chattered approvingly among themselves, and Alicia felt like a celebrity. In the beginning, she hadn’t known how receptive the members of New Life Christian Center would actually be toward her. Especially since they’d clearly been very fond of their former first lady and also because JT hadn’t known Alicia very long before popping the big question. So, she was very relieved to see how pleased they were to have her there.

She continued waving in a number of directions and then took her seat.

JT grinned and said, “And just for the record, don’t think that the only thing my wife has are her noticeably good looks, because she’s also a very talented writer. She’s written a novel and once she finishes up a few revisions, it’ll only be a matter of time before multiple publishers begin making offers for it.”

The congregation applauded, and Alicia appreciated their kindness and obvious support of her endeavors.

“Most of you know, too,” JT continued, “that I have lots of new goals for NLCC and a vision of how quickly I want to see our ministry grow, so I thank God for giving me a woman who loves me the way Alicia does and for all of you, the people who make all that I’m trying to do here so possible.”