Suggested discussion questions for Black Belt, White Dress by Hallee Bridgeman.

When asking ourselves how important the truth is to our Creator, we can look to the reason Jesus said he was born. In the book of John 18:37, Jesus explains that for this reason He was born and for this reason He came into the world. The reason? To testify to the truth.

In bringing those He ministered to into an understanding of the truth, Our Lord used fiction in the form of parables to illustrate very real truths. In the same way, we can minister to one another by the use of fictional characters and situations to help us to reach logical, valid, cogent, and very sound conclusions about our real lives here on earth.

While the characters and situations in The Dixon Brothers Series are fictional, I pray that these extended parables can help readers come to a better understanding of truth. Please prayerfully consider the questions that follow, consult scripture, and pray upon your conclusions. May the Lord of the universe richly bless you.

But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
—1 Corinthians 7:8-9

Travis makes it clear that one of the reasons he wants to marry Traci is because he is ready for the next step in their physical relationship. We know from this exchange that they have not engaged in premarital sex even though they have been together for over two years.

1. Do you think this is realistic for a young couple in today’s world?

Traci reminds Travis that her parents were not married. She asks, if Travis is interested in a sexual relationship with her, why bother to let their unmarried status stop them?

2. Do you think a couple in a committed, loving relationship requires a wedding license for sexual intercourse to be “sin-free”?

Ryan, the pastor of Travis’s family church and his one-time school friend, makes it clear that Travis needs to take a leadership role in his marriage. Travis disregards the advice at first, but obviously researches it to the point that he can see what Ryan meant.

Gary, the pastor who eventually performed the marriage ceremony for Travis and Traci, shares Ryan’s perspective.

Both Travis and Traci have knee-jerk recctions and initially reject the idea that male leadership in the home needs to be honored becausethey feel it is an antiquated and very patriarchal concept.

3. Do you think modern families should be constrained by an hierarchy established more than 5,000 years ago?

4. Do you believe modern marriages are capable of establishing that hierarchy?

5. Do you think the establishment of such an hierarchy still applies to a childless marriage?

It is often said that the husband must be the three P’s in a family: Pastor (spiritual leader), Provider, and Protector.

6. What do you think of how Travis worded his wedding vows?

In Traci and Travis’s specific situation, she is a law enforcement officer.

7. Do you think her vocation supersedes the responsibility Travis must shoulder as protector of his family?

Traci has no respect for her mother at the outset of the story.

8. What part of Michelle’s heart and health issues had to do with so dramatically changing Traci’s attitude?

9. Do you think the immature concept that our parents are bulletproof and will always be with us is what gave Traci the freedom to treat her mother so disrespectfully?

10. The Bible tells us we are to honor our mother and father. Do you think Travis’s objection to the way Traci treated her mother had anything to do with the fact that her attitude was sinful?