The Gifts
The three of us hung out for about an hour longer. Mable even asked me to share the “vampire story” with Shady. I felt like it wasn’t the right time, though, and suggested that she share it with him the next day. I learned later that she did.
As we were talking, my phone rang. It was Jon. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed—it was already 11:30 at night. It was time for me to say good-bye.
I had brought gifts for Mable but had wanted her to open them without Shady around. That didn’t seem possible anymore, so I handed her the gifts and whispered, “Wait until I call you from the car, and then you can open them.”
We hugged good-bye. She said she loved me, would miss me tons and their family would plan to come visit me in California someday.
As her chauffeur was driving me away in her car, I called her. I told her to open the bigger gift first. It was a New Testament in both Arabic and English. I encouraged her to read it so that she could learn more about Jesus.
She said thank you and that she would most definitely read it.
Then, I asked her to open the smaller gift. It was a silver ring with four rubies in it. I told her that I had no clue if this ring was going to fit her, but it had a special meaning.
“There are four rubies on this ring. From now on, I want you to remember that you are a mom of four children, not a mom of one. Three of your children are in the loving arms of God. One has been entrusted into your loving arms to care for until, I pray, one day we are all united with Jesus in heaven.”
Mable was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “Thank you, Holly. This means so much to me. I love you so much.”
With tears in my eyes, I told her that we’d keep in contact and that I loved her too.
The clock struck midnight near the end of the phone call. I sat alone in the backseat of her car, and I couldn’t help but believe that God wasn’t finished with Professor Mohammad. He didn’t bring me to the other side of the world to experience such a crazy situation and not have Him impact her life. Tears started to stream down my face. Thankful for the darkness of the car, I turned on my iPod to listen to worship music the rest of the way home. As I thought about the last few days, I was humbled to grasp that the Lord chose to use me with this person, in this country, for such a time as this.
Excerpt from Follow My Lead: Responding to God’s Voice in Everyday Encounters by Holly Melton (Regal Books). Printed with permission. Holly is the National Campus Director for Field Ministries for Campus Crusade for Christ.
