never dreaming they were his parents.
“After they moved to California, I didn’t see them often, but we kept in touch by telephone and e-mail. All of that time, my parents…” He paused and in the dim light, Vicky saw pain cross his face. “…didn’t give any indication of my heritage, nor did Perry or Lorene.”
“I have a feeling that none of your parents will expect you to change your relationship with them. I’m sure the Saunders won’t expect you to start calling them Mom and Dad. If they’ve kept the secret of your birth from you all of these years, they won’t expect any more from you than you’re willing to give.”
“They tried to talk to me, but I brushed them off.”
“That’s understandable. I know you’re not asking for advice, but why don’t you come to terms with your injury and the change in your future before you concern yourself with your family relationship?”
Chad seemed not to have heard for he continued, “I should be grateful that Perry donated the kidney and saved my life. But that’s hard to do when I wish I had died. I’m only twenty-five and my usefulness on earth is finished. Anything will certainly be better than what I’ll face in the next few years. I’ve heard of too many professional athletes who lost all sense of purpose and headed down the wrong road when they couldn’t keep playing.”
In an effort to steer his mind to more pleasant thoughts, Vicky said, “I’m sure you have some pleasant memories of the time you’ve spent with your biological parents.”
With a slight smile, he said, “The best thing is that I now have a little sister. Amy was about six months old when I first saw her, and it was a case of love at first site for both of us. Lorene says that she’s always been shy with men, but she came to me right away. Maybe she sensed we were related. She’s a cutie! I hope you can see her.”
He moved restlessly in bed. Vicky stood and straightened the sheets and gave him another drink of water.
“When are they going to take all of this hardware off of my arms so I can do something for myself?” he complained.
“It won’t be much longer,” Vicky said soothingly. She put another pillow under his shoulders and spread a blanket over the sheets.
“Is that more comfortable?”
“Yes, thank you. I’m sorry for being such a grouch.”
“You aren’t being grouchy. Do you think you can sleep now?”
“I’ll try. You won’t leave?”
“Not until my shift is over. I’ll wake you before I go.”
Vicky could easily understand why Chad preferred to have a stranger with him during this trauma rather than some member of his family.
As Chad slept, she unwillingly recalled the most embarrassing time in her life. What she had done hadn’t been so terrible—she’d only fallen in love with the wrong man. A man several years her senior, already engaged to someone else. Vicky remembered as if it had been yesterday, when she and her friend, Amelia Stone, had been sitting in a church service in flood-ravaged Williamson, West Virginia.
She had wanted to enter full-time Christian service, and her parents had always been strong supporters of the Red Cross. They had encouraged her to volunteer to help in the flood cleanup, suggesting the hands-on work with hurting people would give her insight into whether a humanitarian profession was the way for her to go.
The experience had not turned out as they had hoped. Vicky had developed a huge crush on Allen Chambers, the pastor of a local church, whose members loaned their church for the Red Cross headquarters. But when the minister had announced the name of his fiancée from the pulpit and introduced her to his congregation, Vicky was devastated because she had made no effort to conceal her love, or perhaps her infatuation, from Allen. She thought he returned her affection, but she soon realized that the minister had never suspected that she had a crush on him.
She and Amelia had left the church before the service was over so she wouldn’t have to face Allen again. She had avoided any contact with him during the days she remained in the area to help the Red Cross. But the incident had destroyed Vicky’s self-confidence. She cringed inwardly when she recalled that a subsequent incident had also destroyed her self-esteem.
Feeling rejected by the young minister, Vicky had returned home from the flood disaster, doubting that God had called her to serve Him by working in foreign countries as a missionary. She had disappointed her parents by leaving college after the first semester, even though they lived only a few blocks from Ohio State University.
She hadn’t expected them to support her. She moved into an apartment and started working in a bookstore at a minimum-wage salary. She was living from hand to mouth, doing very little worthwhile except volunteering at the hospital and participating in activities at her local church.
Although she had tried to kill her dream of serving others, Vicky’s mind often turned in that direction. That was one reason she had started volunteering at the hospital. God wouldn’t let her forget the vow she had made to Him in a church meeting when she was fifteen, dedicating her life to full-time Christian service.
Vicky took a Bible out of her tote bag and turned to the fifth chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes and considered the words of Solomon. As always when she read the passage she felt condemned because she hadn’t kept her vow.
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God… When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it… It is better not to make a vow and not fulfill it… And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.”
Had her vow been a mistake? Had she acted on her emotions rather than waiting until God spoke to her heart? But if God hadn’t called her, why couldn’t she forget that electrifying moment when she felt as if He had singled her out for some particular mission? Did God ever allow a person to forget His call? Or did He cause the person to be uncomfortable until she fulfilled His will in her life?
Because a purposeless future loomed before her, Vicky could empathize with Chad. Was she going to spend her whole life without any sense of direction? At the end of her life, would she have anything to show that she had really lived?
Suddenly, Vicky had a feeling similar to the one she had experienced when she thought she had been called to the mission field. Was God really dealing with her heart again? What else could it be? Chad groaned in his sleep, and she quickly put the Bible away and stepped to his side. She checked the equipment and everything seemed normal.
Vicky’s heartbeat accelerated and she wondered if God was sending her a message that He hadn’t cast her aside. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the enormity of the rehabilitation that Chad would need as he dealt with the loss of his profession. She could understand why he was angry over the unwanted revelation of his illegitimate birth. Could it possibly be that her mission in life would be to help Chad Reece take his place in a world that didn’t include football?
“Oh, no, God,” Vicky whispered, and she quickly surveyed the handsome youth before her. “I make too many mistakes when it comes to matters of the heart. Not only once, but twice, I’ve really messed up. I can’t bear to think that I’d risk my heart again.”
Could she be the friend that Chad needed in this stressful time without succumbing to his personal magnetism?
Although
