“No, not yet,” I laughed as I reached for my present from
my parents.
“Good,” he smiled.
“Tell ‘em that they need to Skype me before they ask you out. I’ll be sitting right here cleaning my gun.”
My dad loves Skype.
I love Skype. For a family that
lives 2,000 miles apart, it’s a blessing to be able to see their faces today on
Christmas.
I watched as Dad opened his gift, and as my brother
opened his, an R2-D2 shirt for the Star Wars fan. Dad laughed as he said to my brother, who doesn’t
like to shave, “The only time you can wear that is when you’re clean-shaven.” And then Mom opened her gift. “This poor lady don’t got none of her arms
lined up!” Dad laughed as Mom pieced together her nesting doll.
As I opened mine, I didn’t know what to expect. Blue and green wrapping paper gave way to a
sparkly red box. My dad loves to give the
women in the family jewelry, so I wasn’t quite surprised by this.
What did surprise me was what was inside.
It could’ve been anything. A milky ruby for my birthstone. An opal, because I like opals. Pearls, because I used to love pearls. But instead there hung a small cross. Delicate and simple.
A cross, of all things.
I wanted to cry.
I want to cry every time there’s a hint of Christ passing
between us, a hint of hope of a gateway to their salvation.
It’s not much. But I remind myself that God doesn’t need much. God doesn’t need
anything.
When I left California, the most hope I had felt came
when my mother said to me, “I liked [church]. I would
go if you were here to go with me, but it’s not something
I’d do by myself.”
And I’ve held onto that since she said it, praying through God
stirring something in her heart. I pray every
day that they would come to know Him.
Whether it be their love of me that strikes a fire, or a complete
stranger, or just a nesting of something that gives birth to a curiosity for
Him in their hearts. Whatever it would
take, God, please let it happen.
I want them to be with me. I want them to be with Him. An eternity together, not just a lifetime.
If you read this and pray anything for me, pray for them,
for they are far more important to me than any diamond this world bears. Let them come to know and love the Savior who
saved me, the God who loves them more deeply than I ever could.
