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Whispers
The next day turned out to be one of the best in Evan’s recent memory. He and Mike conducted three more interviews, and both agreed that the second applicant on Monday was still their frontrunner, especially now that Richard had dropped out. Not much had been said about Monday’s episode, but nearly everyone could tell that Evan was more upbeat than he’d been in a long time.
Though he wasn’t sure why, he was anxious to get to church for the midweek prayer service, so much so that he skipped going home and headed straight there. Mr. Porter was there, speaking with the pastor. Their eyes met, and they nodded at each other. He felt oddly relieved by that, again for no apparent reason.
Richard and Elizabeth hadn’t arrived yet, but they didn’t usually arrive on Wednesday nights until right before the service began, anyway, due to Elizabeth’s work schedule. This night proved to be an exception, however, as the Cades arrived just minutes after he did.
“Evan,” Richard greeted him almost instantly. “I was hoping you’d make it tonight.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Listen, I need to apologize to you.”
“For what?”
“I didn’t give you the full story on Monday about my job search.”
“How so?”
“Well, long before my wife and I started actually praying about a career change, the Lord began to lay on my heart a burden for missions. Nothing specific at the time, but a definite burden. Even when God began to impress upon my heart to change jobs, there was still nothing specific about missions.
“Then, of course, as you know, on Saturday night it comes to me like a whisper from God that I should apply at your firm. It didn’t make much sense because, like you said, it would have been a step backward for me. Still, I had promised God just two nights before that I was willing to take any job, go anywhere that He told me to go. For me, there was no question.”
“So what changed your mind?”
“Funny you should ask that. Do you remember asking me about a man in a white suit right after the interview?”
“Yeah,” Evan smiled. “I do.”
“Well, after I left I got this feeling, like I wasn’t supposed to go to work for you guys, after all, even though right up until then I was a hundred percent positive I should. Since my wife and I had been discussing on and off with the pastor about all this, it seemed only natural to talk over this new feeling with him, too. Imagine my surprise when I saw Mr. Porter sitting in the pastor’s office.”
Evan chuckled. “I don’t think I have to imagine.”
“I was going to wait, but they saw me and invited me in. Turns out Mr. Porter is preparing to retire as a missionary to the hill tribes of Thailand, and he’s been praying for the Lord to lead him to a replacement. The pastor, believe it or not, told me he’d been burdened to continue to pray for me all this time to be called to missions. So when the two met, the pastor mentioned my name. Seconds later, they saw me standing outside the office door.”
“How long did it take to realize God was calling you to be a missionary?”
“About five minutes.” The excitement on Richard’s face seemed barely containable. If he had waited any longer to tell anyone, he probably would have burst.
“Wow. That’s awesome, Richard. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. Sorry about wasting your time with the interview.”
Evan shook his head. “It was no waste. God was testing your obedience, to see if you truly would leave your high paying, successful career to do literally anything He commanded, however off the wall or how big a step ‘backward’ it might be. He showed me something through all this, too. So, no, I definitely wouldn’t call it a waste.”
“You’re right.”
“Well, I’d better let you go talk to everyone else. You’ve got a lot of people to tell the good news to.”
“Right. Talk to you later.”
“Take care, Richard.”
They shook hands and Evan headed into the auditorium to await the start of the prayer service. When testimonial time came, Richard was jumping out of his seat to give his. Several amens erupted from normally silent members, Evan included. When his story was finished, the pastor called for an impromptu prayer for Richard, his family, and the new challenges they would face in the coming months.
When the service was over and people started leaving, Evan decided to hang around for a while. He shook hands with several people, Richard and Elizabeth included. When the crowd had died down considerably, he just loitered around the lobby, unsure of who or what he was supposed to be waiting for. Mr. Porter was still around, but he was talking to a few of the church teens, so Evan didn’t bother him. A few minutes later, though, Mr. Porter left the teens and walked up to him.
“Hello, Evan. Good to see you.”
“Likewise. Going to be in town much longer?”
“I wish I could, but I have several more churches to visit and report to before I head back to the field for one last term. Of course, a lot of that will include trying to help pave the way for Richard to take my place eventually.”
“Of course,” Evan agreed. “I’ll be praying for you.”
“I would truly appreciate that.” Just as he said that, a young woman Evan had never seen before joined them. She was around Evan’s age, as far as he could tell, and easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. If Mr. Porter had continued talking, Evan was no longer paying attention.
“Hi,” was all she said, but for some reason, she seemed to have the same difficulty keeping her eyes off him that he did with her.
“You haven’t met my granddaughter, have you?” Mr. Porter asked. Evan could only shake his head. “Evan, this is Amy, the best grandchild a man could ask for.”
“Grampa!” she smiled, embarrassed.
“Well, it’s true. Amy, this is Evan. He’s a friend of Mr. Cade’s. In fact, he was partially responsible for bringing the Cades to our attention.”
“Really?” she said, looking impressed.
“Rather unwittingly,” Evan replied, “but yes.”
“Amy and her parents are moving into the area. Her father’s even mentioned his interest to me in joining this very church.”
Evan perked up at this news. “Is that so?”
Amy nodded. “We’ve already talked to the pastor. We go forward for membership on Sunday.”
“That’s awesome.”
Evan and Amy continued talking for another half hour, not even noticing that her grandfather had slipped away to talk to someone else. They didn’t notice everyone else leave until he, the Porters, and the pastor were the only ones left. Amy made Evan promise to be there on Sunday, which he did, then they shook hands and headed outside.
In the moment that he watched their car drive off, he knew that he had blessed far more than he’d ever deserve. Had he not just recently learned not to jump to premature conclusions, he would have shouted out right there that he had finally found—no, been lead to—the woman he would marry. For the time being, he was content knowing that something truly special had just begun. He looked up to Heaven, whispered a “Thank you” to Jesus, then walked down to the bus stop with Amy’s face on his mind.
He hadn’t even noticed that her dress had been white.
THE END
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