Angie spent the next few weeks allowing Elsu to talk about their future, without adding to his dreams. He knew she wasn’t listening to his words, but he continued to talk, hoping he might say something that would catch her interest and persuade her. She felt numb inside when it came to her feelings for Elsu. She didn’t love him, or hate him. She felt nothing at all.
But Angie’s favorite moments were spent alone by the river, talking to God. As she was in the midst of her prayer one day, she suddenly had an impulse to open her eyes. Just at that moment she spotted Kimana’s little brother falling headfirst into the river. She jumped to her feet and ran to where she saw him fall in. He was coming back up, and then he sank down, his little body being dragged down the river. She jumped into the water and swam as quickly as she could toward the floundering child. He came up one more time, struggling for air, and then he started to sink like a stone.
Just as he was almost out of reach, Angie was able to grab his arm and pull him to the surface. The little boy coughed up water and was grasping to reach something to hold on to. By now, she had her arm firmly around the boy and was swimming back to shore using the other arm.
Kimana’s mother had just reached the shoreline, realizing that her son was missing. Her face was terrified as she saw Angie with her little boy, struggling to get back to shore. She was yelling for help, bringing villagers running to the river. Several men jumped in the water and pulled them safely to shore where Angie gasped for air. The little boy was crying in his mother’s arms, and she was sobbing tears of relief. Kimana and her mother hugged Angie, thanking her over and over again for rescuing their precious son and brother.
“I thank your God for bringing you to us,” Kimana held Angie in her arms. “If you had not been here, my brother would be dead.”
The rest of the day, Angie thought about the near tragedy and how God enabled her to be there to save a little boy’s life. She also thought about Enyeto’s new interest in her God, and that made her smile.
Maybe, I am meant to be here, she thought to herself, Maybe this has been God’s plan for me all along. Maybe God has a reason for me living among the Shoshone that I did not see before. Dear God, if you wish me to stay among these people and not return to my own, then I am willing to do as you want me to. It is not my first desire, but if I have a purpose here, I am willing to stay.
The Return
The Blanket of Blessings Page 42
