Tom's Treasure

by Henry Givens

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  Olivia was at the kitchen counter cutting up some sweet bell peppers to put into the sauce. Ryan heard her sniffling and came over. “Honey,” he said compassionately, “you don’t even cry when you’re cutting up onions.”

  “I know…..I-I-I know, (sniff),” she tried to hold back, “Bu…But, I want this…..(sniff) guy to b-b…be my grandfather….so bad.” And the dam broke into a thousand pieces. She fell into her husband’s arms once again and Ryan held her as tightly as he possibly could.

  His wife was never one to fall to pieces in a hurry. To see her like this caused his eyes to fill up and run over. “Honey. Honey, I don’t know what to say. Maybe he is and maybe he isn’t. And we’ve got to be ready to face it either way.”

  “I-I-I-I know it, Ryan,” she answered as she tried to pull herself together. “I’ve tried to get myself to think about him NOT being my grandpa and being OK with that. I’ve tried to think about how we need to treat whoever this is with compassion to help him through anything he might be going through. I’ve asked God to help me (sniff, sniff) ….a-a-and accept whatever way it is. But the closer the time comes……..I….I..just don’t know.” Olivia buried her head into his shoulder and held on to him for dear life.

  All Ryan could do was hold her and pray quietly that God would do whatever He needed to do in this situation. His normally strong wife was facing something that she wasn't prepared for. When her sobbing subsided, he patted her on the back and loosened his hold on her just a bit. “Why don’t you tell me what’s left to do to get ready,” Ryan suggested. Then he slipped his arms from around her waist and pulled her away from him by the shoulders. There he looked her in the eyes and suggested, “Whatever you have to do, you need to get this crying over with the best you can. Listen to me. Go into the bedroom and call Elaine. Y’all pray, y’all cry, y’all do whatever you got to do. Get this crying out of your system. This is a delicate situation and we cannot go into it with our emotions flying high. We need to be listening to whatever nudging the Holy Spirit needs to do. A life, either your grandpa’s or Tom Baxter’s, could be hanging in the balance.”

  Olivia knew her husband was right. She hugged him extra tightly and said to him in the soft voice she used in their intimate times, “I’m s-o-o-o-o glad that God put us together. I am glad to have a Godly man such as you, Ryan Hollis. I love you.”

  Ryan kissed her tenderly and told her softly, “I love you, too, precious. Now scoot to the bedroom and make the phone call.”

  “Yes, sir,” she answered with a smile. She reached for the phone and hit the speed dial for their pastor’s residence as she walked to the bedroom and closed the door.

  “Jesus loves you, Pastor Jim, speaking,” came the familiar greeting.

  “Hi Jim, is Elaine busy right now?” she asked. She could feel her emotions on the rise again. She was hoping that it wasn’t coming through.

  “Uh…..well, as a matter of fact she is on her cell phone with another church member right now.”

  “Well,…would you……uh….ask her-r to (sob) c-a-a-ll me whe-e-n she’s through?”

  “Just a minute,” Jim said. He took the phone away from his ear, but Olivia could everything he said. “It’s Olivia, Elaine, and it sounds like she’s crying.”

  Olivia heard Elaine’s voice, “Oh, I’m sorry Vivian. I’ve got an emergency call on the other line. I’ll have to call you back. No, you listen to me. I said I’ll call you back.” A couple of quick steps could be heard and a familiar voice came over the phone, “Liv? What’s wrong?”

  All Olivia could get out was, “Oh, Elaine…” and then the torrent of tears and sobs interrupted her again. Elaine heard her say, “Oh, God…..O-o-o-o God. I can’t do this. God, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”

  Ryan heard her but went ahead finishing the spaghetti sauce. He could only help her so far. He knew that her prayer partner was the best source of help for her right now. Together, those two could touch Jesus in a way that he hadn’t seen in any other two people. So, he did the only thing he knew to do at the moment. He prayed softly and stirred the sauce.

  Elaine put her on speaker phone so Pastor Jim could hear also. Nothing that they had been through had ever ruffled Olivia like this. They held to each other and prayed softly while still listening for Olivia to pull herself together. Then, as Olivia poured out her soul to them, they wept with her in compassion. They had often heard the story about her grandfather and of her father's faith that he would someday return. At this particular moment, there was nothing else more important for them to do than to stand with Olivia and Ryan as they walked through this situation. They prayed and cried with her until peace came.

  The sauce was thickening nicely now. The room had been silent for about fifteen minutes. Ryan felt satisfied that Olivia would come out of that room with a God-plan in mind. He pulled out another pot from underneath the sink and put it on the stove. His intentions were to put the spaghetti on to boil. The only thing is, Olivia didn’t tell him how much. He pondered whether he should go to the door and listen when he heard the door open.

  Out stepped a satisfied Olivia. He could tell she wasn’t completely all together but she wasn’t on the verge of falling back apart either.

  “Sauce looks good, Hun,” she said as she smiled at him. She slipped her arm around his waist and said, “You’re the best, you know it?”

  “As long as I have you to tell me, then I’ll believe it.” His arm automatically went around her shoulders. “I was just fixing to put on the noodles when I forgot you hadn’t told me how much. And I know better than to guess.”

  “Another sign of a good man,” she stated. “I’ll take care of it, now. Let me tell you the plan we’ve got and then you can call Fred. Jim and Elaine wanted to come over to be here for me but I told them what Fred said about any visitors. They said that they trusted Fred in situations like this. And, after prayer, we all got a peaceful feeling about this.

  "I asked them if they could come over for breakfast in the morning. Number one, if it is my grandfather, he’s going to need their help to get through the day. Number two, if it is NOT my grandfather, I’M going to need their help to get through the day. Either way, they’re fixing breakfast and coming over. I had my good cry like you told me to and I feel like I can be in control.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”

  “But, I’m going to keep a box of tissues and maintain the fact that it is possible that I’m pregnant, just in case.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”

  “Now, call Fred, and tell them to come on over. I’ll put on the water to boil and if you will set the table, I will get some food stuffed down Wendy so she won’t need oodles of attention when they get here.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”

  She turned to him and slid both arms around his waist as he slipped his around her shoulders for a sweet little moment. As they embraced, she told him, “Whether he is my grandfather or not. Whatever happens tonight will never change one thing. I am going to spend the rest of my life deeply in love with the man of my dreams. How about that?”

  “Now, THAT sounds like a good plan,” he voted. And after a quick kiss on the lips he said, "I know that you and Elaine have already prayed, but we need to agree in prayer as a family. Don't you think?"

  "You're so right, Ryan. We need to know when to speak, what to say.."

  "What not to say. That's all important, for whoever this guy is."

  "Yes. Whoever he is, grandfather or not, he needs healing. And, that's got to be first place. And don't forget to mention Arthur's big mouth." With a shy giggle, Olivia added, "He's too much like me in the 'open mouth, insert foot' department."

  As they held on to each other, Ryan prayed, "Father, this is a very important moment in our lives and the life of whoever this man is. We pray for his inner healing. We trust that our fellowship with him tonight will do him good and not harm. Help us to show him Your love.
We want to make ourselves available to You, Father. Help us to keep ourselves in the background. And, do help Arthur. Keep him from being overly rambunctious. Just be Lord over our lives tonight. And, help us accept whatever You have for us. In Jesus name, Amen."

  "Amen. Thanks, Sweetheart. I think I'm ready and prepared for........whatever."

  “And now to the phone.”

  “Um, while you do that, I think I’ll go fix my hair.”

  “Honey, you look just great.”

  Olivia was about to go through the bedroom door when she stopped, put her hand on the door frame and said in mock piety, “Why, it’s a possibly-pregnant woman’s prerogative, Mr. Hollis.” She threw her nose up in the air and waltzed into the bedroom. Quickly she opened the chest at the foot of their bed, and scanned through some old pictures. When she found the one she wanted, she sat it in front of the mirror on the dresser and went to work. She dug around in one of the drawers for a few bobby pins and a brush. Put it up, take it down. Here a pin. No this one is too high. Finally, she got it just right. She came out and asked her husband, “How do I look?”

  Ryan looked at her and smiled, “Honey, you look great. But, you haven’t worn your hair like that in……ages.”

  She tilted her head to the side a little and shook it ever so slightly as she replied, “Mr. Hollis, my grandmother would think it is very becoming.”

  A big smile came over Ryan as he saw the amazing resemblance, “YES! I understand perfectly, my dear. The trio is on their way.”