March 2003
Hello, my friends!
Ruska and Nahid bounded into the mission with the news, "We have a major project, Mr. Tim---and it's due tomorrow."
I glanced at the clock, it was already 5:30 pm. "What's the project about?"
"Plants!" they answered in chorus.
"Let me take a look at the assignment." It looked to be at least two hours of work. I shook my head and stood up.
"Where are you going, Mr. Tim?"
"I need to call my wife or I'll be in big trouble."
"We're sorry, Mr. Tim. We don't want to get you in trouble."
Where else could they go? Ruska's parents are Bulgarian, Nahid's from Bangladesh. Neither spoke English well, and they certainly weren't going to be able to explain the difference between the life cycles of ferns and liverworts. I made my call to Kathy, explained that I'd be late, and promised I'd be home just as soon as possible.
We sat down to work on the project when Nahid asked me a question, "What's 'in love,' mean, Mr. Tim?"
I looked at her for a moment, taken aback by this sudden departure from botany. "Well Nahid, it's when you really, really like someone."
"How do you know when you're in love?"
Both girls were paying rapt attention.
"You want to be with them all the time. You want to get married."
"I couldn't do that. He's not a Muslim," Nahid stated.
"The boy you like isn't a Muslim?"
"I didn't say I liked him!"
"Oh, sorry."
"It's just I hear about being 'in love,' and I really don't understand it," Nahid explained.
"It's hard to explain, but you'll know it when you are," I advised.
Over the last week I've thought about the question a lot. Jesus said that real love is when you lay down your life for someone. We probably won't have to die for someone, but how about just being inconvenienced? Would we lay down our Palm Pilot for them? What about if your wife/husband was waiting for you to get home? God has appointments for us. I'm glad my wife let's me keep mine! Thanks, Kathy!