I spent five of the past six years working at a university in Nashville. My boss's boss's boss (Andrew) was an interesting guy and somewhat of a mentor for me there.
In the spring of 2013, shortly after deciding to finally chase the dream of moving abroad, I met with Andrew to tell him what I was planning. I wanted to fill him in because previously he had asked to be kept up to date on plans for life after the university. Another reason I wanted to fill him in was I hoped he would have resources or contacts to recommend. After all, I didn't have a clue how to get a job in a foreign country!
Andrew was pretty surprised to hear what I wanted to do. I guess few people knew about that desire of mine.
But in true Andrew fashion, he reacted to my news with some cool thoughts that I really appreciated. For example, he found it interesting to think about the notion that aside from the language learning goal in my head, the Lord would have goals of his own for my time living in a foreign land. This actually never entered my mind until Andrew mentioned it. Before then, I had been totally focused on Spanish.
After about an hour, I left Andrew's office and returned to my department. No resources or contacts had come to mind for him, but the conversation was great like always.
I saw him again days later when I passed through the area where his secretary's desk is located. I was on my way to a meeting, and when Andrew saw me, he told me to step into his office for a minute. I stopped in front of his desk just as reached down to pick up something from behind it. "I was hoping I would run into you again soon; this is for you," he said, extending a gift bag to me.
"Oh man, thank you so much," I said in total surprise. I opened the bag and found a small box containing a copy of the Holy Bible.
Just then, I was in the middle of explaining to him that I didn't own a copy that size, when I realized the version he was giving me was printed in Spanish.
"It won't be of much use to you now, but eventually..."
I stood there blown away. What a marvelous gift. What a marvelous mind and heart to have the foresight to think of such a gift idea.
Andrew and I both knew I was kidding and serious when I said, "I'd better get to my meeting so my eyes don't start getting wet right now." I thanked him and walked out.
It was probably the most beautiful Bible I had ever seen, and for days, I kept thinking about it and the gesture behind it.
When the time came for me to pack for Honduras, one year had passed. Everything I needed for life had to fit in two suitcases and two carry-ons. With the space and weight constraints of travel, I knew it wouldn't be possible to bring along the reading material I was interested in. So, only three small books made the trip - two books about the craft of writing, and you already know what the third book is!
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