When you carry everything you own in a backpack for a year,
you learn that the little things tend to add up. As the months go by and your
back gets more disabled, you start to toss your possessions left and right. Body
wash starts to weigh you down, so you settle for shampoo to clean not only your
hair, but your face and body and clothes as well. Who really needs two socks? Dump one. And I might as well
get rid of my pillow while I’m at it – my neck may hurt more in the end, but at
least it will give my back a rest from lugging around so much weight. And so on
and so forth.
Needless to say, we don’t have the muscle capacity to carry
around all the books we read. So we pass them around to other squadmates when
we’re done – there’s a constant coming and going of books. I think A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by
Donald Miller has passed through nearly everyone’s hands – other notable
mentions include The Heavenly Man, The
Shack, The Hobbit and Harry Potter.
Sometimes there can be a bit of drama concerning the
rotation of the books – a person was told they were next in line, but the book
ends up in someone else’s possession. And then all baloney breaks loose.
Thankfully, I’ve never been a part of any book mayhem. That
is, until recently. There was a miscommunication between me and another
squadmate over the book Life of Pi.
He was next in line for it, but I was told he didn’t even want to read it, so
the book was passed on to me and I began to read it. Then, the day we were
splitting up into men and women’s ministry he said he really did want it – I was 50 pages in and I
had to let it go.
If there’s one thing that drives me crazy (well, there are
in fact MANY things) – it’s not finishing a book. I still lose sleep
because I never finished What is the What
back when I started it in 2007. Last year I read half of a J.D. Salinger book,
but have yet to complete it – I shall be forever haunted. There are a variety
of reasons for why this happens, but I’ve finally learned to do my best to
finish all books that I start reading.
I was pretty bummed about this idea of leaving Life of Pi unfinished. I knew I could
read it again in a few months once I got home, but starting over almost seemed
worse than not finishing it.
So anyway. I secretly wished that God would provide me with
another copy. After an overnight bus ride we arrived at or ministry site in Phuket.
I noticed a few bookcases, and I hurried over to see if Life of Pi was among the ranks. Nope. As the days passed by I asked
around; I kept my eyes open for book vendors; I was desperate. “Why won’t you
just give me another copy?” I asked God. “Because I’m not a genie,” he
responded. Good point – sometimes I forget.
And then, just as I was losing all hope, Emily bounced over
to my bed yesterday. “I have a surprise for you,” she said with a happy smirk
on her face. “Is it chocolate cake?” I asked. “No,” she replied. Bummer. She
told me to close my eyes, and when I opened them Life of Pi was staring me in the face.
No way! Yes way. She had found it in our ministry contact’s
children’s bedroom…which is a part of the same building where I’m staying. It was
here waiting for me the entire time.
I know that my non-Christian friends back home would call
this a coincidence; I call it a gift from God. And while God often does woo me
with the big things in life, he also romances me with the seemingly insignificant
details that delight me – such as providing me with Life of Pi this month.
