“That was a fantastic game,” Ede said. “I mean look at the way those guys were all over the field and how they….”
Her eyes were dancing as she talked. Hank wondered if she had any idea of how beautiful she looked at that moment.
They were back at the community center. He had another cooking class in about an hour’s time. After leaving the game, they had gone for a bite to eat before coming here.
“I guess you enjoyed the game,” Hank said, laughing when she finally stopped talking to give him a chance to say something.
“Of course, I did. It was great being with the other spectators, listening to the cheers. It was fun and exciting. Thanks for inviting me to go.”
“You’re welcome. I’m happy that you had a good time.”
“What about you? Did you have a good time too?”
“Of course, I did. I love to watch football as much I love to play it.”
“I heard you tell Anaïs that you also play rugby.”
“Yes.”
“What’s the difference between football and rugby?”
“The main difference between football and rugby is the type of ball used. In football a traditional, spherical ball is used while in rugby the ball is elongated ball which makes it easier for grabbing and carrying. Rugby teams have more players. During a rugby match, each team can have between 13 and 15 players on the field. In football, there are only 11 players on the field at any given time. And rugby matches are 10 minutes shorter than football matches which last 90 minutes.”
“Which do you enjoy playing more?”
“It’s hard to say. In football, you’re only allowed to touch the ball with your feet and legs whereas in rugby, you can hold the ball, kick it, run with it and do whatever is necessary to take it to the opponent’s goal line. It’s a struggle to get there, though. And there’s physical force when you have players trying to block opponents from advancing. In football players can get eliminated if they use excessive force. I enjoy playing them both but I think I enjoy playing football more.”
“I have a friend whose brother plays rugby. I’ve never been interested in watching any matches but now, I am.”
“Maybe we can go and watch a live rugby match one of these days.”
She smiled. “That would be nice.”
“When we were there, I saw a man who looked a lot like the pastor who baptized me. The likeness was uncanny.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t him?”
“I knew it wasn’t him because he passed away a couple of years ago. I was at his funeral.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“He was a truly remarkable man who loved the Lord and teaching the Gospel. I used to enjoy his sermons. I remember him saying that his mother always used to tell him that jelly donuts make everything better. He believed that until he started reading the Bible. And He realized that trusting in God and in His Word make everything better.”
“Was the reason why you decided to become a pastor?”
“Although I greatly admired him, he wasn’t the reason why I became a pastor. It was God’s calling on my life.”
“At least he lived to see you become a pastor too.”
“Yes.”
“Well, once when I was feeling a bit down, my mother gave me a book of poetry. I didn’t see how a poetry would cheer me up but I read it anyway. And I read this poem which made me laugh until I was in tears. I can’t remember the name of it but I still remember the line which made me laugh. It went like this, The spider gave her quite a scare, as it crawled into her underwear.” She began to laugh.
Hank chuckled. “Having a spider there would give anyone a scare.”
“I’m terrified of spiders. If that happened to me, I’d probably pass out.”
“My mother’s afraid of them too but, I don’t mind them.”
“I’m not surprised. If you can hold pythons, spiders wouldn’t be a problem for you at all.”
He laughed. “I don’t mind snakes either.”
Ede suddenly got very serious as she told him, “Next week Monday, I’m back at university.”
“Are you looking forward to it?”
“Yes.”
“I guess we won’t be seeing much of each other, then.”
“We can see each other on Friday evenings and the weekends.”
“Yes, we can.”
“And we can still go to Porto Novo.”
“Yes.”
“Christmas will be here soon and I will decorating the house with tinsel and ribbon. Do you believe in Christmas?”
“Well, I grew up in a family who celebrated it every year. We never believed that Jesus was born on December 25th but we used that time of the year to celebrate His birth and to thank God for His precious gift to mankind. It’s a great time to glorify God and to share His love with others. And it’s also a great time to show love to others. We used to go out and give blankets and hot meals to the homeless. On Christmas Day, church volunteers provided dinner for the homeless in a community center. That’s how we celebrated Jesus. I’m not caught up in buying gifts. Instead, I give out free tracts to people so that they can read about the Savior who is the real reason for the season.”
“I’ve seen people, myself included, get all stressed out trying to beat the Christmas rush and shop as early as possible. I like your idea of sharing God’s love and caring for the homeless.”
“You can be a part of Harvest’s outreach program this Christmas this year, if you like.”
“I’d like that very much.”
They chatted for a while longer and then, he had to go and teach his cooking class. They bade each other goodbye and parted ways.
Sources: The Upcoming; Amazing Facts
Notes to Women 