The Calling (8 page)

 Matthew picked Cate, Miss Janet and Kim up and drove them to the reception. He confessed that he wanted to walk into the reception with Cate on his arm. “After all,” he reminded his passengers, “she was my find.”

“Nonsense,” Kim retorted, “she was David’s find.”

“I’m the one who hired her. David simply recommended her. Therefore, I deserve the credit, and I aim to have it.”

“Yes, boss; anything you say, boss,” Kim joked.

“I am the boss, and don’t you forget it.” Matthew smiled as he winked at Kim.

“Never, Sir, never,” Kim replied. Everyone laughed, even though Cate’s laugh was forced.

There was the whole David issue again and she was certain that a Matthew issue was looming in her future. She said a quick prayer under her breath. “Dear Father, you know that all I want to do is obey you and be a good missionary teacher. Please, please, help me.”

*****

Once they arrived at the school, Matthew did indeed make a grand entrance with Cate on his arm. Cate was embarrassed, but smiled broadly, as everyone began his or her introductions and hellos. They were extremely gracious and nice to Cate, yet try as she might she knew she’d never remember all of their names. She met her fellow faculty members, not only of the elementary grades, but also, of the secondary grades. Those in the community who helped the school financially, those who volunteered, and those who served on the local advisory board were also there to greet her. She met many of the parents whose children attended the school, and met the parents of the children who would be her students. As much as Cate enjoyed meeting everyone, it was the children, many of whom would be her students, that she enjoyed the most.

Some of the children were children of missionaries, or of Americans living in Ecuador. Those children boarded in quarters owned and operated by the mission school. Others were children of locals, who were well-to-do, and others who were not so well off. Cate was pleased to see how well mannered the children seemed to be and all were anxious to meet the new teacher. Each one, flanked by his or her parents, introduced himself or herself to Miss Cate. The parents seemed proud of their children, and extremely anxious for them to learn. The parents’ excitement about the possibilities and expectations for their children was contagious. Cate was looking forward to getting into the classroom to work.

Once the introductions were over; the children sang a song of welcome for Miss Cate. She enjoyed the sincere emotions exhibited by the children and their parents. The time for refreshments came, and again Cate became the center of attention. More than once, she heard the word “
bonita
” connected with her name. She could not help but be embarrassed. It always embarrassed her when someone called her beautiful because she did not see herself that way. She was more concerned about being beautiful on the inside, and constantly prayed that God would make her beautiful from the inside out.

Finally, the time for the reception to end neared, and people began to say their goodbyes and leave. Cate saw David and Matthew standing to the right of the room. David was holding Sarah, who had fallen asleep. As she looked in their direction, she realized that they seemed to be talking about her. When she walked over, she confirmed her suspicions,
they are talking about me
.

“There she is, the belle of the ball. The beautiful new teacher, who has won everyone’s heart,” Matthew said.

“Belle of the ball, maybe. Beautiful… I’m not so sure. Having won everyone’s heart… I doubt it.” Cate was embarrassed.

“Belle of the ball, for sure. Beautiful…I can prove it. Isn’t she beautiful, David, my friend?” Matthew responded.

“Yes, she is beautiful. She’s very beautiful.” David smiled as his eyes sought Cate’s.

Cate, disarmed by the tone in which he had answered, turned her gaze slowly toward David. Hearing him say that she was beautiful caused her to look into his dark brown eyes to seek to discover any indication as to why he’d answered as he had. As she caught a glimpse of David’s face, she wasn’t sure what she saw. She only knew that she had to try to understand what she had heard. As her eyes met David’s, the spell of the moment was broken as Matthew continued, “See, Cate, it’s unanimous. You
are
beautiful. You might as well admit it.”

“I dare say that a lady admitting she is beautiful would make her less so.” Cate hoped that she had covered up her reaction to David’s words.

“She’s got you there, Matt,” David said. They all laughed.

“Cate, I’d be glad to show you your classroom and give you a tour of the school, or if you’d rather, we could wait until tomorrow,” Matthew said.

“Well, I’d hate to make Miss Janet and Kim wait while we did that.”

Cate looked at David as he replied, “Go ahead if you’d like. I’ll be glad to escort the ladies home. Matt’s dying to show you around.”

She looked at Matthew, “Okay I’ll have the ten cent tour please. David, I guess I’ll see Sarah and you tomorrow at church.”

“Yes, you will. You two have fun,” David replied.

Matthew offered Cate his arm; she smiled and said another goodbye to David. As Matthew ushered her through the door, Cate turned her head to catch one last glimpse of David as he walked toward Miss Janet and Kim.

Matthew’s tour of the school was very informative. He talked about the school and its mission as a proud parent would talk about his child. Cate realized how much he loved what he did. She also found out that his father had established the mission agency and school thirty years earlier and had served as its director/headmaster. He retired from the position because of illness, and he and his wife returned to the U.S. for his medical treatment. Since the time of his father’s retirement, Matthew had been the director/headmaster.

Cate asked about his upbringing and found out that he spent most of his life in Ecuador. He had earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina and his Masters at Dallas Theological Seminary. After seminary, he returned to Ecuador to help his father at the mission school.

“Enough about me,” Matthew said, “I want to hear about you.”

“There’s not much to tell.”

“
That
, I do not believe,” Matthew answered.

“Well, there’s not much that you don’t already know.”

“Tell me about your family,” Matthew probed.

“My family lives in Kansas. I have two older brothers, who are both married and have two children each. My father is a pastor. He’s been the pastor of Bethsaida Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas for the past twenty-seven years.”

“So you’ve basically lived in Kansas all of your life,” Matthew added.

“Yeah, basically,”

“May I ask a very personal question?” Matthew asked.

Cate narrowed her eyes, “Sure, I guess.”

“How come such a beautiful girl like you isn’t married?”

“I was married. You know that,” Cate answered, honestly.

“I know you were married. David told me that before I hired you. He also told me how your marriage ended.”

“David told you about that?” Cate felt a lump in her throat.

“Yes, he did. David and I have been friends for years and I specifically asked.”

“Of course, you did,” Cate replied, “you'd want to know what kind of person you were hiring.”

“That’s right and I found out.”

“You found out that you were hiring one with a lot of baggage,” Cate looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

“We
all
have baggage, Cate.”

“I guess, so, but not baggage that disqualifies.”

“Disqualifies you from what?” Matthew asked.

“Oh, nothing; I was just thinking out loud.”

“You’re not the only person ever to get divorced. You’re not even the only pastor’s daughter ever to be divorced,” Matthew pointed out.

“All of that’s true, but what I did, I did when I was rebelling against God, and I didn’t even know it. Before I married Justin, there were questions I should have asked and things I should have recognized, but I was blind to my motives for marrying him and blind to myself. Consequently, I married a man that I should never have married. I hurt a lot of people, people I love, that should never have been hurt.”

“But, you weren’t the one who left the marriage,” Matthew reminded her.

“No, I wasn’t, but that doesn’t matter. Lots of people got hurt.”

“It
does
matter, if you were faithful and your husband wasn’t. You were the offended one. You had biblical grounds for divorce.”

“That may be true, but I think my husband felt like he had been sold a bill of goods,” Cate’s shoulders fell.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I wasn’t living as a Christian ought to live at that time, and later I found out that Justin wasn’t a Christian at all. When I began to try to live as a Christian should, that caused big problems in my marriage. Therefore, I have to bear some responsibility for what happened.”

“But, your husband was the one who left the marriage wasn’t he?”

“David told you a lot, huh?” Cate asked.

“Yes, but only because I asked. I hope you don’t mind. I promise I wasn’ trying to pry. I just wanted to know about you.”

 “No, I don’t mind. It’s not like I’m trying to hide anything,” Cate replied. “I’m just amazed that you hired a divorcee to teach in your mission school. Some boards would have never considered a divorced person.”

“I hired you for two major reasons. You had impeccable recommendations from your previous employers and David vouched for you. David’s recommendation goes a very long way with me and our board. He thinks a lot of you, you know.” As Matthew explained, he saw Cate blush.

“Yeah, David’s a great guy.”

“Yeah, he is a great guy, and I hope when you get to know me better that you will think that I’m a great guy too.”

“I already think you’re pretty great. After all, you’ve given me a chance to follow God’s calling and teach in a mission school,” Cate confessed, with a big smile.

“Just wait. Give me a chance and you’ll have many more reasons to think I’m a great guy.” Matthew tried to sound as if he was joking, but decided to be serious, “Cate, I think you’re special, and based on everything I know about you now, I really would like for us to get to know each other better. I think you and I might be good for each other.”

“Matthew, I really just want to focus on getting use to things here and doing a good job. Really, for now…”

“I understand and trust me, I’m all for that, but that doesn’t necessarily exclude us getting to know each other. Does it?”

“No, I guess not,” Cate answered, reluctantly agreeing. “But, I want you to know up front that I’m not looking for romance. Friendship is fine. Romance is not.”

“Friendship is good, but why not allow for the possibility of romance?”

“Too many complications,” Cate answered, shaking her head ‘no’.

“Complications can be dealt with.”

“Some can, some can’t, and I don’t even want to think about it all,” Cate answered. “Please, for now…”

Matthew took her hand, and looked into her eyes. “Okay, friendship,” and then kissing her hand, he added, “for now.”

Cate breathed a big sigh and shook her head again.

“When you get to know me better, you’ll find that I am an eternal optimist,” he responded with a broad grin. Looking at his watch, he continued, “I suspect that if I don’t want Miss Janet to fuss at me for keeping you out so late, I had better get you home.”

As they drove home, they continued to make small talk. Matthew was very easy to talk to about anything. Cate found herself wondering why God had brought Matthew into her life. He was very nice and
very handsome
: blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tanned face with rugged features that greatly enhanced his winning smile. He was tall and well built. His was the kind of handsome man that women find very attractive, and more importantly, he was a godly, plainspoken man. He was open, honest, sincere, and up-beat. She could tell that he really
was
an eternal optimist. She also could tell they were going to be good friends.

The possibility of romance on the mission field was not something that she had consciously considered. Most mission agencies frowned on dating while on the mission field. That was fine with her. She knew there would be no romance for David and her, but she’d never considered the possibility that God would allow someone else to cross her path. Friendship with Matthew would be fine, but she did
not
want anything more.

Ten

Finally it was the day for Cate to assume her duties at the mission school. She greeted her students; they came with bright, shiny faces, eager for the adventure of learning. One thing she liked about kindergarteners and the early grades was that learning mesmerized the students. Their minds were sponges eager to soak up knowledge, and they were anxious to please their parents and teacher.

Her life finally seemed to make sense. The students were a constant source of joy and surprise, and teaching them was what God had created her to do. Teaching had always been a source of delight, but now it was a source of meaning and fulfillment. God was blessing her abundantly.

Over the several weeks since her coming to Ecuador, she and Matthew had become good friends and, as he had hoped, they were more. Cate had not wanted, nor had she expected to feel anything other than friendship for Matthew. However, proximity conspired against her.

She loved talking with Matthew. He challenged her both professionally and spiritually, encouraging her in everything she did. He was her biggest cheerleader and she found herself responding to his sincere feelings. However, along with closeness to Matthew came a distance between David and her. They were still very good friends, but she realized that David was intentionally withdrawing from her. She knew that he and Matthew talked often, and was sure that Matthew had confided to David how he felt about her. Knowing David, Cate understood why he was withdrawing. She was still Sarah’s caregiver and regularly stayed at David’s home with Sarah while he was away on mission business. David was always cordial when he came home, and was genuinely glad to see her, but there was an intentional distance. She and David never talked about personal matters anymore, not important ones anyway. That part of him David had withdrawn, and Cate reciprocated.