Tracy’s heart sank as she considered the news from earlier that day. “They think I have cancer.” She placed her hand over her abdomen. “I have a tumor here the size of a grapefruit. I’ll know more tomorrow.” A sad smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “I had a dream and God told me to call you. He wanted you to pray.”
Anna nodded and placed her hand over the area where Tracy’s tumor was. “God, my dearest friend needs a miracle. Please remove the tumor from her body and make her well again.” Anna’s voice cracked. “You see, Lord, I’ve been sick for five years, sick in my heart over the loss of Tracy. And now . . . now I’m healed. So please . . . do the same thing for Tracy.”
After the prayer, the two talked for another hour, and then Anna left with promises to call the next day. “I’m not letting you go again,” Anna said as she walked toward the door of Tracy’s hospital room. “I believe tomorrow the doctors will find that a miracle has happened.”
The next day, Paul arrived early. He was stunned by the news of Anna’s visit and prayer time, the way the two had reconciled. But when the doctor came in, Tracy could tell immediately the news wasn’t good.
“It looks like an aggressive type of cancer.” He bit the inside of his cheek. “We need to take more tests today to determine the borders of the tumor and how fast it’s growing.”
The blow was more than Tracy had imagined. All night she had clung to Anna’s parting words—that God might work a miracle and heal her. Now, though, she’d been handed what was likely a death sentence. And that meant she wouldn’t be able to keep her promise to Skyler.
Tests were done that morning, and two hours later the doctor was back again. He entered the room with a strange look on his face and set a file of notes on Tracy’s bedside.
“Well?” Paul squeezed Tracy’s hand, his face ashen as he waited for the news.
“Just a minute.” The doctor pulled the sheet back from Tracy’s mid-section and through her gown carefully felt her abdomen. The exam seemed to go on forever, until he finally straightened and stared first at Tracy, then at Paul. “It’s gone.”
His words didn’t sink in immediately.
“What do you mean?” Paul’s tone held a stunned quiet.
The doctor looked at Tracy. “I mean the tests showed absolutely no signs of the tumor.” He motioned to Tracy’s abdomen. “I’m feeling the same place where the tumor existed just yesterday, but today I feel nothing at all.” His eyebrows came together and lowered, confusion written in the lines on his face. “It’s completely gone.”
A giddy sensation coursed through Tracy. She sat up in bed and looked at Paul. “Anna prayed this would happen. God told me to call her here so she could pray, and she prayed for this exactly.”
The doctor took a step back and shrugged. “I’d like to run more tests tomorrow before you go home.” He shook his head. “Tumors that size don’t just disappear.”
“They do when God wants them to.” Tracy’s heart swelled within her at the miracle God had given them.
The next day the news didn’t change. The tumor was gone, her tests were normal, and that afternoon Tracy went home to a welcome that included Anna and her children. When the two friends had a moment alone, Tracy thanked her for having the faith to pray for a miracle.
“We were both healed,” Anna said. “You of your tumor and me of my guilt and shame.” Her eyes shone. “God didn’t give us one miracle, he gave us two. First, that you’re here . . .”
Tracy hugged her friend once more and then searched her face. “And the second, that you’re here.”
A
ndy Conner grabbed an apple and headed for the front door just as his mother came down the stairs. Andy and his best friend, Jared, were interns for the Birmingham, Alabama, firehouse, and that night they faced four hours of drills. Jared was waiting for him outside, since the two had just twenty minutes to get to the station.
“Fire drills again?” His mother leaned against the railing and smiled at him.
“Yep.” Andy took a few steps out of his way and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you around midnight.”
“Be safe.” Her eyes met his and held for a moment. It was something she said often, especially since Andy’s father had died of a stroke a year earlier. Now it was just Andy and his mother, and she wasn’t excited about his decision to be a firefighter.
“I’m always safe.” He grinned at her and took a few steps toward the door. “That’s my job, Mom, remember?”
She let her gaze fall to the carpet and muttered, “Because of Jared.”
Andy stared at her. “What?” The sound of a car honking came from outside and Andy knew they’d be late if he didn’t hurry. Still, he wanted an explanation for his mother’s words. His tone grew tight and harsh. “I’m not in this because of Jared. I’m in it for me.”
His mother angled her head and looked at him again. “Please, Andy, be real. Since third grade you’ve done everything that boy’s ever done. Baseball . . . target shooting . . . fishing. If Jared did it, you did, too.”
Andy had turned nineteen that fall, and his mother’s words grated on him. “I’m my own person, Mom. If I happen to like the same kind of work as Jared, it doesn’t mean I can’t think for myself.”
The car outside honked again and Andy gave up the fight. He spun around, shook his head, and headed for the door.
“Andy, don’t leave like that. I was only—”
Andy walked out and shut the door. Being patient with his mother was getting more difficult all the time. Yes, she was lonely, and since he was all she had left, she worried about him. Andy understood that. But couldn’t she see how much he enjoyed working for the fire department? Why couldn’t she be happy for him instead of making him feel as if his entire existence was directed by Jared?
Andy narrowed his eyes as he climbed into the passenger side of Jared’s car and slammed the door behind him. Jared backed the car out of the driveway and sped off toward the station. It was fourteen miles away on a winding two-lane road and they’d have to push it if they were going to be on time.
A minute into the ride, Jared turned to Andy and raised an eyebrow. “Bad day?”
Andy leaned his head back and raked his fingers through his hair. “My mom won’t give up.”
“Your dad?” Jared kept his eyes on the road as he turned left and entered the two-lane leg of the drive.
“Yeah. Same story. She wants me to stay home in a glass bubble.” Andy tossed his hands in the air. “She’s trying everything to change my mind about firefighting.”
An easy silence settled between them. Andy stared out the side window and thought about his mother’s statement. Was that really how she saw it? That he’d done everything Jared had ever done? He gritted his teeth and gave a slight roll of his eyes. Things hadn’t been that way at all. But if that was how his mother saw his friendship with Jared, maybe that was how everyone saw it.
Even Jared.
Andy had prayed more since his father’s death. The time in conversation with God made him feel as if he had a dad to talk to again, and now, as they made their way to the fire station, Andy did just that.
God, help me be my own man. Please, God . . .
Usually when he prayed, he felt some sort of reassurance, a sense that God was right there whispering some kind of answer. But this time, with his heart angry and frustrated, he felt nothing from God. No response at all.
Beth Conner stared at the front door for a moment before making her way into the living room, dropping onto the nearest sofa, and staring out the front window. She pressed herself into the sofa back and folded her arms as the taillights of Jared’s car disappeared down the street.
Why did he have to get so mad?
Now he’d be gone the entire night, possibly fighting a deadly fire, and they hadn’t even parted on good terms. She hated that he wanted to be a firefighter. A friend of hers had lost her husband, a firefighter, in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Since then Beth had been even more aware of the dangers of the job. It seemed a fireman was always being killed in one kind of tragedy or another. The very thought of Andy in a burning building paralyzed her with fear.
Why in the world would Andy want a job so dangerous?
The answer was obvious. Jared. Andy hadn’t mentioned firefighting once until Jared took up an interest in it. No matter what Andy wanted to tell her, she was right about the fact that Andy looked up to Jared. Andy was a year younger, and since the two of them met in grade school, Andy had been Jared’s tag-along pal.
That wasn’t always a bad thing, but it wasn’t always good, either.
Her eyes fell out of focus and she thought back through the years. The time when the boys had been ten and eleven and they’d tossed rocks against the bedroom window of the girl across the street. That had been Jared’s idea, hadn’t it? And when one of the rocks broke the window, Jared had been the first to flee the scene. Of course, both boys took equal punishment for it, but Beth began to doubt the benefit of Jared’s role in Andy’s life.
The two had been in mischief again after that.
When they were thirteen and fourteen, Jared had grabbed the keys to his father’s pickup and taken Andy for a joyride through a local farmer’s field. Beth could still remember talking to Andy about that event.
“Why, son? Why did you get in the car?”
“Mom . . .” Andy had shrugged, his face blank. “I couldn’t let Jared go alone.”
For the most part, Beth had merely tolerated Jared’s role in Andy’s life. She closed her eyes.
If only I’d broken up their friendship all those years ago, Andy wouldn’t be pursuing such a dangerous job . . .
She blinked and the images from the past disappeared. The reason they’d stayed close was because of Joe. Her husband had been happy and upbeat until the day he died, and his attitude about Jared had always been positive.
“He’s a kid, Beth,” Joe had always told her. “Of course they’re going to get in some trouble. But he’s a good boy. I think in the long run Jared will be good for Andy.”
Beth wanted to believe Joe, even now. Firefighting, after all, was not a bad thing. But it wasn’t safe, and the idea that Andy had gotten into it after Jared only convinced her that the older boy was still leading Andy into places where she didn’t want him to go.
She looked out the window again and exhaled hard. What was this feeling strangling her heart? For a moment she considered her feelings, the frustration and suspicion and, yes, meanness she exuded so often. Then her eyes shifted and she saw the Bible sitting on the table.
God, why can’t I let Andy go? And how come I can’t learn to like Jared? The situation keeps coming between me and Andy. God, I need your help.
She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.
Otherwise Andy’s going to hate me.
For a long while she waited, and then slowly, bit by bit, a feeling began to surface in her heart. She needed to give up her way of thinking in both areas. First, she needed to give Andy back to God.
“I can’t keep him safe, God.” She whispered the words into the empty room. “So you take care of him. That way I won’t have to worry.”
Second, she needed to believe that her dead husband had been right. Jared was loyal to Andy, and the two had certainly done as much good together as they had bad. Beth bit the inside of her lip and looked out the window to the dark sky beyond. “Okay, God, fine.” Her voice still barely audible, she pictured the two boys. “Help me love Jared. Help me appreciate his friendship for Andy. And help me see it as a good thing in my son’s life.”
The boys were halfway to the fire department when Jared turned to Andy and chuckled. “You must really be mad at her.”
“I guess.” Andy leaned against the passenger door and studied his friend. “She said some rotten things.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“No.” Andy glanced at the road in front of them. He would never let Jared know his mother’s feelings, that she didn’t think him a good friend. Andy managed a smile. “No big deal. Same old story, you know? Too protective; won’t let go. That kind of thing.”
Jared nodded, but as he did, he glanced down at Andy and his face fell. “Hey, man, put your belt on. Remember the rule?”
Andy remembered. The rule was something specific to their fire station, and it played over in his mind:
Firefighters show the way; buckle up every day.
It was a good rule. Not that it really mattered. The odds of a wreck were one in a million, right? He caught Jared’s eye and saw that his friend was still watching him.
“Come on, buckle up.” With his chin, Jared motioned to Andy.
Andy was about to reach for the belt when a thought hit him. This was just what his mother had accused him of, wasn’t it? Always doing whatever Jared suggested? He’d never been much for seatbelts in the past, and who cared about the guys at the fire station. Half of them probably didn’t buckle up, either.
But here he was, ready to do it simply because Jared told him to.
He let his hand settle back on his lap and leaned against the door once more. “I don’t like seatbelts.”
For a few moments, Jared said nothing to challenge him. Then he told him something he’d never said before. “You know something, Andy? All my life I’ve been lucky to be your friend.”
“You’ve been lucky?” The statement caught Andy off guard. He leaned forward. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve been lucky. Things haven’t usually been great at home, what with my mom divorced and dating all the time. But always, man . . .” He glanced at Andy again. “Always I have you.” He glanced at Andy’s seatbelt. “So buckle it, okay? I need you around.”
Something in Jared’s tone was strange, more urgent than usual. Neither of them had worn seatbelts before working for the fire station, and never once had Jared been so insistent. Once more, Andy thought of his prayer, the way he’d asked God to help him be independent. But maybe this was different. He thought for a moment more and then shrugged. It didn’t make him a mindless follower if he buckled his seatbelt, did it? Besides, how often had Jared come straight out and asked him to do something?
“Fine.” Andy gave an exaggerated huff and flashed a tired grin at Jared. He reached over, grabbed the buckle, and snapped it into place.
At the same instant, he heard Jared scream, “Look out!”
Andy never saw it coming. A flash of something metallic filled the windshield and then he was suddenly spinning, his senses consumed with the sound of screeching tires, shattering glass, and twisting metal. Not until the sickening noise and jarring motion finally stopped did Andy realize what had happened.
They’d been in an accident.
The car had gone off the road and hit a tree. Now dust filled the compartment and broken glass covered his legs, but Andy was alive. He shot a quick look at Jared beside him and saw that his friend was awake, his eyes wide. Blood dripped down his hand, but otherwise he looked unhurt.
“Can you believe that?” Jared was breathless, shocked.
An understanding began to dawn in Andy’s heart. Everything had happened too fast for him to recognize the truth until now. Seconds after Jared had asked him to buckle up, they’d been in an accident. Seconds.
The doors were too jammed to open, so Andy and Jared waited until paramedics and firefighters from their own station arrived on the scene. Only then did Andy know for sure that his friend’s advice had been nothing short of a miracle. A miracle that had saved his life.
One of the firefighters explained what had happened. According to witnesses, a truck had swerved into Jared’s lane, causing Jared to jerk the steering wheel. The sudden jolt sent the car careening off the roadway straight into a tree.
“Good thing you had your belts on,” the fireman said. “An impact like that and you’d have been dead instantly. Straight through the windshield into the tree.”
Beth got the call from the hospital an hour later. Andy explained the situation, how the two of them had been driving along when for no understandable reason, Jared insisted he use his seatbelt.
“I thought about what you said, Mom. How I have to do everything Jared does. And you know what?” Andy’s voice still sounded shaken. “I almost didn’t use it because of that. But then Jared told me he needed me as a friend, that he didn’t want anything to happen to me, and that’s when I decided to buckle up.”
Beth’s hands began to tremble at the news, and long after the phone call was over she could only sit at the kitchen table and stare at her fingers. God had worked a miracle; otherwise Andy wouldn’t be alive. By criticizing her son’s friendship with Jared, she had almost killed him.
Then, as the reality of the situation sank in, she realized that Jared’s strange timing had also been an answer to her own prayer. First, that she let go of her son and trust him to God. And second, that she might learn to see Andy’s friendship with Jared as a good thing. The same way her husband had always seen it.
Now, in a single event that had saved Andy’s life, both prayers had been answered in an instant. And as Beth found her purse and keys and headed for the hospital, she knew what she wanted to do the moment the boys were released.
Take Jared in her arms and thank him.