Because Dan felt responsible for Alessandra’s extra day, he and his wife, Sheryl, invited her to come to supper at the Embassy Club the next evening. The Embassy Club waved membership requirements on holidays, making it easy for ordinary Americans to enjoy a slice of home in a foreign nation. Dan and Sheryl and their children picked Alessandra up and the group settled at a table near the pool and ordered the barbecue chicken dinners.
A conversation started about Alessandra’s meeting of Wesley on the trip to the Congo. And just a minute later, the man himself appeared on the scene.
Engrossed by an article he was reading in The Wall Street Journal, Wesley hadn’t noticed the table where Alessandra and the Carsons were seated. As he was about to pass them, his foot caught the corner of Sheryl’s chair, which caused him to lose his balance on the wet cement and fall headfirst into the pool.
Dan pulled Wesley from the pool, and the children were dispatched to the front desk for towels. Dan got him to a seat at their table. “Next time I find myself reading an article on the stock market near a pool, I will be more careful,” Wesley promised. Wesley joined their table and ordered a supper. He enjoyed getting to know Alessandra better.
When Dan and Sheryl took a stroll around the pool, Wesley commented on how refreshing it was to see a couple still happily in love after years of marriage, wondering at their secret.
Alessandra offered, “It’s their love for the Lord. Loving Him is the key for them loving each other. She went on to share Luke 6: 47,48, “Whoever-hears my sayings, and does them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built a house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”
Like Dan and Sheryl, our lives and relationships can be made strong by building our lives on the teachings of Jesus, trusting His word to be our rock-solid foundation, no matter the storms life brings. May we value Jesus and fortify our lives against those inevitable seasons of difficulty.
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