A Sign

by Kay Heitsch

Years ago, I worked at a Charter School when my neighbors asked if I would be willing to care for their newborn baby, Neha. Bill had just started a new job, and we really needed the money I was making. I prayed and asked if this was part of God's plan that these neighbors would pay me what I was making working at the school. They did, plus took out all the taxes, etc., to boot.

One Christmas, I gave Neha a musical snow globe with a nativity scene on the inside. Andy, her dad, asked what this meant to Christians as they were Hindu. I explained to him, matter-of-factly, that Christians believe that God came to earth as a baby. Andy gasp and laughed, "You don't believe this, do you?" I simply smiled and said I did.

This year I was asked to come back to speak in Dover, Ohio. Dover is the town we lived in when Todd, our oldest son, died. It had been many years since I had spoken publicly, so I was pretty apprehensive about stepping out. However, I had said from the beginning if God gave me the opportunity, I would go where He wanted me to go.

The timing of the invitation was interesting. The first time I ever shared my testimony was on a Super Bowl Sunday Night. Well, this year, I received the invitation to come back to Ohio and speak on Super Bowl Sunday Night. This seemed like a pretty good "sign" that this was part of God's plan for me, but I wanted to be sure. I knew I didn't want to step out on my own. I understood very well I needed the Lord's power. I told Nancy that I would give her my answer on February 6th, the day Todd had died. I like to do something positive on that date.

This year Michigan had record-breaking snow. I spent a lot of time out shoveling in our driveway. One evening I was still out in the driveway shoveling when my neighbor, Andy, pulled up in a car. He had been gone and was unable to get in his driveway. Since ours was shoveled, I told him to park in it. Andy said he had been working in the Holy Land and he would be going back to the airport after getting a couple things from his house.

A few weeks later, on February 5th, I was out in the driveway shoveling again. Andy came over carrying a bag with a gift inside for me. He handed me the bag and said, "You would be proud of me." I thanked him for the gift and wondered why he had said, "You would be proud of me." Andy explained that while he was in the Holy Land, he had gone to all the stops of Jesus and said a prayer for me. I told Andy that I had been asked to speak in Dover and plan to give Nancy my answer the next day. I told him I believed that his gift, even though I didn't know what it was yet, was a "sign" that I was supposed to go.

I went into the house and opened the bag. I was overwhelmed when I saw the gift was actually a wooden nativity scene. How awesome our God is to bring this full circle. Somehow, giving Neha the musical snow globe with the nativity scene inside had sparked her dad's interest in Christianity. Even though he was Hindu, and the people he was working with questioned why he would stand in long lines to do the stops of Jesus, he did and had said a prayer for me.

I had no doubt that this was a "sign" that I was supposed to go back to Dover after many years and speak. I'm happy I did.