A Rose Revealed by Gayle Roper Page A

honey.”
    “And thanks for not telling me his illness is punishment for my sin.”
    My heart contracted again, and I thought of the story in the Bible about the man born blind.
    “Rabbi,” Jesus’ disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
    “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”
    As I watched the mother and child, I thought that in a strange way, God’s power was seen right here in this rude room, in a mother’s care for her dying child, her total commitment to his well-being. It was just that same totality of love that had sent Jesus to the manger in Bethlehem and the cross at Golgotha.
    Becky lifted Trevor to her shoulder and soon we heard a little burp. She lowered him to her other breast.
    “Is your boyfriend waiting for you back home?” I asked.
    “I think so. He said he would wait and I believe him. But when my parents found out about the baby, they sent me away so fast that I never had a chance to speak with him.”
    “And he hasn’t tried to contact you?”
    She shook her head.
    “Oh, Becky!”
    “No,” she said quickly. “It’s not like you think. He’s meidung .”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know the word.”
    “He’s shunned. No one will talk to him or tell him where I am.”
    “Oh.” The enormous life-altering power of shunning struck me again. “Is he shunned because of Trevor?”
    She shook her head. “He was under the ban before Trevor.” She smiled sadly. “I wasn’t supposed to see him or have anything to do with him, but—” She shrugged. “Obviously I did.”
    “Are you being shunned too?” I was appalled at the idea, but maybe it explained the way her grandparents were treating her.
    “No. I hadn’t joined the congregation yet.”
    “But he had?”
    “Samuel had. He’s twenty-two.”
    “Why was he shunned?” I feared all sorts of terrible things.
    “He bought a pickup truck for his construction work.”
    “Oh, Becky.” I was overwhelmed that something so commonplace in my world should be so costly in hers.
    She nodded with understanding at my expression. Then her face darkened. “When I go home,” she said fiercely, “I will be like you. I will be fancy. I will buy a sweat suit and wear it all day, even the pants. I will learn to drive Samuel’s truck, and we will marry and have many more babies, healthy babies, and we will live in a house with a washing machine and electric lights and an electric can opener. And I will wear lipstick.”
    The last was like a battle cry. I couldn’t help grin at her and her plans for a wanton life. “You are a rebel, Rebecca Stoltzfus.”
    “I am. And I talk to Herr Gott about it all the time. I could not leave my people if He would not come with me, not even for Samuel, I don’t think.”
    “He’ll go anywhere with anyone who believes,” I said.
    Becky nodded. “I think so too.”
    “I’m a Christian, and I know He’s with me. I know lots of English people who are believers and will tell you the Lord is with them too.”
    “I had a job cleaning for an English lady back home.” Becky said. “She was a Christian too. She talked to me about Jesus, and she gave me an English Bible that was easy to read.” She reached under her pillow and pulled out a much used paper cover Bible.
    “When I learned I was going to have a baby, I went to her. I told her about Samuel and how much I loved him. I thought that because she was fancy, she would say what we did was okay. She didn’t. She agreed with Mama that I was wrong, that we were wrong. But not because of Mama or the Ordnung , she said. Because of the Bible.” Becky ran her hand across the cover of her obviously cherished Book.
    “Then about grace she told me. About Jesus. I heard about Him all my life, but finally I understood. Now He’s my Savior.”
    I thanked God for the English woman who had