Dolly Lesson 2 — God Gives Good Gifts

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Last week I showed you dolls my pen pal Meiko sent me from Japan. This year at Christmas I put them on a shelf with five other Japanese dolls that have been given to me through the years, plus a Chinese doll I bought in 1982.

Each of these dolls has a story. Today I’ll tell you about the pair on the left.

I was in a dorm room by myself when a new Chinese student arrived at Cumberland College. Only forty girls lived on campus and we had spread out into all of the rooms in the only girls’ dorm. I was happy when I got the privilege of having the new girl for my roommate. We became good friends and were roommates again at the four-year school we both went to later. My friend took an American name when she came to America, so I will call her Amy.

Amy was born in mainland China, but left China for Taiwan while she was still a girl. At the time I met her, her father owned an export business in Tokyo. Once Amy gave me these Japanese dolls. Another time she gave me real ivory chopsticks on which her brother had carved my name in Chinese. Amy taught me how to eat with chopsticks, how to make fried rice, and how to make Ramen noodles. We made ours in an old-fashioned popcorn popper in our dorm room.

When Amy and I were both newlyweds and young mothers, we kept in touch, but I eventually lost her address and phone number. In 2006 I had a deep conviction that I should try to find Amy again. I googled all of the names on the last Christmas card I had received from her — Amy’s, her husband’s, and the names of their two daughters. I found a law journal in California. Its editor’s name was the same as one of Amy’s daughters. I’ll call her daughter Jessica Wong.

I sent an email to the law journal. In the subject line, I wrote something like this: “Looking for Jessica Wong’s mother Amy.” That night or perhaps it was the next day, I got an email from Jessica saying that she was indeed Amy’s daughter, that she had heard all about me, and that her mother would be so excited.

In no time, Amy and I were on the phone. She loved my parents whom she had come to know in weekend visits to our home; she wanted to know how they were doing. By then, Daddy had died, but Amy invited Mother and me to come to California to visit them. A few months later, we were on our way, along with Mary Evelyn.

We had a great time and I loved getting to know Amy’s husband and two daughters. Amy and Jessica later came to visit us. We still stay in touch. The day after Bethany’s little Eva was born, Amy and I talked on the phone; she had had a granddaughter born on the very same day! Aren’t God’s gifts amazing!

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
James 1:17

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