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just looks at me with those sad, empty eyes. She is not buying it.
    Then Ebony makes a move for the door. “Well, thanks for letting us look around, and you take care, Mrs. Clark. I'll be sure to let you know if I find out anything new.”
    “Yes, please do,” calls Mrs. Clark. “Anything at all.”

    “I appreciate you coming with me today,- Ebony says as she pulls into my driveway. “And I'm sorry if it was upsetting.”
    “No, I'm okay. The hardest part was about how I'm not hearing from God lately. But just telling you…and what you said… Well, I do feel better now. Thanks.”
    “And I know you'll let me know if God does give you some information regarding Peter or any of that.”
    “Definitely.” Although I doubt that's going to happen. Still, I don't mention this to her as I wave good-bye and go into the house.
    The phone is ringing when I get inside. I answer it just in time to catch Olivia on the other end.
    “Hey, I was about to give up,” she says. “Where've you been all day?”
    So without going into all the gory details, I tell her a little about my attempt to help Ebony with her cold case.
    “Sounds kinda sad and interesting. Do you think God will show you something?”
    “I have absolutely no idea,” I admit in a glum voice. “In some ways I feel more in the dark about my little ‘gift’ than ever.”
    “It's kind of ironic, Sam.”
    “What?”
    “Well, I can recall a few times when you were so frustrated that you hoped you'd
never
have another dream or vision. You felt it was too much responsibility. Remember?”
    I consider this. “Yeah, but then it got to be sort of exciting too.”
    She laughs. “I know.”
    “Okay, just call me fickle. And obviously, God's calling the shots anyway. I guess He probably wants me to do some waiting—maybe He's working on my patience.”
    “Well, while you're patiently waiting, do you want to go to the basketball game tonight? Maybe it'll cheer you up to cheer for Conrad.”
    “Sounds good.” So we arrange for her to pick me up in time to grab something to eat before the game.
    The game is really exciting, but our team ends up losing in the last few seconds, which I know will bum Conrad,and consequently we don't stick around to wait for the team to come out of the locker room.
    Olivia asks if I want to get coffee
or
something afterward, but I'm feeling kind of bummed too. I know it's only partly due to the game. The rest probably relates to what I've learned about Peter Clark today and my strong desire for God to show me something.
    “You're being pretty quiet,” Olivia says as we drive through the dark night.
    “Sorry. I guess I'm still stuck on why God doesn't want to show me something in regard to Peter.”
    “It hasn't even been twenty-four hours,” Olivia points out.
    “I know. But I just get this feeling it's not coming. Like the door is closed and I can't open it.”
    “God's door,” she says. “Guess He can close it if He wants, huh?”
    “But I was thinking about other sorts of gifts, Olivia. I mean, if someone has the gift of teaching, they pretty much teach at will, don't they? Or the gift of encouragement? They just open their mouths and encourage others whenever others need it, right?”
    “I suppose.”
    “And yet those are gifts, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    “So, why is my gift different?”
    “Maybe because it's a special gift, Sam. Like it needs some restrictions. Maybe God doesn't want you going overboard with it. I mean think about it—if you thought you could just close your eyes and suddenly have importantknowledge about things that no one else has, well, don't you think that could get a little dangerous?”
    I think about this and realize she's right. “Yeah, I guess so.”
    “Not to change the subject, but someone's having a birthday next week.”
    I perk up a little. ‘Yeah, as a matter of fact, someone is.”
    “Any big plans?”
    I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right. Mom's so busy, as usual, that I haven't even