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O’Brien officiating. “Well,” Father O’Brien had commented when they had asked him to perform the ceremony, “it’s strange circumstances, indeed, that require a Catholic priest to marry a Messianic Jew and an Evangelical Christian, but it ’s been said that ‘desperate times call for desperate measures ,’ and times don’t get much more desperate than these. Yes, I’ll do it.”  
    Michael and Kris were both glad that Nathan O’Brien had agreed to perform the ceremony. He and Michael had gone to college together and had become instant friends. Michael had been serious and a little brooding, but Nate, as everyone called him, was always bubbling over with laughter. He was tall and blond and tan—the image of a “California boy”. Girls were crazy about him because in addition to his amazing good looks, he was friendly and warm and seemed to be genuinely interested in everyone.
    Michael and Nate had met when they were both twenty -one. Michael was already married to Maddie, and Nate had already decided that after he graduated he was going to become a priest. Both men were intelligent and interested in a variety of subjects, and they shared a deep faith in Jesus Christ. They could never agree on the finer points of their respective beliefs, however, and they spent long hours debating the differences. They spent even longer hours playing one-on-one basketball. For two athletic young guys who needed to burn off energy after a day spent in classes, the basketball court offered the perfect way to unwind.
    Michael and Nate had always remained friends, and as they matured they realized that they shared many core beliefs. They shared the same views of the sanctity of life and of traditional marriage. They valued freedom and liberty, and neither was afraid to speak his mind. Each year they discovered that they were more alike than they had originally thought.
    Kris’ pains were growing stronger. They radiated from the center of her lower back toward her stomach, reaching further with each contraction. With the last contraction the pain had become an excruciating band that circled her body, and she now felt her muscles working to force the baby out of h er. It was time to push. She took a deep breath, held it in, and pushed with all her strength. Once, twice, three times, and then an enormous sense of relief , and the pain stopped.
    The baby was crying, and Michael looked happier than she had ever seen him. “It’s a boy! It’s a boy!” Karyn was shouting. In that moment every doubt Kris had ever entertained about becoming a mother evaporat ed.
    After Karyn and Michael had cleaned up the mess from the delivery, they left Kris alone with her child so that she could rest. She was much too wide awake to consider napping, but she was glad to have this opportunity to talk to her son. “Your name is Aaron Mitchell Linton,” she began. “ Your daddy’s middle name is Aaron, but before I married him my last name was Mitchell. I wanted to name you after your daddy, but I wanted you to have my name too, and now I’m going to tell you a secret that no one else knows. I’m going to call you ‘Mitch’ because I think it’s the best name in the world.
    “I’m going to tell you something else too. It’s not a secret, but you’ll be surprised to find this out. T his is my birthday. I’m forty-three years old today. I know that seems old to you, but it ’ s really not very old. But the best part is that you and I have the same birthday, and we’ll always have a special giant party to celebrate. No matter what happens, Mitch, you are the best birthday present that I will ever get in my entire life. I will love you forever, and I will always thank God for sending you to me. ”
    ∞
    Kris was so happy with her new son that for the next few months she had little time for anything else. She knew that Mitch was special—that God had a purpose for his life that would involve saving many people. She was certain that God