It had been one year since I had escaped my abusive marriage with my three young children, all 12 years old and under. We had just moved to the farmhouse that had once belonged to my grandparents, and I hoped I could put down some roots again.
But the fear and doubt that my ex-husband had instilled in me for 14 years lingered. Will I ever feel confident and secure again? I wondered.
Our century-old farmhouse needed some work, especially on the front deck, which was sagging and splintered and going to rot. I had very little to spend on the repairs—my mother was already helping out with the basics—and I couldn’t afford to put my trust in an unreliable contractor.
But who could I turn to for a recommendation? I was still new to the area.
Let’s start the old-fashioned way, I thought. The Yellow Pages. I sat down, opened up the fat yellow book and scanned the ads for contractors. There were so many.
How do I choose the right one? I worried. A knot formed in my stomach, that fear again that my children or I might be harmed.
I turned the page. An ad jumped out at me. The copy didn’t differ much from the others, but in the lower left corner, printed in bold black, was an ichthus—the fish symbol of early Christians. Tentatively, I picked up the phone and made an appointment.
Frank arrived the next day. He was congenial and professional, a craftsman who had worked on many of the houses in town. He was actually an ordained minister, who used a portion of his contracting revenues to support outreach programs he and his wife had a passion for. He put me at ease, and I hired him for the job.
His work exceeded my expectations. The rebuilt deck turned out sturdy and beautiful. Finally, that sense of security I yearned for took hold of me. He and his wife even took time to pray with me. My kids and I would be all right here.
I thanked Frank and said, “I’m glad I saw your ad with the fish.” “What fish?” he asked. “There’s no fish in our ad.”
“Sure there is,” I said. I went inside, grabbed the Yellow Pages and opened it up to his ad.
He was right. There was no fish.
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