“We need an update from you, Nicole, and then we have to do some serious brainstorming. First, though, I want to give you all our mission name.”

All four analysts drum rolled the table with their hands.

“Operation Bezalel.”

Three of the analysts hit their imaginary cymbals with great flourish, while Nicole said, “Huh?”

“I got this,” Yossi said. “Listen, my New-Testament-reading Gentile sister. In Exodus, when God told Moses to build the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant, He gave him an artist with the skills to make it beautiful. That man was named Bezalel.”

“I read the Old Testament too,” Nicole said.

Nir raised his hand. “Okay, I’m going to veto that tangent, Nicole. Instead, why don’t you fill us in on where we are with the marketing for the paintings we’ll need for our newly christened Operation Bezalel?”

“Just because I haven’t memorized the name of every old guy out of Exodus doesn’t mean I don’t read the Old Testament,” Nicole muttered as she spread out some notes on the table. Looking up, she said, “Yossi, remote.”

He obliged. Nicole pressed a button, and a photo appeared on the screen.

“This is Alicia Marcos. As you know, she’s our artist, and she lives in Houston, Texas.”

“Yee-haw,” Liora said with a laugh.

“That’s a stereotype, but whatever.”

The mood in the room changed in an instant. Nir hadn’t seen snippy Nicole in quite a while. Not since before her big spiritual change. Judging by the way the rest of the team was looking down at the table, they hadn’t seen it either. He was about to say something, but he saw her staring down at her hands. He knew exactly what she was doing, because he’d been around her other times when she was silently praying.

After a moment, she looked up and said, “I’m sorry, Liora. And the same goes to the rest of you. I’ve been running so hard and not getting enough sleep. But those are just excuses. There’s no reason to have snapped at you.”

But Nir knew there was a reason. She’d been embarrassed at being the only one who didn’t know the name Bezalel. It was tough being the only Gentile on a team full of Jews, all of whom had the Torah taught to them since before they were old enough to listen. But it was more. She was new in her faith and didn’t know all she wanted to know. If she couldn’t remember a Bible verse or come up with an answer to a question, she seemed to feel she was letting God down.

Dafna reached over and took hold of her arm. “We all have days like that, girl. No harm, no foul.”

Liora and Yossi quickly agreed, and Nir smiled some encouragement toward her.