She smiled. “Or you could come to my church.”

“True, but I thought maybe you’d like to hear our bishop preach, since you didn’t get to at the hymn sing.” The way Mart said it made her think it was very important to him. “Just know you’re always welcome, Anna.”

“Thank you, Mart. That’s kind of you.”

“’Night.”

She stepped into the house, feeling rather torn. Does this mean he’s actually getting serious?

Going through the kitchen and down the hall to her room, she knelt beside her bed and prayed. “O Lord, Mart is such a fine young man—everything I would want in a beau and a husband. Please grant me wisdom.”

Later, as she sat in bed in the dark, ready to fall sleep, Anna thought of her bishop’s sermon last Sunday back in Mifflinburg, about the Holy Spirit praying for believers through wordless groans.

Right now, Anna felt like she was groaning within her spirit. Never having had this dilemma before—two fine young men seeking her attention—she struggled with how she’d gotten to this point.

Then she caught herself. Gabe isn’t an option, she reminded herself with a sigh. Much as I like him.

“God is tenderhearted to our groans,” Bishop Wengerd had assured the congregation. “The Lord can be trusted in our weakness and confusion.” She felt grateful for having heard that sermon, even though she had missed going to her church here in Lancaster County and seeing her friends there.

Was I supposed to hear that sermon last week? She slipped down into bed, knowing that God had a unique way of putting people in the right place at just the right time. And He had given her the ability to make a choice about whom to spend her life with, as well.

When Anna dreamed, it was of Mart, urgently asking her to attend his church. She ended up going reluctantly in the dream, but the pastor didn’t speak either English or German, nor Pennsylvania Dutch. For the life of her, she could not understand him. She turned to Mart next to her, in a church where couples could sit together, and she couldn’t understand him, either, so she dashed out of the building in a panic.

Feeling all wrung out when she awakened, Anna felt stiff—nearly frozen—taking deep breaths. What an awful dream!

She reached for the flashlight in her room and carried it out to the kitchen. Setting it on the counter, she went to the gas-powered refrigerator and removed a gallon jar of cow’s milk fresh from the neighboring farm. She poured a small amount in a cup and went to sit at the table in the spot where she always sat next to Sadie at meals.