“’Tis interesting how we get to where we are.” As he spoke, Glen glanced at Sadie with a smile.

“Chust so our journey leads us to our Savior,” Sadie said sweetly. “That’s what our bishop says whenever he preaches.”

“Jah, every time,” Glen agreed.

Anna sat with them in the front room while Glen read from chapter five of John’s first epistle. “‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.’”

According to his will . . .

The words lingered in Anna’s mind even as she thanked the Flauds for their hospitality and said good-bye, promising to stay in touch. She was especially grateful for Sadie’s kind invitation to return and stay with them if she should decide to look for a different type of job here.

Anna drove toward Route 30 on her way back to Mifflinburg, appreciating how light it still was at the end of this long day. “Dear Lord, bless Glen and Sadie for opening their home to me,” she prayed softly. “Bless them abundantly.”

Once again, she placed her future in God’s hands, eager to share with her parents and sister all that she had experienced in Strasburg during this short visit. And she yearned to see Mammi Eliza again, too.

I’ll tell her how much I’ve always loved her. . . .

Chapter 7

Anna’s first day back at the buggy museum turned out far better than she had anticipated. When she gave her notice, her boss released her from having to stick around the full two weeks, saying one of the other part-time guides had recently approached him about going full-time. “This will give her that opportunity,” he said.

Grateful and relieved, Anna let her parents know that she was free to pursue another job, and that she would be calling Sadie to accept their invitation to stay with them while she searched.

Anna called the Flauds’ shanty phone to say she could come back as soon as tomorrow, and Sadie answered right away—she had been out there checking her and Glen’s messages. Goodness, she sounds excited! thought Anna after hanging up. Sadie had also mentioned wanting to introduce Anna to several Amish shopkeepers when she returned.

That evening, Anna drove over to Wanita’s. Conrad and their older children were out doing barn chores, so Anna visited on the back porch with her sister and the youngest children, and Mammi Eliza, too, enjoying the warm and gentle breezes. Anna filled Wanita in on her plans to look for a job at one of the Amish shops around Strasburg, mentioning Sadie’s offer that Anna could stay with them for as long as she wished.