Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

A braham had once heard the saying that "both fish and visitors begin to stink after three days." It didn't really mean that visitors began to smell badly, but that visitors wore out their welcome in about the same amount of time as it took for fish to begin to rot. And now, Abraham was reaching the three-day mark of staying with Pastor Lamb and his family in the small house behind the church's rectory. Even though neither the pastor or his wife said a word to Abraham about him becoming a nuisance or burden, Abraham didn't want to stay long enough to become one and have them saying or feeling something of the sort.

After breakfast and prayer, he decided to broach the subject with the pastor. "I suppose that I've spent enough time here with you and your family to recover, and it's best that I move on."

Immediately, Pastor Lamb met eyes with him over his spectacles, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Swallowing hard, Abraham took a seat in the pew where Pastor Lamb stood. "I believe I've been here long enough to recover from the original surprise of losing my employment and livelihood. I don't want to become a burden to you and your family."

"You're not a burden, Abraham. Have no worries there. But regardless, where will you go when you leave here, have you thought about that?"

A lump formed in his throat as he shook his head, afraid to meet eyes with the pastor.

The pastor put a hand on his shoulder and then sat down next to him in the pew. "Don't let things get you down so hard. You take so much of the worries and anxiety of the world upon your shoulders and expect yourself to be able to handle the burden. Do you know why Jesus said that His yoke was easy and His burden light?"

Abraham shook his head again.

"Because His yoke is supposed to be used in pairs. He is pulling with you. Carrying the burden with you. Don't try to carry it all by yourself. Let Him give you the help that He offers."

Looking up again, Abraham met the pastor's eyes. "How am I supposed to do that? How do I know what to do?"

"Pray about it, of course, and ask the Lord to help you to accept His help." The pastor offered him a smile. "If you were to give me a vision of what your future would look like, one that is positive and maybe what you think is impossible, what would it be? What would you dream?"

"Dream?"

Nodding, the pastor continued to smile but didn't answer with words.

Abraham thought for a moment, but didn't have to think as long as he thought. Immediately, certain things came to his mind. "I'd like to be married. To have children. To work with horses in some capacity, even if it's not as a blacksmith."

The pastor smiled wider. "Is that all?"

"I'd like to keep abiding in Jesus each day, with prayer and bible reading, like I have been here, too."

After patting Abraham on the shoulder, the pastor stood. "Wait here a moment."

Unsure what he should do while waiting for the pastor to return, Abraham closed his eyes and began to pray. He'd spent more time in prayer over the last three days than he had in the past few years. Guilt overcame him. How could he ever have pushed this aside when his mother had passed on. Instead of seeing how this was just a temporary parting, Abraham had felt a bit betrayed, a bit lonely, and a bit hurt by his mother's death. It was difficult for him not to feel disappointed with God for allowing his mother to leave him. It felt unfair. But he forgot that God's ways were not always easily understood, but that God still loved him and had his best interest at heart. When Abraham finished, he opened his eyes again to see Pastor Lamb approaching him again with a smile on his face and raising a newspaper up.

"Here we are," the pastor said as he sat again in the pew beside Abraham. "Millie found this advertisement in the paper this morning. It looks like a new one."

Confused, Abraham took the paper and read the circled advertisement. His heartbeat skipped as he looked back up at the pastor after. "This is an advertisement for a husband?"

"That's what it says. They need both a blacksmith and a husband to help the young lady run the livery in a town out in Kansas."

"Only honorable men need apply," Abraham read the last line of the advertisement again. "It seems the lady has already had a hard time finding either one."

"It seems. But I think it might be worth your while to write to the lady. It couldn't hurt. And I happen to have gone to school with John Reed, the pastor of a church there in Tonganoxie. I can ask about the situation and vouch for your honor with him. Perhaps this is more than a coincidence. You envisioned your dream, what you would most like to see in your future, and this advertisement seems to be the best means for you to achieve it. Likely this whole situation was designed just for you to meet with this woman. It's an opportunity for marriage and working with horses. A family may also be in your future. To me, it seems like much more than just a chance of finding an advertisement and answering it. The Lord must have ordained this since John is the pastor there as well. Both Millie and I have been praying about it all morning—about whether we should mention this to you or not. We didn't want you to feel as though we were pushing you out. But after you said what you did this afternoon, I thought it might be a good time to show you."

Slowly, Abraham nodded. This did all seem to be too much of a coincidence to happen simply by accident. The feeling that the Lord's hand was in this was strong. But he didn't want to make the mistake of thinking that this was ordained by the Lord just because it was something that he wanted. He reread the paper in his hand and then looked back up into the preacher's eyes. "I suppose that I should pray about this."

"Absolutely. Pray. Write a letter if you're inclined. Or, throw the paper away in the trash can if you are not. There is no reason for you to do this or not. Millie and I will pray for you… with you as well. We want what is best for you according to the Lord's will."

Swallowing down the lump that formed in his throat that the feeling of care that the pastor and his family had shown him, Abraham nodded and looked down at his hands again. He hoped that the Lord would give him a definitive answer on whether he should try for this or not. After just feeling like he'd come back to the Lord, he didn't want to allow himself to be disappointed again if things didn't work out the way he hoped. As he closed his eyes to pray, he tried to keep in mind what the sermon had been about the day before. What the three young Hebrew men had said when Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into the fire. They had told the king that their God was able to deliver them from the fire, but even if He didn't, they still wouldn't bow down to anyone or anything but the Lord. And that was the kind of faith that Abraham wanted. Even if God didn't do things the way that Abraham wanted or expected… Abraham would still worship the Lord and abide in Him. That was what he wanted most. And as he started his prayer, that's what he asked for first.