She came up on the farm, seeing the For Sale sign, unfamiliar and out of place, sitting at the end of the drive.
She tried to fight back the sting of tearsthat threatened and swallowed hard. This was for the best. Sometimes it seemed like when things had gone as badly as they could, that’s when everything broke loose and the good stuff started to happen.
She just had to let the farm go in order for God to open up His windows of blessing on her.
If only it was that easy.
But she also knew God didn’t want her to be attached to earthly things. He wanted her to have her sights set on heaven. Her earthly home shouldn’t mean as much to her as her heavenly home, and she shouldn’t put as much store in it as she did in the treasure she stored in heaven.
Maybe that was the lesson the Lord wanted her to learn.
She just wished there was a less painful way to learn it.
Chapter Three
“Ihave an appointment tomorrow to go look at a farm. It’s near here, and it just might be the one. The house is gorgeous, the grounds are perfect. There aren’t too many acres, but we don’t need a whole pile of ground, just enough to keep a couple of horses for the kids to ride. I’m not looking to grow crops or anything.” Gilbert ran a hand through his hair, then put an elbow on the counter in front of him. He sat in his mother’s kitchen, talking to her while she stood on the other side, baking a batch of cookies for the kids to eat when they got home from school that day.
“All right. But tomorrow is the festival. I know the kids would really like to go see the parade.”
“I think we’ll make it in time. The festival starts at eleven, and the parade is at one, right?”
“I think so. What time is your appointment to see the property?”
“It’s nine. I don’t think it’ll take more than an hour, and honestly I’m going to get it, unless there’s something majorly wrong with it. It’s exactly what I want, and it’s less than fifteen minutes from here.”
“Wonder which property itis?” his mother mused.
“My agent said it just came on the market. In fact, it wasn’t even listed as of yesterday, so you might not have heard about it.”
“I can only think of a couple that could potentially be what you’re talking about, although none of them have a really big house. How many bedrooms did you say?”
“I think there’s six. Three with master bedrooms.”
“Wow. And you said they’re all in good shape?”
“Yeah. Apparently the woman who owned it, which is the mother of the current owner, from what I understand from my realtor, got the farm into debt redoing the house. She did a great job on the house, but the girl just can’t keep up with the payments. That’s the extra info that my realtor texted me last night. I’m not sure if that’s general info that everyone knows.”
“Goodness,” his mom said, coming over to the counter and putting her hand on it. She didn’t look happy, which Gilbert didn’t really understand. He was coming home. He would get to spend time with his children. And he found the perfect property. Why could she be upset about that?
“That sounds like Summer Labach’s place.”
“Summer? Do I know her?”
“I think she was a good bit younger than you in school. It’s the Labach farm. Where your kids go for horse therapy.”
“Oh.” Gilbert sat back, his feet hooked on the bottom rungs, his mind whirling.
There was no doubt in his mind that the horseback riding therapy had been beneficial for all three of his children. They all loved it and loved their instructor, although he wasn’t sure if it was Summer or not. He never took them. Someone from his family always dropped them off and picked them up. He had been busy working in Harrisonburg.
“In fact, if I’m thinking about this right, I don’t think she’s charged us for the last year of therapy. Starting from before Desire passed, she had told me it was on the house. She and Larissa seemedto develop a bond, and she’s been out there an awful lot. In fact, I think Larissa is riding in the parade tomorrow.”
“Are you serious?” Now he felt bad. The woman had to sell her property because she couldn’t afford to pay for it, and she hadn’t even been charging him for the horseback riding therapy his kids had been taking. The thought that he hadn’t been paying for it never even crossed his mind. He…just assumed everything was being taken care of, that it was automatically deducted from his checking account.
He sighed. “I guess that is sad.”
“Yeah. It’s been in her family for generations. I don’t even know how long. But I know Summer is excellent with the children and very good at what she does. She’s busy all summer long, and she’s even run some camps. But from what I understand, she had a sick horse or something, and it put her back further than what she could catch up.”
“Animals are expensive.” He had wanted to get a dog for his kids. It wasn’t the expense that kept him back, it was the fact that he hadn’t had time. But when they moved out to the farm, that was something that he had wanted to get. He really wasn’t into horses. Never had been, but he understood that some people were, and he also saw with his own eyes how much being around the horses had helped his children. He wasn’t going to try to deny that.
