Free Brian's Choice by Vannetta Chapman

home. First, two of the boys from the upper grades stopped him. Something they said caused him to smile and nod. Before he could move away from the front door, Joseph pulled him aside. She guessed he was talking about an order at the dry goods store he owned, because Brian ran a hand up and around the back of his neck and then nodded in agreement. He’d barely moved forward when Samuel caught up with him. Samuel rarely had a word for anyone, yet he was standing there and keeping Brian from finding a seat. She heard just enough to know they were talking crops and tractors.
    â€œBest stop staring, little schweschder . The benches are filling up.”
    And so they were, though Katie didn’t mind if she had to sit near the back. The floors gleamed and the smell of baking filled the house. It would be a good Sunday morning. She knew that with a certainty as she moved toward her seat.
    She was stopped by the sight of Bishop Levi striding toward Brian. He said something too low for her to catch. Brian frowned and they moved out toward the front porch. What was that about? Had something else happened?
    The singing was beginning, so she hurried to sit next to her sister.Later in the service, she looked up from her Bible and caught Brian staring at her. She held his gaze a moment before glancing back down at the book in her lap. Did he have any idea how much she cared for him? Should she have said as much yesterday morning? It was the perfect opportunity, but she hadn’t wanted to interrupt his story, his confession about his past life.
    The service passed with a blur of songs, Scripture, and preaching. When they sang “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” she thought again of Brian’s story. He had dealt with more adversity than most men his age, but it had brought him into a closer walk with God. She’d moved to her sister’s in the hope for adventure. That seemed shallow now, but she couldn’t regret it. The move had brought her closer to JoAnna, showed her that she loved teaching, and introduced her to Brian. Had the move affected her walk with God? Had she ever considered such a thing?
    Katie spent much of the remainder of the service in prayer. She prayed God would use her, He would guide and direct her, and He would satisfy the ache in her heart. Was it wrong to pray for such things? She didn’t think so. Bishop Levi ended their worship time that morning by reading out of the book of Psalms, chapter thirty-seven, verse four. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
    With those words ringing in her ears, Katie closed her Bible and mentally went through a checklist of what she should do to help her sister with dinner. Other women around her were picking up small children, gathering their purses, straightening a kapp here and an apron there. But all of that stopped when Levi asked the congregation to remain a little while longer.
    â€œI had a visit this morning from Daniel and Margaret.” A flurry of whispers quieted when Levi raised his hand. “It’s gut news I have to share with you. Stella is fine.”
    Now conversation loudly broke out throughout the room. Katieheard snatches of “Praise Gotte ” and “ Wunderbaar news” and “I knew that girl would be fine.”
    Once everyone had calmed down, Levi continued. “Your help in searching for her and your prayers for her and the entire family are a wunderbaar testament of God’s love and how we are to be the hands and feet of Christ to one another.”
    He cleared his throat and continued. “I ask that you continue to bathe the Stutzmans in prayer as Stella returns to our community and their family strives to return to normal.”
    Levi didn’t give them any details. Katie hadn’t really expected him to. Still, as she served casseroles, she wondered if those details were what he’d shared with Brian on the front porch before the