Page 38 of There I Find Hope

“Yeah. What’s the point when you have no hope for anything better?”

Her fingers trailed over the foal’s forehead, and the little animal stood on trembling legs, legs that looked way too long for her body, as Sunday spoke softly to her, moving her fingers over her head and down her neck, finding a spot to scratch that made the foal tilt her head to the side and stretch her neck out.

“That’s a good spot,” he murmured.

“They all have one. You just have to find it.”

“People too, probably.”

“It’s true for a lot of things, I think. Not just physical spots, but we all have those words that we need to hear or things that make us happy or upset us. Like the front porch on the bed-and-breakfast. How you like that. Some people don’t even notice it.”

“I don’t understand how they couldn’t.”

“Exactly. And if it isn’t her sweet spot that I’m scratching, it doesn’t do nearly as much good as it does when I find the right one.”

“Yeah. I can see that.”

Sometimes animals taught them so much about life, and maybe that’s why Scripture had so much about the natural world in it. A lot about sowing and reaping, but God often used animals and other things as analogies in the Bible.

“Can I pet her?” he asked, and Sunday stepped back immediately.

“I think it would be good for her. She needs to learn that people are her friends. Especially since she doesn’t have a mom.”

“That’s sad.”

“Yeah.” Her voice sounded a little sad, and he wondered if she was thinking about Blake and how she had lost him.

“Maybe you two are meant for each other.”

“That’s funny. When I was here yesterday, Matt suggested that I take her on as my special project. He even told me I could name her, which is a big deal because he and Jubilee have three girls, and they were all clamoring to be able to name her.”

“What did you decide?”

“I’m not sure. I guess if it were a boy, maybe I’d name him Blake. Except... That doesn’t feel right. But you know, names aside, I was just thinking about how she doesn’t have a mom, and I don’t have a son anymore. God didn’t drop another baby in my lap, but he gave me a foal to love for now. I mean, she’ll be a grown horse someday, and I’m sure Matt has plans for her, but just for a little while, God gave me something to kind of not feel the hole Blake’s passing left, but something to focus on and to love.”

He loved the way she was looking at that. Like she was looking for the ways that proved God was good.

So often, he found it to be true that whatever a person looked for was what they found. Maybe that was why the Bible commanded them to focus on the things that were good. Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report.

“It seems like you’re always finding the good in God.”

“That’s because God is good.”

“I suppose there are people who think He’s not.”

“I guess they’ll find out someday that they were wrong, won’t they?” She didn’t seem like she was interested in arguing with them or in trying to talk them into anything. Maybe that was the best way. God never commanded anyone to argue. And Jesus never did. He just presented the truth, and then people had a choice.

Maybe that’s where Christians went wrong sometimes. They wanted to argue and debate. They wanted to talk people into things, when it really wasn’t their job to talk people into anything. It was God who touched their hearts or convicted them that they needed something, and it was just man’s job to show them the way. And point them to Jesus.

“The command is to go. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.”

“Exactly. It doesn’t say anything about arguing with people.”

“No. It doesn’t. But it does say that Jesus himself says that they’ll know we are Christians by our love. Sometimes I think everyone has it all backward, including me. I certainly haven’t been the greatest at showing love.”

“Or not arguing. I like to do that. It’s kind of fun.”

They laughed a little together, and he figured they were in agreement on that.

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