"It"s a beautiful thing to feel."
"Dinner"s ready," called Leah.
32Melody Carison
After they were all seated and Jed had said a brief
blessing, Audrey asked him to carve the roast. "It seems fit-
ting that, as you were the hunter, you should carve the
meat."
"I"m not too sure what I think about eating deer meat,"
said Maggie with wide eyes. "I can"t help but think of the
beautiful creatures that grace the meadow right next to my
house."
"Oh, Mom," said Spencer with exasperation. "Now how
do you suppose that would make a cow feel?"
They all laughed, and then Daniel shared a hunting story
of his own about the time his nearsighted grandfather nearly
mistook a cow for an elk, and how the irate rancher threat-
ened to have both of them locked up. Dinner for the most
part was delicious, but Maggie still wasn"t sure what she
thought about the actual taste of venison. It wasn"t bad
exactly, but different than beef. Unwilling to offend Jed or
Leah, she kept her opinions to herself.
"Say," began Jed as Spencer and Daniel went for seconds.
"I had an interesting letter this week. I"m not sure what to
make of it."
"Tell us," said Leah with bright eyes.
"Well, back in the late seventies, Steven Harris-this guy
who"d been my best childhood friend-went over to be a
missionary on some South Pacific island. I can"t even
remember which one offhand. He used to write to me, but
then he suddenly stopped and for several years I heard
nothing. Then I learned about five years ago that he"d died
while living in that country. I was really saddened to hear of
his death, and the news actually had quite an impact on my
own life." Jed looked around the table. "But at least Steven
died doing something he believed in. Well, anyway, just this
week I get this really odd letter from a man by the name of
Michael Abundi who lives on the very same island that
Steven did. As it turns out, Michael was a good friend of his.
He says he owes his salvation to Steven, and as a result he Looking for You All My Life33
believes that G.o.d has called him to come be a missionary in
Pine Mountain."
"You"re kidding!" exclaimed Audrey. "What an extraor-
dinary story."
"Pretty ironic, isn"t it?" said Maggie. "Our country usu-
ally sends missionaries to places like that. But he"s coming
here."
Jed nodded. "And this guy isn"t wasting any time either.
He plans to arrive next week and wants to know if he can
stay with me. Apparently Steven had told him all about me
before he died."