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As the sun painted a glorious day over the Hawkins ranch,
Pastor Tom Gaines approached with a cheerful, steady gait. He noticed Stone out
by the corral, feeding his horses.
“Mornin’,” called the pastor.
Stone turned to greet his unexpected guest and was quite
surprised when he realized that Tom Gaines was his visitor.
“Mornin’ Pastor Gaines,” he said, but he couldn’t
help feeling a little embarrassed by his sweaty, dusty appearance.
“Well, you sure have things lookin’ mighty diff’rent
around here,” Tom said as he took a brief visual tour of the place.
“Yeah, but there’s still a lot yet to do.”
“Always is. Got you some fine lookin’ animals there.”
Stone nodded in agreement.
“So what can I do for you this mornin’?”
“I came here to apologize, Mr. Hawkins. I acted worse than
a Pharisee that day you came to see me. And I’d like to invite you to join us
for church on Sunday mornin’, though I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t
want nothin’ more to do with me or the church.” Tom didn’t know any other
way to say it than with all-out honesty.
“What’s changed all of a sudden?” Stone asked, a bit
skeptical.
“Long story, really. But I guess you could say that the
Lord’s been holdin’ the Word up to my face, and I’ve been a plum idiot not
to see it sooner. You were right, Mr. Hawkins, sin is sin, and we’ve all
fallen short of His glory, includin’ me.” Tom spoke without hesitation, like
a man who had proudly conquered his self-righteous attitude.
“Let me make a few things clear,” Stone said as he
removed his work gloves; Tom held his breath, worried that he’d offended the
newcomer, and that his apology might be too late. “I don’t answer to ‘Mr.
Hawkins’, and I accept your apology.” Stone stuck out his hand as an ornery
smirk replaced the seriousness on his face.
Relieved, Pastor Tom shook his hand.
“Our little church doesn’t have much to offer just yet,
the Lord’s still workin’ on the pastor, but I’ll be right proud to have
you there.”
“Pastor, I pray the Lord never stops workin’ on us. Thank
you for comin’ out here. Could I interest you in a cup of coffee?”
“I’d be mighty pleased. You know you should probably
thank my wife, too. She also helped get some sense into me,” Tom said as they
headed for Stone’s house.
“You know what the Word says: A wife like that is more
precious than rubies.”
“Amen, brother. By the way, we’re invitin’ everyone up
to the church on Saturday to help clean things up a bit. We’d be real glad if
you could make it.”
“Getting ready for a fresh start?”
“In more ways than one.”
©2004 StoriesByEmail.com
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