“Hey, I aim to please.”
“I don’t think that’s all you should be aiming for.”
He smiled. “I just know that you’ll want to do something special, and I’ll be away for a few days in Peterborough for the hockey camp, so it’ll be nice to reconnect with you in a good way. Unless of course, you’ve changed your mind, and you’d like to come.”
“As tempting as it sounds to hang out with hundreds of kids, my days of teaching are done. I’m very happy for you to go do you, and I’ll be ready for a nice reunion on your return.”
“You’ll stay here?”
“I don’t want to go back to the city a second sooner than I have to. I love Muskoka.”
“That’s my girl.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you when I return.”
* * *
“And now,I’d like to call the meeting of the Young Musko-cheers to order.” Serena banged the gavel, and smiled at the women surrounding her dining table.
Sarah sat there along with Jackie, the newly-married Anna, Toni, Staci, and a few others. The speed at which they’d managed to pull this together was astonishing, except maybe not, considering these women were used to gathering for their soirees.
Serena explained some of the goals of their time together, then handed the floor to Anna, who gave a little of the history of the fundraising committee. Her mother had been one of the key fundraisers of the original Musko-cheers, until the Crayling’s Muskoka Ferns Lodge fiasco had shattered all motivation.
Yet the need for charity fundraising remained, as Anna explained. “Because there are all kinds of deserving people and organizations out there. But I hope we’ll be more committed to focusing on what will raise the most money for the needy, rather than what will prove to be most fun for us.”
“We can still keep the fun in fundraising though, right?” Rachel asked.
“For sure.” Anna smiled. “Just not at the expense of the deserving.”
“Such as those poor residents who got caught in that scam.” Jackie glanced around the room. “And I have to say, I think this is a solid group of women who can help with this task.”
Sarah nodded. Many of the women—Serena, Jackie, Anna, Rachel—had lived in Muskoka for decades, and had longstanding connections to the church or local businesses. Some of the women, like Toni, had shown their love for Muskoka through their work. Others, such as Staci and herself, had strong fan-bases. Everyone here brought their own unique skills and talents to the table, united by a heart for God that resulted in a heart of compassion for others. And, apparently, a heart for fun.
As the meeting progressed, she thanked God that He’d brought her into their midst. Obviously, God knew what He was doing, weaving lives together, bringing people to this exact place for this exact time. Almost like He knew His plans needed them here for this right now.
And if He knew that the timing had to be just right for this to happen, then that meant His timing had to be just right for all good things to happen.
She relaxed. God could be trusted to have the right timing with everything.
Sarah groaned,rolled out of bed, and staggered to the bathroom. She deposited her stomach’s contents in the toilet, as had often happened since that dinner at Jackie and Lincoln’s. She hoped she’d be better before the Heartsong tour kicked off. Tisha and the others were getting so excited, so glad she could join them again. And it felt good that with all the other uncertainties in life, she could plan something. She’d been a part of Heartsong tours for years, and fans were always asking when she’d next perform.
Announcing her involvement with the tour on her last podcast had seen a flurry of excited fans, many of whom told her they’d buy tickets to see her. And while she wasn’t going to get carried away, it felt good to feel the love. Especially in moments like now when she felt so gross.
After wiping her mouth and brushing her teeth she made her way out to the living room. Magazines and newspapers lay scattered on the floor from where she’d left them for the past three days. She blinked. Dan’s house hadneverlooked so messy. A sigh escaped. He’d been so patient with her these past few weeks, caring for her amid her exhaustion, doing what he could when possible, and warning her not to overdo things. And she hadn’t. All she’d done was prep for the Heartsong tour, reply to excited fans, and attend Serena’s Musko-cheers meeting yesterday. That hadn’t pushed her energy levels too much, even though she’d needed a nap afterwards. But with Dan coming home tonight, she should make an effort for him now.
After making his favorite cookies—white chocolate and macadamia—another wave of fatigue hit her, forcing her to grip the side of the kitchen counter. Ugh. This was getting ridiculous.
Her phone rang. She peered through half-closed eyes at the screen. Rebekah. She put it on speaker mode. “Hey, sis.”
“Sar! How are you doing?”
She wandered into the living room and flopped onto the lounge. “Busy.” She told her about the Musko-cheers and the plans for the Sydney trip. “I can’t wait.”
“It’ll be awesome to see you,” her sister said. “It’s just a shame Dan can’t come.”
Sarah closed her eyes. “He’ll be starting his season then.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t get over there this year. But the kids got the flu, and we figured you didn’t need that on top of everything else that was going down.”
“There’s been a lot going down.” She told Bek about the album offer, something she still hadn’t responded to, but now she thought about it, it could actually be the answer to the question Dan had posed a few weeks ago. “I do have a bunch of songs that could suit, but I just don’t know.”
