The Christmas Bus Read Online Free PDF Page A

she was considering what Polly had told her about Helen and Olive and their concern that Charles was getting old.
    Then her husband smiled. “But now I come home to discover that my own dear wife has taken my words to heart.” He reached over and put his hand on hers. “That is a great comfort.”
    “It’s a comfort to me too,” she said. “I was so discouraged to think that our kids weren’t coming. It just didn’t seem like Christmas.”
    “I wonder who the Lord will bring to our home,” he mused. “Perhaps we should take a few minutes to pray about this, Edith, to invite our Lord to direct the right people to us—the ones who need a bit of Christmas Valley cheer and hospitality to warm their hearts. Do you think?”
    She nodded and bowed her head, and together they asked God to guide the perfect people to the Shepherd’s Inn for the holidays.
    “Isn’t it exciting?” she said when they finished.
    He squeezed her hand and nodded. “Yes, dear, it is!”
    But the next day came, and not one phone call, not one email had arrived by the afternoon. Even so, Edith busied herself with the same sort of preparations she would do when expecting her family to fill the house. She even called Polly to tell her of the plan.
    “What a great idea,” said Polly, who had missed Charles’s midweek sermon the night before. Edith explained where the inspiration came from, and Polly said she wished she could be around to watch what happened.
    “I’ll tell you all about it when you get back,” said Edith.
    “So have you had any bites yet?”
    “Not yet,” said Edith in her optimistic way. “But it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since Jared changed my website. I’m sure they will come.”
    “Yes, of course,” said Polly, but Edith thought she heard a tinge of doubt in her friend’s voice.
    “And if they don’t,” said Edith, “well, I’ll just do like the good Lord says. I’ll go out to the streets and invite strangers to come in.”
    “Really?” Polly sounded a bit shocked now.
    “Well, I don’t know for sure, Polly. I can’t imagine there would be many strangers roaming the streets of Christmas Valley right at Christmastime.” She laughed. “But you just never know!”

4
    On Friday morning the phone rang, and it turned out to be a woman named Carmen Fields from Redding, California. She had just found the Shepherd’s Inn website.
    “Do you still have rooms available?” she asked hopefully.
    “Yes, we do,” said Edith, not wanting to admit that all the rooms were currently available.
    “Well, my husband and I decided that we’d like to do something different for Christmas this year,” she said. “And it seems that everyone else in our family has plans.” She cleared her throat. “Plans that don’t include us.”
    “Well, we would love to include you with us,” said Edith happily. Then she took down the pertinent information and booked the room. “And there’s a nice website for the town,” she informed Carmen. “It tells a bit about us and some of the activities that happen around here at Christmastime.”
    “Sounds perfect,” said Carmen. “We plan to drive up, take our time, and spend a night somewhere along the way. So I guess we’ll see you on Monday then.”
    Edith smiled to herself as she hung up the phone. It was starting to happen. A real beginning! And, remembering her wise husband’s suggestion on Wednesday night, Edith took a few moments to ask God, once again, to send just the right people to their home. She also thanked him for choosing Carmen and Jim Fields and even asked his blessing on their travels as they made their way up here by car.
    By noon on Saturday, Edith had booked two more rooms. One was for a single man named Albert Benson. Judging by his voice, he was older and, Edith guessed, sad. Although she had no reason why. No matter, they would do whatever possible to cheer him up during his stay. The next booking was done online. A couple from Spokane by