This foolish porridge must thicken soon! I've been stirring the pot well nigh an hour and my arm is like to fall into the fire. Still, if it sticks to the pot and burns, father and mother will pinch their lips together. They will not scold me, but I will not have so fine a day if I have made them sad. And I want a good day today. There be strangers in the town and there will be exciting things to hear and see.

Jumping and howling
Gideon comes in from feeding the chickens and he is jumping and howling, chasing the cat as usual. I shush him, but he will not pay me any mind. I'm only his big sister. I worry so about Gideon. No matter how mother clucks her tongue at him or how Father tries to tire him out with long walks and busy tasks, Gideon will always make noise. And a mess too. I catch him by the waist as he runs by again and he puts his rosy face up to me for a kiss. I give him a quick one on his cheek and settle him in his wooden high chair. I push it in to the table so he cannot squirm down. I give him an apple to keep him busy. He's torn his skirts again. I know boys don't begin to wear trousers until they're five years old, but I think Gideon would be safer in trousers than he is tripping around in skirts.

Window glass and a church
When the porridge is cooked, I open the wooden shutters on the window to let the sun in. Master Thomas Potter on the next farm has two windows with glass in them. Even on the coldest days, he and Mistress Potter have sunlight coming in to the house. If we could have glass in our windows, it would make me happier than almost anything I could think of. Except, of course, a church to go to.

Gideon 's mischief making
While I wait for mother and father, I look at Gideon. He is munching on his apple and watching the bird through the window. Hetty Greene, who goes to the church in town says Gideon's mischief-making is a sign that he is not saved-that he will go to hell. Father says I am not to worry about such things. But Hetty goes to church and we do not. Father says he will not let his family go to any church that frightens children. I understand, but it is hard to be the only ones who do not go.

Hand in Hand
The door opens and mother and father come in together. Mother fills our bowls with the porridge and father pours a glass of buttermilk for Gideon and for me. Father tells mother about the strangers who have come to our town. "The ship is called the 'Hand in Hand'," he said, "and she was bound for New York until she got stuck on the sandbar out in Barnegat Bay. You know how bad the fog gets there. A man named John Murray came ashore to find food and water. He went to Master Potter. It seems this Murray was a preacher back in England, and Thomas will have it that Master Murray must preach in his church."
"Thomas Potter will be so happy!" Mother said. "He built that church 10 years ago, hoping to find a minister who believed as we do. Is Master Murray the one we have been waiting for?"
Father laughed at Gideon who was trying to sneak more honey onto his porridge. "We will see if he's the one. He told Thomas he could not preach because he and his ship had to leave as soon as the wind changed. Thomas said that the wind would not blow for the ship until Master Murray had preached in the church!"
"What!" said mother. "Is Thomas pretending to know what the wind will do?" she laughed.
"Well," said father, "if the wind does not change today, we will be off to church at Master Potter's farm in the morning. That is if Master Murray agrees."

No wind
All day, I found myself looking out the window to see if the leaves on the trees were moving. And they weren't! I helped mother to carry the carrots and the potatoes to the root cellar where they would keep in the dark until we needed them. I hung our quilts out on the bushes to air in the sun and I chopped onion and beans for soup. I saw mother peeking out the window too. Finally, as the sun began to set, mother said, "Abigail, I think we should take your calico and mine out of the chest and shake out the wrinkles. We might be needing those dresses for church tomorrow!"

Ready to Hear
A few minutes later, father came in from the haying. Mother and I watched patiently as he washed his hands and face at the bowl in the corner by the door. He sat by the fire and slowly filled his pipe with tobacco. Finally, mother said, "Jason! What is to happen?"
"Well, Ellen," father said, "Tomorrow we will hear a Universalist sermon in Thomas Potter's church. And I am ready for it. I am ready to hear a preacher who believes that all people are worthy to go to heaven. And I want our Abigail and our Gideon to hear this Universalist preacher too."the morning, as father, mother, Gideon and I walked the short road to Master Potter's church, I looked over to the Bay. There in the water, its sails very still, sat the boat. Father, mother, Gideon and I had a church of our own to go to. A Universalist preacher come all the way from England would be our minister. And for once, I did not mind that there was no wind to cool us as we walked in the hot September sun.