The phone call came a few days later with a request to visit the farm the next weekend after church. I hedged a little…after all…this was a stranger. I could see he wasn’t going to be put off for long. He was very polite but also firm about visiting the farm. I finally agreed, but I told Elijah not to leave my side during this visit. Turns out Elijah already knew this gentleman…he had worked on his property that summer for several weeks. Interesting….
The gentleman arrived and re-introduced himself. He asked a lot of questions about the farm, about herbs and about herbal medicine. He told us a little about himself…he was a retired Optometrist, had gone back to school to get his degree as a Naturopathic Doctor, and was a certified Master Herbalist (hhmmmm….so why does he want to ask me questions about herbs?). He then went back to school again and became a Licensed Massage Therapist and had built a business serving the cabins in and around Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. He retired again from that after 10 years. Busy man that doesn’t really know how to retire were my thoughts.
After our conversation, we took a walk outside with Elijah to look at some herbs growing wild. The gentleman seemed to feel that he needed to learn more about the practical aspects of using herbs as opposed to “book” learning”. Another son showed up for a visit and had the opportunity to meet him too.
Then the gentleman asked if he could pray with us before he left. After praying for us, he said good bye.
And I thought that was the end of the story….
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