look like loafers. We haven’t been able to shake her out of that routine.”
“How much money is she managing?”
“About twenty-five million for thirty clients,” Lace replied. “It could be seventy million if she said yes to even half the offers she gets.”
Rae was driven by her own internal standards of excellence. Watching her with her book had shown James that. Add that kind of money to the equation, it was no wonder she was responding in the way she was. “She’s good at what she does.”
“Rae and Leo were the only money managers in the Midwest to have beaten the S&P 500 every year for the last seven years. Rae did it again on her own last year. She’s ontrack to do it again this year. She’s good. But her heart’s not in it, James, not like it used to be.”
“It would be a big risk to sell the business, walk away, Lace. You said yourself she’s not going to easily take that kind of risk.”
Their serious conversation was broken up by a shout of laughter from the pier.
“Dave just threw Rae into the lake,” Emily told them, racing past. “She really needs my towel.”
Lace got to her feet. “Excuse me, James. On behalf of my out-of-commission, best friend, Rae, I’m going to go help Dave join her.”
“He’s crazy to take both of you on.”
“That’s why we love him,” Lace replied with a grin. “Keep what I said to yourself, okay? Rae’s opinion about her work is different than mine.”
“I will. The background helps, Lace.”
She nodded, looked down at the group by the pier. “Mind if I borrow your flashlight?”
He handed it to her. “Just don’t hit him with it.”
She grinned. “I’m more refined than that. I think I’ll suggest a late-night boat ride and let him swim back to shore.”
The cabin was quiet, except for the sounds of the night drifting in—the soft sounds of rustling leaves, the distant call of an owl.
James had long since given up on trying to sleep. He lay in bed listening to the night, thinking, working out construction plans for the clinics he was going to build in Zaire.
He had loved the past weeks in the States with his family, his friends, but his heart was in Africa with the work that needed to be done. It was comforting to be able to focus onthat and lay his plans. He would be able to hit the ground running when he got back in late August. They should have the first of the four clinics built and equipped by early November, the next one by the end of the year.
He needed to see about getting the equipment for the clinic expedited while he was in the States. A face-to-face meeting would ensure the urgency was understood.
He moved to shift the quilt and felt a familiar hot pain course through his elbow. He frowned, annoyed.
He had stopped asking God to heal him. He understood his Scripture, he understood the power of persistent prayer. He also understood the reality that nothing was going to stop God’s plans from moving forward, not lack of money, not lack of building materials, not lack of government signatures, not lack of physical health for him. God knew what he needed and by when. James had stopped worrying about it. He had seen too many miracles in the last six years as God brought all the right pieces together for him to even worry about this need.
It would be nice, however, when he didn’t have to fight this pain every time he moved.
He was on a vacation. He hadn’t had one in six years. He was going to enjoy it and let tomorrow take care of itself. As long as the vacation was temporary.
This was nice, but it wasn’t his dream.
He wanted to be back in Africa.
The sound of running water made him tilt his head to the side on the pillow, listen more closely to the sounds from inside the cabin. Someone was up.
He listened for the light steps of Emily or Tom to come back down the hall but heard nothing. Someone else was up at 3:00 a.m.? He had been the one to lock the cabin, setthe dampers on the fireplace, turn off the
“How much money is she managing?”
“About twenty-five million for thirty clients,” Lace replied. “It could be seventy million if she said yes to even half the offers she gets.”
Rae was driven by her own internal standards of excellence. Watching her with her book had shown James that. Add that kind of money to the equation, it was no wonder she was responding in the way she was. “She’s good at what she does.”
“Rae and Leo were the only money managers in the Midwest to have beaten the S&P 500 every year for the last seven years. Rae did it again on her own last year. She’s ontrack to do it again this year. She’s good. But her heart’s not in it, James, not like it used to be.”
“It would be a big risk to sell the business, walk away, Lace. You said yourself she’s not going to easily take that kind of risk.”
Their serious conversation was broken up by a shout of laughter from the pier.
“Dave just threw Rae into the lake,” Emily told them, racing past. “She really needs my towel.”
Lace got to her feet. “Excuse me, James. On behalf of my out-of-commission, best friend, Rae, I’m going to go help Dave join her.”
“He’s crazy to take both of you on.”
“That’s why we love him,” Lace replied with a grin. “Keep what I said to yourself, okay? Rae’s opinion about her work is different than mine.”
“I will. The background helps, Lace.”
She nodded, looked down at the group by the pier. “Mind if I borrow your flashlight?”
He handed it to her. “Just don’t hit him with it.”
She grinned. “I’m more refined than that. I think I’ll suggest a late-night boat ride and let him swim back to shore.”
The cabin was quiet, except for the sounds of the night drifting in—the soft sounds of rustling leaves, the distant call of an owl.
James had long since given up on trying to sleep. He lay in bed listening to the night, thinking, working out construction plans for the clinics he was going to build in Zaire.
He had loved the past weeks in the States with his family, his friends, but his heart was in Africa with the work that needed to be done. It was comforting to be able to focus onthat and lay his plans. He would be able to hit the ground running when he got back in late August. They should have the first of the four clinics built and equipped by early November, the next one by the end of the year.
He needed to see about getting the equipment for the clinic expedited while he was in the States. A face-to-face meeting would ensure the urgency was understood.
He moved to shift the quilt and felt a familiar hot pain course through his elbow. He frowned, annoyed.
He had stopped asking God to heal him. He understood his Scripture, he understood the power of persistent prayer. He also understood the reality that nothing was going to stop God’s plans from moving forward, not lack of money, not lack of building materials, not lack of government signatures, not lack of physical health for him. God knew what he needed and by when. James had stopped worrying about it. He had seen too many miracles in the last six years as God brought all the right pieces together for him to even worry about this need.
It would be nice, however, when he didn’t have to fight this pain every time he moved.
He was on a vacation. He hadn’t had one in six years. He was going to enjoy it and let tomorrow take care of itself. As long as the vacation was temporary.
This was nice, but it wasn’t his dream.
He wanted to be back in Africa.
The sound of running water made him tilt his head to the side on the pillow, listen more closely to the sounds from inside the cabin. Someone was up.
He listened for the light steps of Emily or Tom to come back down the hall but heard nothing. Someone else was up at 3:00 a.m.? He had been the one to lock the cabin, setthe dampers on the fireplace, turn off the
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