Word spread quickly that forty cabins had been completed.

Frank Cooper and his carpenters had finished the roofs, hung the doors, and, with Jake and his growing crew of apprentices, installed the last pane of window glass.

For the first time, filtered light shone through clear windows instead of empty openings covered by wooden shutters.

Frank stood back and admired the long row of cabins.

Jake joined him.

"I've installed windows in factories, schools, churches, and homes," Jake said quietly.

Frank smiled.

"And?"

Jake looked down the row.

"I never imagined I'd be installing windows into the beginning of a civilization."

Frank nodded.

"I reckon none of us imagined we'd be here."

Rebecca rang the supper bell.

When everyone had finished eating, Samuel stood.

"My friends..."

The conversations slowly faded.

"Forty homes are ready."

Smiles spread across the gathering.

Samuel continued.

"Every family deserves a home. Since we cannot give every family one tonight, we'll make certain everyone has an equal opportunity."

Rebecca stepped forward carrying a large wooden bowl.

Buck Rogers followed with neatly folded slips of paper.

"Every family's name is here," Buck explained.

Samuel looked toward the children gathered nearby.

"Would one of you help us?"

A little girl cautiously stepped forward.

Samuel knelt beside her.

"Would you draw the names?"

She nodded shyly.

Rebecca shook the bowl thoroughly before placing it before the little girl.

She reached inside.

The first slip was unfolded.

"The Miller family."

Applause filled the yard.

John Miller hugged his wife while their children laughed with excitement.

Another name.

"The Weaver family."

More applause.

Again and again the little girl reached into the bowl.

Every name was greeted with smiles.

No one complained.

No one questioned the fairness.

Every family could see another row of cabins already rising beyond the first.

Samuel watched the faces before him.

Hope had replaced uncertainty.

The following morning the settlement came alive before breakfast had ended.

Families gathered the few possessions they owned.

A quilt carefully stitched by a grandmother.

A cast-iron skillet blackened by years of faithful use.

A family Bible.

A rocking chair.

A cradle.

A small cupboard.

Children proudly carried bundles almost as large as themselves.

Rebecca stood watching as one little boy struggled with a wooden stool.

She smiled.

"Need some help?"

He grinned.

"I can do it."

She stepped back.

"I believe you can."

Frank's carpenters moved through the cabins making final adjustments.

A door that rubbed.

A latch needing one more turn.

A shelf requiring another peg.

Behind them came several teenage boys carrying simple furniture they had built under Frank's patient instruction.

Beds.

Tables.

Chairs.

Shelves.

Cupboards.

Nothing fancy.

Everything sturdy.

Frank stopped beside one nervous young apprentice carrying his first handmade chair.

"You proud of it?"

The boy studied his work.

"I think so."

Frank sat down in it.

The chair didn't creak.

It didn't wobble.

Frank smiled.

"I think someone will enjoy sitting in this for a mighty long time."

The young carpenter smiled with quiet satisfaction.

Jake's apprentices continued moving from cabin to cabin.

Each pane of glass was measured twice before it was cut.

Jake watched every installation.

"Glass doesn't forgive carelessness," he reminded them.

One young man carefully set another window into place.

Jake nodded.

"That's one."

The apprentice looked puzzled.

"One what?"

"One family that won't feel the wind through that opening."

By afternoon the lane between the cabins had become busy with laughter.

Children explored their new rooms.

Women arranged quilts across freshly made beds.

Men hung shelves and placed tables where their families wanted them.

No two homes looked exactly alike.

Every family carried a little of its own history through the front door.

Samuel and Rebecca slowly walked among the cabins.

They stopped often to visit.

Sometimes they were invited inside.

Sometimes they simply admired a family standing proudly on its porch.

Rebecca looked through one window where a mother tucked a quilt around her sleeping child.

She quietly slipped her hand into Samuel's.

"It already feels different."

Samuel nodded.

"It does."

As evening approached, the familiar aroma of supper drifted from Rebecca's kitchen.

The settlement gathered once again beneath the hay barn.

After the meal the men naturally wandered toward the brick pile.

Jacob Yoder lit his corncob pipe.

Frank Cooper settled onto the stack of cured bricks.

John Miller stretched his tired back.

Buck Rogers finally laid his clipboard beside him.

For several moments no one spoke.

Then Jacob smiled through a cloud of smoke.

"Well..."

He looked toward Frank.

"Looks like we'd better build forty more."

Frank laughed.

"I've already marked out the foundations."

John Miller nodded.

"My loggers will keep you supplied."

Jake looked across the valley where lantern light now shone through rows of newly installed windows.

"I've spent my whole life making glass."

He smiled quietly.

"Tonight is the first time I've ever seen what it was really for."

No one answered.

They simply watched as warm light glowed from cabin after cabin.

Children laughed.

Mothers called families to evening prayers.

Rocking chairs creaked gently on front porches.

The settlement had changed.

Because forty families had found a place to call home.

Samuel looked across the peaceful valley.

"We've done good work."

Galileo stood beside him.

"We've only begun."

Samuel smiled.

"Then tomorrow..."

Galileo finished the thought.

"...we build forty more."