Sarah of Break Neck Ridge

The story of Sarah (Barbe) Heishman of Baughman Settlement, Hardy County, West Virginia (1855 – 1943)The brilliant red of the evening sky had changed to deep, fathomless blue. The autumn foliage of the trees on Break Neck Ridge had disappeared, and all that could be seen was dark silhouettes. Sarah cuddled little Shirly on her lap and laid her cheek against his soft, black hair. Where is God? Does He Care about us? Yes, we go to church in the old schoolhouse whenever a preacher passes through. But is that the answer? Is there nothing more we can know about God? Shirly snuggled closer and sighed a tired little-boy sigh. Shirly had no answers, and Sarah had none for herself.But God had answers for Sarah, and God had faithful messengers. Up from the Valley, again and again, came the itinerant preachers on horseback. They carried with them the glad tidings of hope-hope in the face of death.A year slipped by. There were new friends in Thorn Bottom and changes in the little brown house with the big stone chimney. More years slipped by. There was a stone foundation, a motherless baby, a visiting storyteller, and a shadow on a sunbeam. The timbers fell on Break Neck Ridge, and Sarah grew old. But her God is faithful, and His goodness endures to all generations.