What Can Be Said 006

Psalm 24:1-2 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. (ESV)

(Isaiah 48:13) My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together. (ESV)


Before I get into the next events, it is necessary to understand that at times (and most would agree) bad things happen for reasons that we may not understand and sometimes those events involve people in our lives. It is not for us to question (though we do), it is not for us to become angry (though I did), and it is not for us to blame others whom may be used of God.

(For a better understanding on this topic visit J.D.’s blog, “voice of vision” look under the title, “Sandpaper people”. You will be blessed)!

This particular evening there was a Wednesday night bible study going on and it was taking place at our house this week. It fact this was the first time it had taking place at our home. Perhaps because everyone had to walk the last quarter mile to get to the house. There was just no getting through what we loving referred to as, “Frog City”. In fact there were not many times anyone could drive through that wet area.

As the sun was setting and everyone still eating, (which church people do well) I saw a figure come from the wood-line heading for the house. This was always an intense moment waiting to see who was coming from the woods toward the house. We had very few visitors on any other day than this; all other visitors were treated with caution and with a great lack of trust. Seeing someone walk out from the tree-line as the sun was setting could never be a good thing.

The wife of the man who I saw nearly every morning for breakfast had walked up to the front door, opened it and was very much welcomed. Much to everybody’s surprise she was in full blown tears. She told how her husband mistreated her in a physical manor and that he had done the same to her several times in the past. This particular day Fred was here as well, in fact we had borrowed this same man’s car so we could double date that past weekend.

What I saw happen next I never thought I would see. The suggestion was made that this woman’s children needed to be taken out of their house just to be safe. (Carol and Warren just to give them addressable name), had four children, the oldest of the girls was the person I had taken out on a date that past weekend. I thought sure those people that I had come to respect would step up and help. Not one did. Fred and I drove to the church where the Pastor was still, we told him what had happened and he turned us down as well. (There was a particular reason he could not come help but that is not my story to tell).

There weren’t many times I was happy to see my older brother but this was indeed one of those times I was glad he was around. I was born ten months later than Fred which always caused a lot of tension between us. We fought and argued more often in the month of October than most siblings do all year. Every October for twenty eight days he and I were the same age.

However, this night all our problems were going to be set aside for a ride and an event that I would never forget and would be the start of a life altering change for both my family and myself.

We drove back to the house to tell everyone what the Pastor had said in hopes that some of them would have changed their minds. The fact that none had did in no way deter what we had planned. Fred and I got back in Warren’s car and drove over to his house. When we got there we found the front door was unlocked, so in we went. I had been there many times and knew right where to go. Their house was designed in a way that left the center part of the house open with a loft on either side of the house. As well, the house was an unfinished building, so they had sheets hanging as a wall partition in the room where Warren was now asleep. Fred and I climbed the makeshift latter on either side, woke up the kids and carried them out the door to the car and went back in for the rest.

I guess Warren never woke up, which was fortunate for us, as he was a grizzly of a man. I’m not sure a well placed two-by-four would have had much effect on a man of his stature.

We drove the four children back to our house and back to the waiting arms of their mother. What we had done was pretty stupid; we never considered the consequences that such an act would bring about. We all settled in for the night but I don’t remember getting much sleep at all. The adrenalin that was pumping through me was making it difficult to sleep, or perhaps it was the fact that I had no idea what the morning would bring after doing something that quite possibly could have ended up very different than it had.

This situation was proving to be far from over, the next morning what should have happened was we should have returned Warrens car back to him. But as foolish as teens can be, we kept the car. (I’m not sure where we went), but Mom and we four kids got into the car and were gone for several hours. When we got back Warren had been there looking for his car. In the state of mind he was in he paid no attention to his family being there in the house, in his anger he threw a kerosene lantern across the cabin, walked out the door with a hand full of sugar and dumped it in the gas tank of the farm truck, then picked up the axe we were using to split firewood with and smashed the windshield of the truck as well.

That day would prove to be the last time I would ever see our cabin and the place I had grown to love. I never imagined I would live anywhere but on that farm. I had even picked out the place where I would one day build my own cabin.

When we saw what had taken place while we were gone, mom decided we had to get out of there. This time we packed everyone up in the car and we drove to town and stopped at one of the families that were at the house the night before. They said Carol and her children could stay there with them, while we drove to the city to meet Dad.

Still, we had to return the car… Continued