We’d just finished supper when the storm hit. My father, Henry, stood at the window watching the wind destroy his cherry crop. Sobs wracked his body. My mother, at his side, murmured, “Don’t worry, dear. God will provide.” Words bravely spoken, while her insides churned. With bills to pay, children needing clothes for school, and necessary farm supplies, how would they manage without the money from the cherry crop? To make matters even worse, they would have to pay to have the blighted cherries picked and dumped, or there would be no crop next year.
The next afternoon, Ellen is in the garden, on her hands and knees, pulling up carrots.
“Ellen.” The voice is soft and oh, so gentle. “Lord, is it you?” “Yes, my dear Ellen, why are you crying?” “Oh, my Lord,” she wailed, “don’t You know? The cherries are ruined! Henry is beside himself! I’m trying to be strong for him, but I don’t know how we will manage!” Her voice broke in a sob.
It was quiet for a time. “Ellen, when you first felt My presence here on the farm, didn’t you understand that I would take care of you?” “Yes, my Lord, but I didn’t realize life would be so hard.” She sank to the ground.
“Ellen, did I promise the way would be easy? Did I promise you a rose garden?” Despite her woes, the hint of a smile flickered on her face. “My Lord,” she hesitated, feeling foolish, but she had to ask, “the Scriptures tell of miracles You performed on earth. Is there any way You could undo the damage and make the cherries whole again?”
“Ellen, are you sure this is what you would ask of me?” “Well, Lord, I suppose if we just had enough money, it wouldn’t matter if the cherries were ruined. Could you provide that for us?” It sounded so mercenary and trivial.
“Is that your wish then, Ellen, for Me to give you money?”
Ellen sensed her faith was being tested. “Nooooo,” she replied, thinking hard, “if you would comfort my Henry, Lord, and give him strength, that would be enough.”
He smiled, “Of course. It is written, ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.’ (Isaiah 40:31) And, now, something for yourself?”
“Nothing for myself, Lord. It is enough for Henry to be strong and for me to be with you in the garden.” Again, He smiled. “You have chosen well, Ellen. Now, go with My blessing. ‘He will grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit.’” (Ephesians 3:16). Then He was gone. (ITG pgs. 38-40, excerpts)
Ellen remained in the garden for a time, savoring the moment. Something stirred deep within her soul. She felt altered, transfixed. Tears of wonder and joy filled her eyes. She picked up her pan of carrots and went inside to fix supper.
That wouldn’t be the only crisis my parents would face as they eked out a living on their small farm in West Michigan (present-day Country Dairy); however, it was perhaps the first time Ellen realized how fragile and untenable life could be on a small farm.
Meeting her Lord “in the garden” reminds me of patriarch Jacob’s encounters with Jehovah at pivotal moments in his life. At Bethel, when fleeing from his brother Esau, from whom he had stolen the family birthright, he dreamed of a ladder reaching from Heaven to earth with angels on the rungs. He made a vow to the Lord and used the stone on which he rested his head as a pillar to sanctify the spot. Later, at the Jabbok River, after wrestling all night with a divine being, he received a blessing and erected a tower of stones, a cairn, to commemorate the encounter.
Just as Jacob assembled stones to commemorate the defining moments that pushed him to the brink of his understanding and the limits of his faith, so my mother, at the defining moments of her life, starting with the blighted cherry crop, met her Lord “in the garden,” shared her struggles and sought divine solace and guidance. Throughout her life, one experience at a time, she erected a pile of stones – a cairn, a stairway to Heaven, building a relationship with her Lord, a relationship that sustained her throughout her life and would ultimately bring an eternal reward.
