We’re hoeing “in the soil” of my mother Ellen’s life.and seeking to find the secret of this ordinary (as she would describe herself) woman’s extraordinary life, as she and my father pursued a living on a small farm (present-day Country Dairy) in the mid-1930s.
Henry and Ellen found God in the soil in which they toiled; however, there were rocks and stones in the soil, which also have spiritual significance and serve as a symbol of their solid faith and unwavering trust in their Lord.
As Henry readied the soil for planting each spring, the plow turned over stones, which, if large enough, needed to be removed before seeding. The stones were thrown on a pile by an old maple tree, which had survived the clearing of the land in the late 1800s, when Henry’s father, Andrew, purchased the 40 acres. The pile grew each year. It provided a sturdy foundation for games we devised and a stage for our imaginative adventures into the world of pioneers and Native Americans.*
Rocks, formed from the earth, are strong, durable, porous, and resistant to fire and weathering. They have many uses.
• Historically used to construct castles and fortresses, stone is widely used for building and decorative accents today.
• Catapults launched stones in medieval times, and the slingshot felled many a foe. David, a mere shepherd boy, killed the mighty Goliath with one pebble from his cache.
• Tools can be fashioned from stones; they can serve specific purposes, such as building blocks, paving blocks, gemstones, gravestones, grindstones and whetstones.
• Rocks, like flint, quartz and jasper, are used to create sparks, though the rock itself doesn’t cause the fire.
• Curling is a sport involving strategic movement and placement of heavy stones; in the game of backgammon, players move pieces, called stones, around a board.
• The British use the pound sterling as currency and often state their weight in “stones and pounds.”
• A peach’s pit or a fig’s seed is stonelike.
• Stones are often used as figures of speech – plans “set in stone,” are permanent; “stone” cold means utterly or entirely; a “stony” countenance describes a hard, cold expression; and “rock” solid means unshakable - the faith of my parents.
Finally, stones are used for building cairns and pillars. While these can serve the practical purpose of marking a hiking trail, they were used in scripture to commemorate God’s mighty acts: At Bethel, where Jacob encountered God, he used the stone on which he’d rested his head to erect a pillar and sanctify the spot; Abraham built a stone altar on which he was prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac; Moses built a cairn of 12 stones, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, before ascending Mt. Sinai; when God parted the Jordan River, allowing Joshua and the Israelites to cross, 12 men each picked up a stone from the middle of the river, which Joshua used to build a cairn on the other side. “…remember God parted the river just as he parted the Red Sea for Moses before you.” (Joshua 4:24)
Cairns are also a fitting symbol of Ellen’s encounters with her Lord, as prayer by prayer, stone by stone, she learned to trust Him. (“Prayer and a Pile of Stones.” Oceana Echo, 8/22/2025).
As she walked and talked with her Lord “in the gardens” of her life, she offered prayers of praise, gratitude, penitence, intercession and requests; however, each time she reached a crossroads, when she was pushed to the brink of her understanding and the limits of her faith, when her life hung in the balance, when she learned to “wait on the Lord,” and accept His will instead of her own, a stone was added to the cairn.
The first stone was placed when she experienced the vulnerability of making a living off the land (see article referenced above). Another stone would be placed when she lost a daughter. We’ll explore that encounter next.
*When the maple tree was removed in 2008, family members fashioned a bench from its trunk. It sits by the farm store, where visitors sit and look over the fields the tree once sheltered. (The Mighty Maple Tree, Betsy Arkema)
