No one ever accused me of being a farmer. Oh, I lived on a farm from the time I was about 13-14 until I went into the Coast Guard. I've planted a garden almost everywhere I've lived that had a foot or two of dirt. Since we've lived here I've planted and grown a lot of veggies over the years. But I doubt that there has ever been a time that I've done it right. I'm not sure that I ever even do it the same way two years in a row.
Not a lot of folks plant English Peas around here. I haven't found a lot of folks that even like to eat them. But I do so every year I plant them. You have to plant English peas early, real early. They don't produce much or even survive much when it gets hot. So I usually end up planting in January. If I plant right, and we get good weather and the deer don't eat them before they produce, then we usually get one or two picking each year. That's not very many but enough to eat and freeze a few for the winter.
So that's why I was out in the garden spot yesterday evening. Disking up the ground, laying off the rows and getting ready to plant. But as usual, something else came up and I didn't get to finish.
A man who has worked with Keva for many years got some really bad news last week. His wife went to the hospital for a fairly non-serious malady. But what they found was devastating. The news was what, I guess we all think we might hear one day, "You have terminal cancer and only have 4 months to live".
That's a smash in the mouth for anyone but with this family it is even more tragic. You see, this man (I'll call him George) and his wife, (I'll call her Martha) are not Christian. They don't claim to be. They don't want to be. They don't even want you to pray for them. How can they face this type of situation without God? How can they face the grindstone of daily living without God?
Well, Keva wanted to go visit them at the hospital and being the wonderful husband that I am, I agreed to go along. But what do you say? What can you do? The regular stuff that one says at times like these will certainly not be well received from people who don't believe in God. I tried to think. As Derek and I stood out in the field I asked him to pray for us while we were away at the hospital that God would give us the right words, And we made the 30 mile drive.
We didn't get to see Martha. Visiting hours were over. But met George at a little fast food place and gave him some goodies that were sent from his old friends at work and let him talk about the spot they were in. I inserted a few "Christian-ease" phrases as the conversation progressed. As we stood outside the shop and felt the cold wind blow down from Canada with nothing to stop it but a broken down bobbed wire fence somewhere in Montana, George said, "We are wasting precious time. We've got to do something. We've got to do everything we can".
Lord what can I say? "You know George, modern medicine has made great progress. Modern science has made leaps and bounds. But I still don't believe the doctors have the final say in this matter", I said. "You and I have seen them make bad calls before. Keva's favorite Bible verse says, "We have not because we ask not", and our part is asking. God's part is the doing". I wasn't sure if I'd pushed too hard. He hugged Keva and shook my hand and we turned to go.
I got back to my English peas this morning. I got out to the garden just after day-light but before the sun had stuck it's head over the horizon. The seat to the tractor had frost on it. The steering wheel had frost on it. It sure didn't feel like a day for planting. There was no hope of Spring to be found. But I laid off the rows, planted the peas and put some dirt over them to keep them warm. "I sure hope we make a good crop of peas this year", I said to myself, heck there was no one else to talk to. "People make good crops all the time. Who knows, maybe we'll get one".
Just as I got to the end of the row, the sun stuck it's head up over the pines and rubbed my back with it's warm hands. Somewhere way off along the tree line a little bird started singing. Sounded like he was calling for warmer days. And just for a moment I felt that hope of Spring run along those rows and encourage my heart.
"Yep, maybe we'll get one".
Oh, I'm sorry, I chase rabbits sometime when I get to talking. I was telling you about George. As we turned to go and get back in our car, George, the old guy who says he doesn't believe in God. The old guy who doesn't want anyone to pray for him or his wife. The old guy who is a non-believer said something that blew my mind. "You know, miracles happen every day. Maybe we'll just get one".
And even though the clouds were covering the sky and the night was falling down around us and there seemed to be no hope for these people or this situation, somewhere off along the tree line a little bird started singing and I felt some warms strong hands on my back and the hope of healing both physical and spiritual ran down through that parking lot and encourged my heart.
You can't believe in miracles without beliving in the Miracle Worker. You can't believe in miracles without believing in a miracle working God. "Yeah George I think you might be right. Maybe we'll just get one".
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