By
Michael L. Alumbaugh, © 2016,
published in June issue of Black River Times
published in June issue of Black River Times
“I have fought a
good fight, I have finished my
course,
I have kept the
faith:” – 2 Timothy4:7
The
evening sun was casting long shadows across the tilled ground as we finished digging
the last post hole. It was the spring of ’62 and Dad wanted a fence around the garden
so the geese wouldn’t get in.
The goose
and gander came from a family in payment for some repairs he had made for them.
Dad was a self-taught handyman who could fix anything from appliances to autos,
and people knew it. They paid with poultry, produce, home canned items, fresh
butchered meats, or cash; whatever they could afford or whatever he accepted.
Times were tight with a wife and five kids to feed, so he took the geese.
My older
brother kicked the last dirt into the hole and tamped it tight around the post
as I held it straight. He turned to see Dad dropping another post in the next
hole a few yards away. That’s when we heard a familiar voice calling from the
back of the house on the other side of the cedar trees. It was Mom announcing supper!
We abandoned Dad, like one pig waiting on another, and ran into the house to
get cleaned up.
We washed
up and sat down around the table as Mom placed the last dish. The room was
filled with the wonderful smells of her cooking. Hungry eyes devoured the fare.
She seated herself, prayed and watched us dig in.
Dad hadn’t
come in by the time we were finishing up the meal. With full tummies, we
cleaned up the kitchen leaving a place setting and a bit of food for Dad. My
older brother always washed the dishes while my older sister and I dried and put
them away. Mom prepared baths of the two little ones.
As was
normal for Dad, he finished what he was doing before he would eat, so he
pressed on alone. Daylight was limited and he wanted to get the wire up. We had
school the next day so Mom sent us to bed. Lights went out and we were asleep
before our heads hit the pillows.
Meanwhile,
Mom periodically returned to the back door calling to Dad, reminding him that his
food was getting cold. (There were no microwaves in those days!) But still no
Dad.
It was
getting late now, darkness had enveloped the yard. As she walked out the
backdoor to the yard she listened and watched for any sign of her husband. Finally,
as she rounded the end of the cedars, she saw his silhouette standing in the
moonlight holding onto a post. “Did you hear me? The kids are in bed. Aren’t
you coming in to eat?” No answer.
As she
drew nearer to him she heard a faint noise. His voice was weak and raspy. “I’ve
been calling but you couldn’t hear me for the trees. I’ve lost my voice!”
“Why didn’t you just come in?” she asked.
“I couldn’t. I can’t move!”
So what
had happened? Life, old and new, happened.
1920’s & the Depression: Dad was
raised on a farm, experiencing some rather traumatic events. At around age 9,
the early part of the Depression, he and his mother were struck by lightning
while gathering eggs. She
recovered fairly quickly but it took him a couple days to get back in the
saddle. A few years later he was struck again.
1930’s
& the Dust Bowl:
His parents struggled through lean times raising six children. His Dad worked
hard and did what he could, nearly losing everything. But the farm family survived.
A few years later, he and some high
school friends drove over a set of rough railroad tracks, lost control of the
car and hit a tree. The impact threw Dad from the vehicle and under the wheels,
breaking his back.
The attending physician had very few
options in comparison to the medical profession today. Weighing Dad’s
condition, he found a piece of stainless steel and fashioned a crude back brace
from it, wrapping it in gauze and cloth for padding. This allowed Dad walk as
he healed. But he never would heal completely. I recall seeing that brace
hanging in the loft of our barn years later wondering what it was. Now I know. And
he never finished school.
1940’s & World War II: Dad met a
lovely young lady and married her. While working with his dad on the farm, America
got involved in the war. He saw his duty, left the farm and his bride to serve
his country. But his country wouldn’t take him in his condition. He told the
Draft Board, “If you won’t take me, I’ll find a branch that will.”
The Army
took him, placing him in the infantry. Stationed in France, he was blown out of
a foxhole and hospitalized. Injuries sustained: shrapnel in his shoulder, wood
embedded in his ears and frostbitten toes. Once he was patched up, he finished active
duty guarding German POW’s.
Receiving
a Purple Heart, he shipped back home returning to his Bride. As they set up
housekeeping, he again worked on the family farm. While repairing a tractor’s leaky fuel tank,
it exploded causing severe burns around his face, neck and eyes. Due to
allergies he left the farm to work as repairman for John Deere.
1950’s & a New Man: Continuing in
service maintenance, he worked for Sears Roebuck several years as a travelling
service repairman throughout the state. During that time he received a new
perspective on life; he met Jesus Christ! That encounter gave him a new outlook
and purpose. Turning from drinking and smoking to make a Christian home, he
left Sears, moved his wife and four children to a small town and made a fresh
new start.
1960’s: A local Christian business man
heard of his repair abilities and offered him a job including training in
electrical wiring and plumbing. With the old back injury and the heavy lifting
required by metal pipes, it offered no appeal so, leaning on his own wisdom, he
declined. But the man persisted, showing him the new development of PVC piping.
With promised training, never having to install lead pipe again and with a new
child on the way, Dad accepted.
Having
learned to be self-reliant, Dad continued his full time employment but the
income was still not adequate. He turned to moonlighting and planted a garden.
But God had other plans.
______
That night
Mom found him in the garden paralyzed and drove him to the hospital. The doctors
told him he had two choices: “You can leave this hospital paralyzed laying down
or paralyzed sitting up. It’s your choice.” He thanked them, but said “I have a
third option.” During that painful night he called out to God, “Lord, I have a
wife and five children. I need to raise them! If you heal me, I’ll serve you
till I die.” God heard his prayer and the next morning he walked out of that
hospital.
Without
complaint, he lived with pain while raising us, and after 30+ years as a
Maintenance Supervisor for a Christian college (and another lightning strike),
he retired. He persevered! God honored my Dad’s commitment to Him and to us. He
saw his Bride go to be with her Lord. He saw his children come to faith in
Jesus Christ. I imagine my Dad, my hero, heard this from Jesus as he entered
his final rest (ones I hope to hear as well): “. . . Well done, good and
faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.
Enter into the joy of your master.” – Matthew 25:23
