Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: North (05/05/16)
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TITLE: Just Enough | Previous Challenge Entry
By Wanda Draus
05/11/16 -
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My daddy was out back working on the family pick-up truck known as “Old Red.” It was always breaking down and he was always trying to fix it. The minute he saw momma with her suitcase, he jumped into gear, slamming down the hood, wiping his greasy hands clean and treating momma with kid gloves.
To hear momma tell it, it was a quite a ride to the hospital. Old Red decided to break down half way there. Of course there were no cell phones back then, just a prayer that someone would drive by and drive by soon.
The truck was just one of the financial hardships my parents faced. Times were very hard for momma and daddy. The last couple of years on the farm daddy barely brought in enough to pay the worker’s salary and momma, well she was getting really quite efficient robbing Paul to pay Peter. It was taking a toll on them both.
They did finally make it to the hospital, no help from Old Red and before too long, I was wrapped in a pink blanket and given to daddy. He said that was the moment he knew he had to provide a better life for me and momma and my future four siblings.
They had been talking for a while to sell the farm and head north. A good friend of daddy’s had moved to Northern Michigan and would occasionally write and tell daddy that work was good and plentiful. He was living in the city with his wife and invited daddy and momma many times to visit.
The farm had been daddy’s whole life but now he had a new life to think about. Three months after I was born, momma and daddy packed up most of their belongings into Old Red and strapped me in the backseat. After a tearful good-bye to their families, daddy at the wheel and momma equipped with a map and a ferocious trust in God to lead the way—headed north.
Momma loves to tell how the night they pulled into the big city they sat in silence for the longest time. It was a huge culture shock. The quiet beautiful evenings swinging on the front porch overlooking acres of luscious green crops and listening to the sound of the crickets were replaced by tall brown and red apartment buildings, overlooking glaring streetlights, listening to the sounds of car horns honking and racing ambulances.
Momma laughs and said they almost turned Old Red around right then and there but instead they prayed. They prayed for just enough. Just enough money to pay the bills, just enough land to have a small garden, just enough to be a blessing to others, and just enough faith to never doubt God’s goodness and promises.
It’s been over sixty years since they put down roots. Daddy became a consultant for the Michigan Farm Bureau and momma received her Master's degree in Nursing where she just retired from the local hospital. They bought a modest home where they raised their five children and just enough land for momma’s garden where every year she donated the harvest to the local shelter.
I once asked momma, “Have you ever wondered how your life would have been if you stayed on the farm? If you took a left instead of right?
She smiled and replied “no, never. You see, life will always be full of decisions; some are easy, some are hard. I try to live by three principles; God as my compass, His Word as my map, and pray for, just enough. He loves to give more than we can imagine."
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)
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