Whenever I hear news that a farmer was injured (or worse) due to a farm accident, I’m always filled with dismay and then think, “Couldn’t they have avoided it somehow?” Listening intently, considering the details, I store them away in my mind as I try to learn from their experience.
We had an incident on our farm not too long ago that left me shaken and thankful no one was killed or, in the very least, seriously hurt. Not even a piece of equipment was broken beyond a simple repair back at the farm. I know God and his angels are with us.
Each night we thank our heavenly father for protection on our farm that day and ask him to continue to watch over and guard us. We try to be so careful, and my husband is forever checking the equipment. But let’s face it; we are conducting business in potentially hazardous situations every day, working with high-powered equipment as well as thousand-pound animals. We simply yet profoundly let the matter rest in his hands. I think when we get to heaven we will be amazed to learn of all the accidents that were averted, due to divine intervention.
One morning after cleaning barn, my husband left to haul manure mid-afternoon when he had time. Approximately 20 minutes later I heard the front door open.
“Kay?” The way he said my name made my mind do a quick, anxious jump. He sounded serious.
“The draw bar snapped in half on the tractor. The front end of the manure spreader dug into the side of the road.”
Staring at me intently, he took a deep breath, his voice grave. “Last week I was hauling 3-ton loads of chopped corn with that
tractor, up a hill.”
The catastrophe that might have taken place dawned on me and I felt the blood drain from my face. I literally shook myself to rid my thoughts from going there.
Quietly, I waited for him to continue, telling me what I should do. The answers would come later to questions not needed spoken right then. He will figure out a way to get it back up and going, of that I had no doubt.
“I’ll take the skid steer down there, you bring the tractor.”
I had been searing steak for supper to throw into the crock. Turning off the burner, pulling the pan off the stove, I unplugged everything and changed into my barn clothes. My day just stopped. I was needed elsewhere. Immediately.
Following him down to the scene my heart fell. The full spreader was sitting precariously at the side of the road, the pole buried in the soft, grassy shoulder.
My husband was talking out loud to me to figure out a way he could get the spreader upright without having it take off on us on the downhill slant it had stopped. I was speechless, without thought.
As we were pondering things, an angel in blue jeans stopped by asking if he could help. I could have hugged him. The two men talked the situation over and I felt immediate relief, as inside I was wringing my hands helplessly. They put their heads together and discussed possible ways to get this situation resolved ASAP.
Meanwhile, our neighbor drove by in his truck, pulling up just past us and getting out, offering his help. (Our second angel.) We now had a tractor, a loaded spreader, a skid steer, a car, a truck, three guys and me, gathered at the site.
(A side note to those who flew past us: Please, please slow down when you see tractors and farm equipment and people gathered on the side of the road. We are obviously there because there’s some type of trouble. I don’t want to get shoveled off the asphalt.)
Our neighbor, assessing the scene, left to get his tractor with a front-end loader.
It would be just the thing needed to raise the spreader. Our skid steer was too light; the back end was lifting up off the ground. Simply, the chain of events that took place to get back on the road: 1) we dug the pole out, 2) hooked a chain, tight as possible, from the spreader to the tractor, 3) slowly dragged the spreader to level ground, 4) blocked the tires so it wouldn’t go flying, 5) raised the spreader with neighbor’s tractor, 6) put jack under the spreader, 7) hooked the tractor up, attached the power take-off and we were in business.
Our angels left, I cleaned off the site as best I could with the skid steer as my husband took off to spread manure, and finally I drove the skid steer back home. A new drawbar was ordered for the tractor and within days we were able to use it again.
How can a mere “thanks” be enough when two guys stop to help a farmer in distress?
In the days since, we’ve been in awe of the way God had intervened and averted an accident. He had indeed sent angels to help, some seen and many unseen.
(“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14)
Categories
