One winter morning in 1931, I came down to breakfast - and
found the table empty. It was cold outside. The worst blizzard on record
had paralysed the city. No cars were out. The snow had drifted up two stories
high against our house, blackening the windows. “Daddy, what’s
happening?” I asked. I was six years old. Gently Dad told me our fuel
and food supplies were exhausted. He’s just put the last piece of coal on the
fire. Mother had eight ounces of milk left for my baby brother Tom. After that -
nothing. “So what are we going to eat?” I asked. “We’ll have our
devotions first, John Edmund,” he said, in a voice that told me I should not
ask questions. My father was a pastor. That morning, Dad read the scriptures as
usual, and afterwards we knelt for prayer. He prayed something like this: “Lord,
Thou knowest we have no more coal to burn. If it can please Thee, send us some
fuel. If not, Thy will be done - we thank Thee for warm clothes and bed covers,
which will keep us comfortable, even without the fire. Also, Thou knowest we
have no food except milk for Baby Thomas. If it can please Thee...” For
someone facing bitter cold and hunger, he was remarkably calm. Nothing deflected
him from completing the family devotions - not even the clamour we now heard
beyond the muffling wall of snow. Finally someone pounded on the door. The
visitor had cleared the snow off the windowpane, and we saw his face peering in.
“Your door’s iced up,” he yelled. “I can’t open it.” The devotions
over, Dad jumped up. He pulled; the man pushed. When the door suddenly gave, an
avalanche of snow fell into the entrance hall. I didn’t recognize the man, and
I don’t think Dad did either because he said politely, “Can I help you?”
The man explained he was a farmer who’d heard Dad preach in Allegan three
years earlier. “I awakened at four o’clock this morning,” he said, “and
I couldn’t get you out of my mind. The truck was stuck in the garage, so I
harnessed the horses to the sleigh and came over.” “Well, please come in,”
my father said. On any other occasion, he’d have added, “And have some
breakfast with us.” But, of course, today there was no breakfast. The man
thanked him. And then - to our astonishment - he plucked a large box off the
sleigh. More than sixty years later, I can see that box as clear as yesterday.
It contained milk, eggs, butter, pork chops, grain, homemade bread and a host of
other things. When the farmer had delivered the box, he went back out and got a
cord of wood. Finally, after a very hearty breakfast, he insisted Dad take a
ten-dollar bill. Almost every day Dad reminded us that “God is the Provider.”
And my experience throughout adult life has confirmed it. The Bible said it. But
Dad and Mom showed me it was true.