The year was 1989. It had been a short crop. Actually it was the second short crop in as many years. It had been a difficult run at keeping the bills paid. We took on a Dekalb seed dealership hoping that would help pay for four children in Christian school.
Our family was also growing and we needed more room. So with my cousin Alan spearheading our little project we added an entry and a basement bedroom.
Kurt and Karl were born that April and were baptized on Mother's Day.
We had grown to an active family of eight.
We had a tradition of going to Jan's folks on Christmas Eve and this year was no exception. Jan's mother had always wanted a set of twins and she absolutely loved taking care of Kurt and Karl. Unfortunately she passed away when they were just three years old.
As we left our Christmas Eve get-together late that night with our family and drove home we saw an orange glow in the sky. For a while we thought it was our home. After arriving on our yard we saw our barn was totally engulfed in flames. I called the fire department and ran to get a closer look. Our new machine shed next to our barn which was full of our first year's seed sales had it's metal sizzling.
We lost a farm truck and 3000 bales of straw along with two buildings and a silo. Not one of the 300 head of fat hogs in the barn had been lost. They had all ran outside. The straw burned for two weeks.
When we took the silo down 3 months later the silage was still burning.
It was around 10 degrees that night and Jan took the smaller children in the house shortly before 11pm. Around midnight without being asked trailers and folks started showing up by word of mouth. That night several trailers and dozens of helpers helped moved 300 head of hogs to my in-laws farm where we had just had Christmas.
As Christmas morning arrived we were just getting electricity back as the fire had taken out the transformer pole.
Twenty five years ago tonight I still remember standing in the dark wondering how and if we could recover from this another blow.
Christmas Eve is when we celebrate the gift God gave us. 25 years ago tonight we were blessed with a gift of friends and neighbors who reached out to help. The following year I was blessed with the ability to rebuild. Tonight I am blessed in knowing God has always been and still is in control and cares. Merry Christmas.
1 comment:
No one knows better than you, Steve, that we are called to store up treasures in heaven, not those of earth, which rust and moth destroy. Great is God's faithfulness -- from generation to generation -- and certainly to the Jan and Steve Boender family! MERRY CHRISTMAS and blessings to your family for the LORD'S abundance in 2015!
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