Blessings

Now that my hair is white with age, it is time for me to share some of the ways the Lord has cared for and blessed my family and me throughout the years.

My husband was a self-employed logger and usually went to work alone in the woods three miles from home. I would join him later. One day our two- and five-year-old daughters joined us, all going together. The girls and I waited nearby while my husband cut down a large pine tree. Suddenly, he called, “Honey, I broke my leg!” The tree had fallen amiss on the steep hillside. We quickly went to him, helped him into the car, and started the half-hour drive to the nearest hospital. What a blessing that I was there to help him when he needed it! Because we did not have medical insurance, the hospital did not want to admit him. When the admittance clerk learned he was a war veteran, however, the hospital arranged for an ambulance to transfer him to the nearest veterans’ hospital. That development became a blessing that lasted the rest of his long life, for he always had funded health care after that.

After several years of his recuperating and working less, we found we could spend more time volunteering our services at a mission school in the mountains of southern Mexico. Our three children enjoyed going to school there, growing up bilingual, and helping with Sabbath School programs in nearby villages. We were also able to help, using a portable sawmill to cut lumber for building churches in small towns in the area.

These years were a blessing to us and to the school.

When the youngest of our children was ready for college, we needed to spend more time working in California. Our daughters became nurses; then one went on to become a doctor. Although our son did not think he would like to be a teacher, he did study education and ended up teaching at the same Mexican school he had attended as a youth.

Before long, it seemed, we had grandchildren who also loved going on summer mission trips! Two generations later, nurses, nurse practitioners, and physical therapists make up our group of grandchildren and spouses. Thank You, Lord, for being our faithful God and the Giver of all blessings, even until our “hair is white with age.”

Betty J. Adams