Photo by Anne Brewer.by Chris Meehan
Trish Olson (Mission, Indianapolis) was recently walking down a country road in northern Indiana’s Amish country, when she heard noises coming from two Amish boys in a rowboat on the far side of a pond.
At first, she assumed they were just horsing around. But when she passed them again on her return, she had an uneasy feeling. They were getting louder. “I decided to call out and ask if everything was okay. They yelled back in what sounded like Pennsylvania Dutch, which I couldn't understand, but I could tell something was wrong. I started to run closer to them and began praying,” Trish recalled.
Just then, a buggy came down the road. Trish stopped the Amish man driving it and pointed out the boys to him. He yelled to them, and they replied. It turned out one of the boys had his hand caught in some sort of animal trap. The buggy driver immediately jumped the barbed-wire fence and hurried to them.
Trish ran towards the closest farmhouse and met a woman, who turned out to be the boy’s mother, Melinda, running out towards the pond. "Go find my husband,” she told Trish, “He's working on the scythe.”
“I didn’t know what a ‘scythe’ was,” says Trish, “but I ran up the road towards the machinery noise and found a man behind a farm building riding a huge tractor-type vehicle.” The man, Jonathan, stopped the tractor, listened to Trish’s story and hopped on his bike to head to the scene. Trish ran alongside him, pointing out the way. Once they reached the pond, Melinda told them they had gotten the trap off and she didn't think there was anything more to do.
A bit winded from her unexpected run, Trish began heading home to the nearby lakehouse where her family was staying, praying that the boy was not seriously hurt. “As I reached a bend in the road,” she says, “I heard horses' feet clopping behind me. James, the man who had jumped the fence to reach the boys, stopped and told me that the boy---his nephew---was going to be just fine. Then he handed me a half-gallon of milk from Jonathan’s farm and said that Jonathan wanted to give it to me. Relieved by the good news, I walked the rest of the way back to the cottage carrying the milk. I felt full of awe at how much the Lord cares for this boy and was so present with us. What an awesome Father we have!”
Responses
Nora says:
December 11th, 2020 at 4:10 PM
Ridiculously good story!!
Ted L Vernon says:
December 11th, 2020 at 4:20 PM
Trish, thank you for listening for and to the voice of of the Spirit and responding persistently in love.
Anne Nicklaus says:
December 11th, 2020 at 4:25 PM
Thank you for that beautiful story. God is so good.
james m ingram says:
December 11th, 2020 at 4:55 PM
Trish,
The Lord used you to help out these boys. I'm blessed how you were persistent in getting the help these boys needed. Good job.
Jim Ingram
Ruth Sanford says:
December 11th, 2020 at 5:03 PM
Trish,
How wonderful that you were so alert and able to help! I was thinking how good it was that you can run as well. If it had been someone like me walking, the outcome might not have been so good. Our Father is indeed so full of love and mercy!
Monica Wolney says:
December 11th, 2020 at 5:26 PM
How beautiful...thank you for sharing this life-giving, hope-filled experience with us! How sweet the Holy Spirit is to prompt you and lead you to serve His beloved children when there was a great need. May the Lord Bless you and that whole family and community this Advent and Christmas season!
Jon Grams says:
December 11th, 2020 at 5:34 PM
Great story- thanks for sharing!
Kathy Herceg says:
December 11th, 2020 at 5:38 PM
It is wonderful to be part of what God is doing, as I’m sure you know, being part of a mission branch. God is alive and well in this dark time and he has a plan.
Mary L Louise Duddy says:
December 11th, 2020 at 5:53 PM
Thank you Lord! And what a nice picture
Dick Safranski says:
December 11th, 2020 at 5:53 PM
There is no doubt that Trish was meant to be there at that particular time!
We are instruments of Our Lord, let us all be available to do His work whenever and wherever we are. Merry Christmas!
Mary Kay Gleason says:
December 11th, 2020 at 5:54 PM
What a wonderful story, Trish! Thanks for sharing with all of us!
Karen Heintzelman says:
December 11th, 2020 at 6:04 PM
God is so good and so are you Trish!!
Donald J Komos says:
December 11th, 2020 at 7:20 PM
It is great to see God work in such unique ways.
Bernadette Anne Fossen says:
December 11th, 2020 at 8:55 PM
What a great story!
Joanne Bologna says:
December 11th, 2020 at 11:10 PM
That was a story of love and serving our neighbors. God asks us all to reach out ,when there is a need and he led Trish to do just that. Her response was as Jesus'
would have responded. Discipleship is a wonderful gift that Trish learned spending time with her Friend ,Jesus. God bless all
Patti Bomkaamp says:
December 12th, 2020 at 4:43 AM
Inspiring story. Holy spirit moment. Example of Jeremy Camp's song "Keep Me In The Moment."
Dennis Burke says:
December 12th, 2020 at 5:30 AM
Awesome! Angels among us. Tears of joy!
Thomas Schmitt says:
December 12th, 2020 at 9:05 AM
What an awesome story! Well done, Trish. Thank you, Holy Spirit.
Chris Urbanski says:
December 12th, 2020 at 10:17 AM
Another look at the Lord’s Amazing Grace....
Kathie Carolus says:
December 12th, 2020 at 5:49 PM
Wow, praise God for his infinite kindness and mercy!!
Kathy Dobson says:
December 12th, 2020 at 7:58 PM
Wow! God is so good! Thank you for having your radar open to Holy Spirit so that you could be His hands & His feet!
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