Ladies, and particularly Mums, will get a real kick (blessing) out of this.
In my last story I shared about my wife, Rita, our baby and our arrival by passenger ship at New York en-route for New Tribes Institute, Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, USA, and the amazing provision the Almighty God made for us right there on the dockside. Well, when we arrived at the Institute we were allotted as, our residence for the year we would be there, a wonderful small cabin on the edge of the campus with a background of a forested hill. We were blessed. I've got some great photos of the campus if I can find them.
Anyway, we continued to trust the Lord for our finances which included our course fees, food, heating, the winter was cold with ice, snow, and a frozen river which ran through the campus, called Larry's Creek. Also we needed to buy a car as the school was some miles out from Jersey Shore which was on the shore of the Sasquehana River, and at the end of this part one of our two year course we then had to drive about 1,000 miles, pulling a trailer with all belongings, to the New Tribes Language School in Wahcashaw, Wisconsin. Mel Wymer, the director of the school, found a great ten year old Buick Special, in good condition, for us for $150, a lot of money in 1964. Praise God for the cheque from my Grandmother which covered it. This was one big car, more so for us Brits who were at that time used to post war small cars. Amazingly, from one source or another the Lord brought in the money we needed, except for a long period of about three weeks when all we had was bread, spaghetti and tomatoes, no tea, no coffee. Rita and I really wondered what was happening. The course was residential and full time so I couldn't have got a part time job even if I had been allowed to as a foreign student. My faith was getting a bit thin when one day, while I was washing in the men's bathroom, the Lord put a scripture reference into my mind, Philippians 4:12,13. I had a small New Testament in my shirt pocket so I looked up the reference, it said, ".....Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I thought to myself, 'Well if the apostle Paul sometimes had little and other times plenty I guess this whole experience is a bit of a training experience from the Lord to see if Rita and I were willing to do the same.' I went off back to our cabin determined to do the same as Paul. Praise the Lord, shortly after this special Word from the Lord money arrived and we went shopping for groceries at the A&P supermarket in Jersey Shore. Boy, Rita and I really praised the Lord our provider.
Wondering what I have written so far has to do with the title, 'Night time milk delivery'? Well they have been a few thoughts on the way. OK, now we come to the milk delivery bit. Here we are at New Tribes Institute living in our little cabin on the campus. Our little baby Sally was doing fine but was still only a few months old when this situation arose. Rita was unable to feed Sally herself so relied on mixing baby milk powder, (American...baby formula) which Sally seemed to be quite happy with. During the tough time I mentioned in my previous paragraph...no money, a few weeks on spaghetti and tomatoes with mainly mainly water to drink, a major problem occurred one evening with regards to baby milk formula for Sally. Rita said to me 'Eric, we only have this one evening feed for Sally and that's it. When she wakes up tomorrow morning I have no feed for her.' Now that was a challenge. Having little food for us was one thing but no food at all for Sally was something else. Rita put Sally to bed, she was such a good little girl, she always slept through the night. Rita and I prayed that our Heavenly Father would intervene in some way so Rita could feed her in the morning. Later I was sat reading my Bible and the Lord again put a reference into my mind. I eagerly looked it up Proverbs 27:27. and to my amazement read, "You shall have enough...milk for your food, for the food of your household and the NOURISHMENT of your maidservants." (Capitals mine) Hallelujah! Milk for the household...us adults, and for the nourishment of your maids...we had a maid (girl) she was very small but she was a girl not a boy. This was Father's promise, how He was going to do it we didn't know but we had faith He would provide especially for our little baby girl Sally. It was quite late at night by now...we went to bed rejoicing. Next morning I woke early and grabbed my wash things to go out to the communal men's washroom. I opened the cabin door and as I shut it I noticed, to my amazement, on the floor by the door a quart bottle of cows milk and a large tin of baby formula. 'Rita!' I cried, 'come and have a look'. She came to the door and...YES, Father had done what He promised, milk for us and milk for Sally. Sally woke up and had her breakfast...gulp, gulp, gulp. Just thinking about it now I have tears in my eyes. What a wonderful Heavenly Father.
Just a further note...where did the milk come from. No one knew of our situation except the Lord. WHO made the NIGHT TIME MILK DELIVERY? Did the Lord wake someone up during the night and told them to deliver the milk, where would they get a quart of cows milk and a large tin of baby formula from during the night? Was it an angel Father sent to collect the milk and deliver it in the dark? I'm sure if it was an angel who got it from a store Father would make sure money was miraculously left to pay for it. Rita and I really had that feeling in our spirits that it was an angel.
I hope these true experiences I've shared are a real encouragement for you.
More real live stories to come. Eric.
