The Story of the Stump
Our story took place on the holiday Monday in May (Victoria Day), when we had a tree fall onto our house in a windstorm. We are very thankful to report that no one was hurt, but we think that the most amazing thing was God's perfect timing. Let me tell you a bit more:
Since it was a statutory holiday, we were home for the day and working through a list of jobs, like cutting the grass and so on and had planned to spend the whole day at home. We received a telephone call from other family members around noon, prayer together over the phone regarding a friend with a specific need, and decided that we should try to help. So, we made the necessary preparations and left the house that afternoon, returning later in the day. When we got back, we were surprised to see the second spruce tree in the row of trees in front of our house had been partly cut down, leaving THE STUMP sticking out of the ground and branches and tree pieces in the side yard and in the parking lot next door to us. We wondered what had happened.
We had been told that a man would be coming with equipment to cut the two end trees down, but he hadn't arrived yet, so we were still waiting. But why was the end tree (which was dead) still standing, while all that remained of the second tree was THE STUMP?
Later in the week, on Tuesday evening, I was collecting my gardening tools to put them away, when the neighbour from across the road called me over, saying, " I need to talk to you. I need to apologize for all the mess that I left in your yard." Then, he told me his part of the story.
The neighbour heard a big noise and looked out his living room window to see the second tree fall onto our house while we were away. He saw that the continuing wind thrashing it around could cause a lot of damage, so he phoned our landlord but got no answer.
The neighbour sprang into action. He phoned a friend and told him that he had finished sharpening his chain saw and was going to take down a tree that fell on the neighbour’s house. It was an emergency, so the friend came to help. The neighbour and his friend cut down the fallen tree praying that it hadn’t overly damaged the house and wouldn’t cause any further damage as they cut up the old spruce tree. The tree had fallen across the corner of the roof and over the driveway and they needed to cut the top off first, but they were afraid that it would break the fence.
They prayed some more. The top of the tree fell into the driveway, then the next section fell harmlessly into the yard, between the house and the fence.
The neighbour said, "I was so surprised that there were no vehicles in your driveway. If there had been anything there, it would have been smashed!"
So, no one was hurt, there was no major structural damage done to the house (and the new roof that volunteers from the church had put on at the end of last summer was intact), and no vehicles were smashed! The only damage was a crumpled eavestrough and a flattened part at the bottom of the downspout. Another friend from the church happily took home 3 truckloads of tree branches to use for a project he had on the go at his home.
It had not been our intention to be away at that time, and God put all the pieces in place at just the right time; a neighbour there with a freshly sharpened chain saw, and no vehicles in the driveway. I call that God's perfect timing and praise Him for His care.
It reminds me of the verse in Isaiah 65:24, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
And, the psalm of David in 1 Chronicles 16:8-10,
“Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people.
Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works.
Glory ye in His holy name:? Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.”
And in verse 34, “I give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.”
Solomon prayed in 2 Chronicles 6:14,
“ And said, ‘O LORD God of Israel, ‘(there is) no God like Thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and (shewest) mercy unto Thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their hearts:’”
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