God's Blessings Are Sometimes Colored Orange
by Roy Gifford
I was born toward the end of the great depression. It lasted
long enough for me to remember some of its effects on my family.
I thought that if I wrote something about what my family faced
through the eyes of a four/five year old it might bring a little
hope and encouragement to those of you who have been cut back or
even lost your jobs during this second great depression.
Dad had been a mail carrier driving a Model A pickup to
deliver mail to the ranches out in the country outside of
Thermopolis, Wyoming. But when the post master's son-in-law lost
his job guess who got laid off so the son-in-law could support
his family? So dad started looking for a job and finally found
one in Billings, Montana. He buffed the rubber off of old tires
so that they could be re-vulcanized to become what everyone had
on there cars in those days: recaps. He came home black as the
ace of spades every morning. He worked at night. When he came
home the first time looking like that I didn't recognize him
until he spoke.
We moved to Billings where somehow (I don't remember how) we
got a trailer house that was 12 feet long and 8 feet wide. So we
had shelter, but we didn't have anything to eat and dad would
not get paid until the end of the month. Some nice lady gave us
two great big bags of macaroni. That was back in the day when
macaroni was sold in bulk so two big shopping bags of macaroni
lasted us almost to the end of the month. So toward the end of
the month my sister and I got macaroni but mom and dad went
hungry.
Something happened during this time that has stuck with me
for well over 70 years. My mom was always up beat and never
until years later did she reveal how much stress she was under.
She made boiled macaroni sound like it was the most delicious
thing a person could eat. In the mean time she was praying that
the macaroni would make it to the end of the month.
Then one day she was digging around in the storage space
under the benches that made up the dinette/bed in our trailer
house and she found a wizened up orange. It was not quite rotten
but had definitely seen better days. That night after eating our
macaroni mom peeled that orange and divided it into quarters.
Mom, dad, sis and I ate the most delicious orange I ever tasted.
I guess what I am trying to say is that God will provide and
what he provides may be a surprise but it will always be the
best for you.
God bless each of you. We at Valley Christian Church are
praying for you.
Roy Gifford ( I never met a person I didn't
love )