Soon the chill would be too great to eat out on the screened porch. The Benton were going to continue doing so, though, just as long as practical.
They pulled their chairs up to the table as the chimes rang out, six long peals echoing through the soft autumn air. Alec was eating with them, telling them a story about some tractor trouble he once experienced back home on the farm.
"You know," he began in his cheerful voice, "I believe the Lord plans every detail in our lives. I don't think things happen by accident at all. One day I was working out in the field with Dad's tractor and some small troubles began to develop. Of course, I always feel exasperated to have to come in from the field and start repairing things, but I thought I'd better get it over with. I did the repairs back at the shop and was starting to leave when a hydraulic hose on the disc burst, sending fluid sky-high. Had it broken on the road or in the field, it would have been a major problem for me. But instead it happened right in the yard."
It was a small incident, but typical of the many lessons Alec was passing on to the family these days. It set them all to thinking of the many ways in which the Lord went before them.
Jennie's father leaned back in his chair and began reminiscing. He recalled a business trip he took during World War II when he actually missed three airplanes in a row. "The first of those planes crashed! When I arrived at the airport hoping to make the next flight, the attendant told me I had the choice of two different flights. For no apparent reason I made my decision, then later learned that the other plane—the one I might so easily have taken—had been destroyed in a fatal accident. On the same trip, I waited, stranded in an out-of-the-way town, hoping to get a particular flight. During those war years it was difficult to get a reservation. Because the likelihood of finding available space was so small, the agent suggested I take a train instead. Once again, I learned that the plane I had hoped to get had crashed."
Mr. Benton was resigned that no one would believe him. Nevertheless, it was true. Reflecting on the experience brought a renewed sense of the Lord's love and careful planning in our Christian lives—down to the very last detail. He also felt his story was an example to others who have a fear of flying. "How carefully the Lord preserves His own," he finished.
Mrs. Benton smiled at Alec. "Do you see why I sometimes become anxious when my husband leaves on a trip?" In spite of her own faith in the Lord and her husband's comforting remarks about His care, she could not conceal the anxiety she felt when he left for several weeks at a time. It often seemed that every trip brought some sort of crisis or narrow escape.
Her husband smiled and continued, understanding his wife's thoughts. "Like the time I became a victim of serious food poisoning in Los Angeles," he remarked. "Unable to remain on my feet, I sat down on the curb, wondering if I were about to die. Most of the men who passed by assumed I was a drunken bum sitting there." He looked around at his audience with that characteristic twinkle in his eye. "But one perceptive man noted I was sick, dressed in a business suit, far different from the poor drunkards roaming about the area. He got me into a hotel lobby and called for a doctor without hesitation. No doubt he saved my life."
Peter Benton smiled at them all. "And there was still another time when I was waiting in the same city for a bus to come. Standing alone against the wall of a building, several rough-looking men walked up to me and demanded my wallet. I was surrounded."
Alec thought how it must have looked to those men, seeing Uncle Peter, such a short man, alone on that street corner, obviously nicely dressed, and probably carrying money in his pocket.
"Just as they surrounded me," he continued, "a bus appeared. 'Excuse me, fellows,' I said, 'this is my bus.' Breaking away with a rush, I flagged it down and boarded it, thankful to the Lord for preserving me from those rough characters at just the right moment."
It was too chilly now to eat out on the porch. They had begun the night before and ended up carrying in their dishes and plates of food. It was hard to admit that summer was over, but the changing of the seasons must go on. Tonight they lit candles in the dining room and sat listening to a letter Mr. Benton was reading.
"You just won't believe this," he said with a smile. "I know it seems incredible that anyone else would move to Jaffrey. But someone is coming!"
The new addition, Robert Carter, would be arriving in a few weeks for the winter. "I've known him for many years," Mr. Benton continued. "He's a fine man. Those who know him well have valued his friendship all their lives. This seems to be true of friends he knew as a young man, as well as those he made in later years. What a hard life he's known! The world would say that fate dealt him one terrible blow upon another, but Robert Carter does not believe in fate. He has taken his hardships from the Lord and been thankful for his blessings—a rare spirit!"
"But why would he come to Jaffrey, Dad?" Kara asked. Her father set the letter down. "He writes that he is coming to live with his grandchildren here in town. He spends his summer on his farm where his son and daughter-in-law and their children now live, his winters elsewhere. Aren't you glad he's decided to take his turn here?"
"Tell us more about him," Jennie mused.
"In spite of the fact that his life has been hard, when he smiles there is a merriment in his eyes that suggests all has not been sorrow. The expression of compassion on his face exceeds any I know. That man has lost more than, perhaps, ten average men might lose in a lifetime. Because he has been hurt so often, he usually keeps his own counsel. He doesn't readily share his emotions, yet you can feel love and tenderness beneath his reserve. He has also kept himself from gossiping and is ill-equipped to meddle in other people's affairs. I wish more of us could be that way!"
"Tell us more about him," Jennie asked with anticipation.
Her father thought a moment, then replied, "I'm sure he'll tell us many stories when he comes. But just briefly: he lost his beloved wife many years ago and has gone on alone; his home was burned to the ground; he has known hard times and endured severe illness within his family.
"He calls himself uneducated, and yet I consider him one of the most enlightened men I know in the ways of life and in the school of God. From a natural standpoint, he has been a farmer all his life and is close to the land. He knows every bird, every tree, every flower you might discover."
Jennie sensed in the family a great deal of excitement over his coming, and she knew she was going to like this old gentleman.
Her father continued, "I think you will all love him, as I once learned to, and I look forward to renewing our friendship. We have lost track of one another for many years, but the moment I see him, I know that all the memories will return. It seems strange to me that the Lord is sending him here at this time. It must be part of an overall plan in our lives."