When a Big Bender Kept a Man From Blowing Away

Stay with Me, Goad!

Grover Goad and his family lived west of the farm of Edmund, Sr. and Mamie Gates. The Goad family consisted of Grover and his wife, Mary, and their children, Harold, Otis (Babe), Clara, Carl, George, Bernard, and Dorothy. Families who lived near each other in those days visited, shared, and enjoyed life together.

Mary and Grover Goad. My father always spoke of Mrs. Goad as a person who
practiced and spoke openly of her faith in God. Her faith impacted my dad even
though he did not choose to follow Jesus until he was an adult.
(photograph used courtesy of Osage Tribal Museum, Pawhuska, Oklahoma)

My father, Edmund Gates, Jr., was closest in age to Bernard, with Dad being born in 1919 and Bernard’s birth followed a year later. Dad recalled Bernard's enjoyment of playing “Wolf and Dog” during recess at Woodland Grade School, located in the west Big Bend. Based on Dad’s explanation, the game appeared to be a type of tag with “it” being designated by the “wolf.” The kids chose one boy to be the “wolf” with the other boys acting as “dogs,” chasing him until he was caught. Then the hunt began again until the teacher rang the bell for studies to resume in the two-room schoolhouse. As much as the boys in the Bend loved hunting, the recess game of Wolf and Dog was an understandable playtime choice.

My father’s favorite Goad story involved Grove Goad, the father of the boys. My sister and I found this story popping up in almost every task that we helped Dad accomplish.

A severe storm was approaching the Big Bend where Grove Goad lived with his family.  In those days, no sirens sounded and no weather alerts were sent. The Farmers’ Almanac was the closest semblance to our high-tech, meteorological warning systems of today. Assessing the cloud formations in the sky and general weather conditions, the Benders predicted when a storm was imminent.

Everyone on the Goad farm that day went to the cellar but one man. This man scoffed at the others for seeking protection below ground. His attitude changed the moment the wind gusts of the storm hit. Grove Goad, instead of closing the cellar door, tried to pull the frightened man into the cellar. Even though Mr. Goad was a big man weighing near 300 pounds, he could not drag the man into the underground shelter, but his strength and sheer determination enabled him to hold miraculously onto the man, thus saving him from being swept up by the strong winds of the storm. The man kept shouting, “Stay with me, Goad!” The man gained a new respect for the value of storm cellars. After his hair-raising experience of that stormy day, he hastened into  a "fraidy hole" whenever Oklahoma weather threatened his life.

Dad used this phrase “Stay with me, Goad!” when he wanted my sister and me to be strong and not let go of something we were lifting or carrying.  We also heard it if we were doing a difficult task that he feared we were weary of doing, but must stick with the job to reach completion and avoid failure.

Even though Dad has lost his capability to say with fervor, “Stay with me, Goad,” frequently, Angie says it with conviction. I hear it emit from her lips when every fiber of my being is strained and aching. Yet her urging “Stay with me, Goad!” provides the encouragement to persist just a few seconds more so we can achieve what we have worked so hard to do.

As I completed retelling Dad’s favorite Goad story, I reflected that the story is about endurance. The Scripture has many references to God’s enduring love, righteousness, and faithfulness.(See Psalm 107:1, Psalm 111:3, and Psalm 117:2 NIV). The God of heaven and earth endures in our lives and in our world just as Mr. Goad did in saving the man in the storm. When we are willing to yield to the Lord’s direction in our lives and obey Him, by His power, He enables us to persevere or endure, as Mr. Goad made it possible for the helpless man to withstand the storm. James speaks of this perseverance in James 1:2-4 (NIV) when he writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

One of my greatest desires is to continue in the tasks that God has given me to do. I realize that only by my daily attentiveness to God’s Word and implementing my trust and reliance upon Him and His promises can I persevere. This comical story from yesteryear can serve as an illustration of endurance and perseverance in our everyday lives.