The Scarred Stem

In no way am I a serious vegetable gardener. Yet I've made the tomato plants an annual summer project. Thanks to our dependable water well, even in the dryness of the past few months, the little tomato vines have flourished and provided Mother and I a tasty harvest.

Success of the Damaged Tomato Stem

        Again this summer, I have grown tomato plants in the beds on each side of the old cellar. I got them in the ground late but experienced productivity with each little plant. However, the most productive, healthy-appearing tomato vine seems to have a flaw – near the base of its stem.

The Scarred Base of the Tomato
 Stem. (Unused electric fence 
posts served as stakes this year.)

         When I noticed the horrible lesions near the base of its stem, I became concerned. It looked like it had been struck with a hoe, but not trusting the cats, I had put tomato cages over each plant the afternoon I planted them. Knowing the stem provides stability for the plant as it grows, I have researched unsuccessfully, because the plant keeps thriving.

         Its leaves remain a rich, dark green and healthy-looking. The scarred stem’s base hasn’t hampered the production of this tomato vine as it flourishes even into the fall.

Recent photo of the tomatoes on the
scarred stem tomato vine.

       After pondering its success, I researched a bit about tomatoes and became fascinated about the normal depth of the roots of a tomato plant. My research revealed that tomato plant roots can be 18-24 inches deep. That meant almost as much of the scarred stem plant was unseen as was visible above the ground! Maybe the roots hold the secret to this little vine’s substantial yield.

       As I thought about the roots, the scarred stem, and the healthy, productive tomato plant, a verse about being “rooted” came to mind. The Apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Colosse these words, So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as LORD, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

The scarred stem provided support and
nourishment from the roots to produce
this healthy plant.

            We receive Jesus as Lord (boss) by faith in His blood’s power to cleanse us from our sin. In turn, He gives us the Holy Spirit who empowers us to live daily in obedience to Him. Paul told the young believers they were rooted and built up in Him, just as the tomato plant was rooted and growing.

Sometimes I feel weak in faith and have to pray, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” The scarred stem looks like it might not be strong enough to sustain the robust plant. Even though we feel as though we cannot live and do what God  is leading us to do, we know He strengthens our faith.

The apostle reminds the young Colossian Christians how they were strengthened in the faith as they were taught. We have such an advantage over the believers in the ancient city of Colosse. They only had access to the Old Testament scriptures. We have God-inspired letters by Paul, by Peter, and other apostles plus the four gospels recording Jesus’ time here on earth. 

We “overflow with thankfulness” each day as we read the encouragement from His Word; thankfulness abounds when someone observes the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) appearing in a life because the person has yielded a God-submitted will for His use.          

Our lives will be used by God for His work here on earth when we spend time with Him so our "roots" draw up the living water which is Jesus (Read John 4:13-14). Our "roots" receive nourishment from the Holy Scripture inspired by God Himself. In this way, we grow, produce, and overflow with thankfulness to Him, the only source of our strength.

As I did a quick visual check of the dozen tomato plants, all producing, my eyes lingered on the scarred stem plant. Immediately, the final nine words of Paul's powerful verse in 2 Corinthians 12:10 came strongly into my thoughts. It reads: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. In the previous verse, God had promised Paul that His strength would be made perfect in Paul's weakness. As followers of Jesus, our weaknesses allow God's strength to be on full display and He gets the glory. There isn't a better way to live life.

The Gilded Silver-Face Wonder

For several years, the black and yellow garden spider has fascinated me. An interesting bit of trivia really caught my interest - the Argiope aurantia (scientific name for the orb-weaver spider common to our area) is known to control grasshoppers on rangeland. Rural residents can't help but like these arachnids! This diligent, creative female has much to teach.

             When watering the creeping phlox, I noticed an orb-weaver spider beginning the creation of a web. For a few weeks, I thought of that black and yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) with her distinctive markings. Her qualities of diligence and creativity in her self-provision inspired me.

Our own 2021 "Gilded Silver-Face"
on her web under the air conditioner.
 This photo shows her silver face. The
male is much smaller, predominately
 brown with very little yellow color.

            The diligence of this industrious female shows in the stabilimentum in the photo below. Speculation of its purpose ranges from a strengthening agent, a tension control for the builder, or a warning for birds and bats to be aware of the entire web. Some think the stabilimentum may attract more attention thus making the rest of the web less obvious to prey.

A stabilimentum I photographed
in the pasture in the summer of
2019, 

            Our diligence in building our relationship with Jesus strengthens us. A day-to-day obedience warns our enemy, Satan, of our commitment just as the stabilimentum warns its predators to “back off.”

Our pastor, Mike Brock, preached on the words Satan doesn’t want to hear from a believer. These statements from our mouths are: 1) I forgive you (to others). 2) Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sins (to God). 3) In the Name of Jesus (in our attitude, obedience and prayer). 4) Here I am. Send me (to God). Reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit as we employ the strategies Jesus taught and modeled assures us of His victory over the evil one in our lives.

An orb-weaver working her magic on her large, embellished weaving outside the
 front room window in 2018.

           What creativity this gorgeous orb-weaver exhibits in her God-planned method of self-provision! The elaborate scaffolding is woven during the late evening following consumption of the web from the previous evening and a quick rest. This carnivore also consumes the insects trapped, stunned, and encased in the silken shroud by the orb-weaver known as “gilded silver-face.” Never does she look to others to provide for her.

The ventral (underneath side) of the
orb-weaver outside our large living
 room window in 2018. She has trapped,
stunned, and is finishing encasement
of her prey. Participating in Bible
 studies, church attendance, and going
about "doing good" as Jesus did are
needful for growing, but will never
 replace that personal Bible study and
 time with the Lord daily.

Our growth as believers relies on our self-provision much like the beautifully-patterned arachnid. Daily she prepares and provides for her nourishment. We must daily find strength and sustenance in God’s Word. Active, purposeful study is required to increase in obedience to the Lord in doing His will that He reveals in His Word. Paul admonished Timothy, his spiritual protégé, in his second letter to Timothy, chapter 2, verse 15: Study to show yourself approved by God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

            As we view God’s creation, like the black and yellow orb-weaver spider, doing exactly what He created them to do, may we be encouraged to respond to the Holy Spirit's guidance of our implementation of Scripture in our day-to-day obedient walk. This ensures we are being and doing what He restored us to do, just as the diligent, creative arachnid.

Gates Family Connection with the Wildfires in the West

          When I began writing this article, the Black Butte wildfire's containment percentage was only in single digits. By early this week, it was 100% contained. 

            The Black Butte Wildfire burned over 22,000 acres of Malheur National Forest located in the central section of the eastern side of Oregon. The office of the Malheur National Forest’s supervisor can be found in John Day, Oregon. The beautiful area connects directly to all descendants of our maternal great-grandmother, Nettie Venator Tripp Black. 

Entrance to the Malheur National Forest 

According to the obituary of Nettie Venator Black, she was born in John Day City, Grant County, Oregon, on June 8, 1872. The town had only begun 10 years earlier in 1862. By the time Great-grandma Nettie was 10, the town dropped the word “City” from its name and is known as John Day to the present. The town’s population as of the last census is around 1,700 people. A curious bit of trivia from that region of Oregon – Pendleton, Oregon, the home of the beautiful Pendleton blankets, is situated only 87 miles north of Great-grandma Nettie’s birthplace.

Nettie Ann Venator Tripp Black - 1905
Great-grandma looks glum. Remember
smiling was inappropriate for those
born in the 19th century.

We seldom realize the ties we have with far-flung places. Often, we live for years without knowing of the connection! 

Over two months ago, I began delving into the Venator family in the Northwest during the late 19^th century. Not being a news hound, I heard enough updates to remain informed. More and more the news filled with fires ravaging the West. I investigated more closely Great-Grandma Nettie’s link to the devastated areas of Oregon.

I can’t help but wonder what drew some of the Venators to Kansas from Oregon. Perhaps the news of the opening of Oklahoma Territory or the opening of Cherokee Strip beckoned these ancestors struck with wanderlust. We descendants may never know, but my pondering brought Abram from the Bible to mind.

The patriarch, Abram, may have been judged by his neighbors in Ur and later Haran, to be the victim of being bitten by the travel bug. Some may have whispered behind his back that he was dragging Sarai into the unknown due to his itchy foot. Reading the account from the Bible clears up all speculating about Abram’s reason for relocating. Genesis 12:1 states: Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”

The recording of Abram’s response can be found in later in Genesis 12, in verse 4. It reads, So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him…

May we have Abram’s attitude of obedience. It may not mean relocating to an unknown country, but let’s obey without questioning, stalling, or debating with God.

These lines from hymns are easy to sing but usually harder to do:

What He says we will do, Where He sends we will go…from Trust and Obey

Where He leads me, I will follow…from Where He Leads Me

Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go…from Anywhere With Jesus

I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord, Over mountain, or plain, or sea;

I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord, I’ll be what you want me to be.

From I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go

Photograph of the Scenery in the Malheur National Forest

The Second Week of September 20 Years Ago

            For about a year, Dad had anticipated this week in September. The 305^th Bomb Group Reunion organizational committee had chosen Tulsa, Oklahoma, to host the 2001 reunion. This would be the first time I could attend. Mother, Angie, and Ben had accompanied Dad in 1994, when Kansas City hosted the World War II bomb group yearly get-together.  He had attended an earlier reunion in St. Louis with his brother and his wife, Jess and Vesta.

            We all looked forward to seeing Fred and Dorothy Rabo from Chico, California. Fred and Dad were the only two who were still living who began training in Muroc, California, in their original ten-man crew and finished as a Pathfinder crew over German-occupied Europe. Fred piloted the B-17F Flying Fortress, with Fred Gilbert, as co-pilot, that transported Dad and the original crew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1942. In combat, Dad always manned the upper turret position. He usually stood between Fred and the co-pilot until they flew into enemy territory. (To learn more about Fred Rabo and Dad's friendship and combat missions, go to: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/02/neither-of-them-got-over-march-6-1944.html ).

            Two days before we planned to arrive in Tulsa, everything turned upside down with the two attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City, the attack on the Pentagon, and the fourth attack thwarted by brave passengers on Flight 93. It was a tumultuous time unlike any I had seen as an American.

            With almost all air travel stopped, we feared Fred and Dorothy could not fly in from California. Probably neither could Fred Gilbert, Dad’s original co-pilot, make it from Washington. 

Standing - Fred Rabo, pilot, Fred 
Gilbert, co-pilot; Kneeling; Dad 
(Edmund Gates, Jr.),  upper turret 
gunner, Charles Petterson, ball turret
gunner. Less than three months later,
Charles Petterson flew with another
crew that went down in the North Sea 
and the entire crew was lost. Dad told
in his military memoirs, Okie Over
Europe,, of the impact of
Petterson's death. In the background
was Target for Tonight, the B-17F that 
Fred flew Dad and their crew over the
  Atlantic Ocean.

            Despite all the turmoil, sadness, uncertainty, the 305^th Bomb Group Reunion wasn’t cancelled. Angie, Ben, and I had requested time away from work on Thursday afternoon and Friday.

            We arrived, checked in, and upon arriving at the Welcome Reception learned Fred and Dorothy nor Fred Gilbert would be able to attend. Dad met with Ian, a writer from Chelveston, England, and showed his photos that Angie had put into an album as a Christmas gift during one of her “lean” college years. Dad had been based in Ian's hometown at Chelveston Air Base near Bedford, England, from January through April of 1943, until Fred Rabo, Tom Kon, and Dad became members of a Pathfinder crew.

            Ian had formed a fast friendship with Stan, a ground crew member of the 305^th Bomb Group. Stan had been able to fly into Chicago just before all flights in the United States were grounded. He was stranded there, until finally he hopped a Greyhound bus that took the long way ‘round to get him to Tulsa. With Stan’s health issues, his delayed arrival had Ian, his younger English friend, quite worried.

            We were disappointed because we so anticipated spending time with Fred and Dorothy. Yet the four of us being together with Dad as he recalled one of the most dangerous times in his life seemed so appropriate for that week twenty years ago. Dad would say, “We fought the battles over there so they would never come here.”

            Spending time with my family during one of the most turbulent weeks in the history of our country brought perspective. In my journal entry for September 13, 2001, I had written a quote from Bobby Simma, our principal at Woodland Elementary School at that time. After leading us in singing our National Anthem and “God Bless America,” he reminded the students, “Be grateful for each day we have because nothing is guaranteed.” (For a photo of the students I taught during the difficult days of September 2001, access this blog at:  https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2016/09/911-15-years-ago.html ).

                In light of Mr. Simma's admonition, I recalled a phrase from the prophet, Amos, who had been sent by God to the ancient nation of Israel. My father would characterize these people of old as fooling themselves. In no way were they mindful that they had no guarantee of another day. They were spiritually indifferent to God and to His truth. They had no interest in living by His principles in their daily lives. In response to their apathy toward God's message, Amos gives the warning from the Creator of all, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"

Geraldine Rice Forbes and Charles Welch,
former pastor, visit during the 100th
Anniversary of the Founding of the
Ralston Baptist Church (1997)

               AFTERTHOUGHT:  In my journal entry from September 12, 2001, I noticed a statement from Geraldine Rice Forbes that she made during our Wednesday night Bible study the night after the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. She stated emphatically, "God is trying to get America to repent." Geraldine died eleven years ago last week. Yet her words ring true today.