Seed Money

It was 5:30 a.m., my favorite time of day. I was sitting in the family room of our farmhouse in northern California. I like to start my morning talking things over with God. We had been talking about the same thing for quite a while.

The month was May and we were ready to sow our main crop, rice. The fields had been prepared for planting. The problem was, I didn't have any seed. And I didn't have $3,500 to buy it.

For weeks I had been watching my bank balance shrink. Not only did I have to buy seed, but I also had to pay my farmhands.

Several years before, banks routinely lent money for seed, and we repaid it after the crop was harvested. But in 1989, after years of depression, banks and credit unions decided small farmers were just not going to make it, so they stopped lending us money.

At the time I asked God, "What do you want me to do?" All I got was the feeling that he wanted me to trust him. But that was hard.

Maybe the co-op would advance me the seed, I thought. I could offer a postdated check. But the request sounded flimsy, even to me. Besides, as a co-op member, I knew the rule: Credit could be given for supplies like fertilizer, chemicals and fuel, but seed had to be paid for up front. No exceptions.

When I arrived at the co-op, Mark, the manager, ushered me into his office. I was still trying to figure out how to broach the subject when his secretary came in. She handed me an envelope.

"What's this?" I asked.

"That's your payment from the co-op," Mark said.

"I thought it wasn't due till August," I said.

He smiled and shrugged. "This year we decided to do it earlier."

Inside was a check. At first I thought it was for $3,500. Then I looked more closely. It was for $13,500! "Thank you, Mark," I blurted.

"Now, what was it you wanted to see me about?" he asked.

"That's all right," I said. "This more than takes care of it."

As I drove home I had a mental picture of God pouring bushels of rice seed into my lap and I thought, Maybe one of these days I'll learn this lesson well enough so you won't need to keep showing it to me. Maybe.