Walking in the Cornfield

Walking in the Cornfield (excerpted from Angel In The Fire, copyright 2010 by Robert C. Baker, and rewritten in the 3rd person)

After being home almost a year, Robert started leaving the house early in the morning. Still wrapped in lots of bandages, he would leave at 6:00 a.m. and return by 10:00 a.m. to attend to the work. This was his time to be alone, especially in the time of hot weather. He would go wandering through the cornfields trying to avoid the sun so he would not irritate his wounds and cause them to itch, or the bandages to stick from perspiration. It was so freeing to be able to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors and all it had to offer after being indoors for all of that time.

                Walking through the fields reminded Robert of when he had worked those fields with his father, watching for the harvest. He remembered how the different crops rose to maintain the family. He brought the index cards with me that Sam Lanham had shown him how to write. They had scripture on them that he would use to pray with, and he would read them to learn the Word of God.

                After several months, I began to notice construction companies building houses. He watched carefully as they laid out lines for the foundation and put out markers for plumbing and electric lines. He would watch for hours. He watched as the crew grew in size and took note of what their jobs were. Within several weeks, a new house would be completed, and Robert would be amazed that where an old house once stood, now a beautiful new one stood. He had been thinking to himself, too: I can do that, too. He began to pray to God, asking Him to help him because he needed a job, and he knew God would help him.

                In the second year after the accident, while on my way to a baseball game, Robert met Ruby May Jewell. What a double jewel she was. Ruby was a slender young woman who had long, dark hair. The bells went off for him. He knew immediately that she was the one he wanted to marry. To him, she hung the moon. When he got home that evening, he told his mother about her. Virginia knew Ruby’s parents, Roy and Virgie Jewell, who lived on John Willis’ Farm in Culpeper. Roy Jewell was a supervisor of a large tomato operation at the farm. Virginia took Robert to visit the Jewell family. The Jewell family fell in love with Robert. They were so open to Robert, and were eager to receive him even though he was still going through the healing process and felt very insecure about his appearance. That night, Robert struggled with sleep. He tossed and turned, wondering why Ruby would want someone like him. He didn’t want to be deceitful about how marred his body still was. Even his hands were still the colors of a rainbow, and he was still wearing bandages. He really wanted her to care for him. She was so beautiful, he wasn’t sure of how this could ever happen.

                Robert visited the cornfield again and came upon a very large rock with a large piece missing out of it. It was sandy, and it became his favorite place to be alone with God. He went there morning after morning to pray. He would cry out to God and ask Him about what to do next with his life. He would read the Word and seek God there. He’d pray for his burns to go away, and always leave filled with faith that God had heard him, just as Gerdie Printz had once told him, and continued to believe with him.

Robert and Virginia made a second visit to the Jewell family home. Ruby smiled at Robert and talked to him, making him feel so much more comfortable. This time, Robert asked Mrs. Jewell if he could date Ruby, still not knowing if she would even want to or if her family would allow it. To his amazement, Mrs. Jewell said, “yes,” even though he called her Mrs. Blakenbaker because he was so nervous.  Robert went to talk to Ruby immediately.  Shaking in his shoes, I asked Ruby if he could take her on a date. She asked, “When?”  He said, “Tonight.”  She said, “Yes.”

                That night, Robert and Ruby were on their first date. They went to see the movie The Hank Williams Story. They had popcorn, a Coke and a hot dog, and enjoyed being together very much. Arriving back promptly at the doorstep at 9:00 pm, Robert walked Ruby to the door as a perfect gentleman would. Climbing back in his car, enthralled about his perfect date, he sang, “I Saw the Light” all the way home. He knew that she was it for him. It was real love.

                Robert went to the rock to pray to God, and then he started drawing on paper the fields he had walked through that morning. He drew the layout of the land and the house that was on that parcel. He began to pray, and told God that the paper just wasn’t big enough for what he was trying to draw. He tried to draw smaller, but then just prayed again to God, telling Him, “I don’t understand why I am doing this, but I hope you can use this drawing of the land somehow.”

                Then, he looked up and saw a man getting out of his truck at the construction site below. This man had a large roll of big blue paper. It caught Robert’s attention. He told the Lord, “Well, if I had that big roll, boy! I could draw him the whole picture of the land!” This continued several days as he watched a crew plan the next site. Then, one morning, Robert walked down and began talking with the men on the construction site.  He told them he liked their large roll of paper and that he could really do some drawing with it. One of the men explained that the paper was called a blueprint and that it told them what to build. Robert was so excited. He had learned something about the paper, but he still didn’t know what it was.

                Ruby and Robert became very close, but Gerdie Printz, Robert’s own spiritual mother and mentor, still wasn’t sure they should be dating. It was time to introduce Ruby and Gerdie. This is when the rubber met the road. Mrs. Printz didn’t wait a minute. She began to ask Ruby questions right away.  “Ruby, why would you want to date Robert with the way he looks? Does it bother you?”  Ruby answered quickly, “It doesn’t bother me. I love him.”     “Well, if you marry him how are you going to live since he’s not working?” Mrs. Printz asked.  “Mrs. Printz,” Ruby responded, “I’m going to believe that God will provide for us, and we are going to put our faith and trust in Him.”   “Ruby, you have said the right words. I am still surprised, though. You are young, beautiful, and very smart, and yet you love Robert.”    “Yes, Mrs. Printz, I love him, and we will be together the rest of our lives,” Ruby once again responded.  “Well, I am going to help you both.” And Mrs. Printz kept her word and she did.

                

               A few weeks went by and Robert visited the construction site again, but this time the guys asked him, “Son, would you like to have a copy of that big roll of paper?” They were asking Robert about the blueprints.  His eyes got huge.  He was overjoyed when he got them, yet when he looked at them, disappointment flooded over him. The blueprints were already full of drawings. He still kept them, however.  He took them down to the rock with him, and he would start to draw on them and believe that he was the construction boss giving the orders to a crew of his own. He also continued to pray to God, just as he had been.

                Robert continued to date Ruby, and their relationship became very close. True love really blossomed. Their love for the Lord did, too.  Robert led Ruby’s parents to a deep understanding of who God was, and they, too, started serving God, as Robert became part of their family.

                Then, one morning, as Robert took his walk in the cornfield, he began to pray. “Lord, show me what I can do in life for myself. I love Ruby and I know you have given her to me to be my wife. I want to take care of her. I love her so much. I even take yarn and tie it on my finger as if it is my wedding ring. I am ready to get married. I know she’s ready to get married, and she loves me because she sings to me, ‘Jesus Loves You Don’t You Know’, and so do I.  God, if I only had a job.”  Before long, on another morning, he went back to the cornfield to pray again when a sudden peace came over him and God began to speak to him.  “Robert, I am going to bless you.” Robert looked around, yet he didn’t see anyone in the field.

                Later that same day, Mrs. Printz’ husband, Luther, came by to see Robert. He said, “Robert, I have a few hours a week I want to use to teach you a few things, and you can go to work with me some. This would help you get work later on.”  Robert could hardly believe what he was hearing. “I will pick you up Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. and will start you for just a few hours at a time.”  As his father used to do, Robert sealed it with a handshake, and he ran back to the rock in the cornfield.  He couldn’t wait to give thanks to his Heavenly Father for making this possible. He cried out to God, “I know this is from You, Lord, This is all from You. I am going to marry Ruby Jewell. I know You have a plan for me.”

                As Robert began to walk away, his bandages loosened and began to fall off. It was different than ever before. It was almost terrifying.  In the cornfield, he saw himself as the bandages fell off.  His skin was all rainbow-colored.  He wasn’t bleeding anymore. The skin had grown back miraculously on its own.  It wasn’t marred or scarred. It was all rainbows just like his hands were. He began walking home declaring scriptures. “By His stripes I am healed. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  When he got home, he told his mother what had happened and that he wasn’t wearing the bandages anymore. As she cried, she told him, “Robert, you are going to be all right.”

                Monday morning came and Luther Printz was there at 7:30 as he’d promised. When Robert got in Luther’s car, he was shocked. There were three rolls of blueprints in the back seat. Robert started crying. He couldn’t speak.  Luther asked, “Robert what’s wrong?” Are you alright?”  Robert couldn’t talk for five minutes.  He began, “Oh God, You are faithful. I know now what I was doing was all from You.”  He looked at Luther. Luther was scared white.  He began to explain to Luther what he had experienced in the cornfield with the blueprints.  Then he asked, “Are you going to teach me about blueprints?”Luther replied, “My boss, Gerdie Printz, told me that I was, and the Lord showed her I was supposed to.”  Such joy and peace came over Robert.  His new life was starting, just as he had prayed for. That evening, he went and picked up Ruby and they went walking through the cornfield to begin their new life with God. The corn was so tall, and the adventure stretched so high before them. Yet, Robert knew he was faithful, and that he always would be.