YHWH (Yud - Hey - Vav - Hey) - He Is,
      The Eternal, Self-Existent God

When I heard the WORD!
by David E. Koopman

The Welsh Folk Tune David Of The White Rock Is Playing.
Lyrics


It was Thanksgiving day in 1954 when I first heard the Word. I was seven years old and I was having an adventure. My family had taken a Holiday trip and driven all the way from St. Paul Minnesota to visit my Dad's sister who lived in South Dakota. My Aunt, my Uncle, their Son and my Grand Mother all lived together on an old country farm. I loved that farm, with all it's animals and the freedom to explore and play.

I remember when my Aunt called us in for the Thanksgiving meal, how wonderful all that good food smelled as I walked in the door. We all gathered around the table, took our places, and sat down. My Aunt turned to us and said who would like to say Grace? She then turned to me and said how about you David? I think your old enough. With that every one folded their hands bowed their heads and waited. I'm not stupid but I had never heard the word Grace used to mean prayer before. I knew the words to a table prayer but thinking this must be some new short way to pray I said "GRACE"! After every one laughed they saw I really didn't understand what the word meant. After they explained I said the prayer and we all finally got to eat. There is nothing like food produced on a farm and there was plenty of it.

After the meal the men went to the living room to visit and the women and children went to the kitchen to put the food away, wash the dishes and clean up.

The 1950's have been called the "Good Old Days". We some times forget that the "Good Old Days" often weren't as good as we would like to remember. The farm my Aunt lived on was not modern. There was no in door plumbing. The toilet was a three holer out back of the farm house and the only running water came from a windmill in the side yard between the house and barn. The farm did have electricity however.

My Aunt needed some water to wash the dishes so she picked up a bucket and went out to the windmill to get some. I followed her to see if I could help carry the bucket.

Windmill

This windmill had been modified by removing the wind driven water pump and replacing it with an electrical pump. An electrical cord went from the pump to an electrical outlet attached to a horizontal "L" shaped brace between the legs of the windmill set about head high to my Aunt. You plugged the electrical cord into the outlet to start the pump and unplugged it to stop it.

My Aunt hung the bucket from the water pump spigot plugged the cord into the outlet and started the pump. I told her that I could carry the bucket back to the house when it was full so she thanked me and went back to help the other women.

When the bucket was full I reached up to unplug the cord but the outlet was just out of my reach. I had to pull on the cord to unplug it.

Underneath the bucket was a wooden troth half full of dirty water about waist high to me. I had to lean over the troth a little in order to lift the bucket off the spigot. When I did I dropped the bucket into the troth splashing water all over myself. I was completely soaked.

My younger sister had tagged along behind me. When she saw that I had dropped the bucket into the troth she said you can't bring a bucket of dirty water into the house. I knew I couldn't either so I emptied out what water was left in the bucket and hung it back on the spigot. I thought I'll just pump some more water and be more careful next time.

I reached up to plug the cord into the outlet but I still couldn't reach it. I noticed a ladder running up the side of the windmill and it crossed the L shaped brace that had the outlet on it. That was how I was going to plug in the cord. I'd climb the ladder holding on to the cord with my left hand as I stretched out on my left side along the "L" shaped brace and holding on to the "L" shaped brace with my right hand I would reach over with my left and plug in the cord.

No sooner said then done. Unfortunately when I plugged the cord into the outlet my little finger on my left hand must have touched one of the prongs on the plug because electricity immediately began to flow through my body. I was wet and in full contact with the grounded metal windmill.

Don't let any one tell you electricity doesn't hurt. It felt like a giant had grabbed me and was squeezing the life out of me. I couldn't release my hold on the windmill and I knew I was going to die.

I yelled for my sister to run to the house and tell them I was being electrocuted. She took off on a run and in a panic I started praying.

I had no sooner asked for Gods help when the words formed in my mind with calm assurance "Throw your right leg out behind you and gravity will pull you free". I did so and was surprised to see that my right leg was the only part of my body I could move.

I hit the ground with a thud and ran for the house as fast as I could. My sister had barely beaten me to the house. As I came in the door I could hear her in the kitchen telling my Aunt I was being electrocuted. They didn't even have time to panic before I was standing before them telling what had happened.

The electricity had burned my left little finger to the bone but other than that I hadn't received any serious injury. I was still alive.

The adults made me lie down with my feet up, covered me with a blanket and gave me some aspirin for the pain. To this day I have a nasty scar on that finger and it gets cold more quickly in the winter then my other fingers.

God saved my life then and he has saved my life many times through out my life since then. Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow!

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.



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