We sold the Ford Econoline van with the bakery delivery business and our old Chevy that was on its last leg. We then purchased an old Rambler to drive to Michigan. Dale said the only good thing about that car was that it had reclining seats that became useful for sleeping in the car a couple of nights. We did have a few friends along the way, however, who kindly gave us a much-appreciated bed.
We took some side trips on the way to Michigan, visiting Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. In Yellowstone the boys were delighted when bears came close to check us out while we sat in the safety of our car. After watching Old Faithful, we left for Mt. Rushmore, choosing a road that seemed to be a little closer to our next destination. We did not realize it was a very desolate road. Driving down this lonely road our car started having trouble, and we were not sure why, but it did not sound good. Dale pulled over at a wide spot at the side of the road and started inspecting to find the problem. I took the boys and went up away from the road and was praying for safety and that the car would start again soon. It was getting dark and I didn’t want to spend the night on this isolated road. One car passed us that was full of hippies. Those people looked like we did not want them to stop and help us. “Lord,” I prayed, “Please send someone who will not harm us and who can help us.
In a few minutes a man in a pickup stopped to see if he could lend a hand. I think all he did was give us some water for the radiator, which seemed to be the help we needed. Then he said, “You need to get out of this area as soon as possible. This is a very dangerous road, and you do not want to be here by yourselves at night. Many terrible things have happened on this road. You need to get going as quickly as possible” We thanked him and God and continued without further trouble.
When we arrived at Andrews University, it was the middle of the night in August and very hot and humid. Somehow, the four of us slept, or I should say tried to sleep, in the car. When we woke up the next morning it was so humid it looked like California fog except this was hot fog! We could only see a short distance because the humidity was so thick. I felt oppressed and depressed.
We were able to move into our apartment, Garland F-4, that day, and our few personal goods we had shipped on the Southern California Conference van arrived that afternoon. Dale registered for his classes and found work cleaning the halls and laundry room of our sixteen-unit apartment build ing. Even with both of us working, it was not meeting our financial needs. Dale added the job of working nights at the front desk at the YMCA in Benton Harbor. To this duty he added the janitor work. We were now staying afloat financially, but Dale was working excessively.
I was working as a cashier in the university book store in the afternoons when Dale was out of classes. Bruce was now in first grade, but Mike was not in school and we needed to be with him. One day Mike brought in a baby blue jay that we fed for a couple of days. When its wings became stronger we put it back outside and were amazed to see the parent birds accept it back into the family and continue to feed it, reminding us of the father’s acceptance of the prodigal son back into the family.
One of the first Sundays we were there we drove around to find some blueberries. We all loved blueberries and we had talked about how much fun it would be to live where they grew. We never forgot what Bruce did when he was just two years old. I was shopping. Dale was home with Bruce, and they were making Jell-0. Dale had just opened a can of blueberries they were going to add to the Jell-0 when he got a business phone call. When he got off the phone, the can was empty. Bruce had eaten the whole can of blueberries! Now we wanted to pick enough so we could all have our fill!
How strange, we thought, to find a place that said, “You pick, weigh and pay, or leave half for us.” There was an open gallon jar on the table with money in it and no person around. We picked, weighed, paid, and were pleased! We enjoyed the many kinds of fruit that grew in this area and rented a freezer locker in town to save some food for winter. I did not want to be in a situation again of not having anything to eat if times got hard.
Lake Michigan was a fun place for swimming and picnics in the summer. But, in winter it was cold! One Sabbath on our way home from church we stopped to watch the lake as it was freezing. The temperature was below zero. A wave would splash up on the shore and freeze immediately. Then another wave would splash on top of that one and the bubbles would just stop as they froze. It was fascinating to watch from the warmth of the car.
Dale was assigned as the associate pastor of a little church in Chikaming, about twenty miles from Andrews University. We attended weekly and Dale preached frequently. I helped in the children’s department and assisted the teachers in developing a program that would make Sabbath school more interesting for the children. This group created a different challenge from the one I had in Napa with sixty two-four year olds. Here in Michigan we had eight to ten children ages one year to nine years. The local ladies appreciated the material I helped them make when they came to our apartment one evening for a workshop.
Just before we left PUC I signed up with a direct sales company to become a distributor for Magic Wand, a pre-spot laundry stain remover. This little yellow stick did seem to work like “magic”. It would remove ballpoint ink, blood, grass stains, coffee, lipstick, grease, and many other hard-to remove stains. I demonstrated this at the front door using one of Dale’s old white shirts, marking it with ballpoint ink while the lady of the house watched. Then I would swipe it with the Magic Wand stick and ask if I could rinse out the ink in the bathroom sink. I always was invited into the home. I had a goal of selling five, $3.00 boxes a day. I purchased the boxes for seventy-five cents, and this allowed me to earn more money than I was making at the bookstore and still be home when Mike, who was now in kindergarten, came home. Somehow we had paid for a large order, so when I went home with $15.00 I was thankful.
One day I was bundled up in long johns, lined wool pants, boots to my knees, many layers of sweaters, a coat, a big furry cap, and fur-lined gloves. Yes, it was cold in the foot-deep snow and near-zero temperature, but I felt invigorated and challenged facing the softly falling snow. I think people purchased that day because they felt sorry for me! I was actually having fun, though- at least for a short while. We had never lived where it snowed this much, and I was enjoying this new experience.
Bruce’s birthday is in May and for his eighth birthday we invited several of his classmates for a picnic in the campus park. Either Dale was in class or working, as it seemed he always was, so I was alone with eight lively boys. I was putting lunch on the table as they were arriving and when they were all there, they instantly ran off down to the river. I called for them to stop and come back but they totally ignored me. I began running after them down the densely wooded trail. Even though I was running as fast as I could, I could not catch them. They just kept going. I was now yelling at them to stop and return. The trail led to a rushing river and there were snakes in this area. I was becoming frightened as I was calling and running, and they were not answering. Bruce and Mike would never have done this by themselves. As a rule, they were well behaved and minded quickly. Now with these boys they too, totally ignored me. I had visions of them becoming so careless one of them would fall in the river, get bitten by a snake, hurt in some way, or even lost. There were many trails, and I was not even sure I was following them on the right trail. Finally, I was close enough to them to insist they return to the park with me, which they did.
The meetings for future pastors’ wives at Andrews were not much more encouraging than the ones at PUC. There was instruction that we must never run, it was not lady-like. Lessons on how to get in and out of a car were demonstrated. We must open the door, or better yet, our husband must open the door for us. We were then to back to the seat, sit down, and then tum forward lifting our legs at the same time to bring them inside the car. We must never sit with our legs crossed. We also heard some of the same admonishments as we had heard at PUC, again stating that the pastor’s wife should not be employed outside of the home. This was beginning to seem ridiculous to me. Most of the pastors’ wives that I knew were employed outside of the home.
I was at one of these meetings one night, and Dale was home with the boys. Bruce and Mike were playing on the floor in our bedroom when Dale called them to put their toys away and come to the living room for worship. This was a time when we read them the Sabbath school lesson and some Bible stories and often some general stories. We always ended with prayer where we all prayed. The boys immediately obeyed and when they were all seated on the couch in the living room they heard the horrible, crashing noise of breaking glass. The big plate glass mirror above the dresser fell from the wall and crashed to the floor, shattering into many pieces, right where they had been playing moments before! How thankful we were they had learned to obey quickly. They had just finished cleaning up the glass and were back on the couch when I came home.
While we were at Andrews my sister Edie’s baby died of sudden instant death syndrome. I flew to California for the sad funeral. Dale managed with the boys while I was gone, even cooking up some kind of “green glob,” they called it, out of wheat, split peas, rice and lentils. They had eaten this for several meals, I was told. When I got home and saw it, I could not even taste it, although it probably was nutritious. They all said they were glad to have me home to do the cooking!
During the last several weeks of Dale’s schooling, he was assigned to help with a series of evangelistic meetings in Columbus, Ohio. We had to vacate our apartment early because our personal effects had to be loaded on the Southern California Conference van which had arrived early. Since we now had no place to stay, the boys and I accompanied Dale on this assignment. We stayed in an unfurnished house, except for beds, a table, and a few folding chairs.. Our family had the upstairs, and there were five or six men in the basement who were also on this assignment. We agreed that I would prepare dinner each evening for the entire group, and they would help with the grocery money.
When we were in Columbus Bruce and Mike began begging for a kitten, as pets had not been allowed at Andrews. We found two adorable kittens that help ed occupy their time. Mike’s kitten disappeared one night, but we still had Bruce’s Samantha that would travel with us to California.
At the end of the evangelistic series, we returned to Andrews for Dale’s graduation, stayed one night in a dorm guest room, and the next morning started our trip to Santa Monica, California, where Dale would become the associate pastor.
My Cup Overflows. Copyright © 2009 by Carolyn Ratzlaff. All Scripture quotations—except where otherwise noted—are from The New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1994 by the Lockman Foundation, used by permission. All rights reserved. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.
Carolyn has always been a positive person enjoying life and outdoor activities such as hiking and gardening, and she and her husband currently raise a good portion of their own food in small grow boxes. She also reads many health journals and is often surprised at the contrast between what was taught through the writings of Ellen White on forbidden items of diet and health, and the beneficial evidence of these same items which is supported by a plethora of scientific studies.
She and her husband Dale Ratzlaff have two married sons and four grandchildren.
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