God sent them

I learned something new today.

I learned about Hutterites.  At first, I thought it was just another crazy story I have to tell, and from a certain point of view, maybe it is.  Given how it started, I thought so too.  But some research and with the aid of google maps, I have a better understanding of the folks I met today.

Our story starts on a rural stretch of road near Turner, Montana.  This is a two lane highway, and yours truly is going 70 mph down it with his mom riding shotgun when this woman runs across the road.  She has another woman "in tow" if you will, and the only way I can miss running them over is to slow down.  The second woman hesitated, then decided to cross the road.  As I flew by at about 40, I noticed the one woman had her thumb out.  I waved and so did my mom as we passed them.

I'm thinking I shouldn't pick them up, but made it just a few hundred feet down the road when I changed my mind and backed up.

I asked them if they needed something.  Like I can do something, by myself, with my mom, in the freaking middle of nowhere, and with no cell service.  I was asked if I could give the second woman a ride to the next town.  I agreed, and the two women jump into the car so we can go up to her mom's house to get her stuff.

As we pull up the dirt road, the first thing that catches my attention is a well-groomed and fairly populated small cemetery.  I'm thinking something is a little weird here.  But then, we're talking about me so weird is just a day that ends with "Y".

Next up, the mom comes out and one of the women says to the mother, "God sent them". and explained that we were going to take the young woman all the way to Havre, Mt.  She gets her stuff, which is more than just her purse, and off we go.  During the conversation the women are having, I notice they speak with an accent and the dialect changes from English to another language.  The word 'colony' is used.

OK, I'm into something here that's kinda creepy to me.  But we have a nice talk with the woman and get her to where she's going.  It was just one of those funny things that happens.

At first, I'm thinking Amish.  But she said to us a couple of times that she "left the colony".  I know Amish frown on that.  She went back and left her daughter with grandma for the summer.  I'm still not fully understanding what's just happened here, but at the end of our time together, the woman asks if we would like her phone number and tells us that we can stop at the colony any time.  I declined the offer of the phone number.  I have enough problems.

So the thing turns out to be not as weird as I thought it was.  She's from the Hutterite colony in Turner, Mt.  I have now been to the Hutterite colony there.  I listened intently to this young woman's story.  She's married.  She and her husband have a hardscrabble life.  They work when and where they can find work.  She takes care of her daughter.  They move a lot.

I know that story.

And now, I'm fascinated because I came back to the hotel and did some investigation.  The Hutterites are anabaptists.  They have colonies throughout the plains in the US and Canada.  They live in colonies in communal living.  They are pretty good at doing that.  From what I read online about them, they're quite the farmers.  They don't shun technology as do the Amish.  That explains why the woman had a cell phone. 

Hers didn't work much better than mine, though.  We drove her to Havre where she met a friend who was to take her to where she lives and works.  She works at a coffee shop these days.

I got thinking about this tonight.  God did send us.  We had to be there at the right place at the right time.  When you're willing and available, all kinds of things happen.  Like being a blessing to a young woman who needed a ride home so she could get back to work on Monday.

Now that I understand just what was going on, I'm a lot less creeped out by it.  The whole thing was kinda creepy at first, but now, not so much. Now I kinda wished I'd taken her up on her offer of staying in touch.  One of the last things she said to us was that maybe we'd run into each other again.  It might not be this side of glory, but I kind of have a funny feeling that maybe we will.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

And part two....

At least I can laugh about it!

not that guy today!