Obe couldn’t believe that this beautiful and busy place was his new home. Everywhere he looked, there were people working and crops growing and animals grazing. Obe had never seen so much life.
He was just starting to help his parents unload their things when Obe spotted a group of kids walking in the field next door. One of them said something that made another one laugh.
“Why don’t you go say hello, Obe? They look friendly,” His mom smiled.
Obe was so grateful he almost forgot to thank her as he sprinted off.
“HI! Hi, hey, hello!” He panted. “My name is Obe and we just moved here and I wanted to say hi. Hi.”
“Hi!” One of the girls said. “I’m Pennie, this is Jari, and Toll.”
“Welcome to Harvesta!” Jari said. “Want us to show you around?”
Obe did. They’d only gone a few steps when Obe heard a low rumbling and paused. “Is that thunder?”
The other kids listened. “Oh, that’s a cattle stampede,” Jari said.
“Must be a wolf pack bothering them.” Toll turned his head to hear better. “Sounds like the big ones, alright.”
“The big ones?” Obe asked. “Big wolves?”
“Oh, no, the cows are really big here. The wolves are just kinda mean and hungry but not that big.” Pennie tried to explain.
“They’re very well fed here,” Jari added. “The cows, not the wolves.”
Obe was trying to think through all this new (rather alarming) information when he heard Toll ask the others,”Should we go around the Sinking Sand here? Or right through it?”
At the words “Sinking Sand,” Obe stopped walking so abruptly that he fell over and landed in a clump of weeds. He felt himself blush but the others were busy talking and walking a little ahead. If he hurried, he could catch up before they noticed him on the ground.
Except something was holding him there.
Obe looked down and saw one of the weeds wrapped around his ankle. He tried to brush it off, but the weed stayed exactly where it was. Obe yanked the stubborn plant as hard as he could. It didn’t budge.
By now the other kids realized Obe wasn’t with them and turned around to see him taking deep breaths. (That’s what his dad told him to do when he felt like yelling or screaming or panicking in any way.)
“Obe? Are you okay?” asked Pennie.
“No, not really…I need to get back home before they unpack all of our stuff because we need to move again. I don’t think my parents knew about the giant stampeding cows, or wolves, or Sinking Sand. Also, are plants different here, too? Because there’s some kind of weed holding my foot and I canNOT pull it off. “ He breathed again.
The kids looked at him for a moment. They seemed confused.
“GUYS!” Jari cried. “He doesn’t know about the Always With You!”
“OOOOHHHH,” Toll and Pennie said.
“Can you imagine not having it?!” Jari asked.
Pennie shuddered. “That’d be terrifying.”
“Ah,” Obe winced. “My foot’s asleep.”
“Obe, that’s a Grip Weed,” Toll said. “ You need to open your Always With You.”
“My what?” Obe asked. He looked down to see a book that looked so old, it might have been around forever. “Where did that -“ he started to ask.
“I’d use the sword,” Jari interrupted.
Obe opened the book. “The sword?” He repeated. He reached again toward his tingling foot. But instead of seeing his fingers pulling at the weed, he saw a sword blade slice through the stem. Startled, he dropped the sword as the weed fell in a withered clump. The sword was gone a blink later.
Obe stared at the book, at his hand that had been holding a sword, at the clump that used to be a strong weed, and back to the book.
“Maybe we should explain a little more?” Pennie offered.
They walked and talked through field after field. Obe’s new friends told him about the dangerous things in Harvesta. Along with the Grip Weeds, the cow stampedes, hungry wolves, and Sinking Sand, there was also the weather that changed very quickly from heat to snow and back again, the Snatching Birds- not to mention all the work that went into farming.
They also told him how the Always With You was always stronger. Everyone had their own, and they never had to remember to bring it with them. It was always there. That if someone ever felt afraid, it was because they forgot they had their Always With You. But even if someone forgot about it, it was still there. And in it, everyone has anything they could ever need.
Obe tried to hear the hope in their words and not the danger. He still wasn’t certain he wanted to live here.
Pennie saw he was feeling unsteady. “Here, Obe. Look through here,” she handed him the Always With You. “What would make you feel brave right now?”
Obe flipped through the pages until he stopped at an image of stately, strong lion.
“A lion?” he wondered.
They all turned at the sound of heavy, padding footsteps. The lion was out of the page and walking alongside them. He kept his eyes on Obe without blinking.
“See?!” Toll laughed. “You have a lion with you! Why would you be afraid?”
Obe stared at the lion. His fear settled lower and lower until he didn’t feel it anymore. “That’s incredible!” He grinned at his friends. He looked back for the lion. “Where’d he go?”
“He’s still here, in the Always With You,” Pennie said. “The sword, the lion, everything in here- it’s always here. You can remember and see any of it whenever you want.”
Obe thought he was beginning to understand.
“Want to learn how to get over the Sinking Sand?” Jari asked.
Obe did.
They spent the rest of the day teaching Obe about the Always With You as they overcame each and every obstacle in their way.
Jari showed Obe the stones that rose to meet their feet in a smooth, flat path across the Sinking Sand.
Toll saw a snowstorm approaching and told everyone to get under their hens. Obe repeated, “A hen? Like a chicken?” And realized he was resting against a huge, soft chest that rose and fell in steady rhythm as the hen breathed. There was also a strong wing stretched over him like a blanket. It took a few hours for the snow storm to pass but Obe didn’t mind. It was the most refreshing, comfortable rest he had ever had.
After the snowstorm, the cattle began to stampede again and headed their way. Obe used a huge fortress from the Always With You. He looked over and saw Jari also had a fortress while Toll and Pennie were in towers. The cattle ran around their huge structures without slowing down. “If I was on the ground, I’d be too scared to move,” he thought. Fortunately, he wasn’t on the ground. He was in a massive stone fortress, high above the danger.
As the last of the cows moved away, Toll heard his sister calling for help planting seeds. “That must mean the Snatching Birds are in our field. Come on, Obe! You can use your shield!” he said. Obe was happy to help- it was his first official farm chore. He and Toll held their shields over the seeds to keep the birds away until the others had safely covered them with rich, dark soil.
It was very warm out again, so Jari used her Always With You for a huge rock cleft. “Best shade there is in this kind of heat,” she explained as she leaned against the rock.
As Obe rested with his new friends, Pennie asked. “So what do you think? You’re not going to ask your parents if you can leave Harvesta, will you?”
Obe jolted up. “My parents!” He yelped. “I need to get home! They have to hear about the Always With You!”
He thanked his friends for everything they had shared with him that day as he started running home.
“Oh, and Obe! If you see those wolves, there’s a warrior who’s very helpful if you need him!” Jari called after him.
“Don’t leave behind Your Always With You!” Pennie joked, which made everyone laugh. (You can’t leave it behind- it’s always with you.)
Obe was getting closer to his new house and saw parents on the porch, watching for him. They looked worried.
Obe ran even faster, he was in such a rush to tell his parents everything. They would never have to worry again.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God Ephesians 6:17
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…“ Revelation 5:5
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7:24-27
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psalm 62:2
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10
Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20
But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. Psalm 94:22
But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me… Jeremiah 20:11a
Obe: God’s Worker (Hebrew)
Jari, short for Jarina: Farmer (Greek)
Pennie: Silent Worker(Greek)
Toll, short for Tollie: Trustful (Hebrew)