Cedars, October 2020

Fall 2020 10 By Abigail Hintz “For we are fallen like the trees, our peace Broken, and so we must Love where we cannot trust, Trust where we cannot know, And must await the wayward-coming grace.” “A Gracious Sabbath Stood Here,” by Wendell Berry T rees are overlooked. They’re taken for granted. They’re mourn- ed when they fall but not thanked while they stand. On Easter Sunday, Laini Bergthold learned the importance of trees. Early in the morning, she sat on her back porch. She read Psalm 40, reminded of the God who helps her and delivers her from the pit of destruction. She took in the beauty of the trees and her new and long-awaited property. She took a video in the quiet moment of bliss. “It was so worshipful to me to just be sitting there on our back porch admiring the landscape and reading this psalm,” she said. “The Lord just really ministered to me through that.” Twenty-four hours later there would be no porch, or trees, or landscape. The beauty would be gone. “We knew there was going to be some severe weather. Everyone was pretty calm about that, nobody really thought much of it,” Bergthold said. Nevertheless, hermomaskedher extended family topray, because in Chattanooga, Tennessee, severe weather can be unpredictable. However, the night proceeded as normal. Bergthold’s 14-year-old brother was in his room. Her 13-year-old sister slept soundly in her room. Bergthold and her mother watched “La La Land,” one of the many movies they enjoyed over quarantine. They were simply living in the house they had been building among the trees for the past three years. “Quarantine was a really consolidated time that we got to spend together just enjoying the space, enjoying the land. It was really sweet,” said Bergthold, who initially struggled being sent home from Cedarville to quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many students, Bergthold grieved the loss of what seems to be one of the few semesters in college. With such an abrupt goodbye, the transition home felt disjointed and disheartening. Not only that, but her family was strict about quarantine, so she was completely isolated from everyone but them. “I loved my home, loved my family,” said Bergthold. “I knew that I had it better than most people. At the same time, I was so struggling with everything that I was missing and just feeling like college was going by really, really fast.” But on Easter Sunday, the Bergtholds’ definition of home changed fiercely. Late that night, the weather radio in the closet began to blare, warning the family to take shelter immediately. A tornado had PLAYLISTS, PORCHES AND TREES: Bergthold Finds Hope Amid Tornado Wreckage Photo courtesy of Laini Bergthold The Bergthold’s newly built property was demolished by a tornado on Easter Sunday. Now, they are staying in a rental for an indefinite waiting period.