The Good in Every Situation: C.C. Baxter

What is one situation or experience in your life where circumstances looked bleak, but God pulled you through?

Cougette Baxter, "House Queen"
Fruitport, MI

"Did you know that angels have slumber parties? I know this is true because I’ve been to one.

I had to take a trip recently that reminded me of how much fun that camping isn’t! It was a trek up north to be with my parents. My mother was gaining her strength back from heart surgery and my father was having 18” of cancerous colon removed.

My brother, who lives a few miles from them, graciously erected a tent in his front yard, next to his mobile home, for my children and I to sleep in. All the modern conveniences of the mobile home plus the outdoor freshness makes sleeping so pleasant. It was the ideal set up.

Four of my younger children — ages 10,8, 7, and 5 — were sleeping in the tent with me. I think the tent was designed for four adults. I can’t verify “allowable body mass.” It did give that fitted feeling like an unwashed pair of new blue jeans. The sleeping bag had the feeling of laying on a bag of squeaky gelatin.

I’m sure of one thing: October in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan can get cool. Frosty cool, as in 32 degrees of nice, nippy cool in the mornings. Thankfully, our five bodies produced enough heat to feel cozy warm like a cub tucked next to a mother bear for the winter.

Speaking of bears, my brother said he’d seen bear tracks in his backyard. Okay, I know no one has ever been mauled by a bear track. But bear tracks mean bears.

Great! Not only did I have to worry about my parents’ health, but also a bear rummaging through my tent looking for juicy morsels of toes, fingers, and leg bones to eat. Mine!

I tried to shut those thoughts out of my head as the children and I were settling in for the night. We’d had a nice drive up during the day, and arrived in time for the delicious supper my brother prepared for us. We were able to visit with my mother, and my father had come through his surgery successfully.

I was feeling mellow and drifting off into that twilight stage of sleep when I had this little, tiny thought...the compost pile!

I sat up with a bolt and proceeded to hyperventilate. I recalled my brother dumping all the scraps from that delicious supper out to the compost pile which was in the woods at th edge of the yard. The tent happened to be 30 feet from the edge of the yard, in the path that a bear might want to take to get to the compost pile.

Do you have any idea how much bears love compost? I do! I really didn’t want a bear mad at me because I ate the good part of the meal and let him only the scraps.

Needless to say, I had gotten myself pretty worked up over the thought of a bear wanting to have me for supper while I was minding my own business trying to get some much needed sleep.
The children were dozing quietly and I didn’t want to disturb them so I tried to lay as quietly as possible while my mind was spinning in circles trying to think of ways to defend myself against hungry bears.

I didn’t think it was right to wake my brother to try rearranging places for us to sleep on his living room floor. I did consider dragging all the sleeping bags and blankets into the minivan for the night until I remembered a story I had heard about a bear that ripped the door open on a vehicle in Yellowstone, so I decided that would not be much help. Besides, I would never be able to drive home with a door missing.

Then I got this great idea! The neighbor’s dog, Sam, was always over in my brother’s yard. Especially during our cookouts. I could call her over and she could sleep in the tent with us for the night! I got my courage up and started calling for Sam in a loud whisper. No response. I decided that maybe a whistle would work a bit better. After a few attempts I heard the familiar rattle of a chain hitting the side of a doghouse and decided that Sam was stuck for the night in her own yard.

As I rolled over to find a more comfortable position on my overcrowded bag, I heard the slight jingle of car keys in my pocket.

Why didn’t I think of it before? I could get my pistol. I always took my .38 Taurus with me on long trips, which I carried in the center console of my van. But as I struggled with the tent’s zipper in the dark, I recalled that in my haste to leave town for my father’s surgery that I’d forgotten to pack my gun!

I decided I would hit the alarm button on my remote and make the horn honk to scare any bears away.

I wrestled my way back into the sleeping bag and tucked the blanket around me.

The warmth of the coverings was starting to slowly overpower my shivering. As my eyes were drawn upward to the shadows the moon was casting on the roof of the tent, my heart was drawn upwards to the Creator of the moon and bears. Since God made the bears, I knew He could keep them away from my tent. I immediately asked God to send some angels to stand guard around the tent to keep us safe from bears.

The calm in my spirit was more than my exhausted body could fight, and I drifted off to sleep.
Morning came with a jolt of cool air biting my cheeks. Slowly I gazed around at the tent. No missing door, no ripped out walls, and all bodies present and accounted for.

I quietly moved indoors for a hot cup of morning coffee while I let the children continue to sleep. As is my normal routine I pulled out my Bible for my daily time of scripture reading. This particular morning my reading was from the book of Psalms. My heart began to tingle as I read, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.”

I realized I’d done all that fretting for no reason at all… the angels were having a slumber party at my campsite!

My father came over early that morning and walked out behind my brother’s home to greet the guys that were laying blocks for the basement to the new home my brother is building. Shortly afterwards my dad came to the door and called me out to see the fresh bear tracks! No kidding!

A few days later for my devotions I read that verse in Psalms and I realized how God really was taking care of me! That was Oct. 1, 2006.

Of course, this was two months into our battle with Child Protective Services. My hubby called and said he was coming up to get the kids so he could take them to the doctor for a “visual inspection” to prove there were no “bruises” on them that we were accused of. He took all the kids home and “hid” them at a friend’s house.

Then Larry called and told me CPS was demanding I come back to Muskegon so they could start an “in-home” program that we were refusing. But I packed up and headed for home on Oct. 10.
I got up early and couldn’t get back to sleep so I decided to pull out early because I had an 8 hour drive ahead of me and I was so anxious to get home. I told my brother goodbye and took off for home.

God gave me a real peace about leaving my parents. Thankfully, their health was stable and improving.

On my drive home, I had 8 hours of fellowship with the Lord. I prayed and cried and prayed and cried. I really needed courage to get back in the battle with CPS. I had just spent three weeks of intensive study about all the CPS info I could find so we could figure out what to do. I had attended my mom’s church and the day before, the Pastor’s son had given me a CD of music.

One song in particular, “Someone is praying for you,” encouraged my heart so much. I listened to it about 10 times, crying each time and finally a wonderful peace flooded over me that I could put my trust in the Lord. He was in control! Even if my kids were taken from me, God was still in control and I determined to put my trust in Him.

I arrived home around 3:30 p.m. to an empty house. When I carried my luggage in the bedroom and laid on the bed, I noticed the answering machine was blinking with a message. I listened to it and it was my sister asking me if I had gotten the message about “Steve.” Her ex-husband’s name is Steve and I thought something happened to him. I called her immediately and she told me that no, it wasn’t “her” Steve, it was “our” Steve. My oldest brother Steve had died from a massive heart attack at 3 a.m.

I could hardly digest that. I sat at the table and cried so hard I thought my heart would burst. I told God I could not go on. No more! I begged him to help me and slowly I felt grace at its sweetest! Those gentle reminders of angels round about me! Now they were camping in my kitchen!

A few days later I realized how sweetly God woke me up at 6:30 a.m. that morning so I could get on the road before my brother got the bad news at 7 a.m. I could not have driven 8 hours with that news on my heart. Instead, God was strengthening my spirit for 8 hours to face another battle.

Isn’t that just like our God?"