Falling trees is an art, and any good man can drop one wherever he wants by making specific cuts, if he knows what he's doing. Any logger will tell you that the biggest headache he has is the wind. It will blow the trees down where you don't want them to go, and frequently pinch your saw in the cut you were making, causing you to have to get a fellow sawyer to cut it out for you. For this reason, most sawyers won't go to work on a windy day.

      One particular day, while I was cutting tops, the wind had been gusting rather badly, always from the same direction. I had come upon a large standing oak which the loggers had left when they passed through. The trouble was, it stood among a group of trees which had not been marked for cutting, and the wind threatened to blow it against them, rather than letting it fall where I planned to drop it.

      I guaged the wind, and decided to time my cuts so that I could make the final one between wind gusts, allowing the tree to fall properly. I made the cuts, then, when a gust died down, I began the final one. As I did so, another gust of wind came by, causing the oak to lay back into the limbs of the other trees, and pinching my chainsaw in the process. No matter how I tried, I couldn't move the saw at all. I looked across the way to where the other men were working, but I was just too tired to work my way through the underbrush to get help. Then a thought came to me..."wait a minute, either I believe this thing, or I don't." I sat down on a stump, looked at that tree, and said, "God I need my saw." I made up my mind that if it was necessary I would sit there until quitting time.

      Lo and behold, after a few short minutes, that wind, which had been gusting in the same direction all day long, did a 180, lifted that tree up off my saw, and dropped it exactly where I had meant it to fall. I said, "Thank you Lord", picked up my saw, and went about my business. Of course, it wasn't long before doubtful little thoughts began to suggest that that wind had to change direction sooner or later, and it was just coincidence that it had reversed itself at that particular time.

      A couple of days later I went to work on a hot, sultry Louisianna day. There was no air movement at all... not even enough to make a dangling dead leaf wiggle. I came upon a nice, tall pine tree that the loggers had missed. I checked it out, decided where my cuts would have to be made to drop it in an available clearing, and made the first cut. Then I moved to the backside of the tree and began the final cut. Instead of falling where I had planned, the tree promptly set back on my saw, wedging it tight. Remembering my previous experience, I sat down on a log and said again, "Lord, I need my saw".

      For a long time I watched the tree, determined that I was not going to move if it took all day. As I stared at the tree, it seemed that my eyes were playing tricks on me--making me see movement where there was none. I rubbed my eyes, then walked over to the tree and leaned down where I could sight along the chain bar at where it was pinched. To my absolute amazement, that crack was slowly, almost undetectably, opening. As I stood there in awe, that tree raised up from a backward lean, released my saw and fell to the ground exactly where I had planned to drop it.

      This time those little thoughts of doubt had no chance. There had been no air movement at all, yet that tree rose up from a backward lean and fell forward. "My God", I thought, "you are something else!... I have seen a miracle!" And as I pondered on it, shaking my head in wonder, I asked, "Lord, why would you drop trees for a lazy sawyer?" In a still, small voice, the answer came: "If I will do this for you, how much more will I do for my people who need me?"

      God had used a tiny miracle to show me that his power is not only alive and in use, but available to anyone who has need of it... yes, even to miracles. To a lot of people, the falling of trees by divine might may not be classified as a miracle, but to me, being there on the spot and knowing the circumstances... it was a miracle! And we had more of them during that time of total dedication to his work, whenever we had need. I am always reminded of the following scripture...