I noticed the happy frog on her blue ball cap first, along with the letters F.R.O.G. Fully Rely On God.
I smiled. It was a fitting message for someone who spent her childhood on a farm before living 70 years as a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur. Her years on the family farm left an indelible mark. The wind, the sun, the tiny green shoots emerging from the ground in spring are all woven into the fabric of her very being.
Sister Betty Ann Zengel, SNDdeN and I walked the grounds of the Mt. Notre Dame Health Center and Julie Hall. We visited the gardens she had been tending for years, discussing the potential of volunteers helping to maintain them.
“My father raised horses,” she said one day. My ears perked up, and I leaned in to catch every word. Over the course of 4 years, we bonded over our shared love of nature, but this was the first time I heard about her father and horses.
“We had 10 acres,” she continued. “When my father got older, all he wanted to do was sit by the window and watch the horses and the people who came to ride them before buying.” The family farm was long gone, but the memories of it remained.
“Would you like to go to a horse farm and see horses?” I asked. She didn’t have to answer with words. Her face said it all.
Days later, I scrolled through Google looking for a horse farm. My first call was to Cincinnati Therapeutic Riding and Horsemanship. I explained the situation, and the Director, Jenny Evans, was happy to oblige. She only needed some information first.
“What is her name?”
“Sister Betty Ann Zengel,” I replied. There was a pause.
“Did you say Zengel?”
“Yes.”
“Is her family from Centerville?”
“She grew up in Centerville.” Another pause.
“You are never going to believe this. I bought my first horse from her father. I have a picture of me and my horse taken in front of her father’s barn on the day I bought her in 1974. I just had it professionally touched up and framed a few months ago.”
Here God goes again, showing up in the most unlikely and undeniable ways. God is so good, I thought. I’m always delighted and deeply humbled by the gift of witnessing what I call “God Things”. It’s happened more than a handful of times over the five years I’ve spent working for and with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
After stopping for ice cream, Sister Betty Ann and I arrived at the farm on a crisp and colorful fall day two weeks later. She didn’t know about the connection, or that two of her brothers and a sister-in-law were waiting to surprise her. When they were all settled, a miniature horse accompanied by a volunteer joined them as Jenny shared her childhood memories of her time at the Zengel’s farm.
“I would go every month and knock on the door at your house on Alex-Bell and pay your dad the five dollars to rent her,” Jenny began. They went on to chat about horses, the farm, and the wonderful legacy the family left for so many people.
Following a tour of the barn, we ventured outside to a fenced pasture. When Jenny called, several of the horses wasted no time in coming to meet their special visitors.
An hour later, with Jenny and the horses in my rearview mirror, the farm faded out of sight as I drove slowly down the dirt road. Sr. Betty Ann was silent. I was too. The richness of the experience needed no words.
The sun was sinking in the sky, casting rays through darkening trees as we made our way back to her home.
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“What are you thinking?” I eventually asked. She had been lost in thought.
“I’m thinking about how they take such good care of their horses.”
Her answer surprised me. I thought she would talk about the unexpected connection the farm had to her family and the past. In retrospect, her answer made perfect sense.
The mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur is making known God’s goodness. For a Sister who has lived this mission for over 70 years, how fitting it was for her to notice and comment on the goodness of the devoted staff and volunteers. Perhaps a lifetime of making known God’s goodness lends itself to seeing such goodness everywhere. What a lovely way to live.
How good is the good God!