A family divided by death and war reunites thru flax. Learn about the healing properties of flax and how it may improve health.

February 15, 2006 -- Stephanie Stober never knew her father, a flax farmer in North Dakota, who died from a heart attack fifty years ago while Stephanie was still in her mother’s womb. Shortly thereafter Stephanie, her mother, and her seven brothers and sisters were moved off the farm by her uncle. Disguised as “in their best interest,” they were moved into town and left to struggle for themselves while the uncle and his wife became wealthy farmers.

During the fifties, living in a shanty without running water, Stephanie’s mother, Eileen Sonju, had to be strong. The petite woman, only 4’ 11” tall, carried fresh water for five blocks to her eight children. “When things get tough, I think of mom,” said Stephanie. “No matter how dark and gloomy things became, she was always a ray of sunshine and hope.”

Eileen struggled to keep the family together. “My mother had to find creative ways to earn a living,” said Stephanie. “I remember her baking bread and cakes, butchering chickens, peddling cosmetics and doing whatever she could to support the family.”

As a child, Stephanie would ask her brothers and sisters to tell her about their father. “Daddy was a happy man,” recalls sister, Dorothy. “He would tell me stories as we walked through the farm fields. In harvest time, he would carry me on his shoulders so I could see beyond the Flax.”

A few years later, Stephanie’s mother remarried and moved the family to Minnesota. “It was like we were moving away from The Promised Land,” said Stephanie, “and like Naomi from the Old Testament book of Ruth, our family faced one catastrophe and trial after another.”

During the Vietnam War, her 21 year-old brother Andy was drafted. While stationed in Germany, struggling with anxiety and depression, Andy committed suicide. As a teenager, Stephanie remembers the service men bearing the news of Andy’s death.

“Instead of becoming bitter — my mom became better,” said Stephanie. “She reached beyond herself and picked up her guitar. Sitting on the window sill, she worshiped God singing, ‘How Great Thou Art.’ I didn’t know God back then, but I witnessed a miracle.”

Years later, Stephanie and her family moved back to North Dakota, onto a farm that has been in her husband’s family for five generations. They are growing and distributing Flax seed for the family business, Flax USA.

“It’s not the same Flax that my father grew,” said Stephanie. “We grow Omega Golden Flax Seed, originally created by South Dakota & North Dakota State Universities to yield higher levels of Omega-3 oil, protein, and fiber.”

Flax seed, quickly becoming a staple in health-conscious households, is being used to help reduce cholesterol, fight cancer and control blood glucose levels.

“Returning to life on the farm and being involved with flax is restoring our family,” said Dorothy. “It’s like the scripture in the bible from Joel where God will restore all that the locusts have eaten.”

The bright blue fields of flax where her father would walk with her sister Dorothy are now fields of flax that are a source of income and stability for her today.

Over the years, Stephanie’s brothers and sisters were scattered in other states and countries. But now, the family has been reunited with nearly all of Stephanie’s brothers and sisters involved in the family business. “Flax, the product that my father once farmed 50 years ago, is now the sustaining force in our family,” said Stephanie.

In December 2005, Stephanie’s mother passed away. Standing at the grave site, next to the casket, the sky was filled with clouds and grey with despair. Stephanie prayed for the sun to shine. Reaching beyond herself, she thought of her mother’s strength and resolve in times of trouble. She began to sing, “You are my sunshine.”

As she sang, a ray of sunshine peaked through the clouds beaming down onto her mother’s casket. Tears streamed from Stephanie’s eyes. It was not just a random beam of light, or just a ray of sunshine, it was a sign that everything will be alright.

Back on the farm, Stephanie feels that she has come full circle. Flax, mentioned in the bible has tremendous healing properties and through the farming of flax, not only is her family being healed and restored, but flax is helping to heal and sustain others.

Doctor Yu, of the Minnesota Pain Center, uses flax seed to ease the side effects of pain medication.

“One of the side effects of pain medication is constipation,” said Dr. Yu, “I recommend flax seed because the soluble fiber makes better bowel movements and because flax helps to lower cholesterol. If you eat it just before a meal, your body will not absorb simple sugars as fast and you will feel satiated sooner.”

In practice for more than twenty years, Dr. Yu provides flax seed from Flax USA to his patients because it helps in their healing processes and restores regularity to their whole bodies.