Small Town Blessings.

Today I was in town with the children, and we stopped by the hardware store on our way home to pick up a little sack of black eyed peas to plant that evening. We were checking out, and the nice gentleman at the register took us outside and showed us a ton (60+) plants sitting on the ground that he said he had to throw out, and he asked us if we wanted to take them home. Um, YES! So we folded the seats down in our little Bronco, smashed Sarah into the front seat, and took home a ton of free plants that will, Lord Willing, be producing food for us this summer. The Lord is so Good, and he put us in a wonderful place here in Coleman, Texas.

On Friday of last week my brother Robert and I got up early, loaded up a borrowed trailer with junk metal from around the homestead and took it in to the recycling center, where they bought it from us. When I was starting up the vehicle to drive it to the scales for weighing, the motor hesitated, and I shut my eyes and leaned my head on the wheel in frustration. The man who was working with us to unload metal saw me do this, and immediately suggested that we find another battery for the Bronco from the pile he had, and he said we could trade. He installed the brand new, better battery and took our junky one off of our hands, and when I shut off the vehicle at a gas station in town that very same day and it wasn't charged enough to start again, he drove over from the recycling center to jump the Bronco with his own car, playfully reminding me not to turn it off again, okay? He also calls me Tracy, not "miss" or "ma'am", and I know I like that better. The Lord is so Good, and I love the people of Coleman, Texas.

My mother and I were in the little tiny department store in Coleman, picking up some necessities. We were in line behind this woman who kept turning around and smiling at us. Finally she asked - "Do you guys want a rooster? I have this little flock I've been keeping in my backyard, and I have an unexpected rooster from my last batch of chicks. He's really a pretty thing, I just can't keep them and I figure y'all could use him or butcher him." Yes, please! So we followed her home and she took us into her backyard and boxed up that chicken up for us. The Lord is so Good, and he uses the people of Coleman, Texas to bless us every day.

These are just a few examples, ones that have taken place in the last week or so. I didn't mention Paula at the bank, who invites us to her beautiful old house to pick as much dates as we can carry, and sends us home with cuttings of every plant in her yard. Or the two smiling bank managers who gather around my siblings and me every time we go into the Santa Anna Bank, merely there to make us smile and to ask how we are. Or the man who works in the produce section of the small little grocery store who sends boxes and boxes of old produce home for my thankful bunnies, and always smiles and says "Hi ladies!!" when my sister and I walk in. Or Jack, the man who owns the grocery and says good morning no matter what time of day it is, because morning is his favorite time of day, and it makes him happy. Or the people who work at the soda fountain and love my mother, or the feed store fellas who are always the friendliest part of our day, or the people who give us firewood, and grazing land.Or the phone calls - "I have hogs in my trap!" "I made too much soap!" And I haven't even mentioned the things we find left by our mailbox or tied to our gates. The Lord is amazingly and awesomely gracious, and he uses the hearts of the people in our little piece of the world to bring joy and smiles and blessings to our lives.

Oh and here is a picture of the bunnies. Just because.