Thursday, October 25, 2012

Dear God,

We needed pumpkins, eleven of them, so my friend and I drove the hilly road to the teeny country town of Gnawbone I had seen the day before.  As we picked out pumpkins on a nearby farm, I saw the elderly, white-haired man slowly walk out of the farmhouse, get in his big gray truck, and drive it a few yards to where we were.  As he gingerly stepped down from the truck, he greeted us in great southern Indiana style.  From the moment he said hello, he began to share with us what was on his mind like his children and grandchildren.  He told us every name, where they lived and what they were doing, where they went to school and what their futures looked like.  He talked about his farm and how many pumpkins he had sold this year and how bad the season was last year.  He told us about his health and all his surgeries.  Then he talked about his Lutheran church, where it was located, and the times of worship.  He invited us to come some time.  Although he rarely used a period between sentences, preferring commas instead, he smiled broadly and I could tell he was the real thing, a genuine article of southern hospitality, a friendly, caring neighbor, and Christian brother.  As he gave us the price of a dozen pumpkins and we put them in the car, he gave us his best grandfatherly smile and told us he loved us and to drive carefully.  As I crawled into my van, he waved.  When I pulled out onto the side road and turned around, made the curve to the side of his farm and drove out onto the highway, he hollered once again, "Now you know I love ya, you drive careful, and have a really good weekend."

On the way back to the campground I realized the elderly man had shared with us a lesson about you.  Every day you tell us you love us.  You tell us to have a good day and be careful.  You don't wait for us to say much to you, if anything, you just say those few valuable words, "I love ya, you know.  Have a really great day."

Good and Gracious God,
thank you
for the people
you put
into our lives.
Thank you
for blessings
every day
that remind us
just how much
you care.
Who could
not love you
right back?

Always and forever yours, Andrea