It's the Little Things

There's a country song that was popular a couple of years ago and the chorus proclaimed "It's the Little Things that Turn Me On." Being that Arbuckle Creek is located exactly in the middle of the state (also known as the middle of nowhere), I thought it might be nice to share a "little thing" that we've done this week. You see, I'm proud of my kids. I mentioned making cookies for a couple of shut-ins who have just returned from the hospital and suddenly they're naming everyone in the whole church that they'd like to do something for. You know -- the choir (they love music), the choir director, the woman who teaches Sunday School, the VBS director, the man who they haven't seen in awhile, the woman who runs the kitchen, the 2 in the nursing home, the one who recently lost her husband, and the kids continued on and on. I had no idea how much all of these "little things" had made an impression on my kids. And so we baked this week. A couple of days ago we baked cookies and delivered them to 18 homes. We still have quite a bit more to go so today we baked brownies and will deliver them tomorrow. Eventually I'd like to get to everyone's houses, but, even in a little place, making "the rounds" takes awhile. But I can't tell you how much it meant to me to see my 6 year old walking up to the door of an 80+ year old and chatting up a storm with her. I can't tell you what it meant to see the look of surprise in the eyes of a man who lost his wife 2 years ago and the gigantic smile that crossed his face. I can't tell you what it meant to hear the words of a woman, full of thanksgiving, telling me she'd like more information about the church. I can't tell you what it meant to see the girls' faces as a thank you note arrived in the mail today from a 93 year old or what it meant to have a voice mail message raving about a couple kids' cookies. It's times like this that I remember why I live out in the middle of nowhere. With the country and its laid back attitudes also comes a sense of pride and connectedness to community and, of course, the time to bake cookies with my kids. So this is the news from Arbuckle Creek where all the women drive golf carts, the men are blatant carnivores (EAT MORE BEEF!) and the children watch for alligators in their backyards.