Sometimes we find ourselves discouraged for one reason or another. We find ourselves worrying about the future; there are, after all, constant reminders in life that things are not permanent. You hear some things in conversations, and it makes you second guess all decisions made thus far. Some conversations just bring that to the table, I guess. This past Thursday evening was one of those times for me. For reasons that don’t particularly matter to the content of this post, I was suddenly feeling anxious about the future of the store. What if it fails? What if we lose it all? How are we going to pay our house payment? How will I feed my family? The list goes on and on. There are plenty of worries to be had if one desires to worry.
Then Friday rolls around… First thing Friday morning, we get a message on Facebook. The message contains a photograph of a banjo case sitting on rocks. Behind the case, the ocean is shimmering beautifully as the sun rises above the horizon. On the banjo case, a Papaw Odell’s sticker can be seen, and there we are, if only by sticker, participating in the family vacation. How wonderfully beautiful!
We open the store on Friday morning, and the first person who came in was someone who knew my Papaw Odell. We sat and talked for a good while, her describing how Odell would help her in the garden, how he always seemed to show up at just the right time; and then us explaining what led us to open the store. It was a beautiful conversation, warmed by the remembrance of Papaw.
Later that afternoon, we got to celebrate a sweet 16 birthday! Her parents had come by earlier in the week to plan it all out. They stopped in with some balloons, and we set up the guitar to surprise her. Again, here we are, blessed to participate in the celebration of life for this young lady.
And so, the day came to an end, and I was reminded once again how incredibly blessed we are to be given the opportunity to interweave our lives with the lives of so many people. I am thankful for all the wonderful people we have gained as family through the Papaw Odell’s community. I thank God for each and every one of you. Let us remember to give thanks to God in all things, for it is difficult to worry when you are giving thanks.
-Drew