I have a friend who always told me that the Good Lord looked after drunks, fools and children. Once upon a time we qualified for all three…..Many years later we don’t qualify for any of those, but the Good Lord looks after us, nonetheless. His provision always shows up right when we need it.
I believe that everything happens for a reason, although, at the time we might not recognize it immediately. Have you ever been traveling and something happened that slows down your progress? I know I have, many, many times. I learned to accept those delays as having a greater purpose.
I learned not to complain that there was a delay, but rather to accept knowing there was a reason. I see delays as being necessary, not as an inconvenience. Sometimes it is apparent from the start, but other times it takes a little while to understand.
Well, I have a little story to tell about a delay that occurred just this afternoon. I was driving back from the mountains with my dear friend, John Cleve Newton, and I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw smoke. I looked harder and realized we had a blowout on the trailer we had in tow.
We were in Elbert County not far from Fortsonia near an old farm. We have ridden by this place for many years, and I have always thought it looked so neat. The grass is always cut, and the old barns have been maintained to remain useful. Did I mention I love old farms and all they have to offer
I just love folks that maintain these old structures because they offer us all a glimpse into the past. John Cleve said pull in the driveway and we’ll see if anybody is home. Well, nobody was home, so we turned around and went right down the road to the first house. I pulled in the driveway and John Cleve got out to knock on the door
I looked up and here comes a young lady marching out the door to assess the situation and see what we needed. We needed another block to pull the trailer tire up on so we could change the tire that had blown out. She found what we needed in short order. She was as nice as could be and I was thankful that we found such a nice person to help us.
I realized rather quickly that our meeting today was far from random, it had been orchestrated by a much greater hand. I pulled the trailer up on the blocks and got out to start loosening the lug nuts. She told us she just happened to be home today because she had a sick child. Of course, she tried to take the lug wrench away from me and do it herself.
I went to the truck to get something and when I got back, she was taking the spare tire off of the side of the trailer. My southern upbringing taught me long ago not to mess with a determined country girl. She took the spare off and told me she’d change that tire. Yes ma’am!
We had a tractor on the trailer and had to take it off to get the trailer up high enough to change the flat. After the tractor was off of the trailer, she changed that tire in no time flat! We had been talking the whole time she was changing that tire, and she told us she had helped her husband many times changing tires and what she was doing for us was not a problem.
Well, it turns out the first house we went to was her daddy’s house and the house she and her husband live in had belonged to her grandfather. In the South things are passed on to the next generation. The memories of those that have gone on are kept alive by that next generation and in doing so those folks are not only remembered but honored as well.
We also had the trailer loaded with several boxes of mountain tomatoes and sweet potatoes. We offered her whatever she wanted, but in true southern fashion she declined, she didn’t want anything for helping us. I understand that it’s how we were raised, but, thankfully, she did take some tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Her little girl even came outside to visit while we were there.
She talked to us about farming and then she shared that she was a professor at Athens Technical College. John Cleve told her that I was a writer, and she remarked how incredible that was. I’m humble about the gifts I’ve been given, but I told her whatever talent I may have was a gift and that it was given in order to be shared. She looked at me and said that was exactly how she felt about teaching.
She asked us if we did business with Farm Bureau and I said yes. We talked about that and she asked if we knew who Tom McCall was. We said yes and she replied that if we ever needed anything from Farm Bureau, he would be happy to help because he was the president of Georgia Farm Bureau.
I looked at her and said I would really like to talk to him about something I had written because I felt like it would be meaningful to the members of the Georgia Farm Bureau. She gave me his contact information and began to tell us what a fine man he is. She bragged on him because she holds him in very high esteem.
I’ve never met Mr. Tom, but I can tell you what I do know about him, he raised an absolutely incredible daughter. She went out of her way to help two strangers today with a flat tire. She even offered to cook supper for us. She can’t help the way she is; she was raised that way and that was the best way possible.
I had a different topic for my article this week, but after meeting her, I knew what I was supposed to write about it. It was not accidental that the tire blew out where it did because that blowout brought some Georgia Neighbors together on a beautiful fall afternoon.
