The Farmer’s Market

 “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

 The Taylors were on the prowl. We had stayed in Fort Myers long enough to find out it can get cool this far south.  So we moseyed around the house one morning but finally decided to go out and try to find some lunch. We went to the main highway and turned left. If you turned right you found plenty of traffic but not many restaurants. For some reason left meant a little less traffic and a whole bunch of places to eat.

Since I wasn’t very hungry—yet—and because I was driving I turned most of the restaurant scouting over to my wife Judy. As we cruised along, any place I noticed I would call to her attention and trust me there were plenty. There were all the fast food places and most of the more common sit-down chains. I would call them out and she would give her opinion.  As it turns out, fortunately her opinion was a thumbs down.

Well, as I was being rejected, she was looking—beyond. I saw what I could see but she was willing to look beyond the obvious. Well, I’m not sure how but after a while she began reading the online menu for a local place. It was called “The Farmer’s Market” and as the name suggests it was next to the Farmer’s Market. It presented itself as  restaurant that served southern comfort food. My ears perked up. As Judy went down the menu, followed with more than a few reviews, I put it in the GPS and we left the main drag and headed for what sounded like “southern heaven.” And guess what? That is exactly what it turned out to be.

When we arrived at the place, it was exactly as described. Kinda in an industrial part of town, and like its location—certainly nothing fancy. When we opened the door two things were immediately obvious. First, it was a local, mom and pop place and two—it smelled like southern heaven—and it was. The special was chicken and dumplings but that was long gone but that just didn’t matter. You see, the three page menu was filled—and I mean filled—with southern delicacies. From fried chicken to meatloaf, from fried pork chops to fried fish, from livers and gizzards to country fried steak—it was all there. 

There were baked potatoes, mashed potatoes and baked sweet potatoes which was served with lots of butter and brown sugar. The list of southern seasoned vegetables was as long as my arm. You were then tempted by homemade pies made by a 25 year baking veteran. Well, they say the proof is in the tasting of the pudding and that was certainly true here. I had the fried chicken, baked sweet potato and black-eyed peas and all of it was just incredible. Judy followed suit but traded the black-eye peas for fried okra. Can someone say, “Hallelujah?”

Now you might be wondering where I am going with this and here is the answer. Sometimes to get the biggest and best blessing you have to be willing to leave the known for the unknown. Sometimes you just have to take the road less traveled. Sometimes you just have to leave the comfortable to risk being uncomfortable. Well, I am so glad that we left the familiar behind to go someplace new—adventurous. Granted we had to trust the opinion of others and what the restaurant said but here is the good, good news. That isn’t so with God. He can always be trusted and even when He asks us to leave the familiar for something that isn’t—we can have the confident assurance that it is going to be good…real good.

So if you are Fort Myer’s be sure and Google “The Farmer’s Market.”  You won’t be sorry. And if you find yourself on the prowl for something, Someone you can trust—-just turn to the Heavenly Father. He never fails, He can always be trusted and always, “He’s got this.”  Bro. Dewayne