Country Living

Paradise is not a large community. It used to be a lot smaller. It is 5:44 a.m. I just stepped outside the RV to view the sky for signs of approaching thunderstorms from the west. I was greeted by the sound of a crowing rooster from one of the neighbor’s houses. It suddenly dawned on me for the past few months the sight outside the front door of the RV are rows of round bales of hay. I am definitely in the country. There are no gated communities in Paradise and residential areas do not even have curbs. Most people have gravel for a driveway.

You can still find fresh farm eggs in town. Cows are a familiar sight along with buffaloes if you drive down the right road. Horses abound and it not unusual to see stray dogs strutting about. We used to have a dog roaming around town nick named “Mayor.” He wondered the streets with no home loved by all.

I like living in smaller towns and enjoy country living. In a bit I will take Tanner to early morning practice and Taylor and I will hit the weight room. Yesterday, Turner and I enjoyed a day at the Fort Worth Zoo for his field trip. I sat on a bench with one of the men from our church after Tucker’s basketball practice enjoying a visit. He is the first person I baptized at Faith Community Church.

Later this morning I will eat breakfast at the Finish Line Café. I will see the same older men seated at the same table drinking coffee like they have been doing for years. I will see the same familiar patrons seated at their same tables. I hope to get my usual table in the back corner where I write and read over breakfast. I jokingly call that place my office.

Though influences from the big city have made their way into Wise County, for the most part Paradise is a charming place to live. It is big news we are about to get a donut shop. Bigger news that just a few months ago we got a Subway and recently a dry cleaning business came to town.

I enjoy the scenic drives with rolling hills cluttered with trees. With recent rains things have really greened up around here. I love the school system in Paradise. The teachers love the students. The administrators or well qualified and work diligently to ensure our children get the best education. The coaches care more than just about wins and losses but care about the character of the young men and young women they coach. For the most part Paradise is a close-knit community.

The churches often work together to serve the community. Egos are kept in check as we all realize each church serves a purpose.

Paradise may not be a large community but that does not mean it is not a busy community. Calendars are filled with all sorts of activities. It is a great place to live and to raise your family. The pace of life in Paradise is slower than the metroplex. While driving home yesterday from the Fort Worth Zoo I mused on how thankful I am I do not have to live in that rat race. It is busy in Paradise but generally the pace of life is slower and more casual.

I go to an old fashioned barber in downtown Bridgeport where they still using shaving cream and a straight razor to shave your neck and around your ears. People still go in there to just sit and visit. Kind of reminds me of Floyd’s Barber Shop in Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show.

The most enjoyable part about country living is the relationships. I love running into familiar faces at the post office, café, ball games, while waiting in line to get the boys after school, and on field trips. Relationships enrich life. I have been fortunate to have spent my entire ministry in smaller communities. I have served in places like Hudson, Burke, Rochelle, Spring Creek, Seminole, and of course Paradise.

Today as you go about your day and if you happen to enjoy country living in a smaller community why not thank God for it. As you encounter people you know and care for through out the day why not thank God for them and tell them how grateful you are to know them. Let me start by saying I am thankful for a bunch of people who walked out on a limb with me to start Faith Community Church. I am thankful for the testimonies of the numerous people I have talked to who told me they prayed, believed, and hoped God would draw my family back to this community.

I have served many wonderful churches. FBC Paradise and FBC Seminole touched Brenda and at a soul level. How thankful we are for the years we spent there and for the people we have come to know and love in those churches. Our lives are the richer for knowing those people. God has used them to bless our lives in profounder ways than I can put into words.

Though I am still seated in this RV writing another blog with the pitter- patter of rain beginning to fall on the roof I am extremely contented. I am a blessed man. I am contented to spend my remaining days and ministry in small communities where my family enjoys country living. [Phil 4:11] “…I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am…”