A Birthday Trip Down Memory Lane....Pretty Shabby One Too.

What does a gal like me do on her birthday?!  Well, I decided to treat myself to a road trip to a local charity second hand furniture and ‘junk’ place.  It is called Faith Farm and it has been there in the same location, looking the same way since my mother drove me through the front fenced in parking lot when I was about 12 years old. 

My older cousin was moving into our house for a while, and I was to give up my bedroom to her.  In exchange, my mom moved me into what had been the ‘sick’ room down the hallway from their upstairs bedroom!  Oh joys…..permanent residence in the one room in the house that carried with it such bad memories as the vomiting flu, fevers and nightmares.
Our trip to Faith Farm was to pick out ‘special’ furniture to ‘fix up’ my new bedroom.  I was not thrilled and I am sure thinking back now that my mother probably had some guilt moving me out of the only bedroom I had ever known.  I don’t remember picking out furniture, but I do remember the day when I   came home from school and was presented my new room.  My mother had tried so hard to make it nice for me.  She had taken the dresser, nightstand out back and given it a white paint job.  There was seriously cheapo blue carpeting on the grown and the bed frame was a dark wood, four poster high sitting frame.  I stood there and made the decision to love it.  Not because it was beautiful, but because I knew that my mother had worked so hard to try and make it nice.  I appreciated that more than I disliked the room. 

So here I find myself today driving back through those gates in search of some nifty furniture finds to add to my inventory.  I find myself remembering how she told me about Faith Farm.  She told me that it was a place where people who had ‘drinking problems’ went to get fixed and that the church associated with the store gave these people a job while they sorted out  their lives.  This many years later, it had not change a bit….not its mission or its appearance.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not in any way the first time I have been back to this place.  Oh no!  I have been on and off scouring for finds most of my married life.  I furnished nurseries and kids’ rooms through this place.  But today, my goals have changed and I have also upgraded from the “just paint it basic white’ redo.  Now, it has come full circle into a passion of mine.  Funny how every experience in life seems to inform and enrich our lives. 

Poor Homer

It super hot today, so I stay just a little while.  I saw a ton of possibilities.  I almost bought one large piece only to find out that someone got to it first.  Darn.  Oh well…..I didn't have the ability to take it home with me today anyway.  I was more on an assessment excursion and a light-hearted birthday stroll.  In this one area, there was one of the workers listening to praise music and singing at the top of his lungs about Jesus!  It cracked me up.  Funny guy.  He could have cared less that I was nearby.  I knew in the very least, thanks to my mother, that he wasn't drunk!  Everyone was so positive and genuine during my stop.  What a nice thing when a church actually does what it is suppose to do…..help those in need.  Nobody is getting rich at Faith Farm, at least not in the financial way. 

I jump back in my car and drive away.  I am thankful for the few moments to stroll through, see some fun furniture, chat with a few happy people and just be... well, me....just another year older.   

-The End-