I'll Pay You on Tuesday

Small business owners learn a lot about people.  They learn what type of people are good customers and which are bad customers.  They know the best way for you to get a good deal and to motivate them to give you the best service.  They also remember all the ways people have tried to cheat them...and could recommend a few lines for the ungrateful customer *not* to use.

The Princess Grill and Pizzeria

The Princess Grill and Pizzeria has adorned downtown Iowa Falls for 99 years.  A sign reading "Air Conditioned" welcomes visitors; a waitress told us that many years ago few places were air conditioned, so the Princess was a great place to escape on a hot summer day.

The Wapsipinicon Feed Mill and Dam

On our way home from making another concrete pad delivery, we stopped in Independence, Iowa to visit the Wapsipinicon Feed Mill and Dam which is now a museum.

The mill was built in 1867 by Samuel Sherwood and served the community for over 100 years.  It has 6 stories, but only two of them are open to the public as a museum.  From the lower floor through a small glass window you can see into the floor where the water enters the building.

The Ackley Soda Fountain

The first time I remember visiting the Ackley soda fountain was on the evening of July of 2006 after listening to the MacDonald Family Singers sing at the bandshell.  The music at the concert was (for lack of a better description) simply awesome, and the park was packed with people, but it was blistering *hot!*  And since for some reason bandshells face the east, the musicians suffered with the sun in their eyes.  The mosquitoes started coming out for dinner after the concert to, so the soda fountain was the perfect place to escape to for ice cream!

The Mississippi!

You ask what land I love the best, Iowa, 'tis Iowa

The fairest state in all the west, Iowa, O!  Iowa,

From yonder Mississippi's stream

To where Missouri's waters gleam

O! fair it is as poet's dream, Iowa, in Iowa!

--S.H.M Byers, from the Iowa State Song

Happy Chef

The first week of May, my sister and I went with Grandpa to hang some of my Grandma Colleen Carson's artwork at a hospital.  On our way home we stopped at Happy Chef in Story City, IA.  

The place was spacious (the photo above only shows half the dining facilities), and since we did not come at a common eating time we had the restaurant pretty much to ourselves.  

A young waitress seated us and handed out menus.  I was shocked at the prices: $8.00 for an hamburger, $9.00 for a grilled chicken fillet, $11.00 for a chicken cobb salad, not to mention the prices of the chef's signature dinners ($15.99 for a New York Strip: that would pay for two all-you-can-eat lunches at the International Buffet in Waterloo and 3 McDoubles, and you'd still have change to spare). 

Most of the items on the breakfast menu (served all day) were between $6.00 and $12.00.  Grandpa and Charity both ordered 2 pancakes, an egg, and bacon (about $9.00)

There was plenty of syrup: maple, blueberry, and one other flavor, and it was used very generously as, according to Grandpa, the pancakes didn't have much of a taste.  My sister said the egg was ok, but couldn't be compared with the farm-fresh free-range eggs we are used to.  The bacon was good.

I ordered chili soup (about $4.00).  The bowl was heaping with soup, and I could only finish about half before I was stuffed.  The crackers were good, but the chili could not compare with my Grandma's (which is a lot more juicy).  The chili tasted ok, but it needed a *lot* of sour cream!  When I first went to the desk to ask for sour cream I was given 2 small portions of sour cream.  When I came back the second time, the lady gave me a whole dish of it!  It certainly made the chili a lot better!

If you need to find a place with good syrup, crackers, and sour cream, Happy Chef is the place to go.  The pricier dishes might be better (the $15.99 New York Strip has to be be really good to be worth that much...), but if you don't want to spend that much on a meal, stick with McDonalds...or the International Buffet.  

I Will Trust in God

Not long ago, my family visited friends after one of our concerts.  My dear friend Hannah was training her horses and she offered to let me have a ride.  Although I was not dressed like a cowgirl, I jumped at the opportunity.

I hadn't ridden or even sat on a horse for about a decade, so aside from what I've learned watching Westerns, I am ignorant of the art of horsemanship.  Hannah told me how to mount, and she held the reins and led the horse "Joe" while I clutched the saddle horn.   

My trust in Hannah's expert ability to control the horse was well-founded (no wild rides were in store), and I dismounted without a hitch.  I enjoyed and was very grateful for the opportunity.  My friend's skill with horses comes not only from hard work (of which she has done a lot), but also from God who has blessed her with wisdom and talent.

A little trust is necessary in just about everything in life.  I trust the cook every meal as I taste my first spoonful of each dish (and usually that trust is well-founded).  But ultimately the cook is not the one I trust, God is.  The Bible promises that if believers "eat any deadly thing, they shall recover."  And I trust that the Lord guides the cook's hands so that I'm not served any deadly thing.

My trust is in God.  People fail and make mistakes.  Any trust or confidence we have in people should be backed up by God's promises.  The Bible warns us against gratuitous trust:

"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord."  

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help."  

"Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of the mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom."  

Put simply: Don't base your trust and hope on people!  Trust God.

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is."  --Jeremiah 17:7  

There are innumerable people who have been hurt by misplaced trust in friends, Christian brothers and sisters, business partners, spouses, and even family members.  Trusting in people often leads to disaster.

Trusting solely in oneself is hardly better.  We should endeavor to be trustworthy in everything we do, but we know we are human; we make mistakes.

God never makes mistakes.  Jesus is faithful all the time.  Base all your trust upon the solid Rock of God's word.  When trouble comes you can claim His promises.

"A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."  --Isaiah 32:2