BEAUTY AND THE BLESSING!

Beautifully painted river rocks can be blessings, as I have experienced. Angie's friend, Debbie, paints little river rocks to honor her son who died. She shares them with Angie who shares them with me.

One such experience happened the other day at Italian Gardens. I noticed two ladies at a table near Scot and me and I kept feeling the urge to give them one of the river rocks that I had in my purse. So, I held out a rock in each hand and they looked up at me. I told them that I would like to give them a river rock painted by my artist friend, Debbie, in honor of her son who died. One lady said her name is Debbie and she would remember Debbie in her prayers. The other lady said that she was having a bad day as a result of her doctor appointment and that the rock made her feel better.

Angie had an accident in her car and it was taken to a parking lot and parked by a big tree near a restaurant. When they opened the trunk to get the spare tire Stephanie saw some sacks and asked Angie what they were. Angie told her that the 8 sacks had painted river rocks in them. Stephanie encouraged Angie to dump them around the base of the big tree, which she did. Greg & Christy, friends of Stephanie & Angie, came to help put the spare on and heard the story of the rocks. They went back that night and picked up most of the rocks and secretly took them to Stephanie's house and put them in her rock garden. Next morning Stephanie discovered them and looked at Angie and said “Annngieee”, to which Angie told her that she didn't do that because she had no way, no car to go in. Anyway, Angie picked up the river rocks and shared them with me.

Angie, Scot & I went to eat lunch at the restaurant where the big tree is located. We looked at the base of the tree and the rocks were all gone. I took three of the river rocks in with me and I noticed a couple across the room and I felt that I wanted to walk over and give them a beautifully painted river rock. I hadn't noticed what it had painted on it. I told them that I could change the rock because it had a camper painted on it. They said that that they would like it because they were camping. They laughed and were blessed and so was I. I gave one to our server that had a cat on it. She was thrilled since she loves cats. As we were getting ready to check out I had one rock left and I decided to put it on a vacant table and soon a couple came in and sat at that table. As we left we saw that they were looking at it and talking about it. I wonder what their thoughts were.

One heartwarming blessing happened at one of our favorite places to eat in town, Wimberley Cafe. Angie, Scot, Juli & I met for lunch and I noticed a couple at a table near us who seemed to be in deep thought. I kept noticing the lady and I felt the urge to take one of the painted river rocks out of my purse and give it to her. I said, “Excuse me, I'd like to give you something” and held out my hand to her. She looked a little puzzled but opened her hand. I put the beautifully painted rock in her hand and suggested she turn it over. When she read the message “Keep or share with someone”, she looked up at me and I could see that her eyes were moist with tears. She said, as her voice broke, that she knew just the person to give it to. As we were leaving she said “God bless you”.

My little great granddaughters, Ellie and Evie, love rocks and are always picking up all sizes. At Ellie's 6th birthday party I remembered that I had a sack of the beautifully painted river rocks in the car. I told the girls that I had a special surprise for them. I got the sack and opened it and suggested that they pick the rocks that they wanted and since it was Ellie's birthday I let her pick first. I didn't see the rocks that Ellie picked but I saw Evie's. She had her hands full of the tiny river rocks that were painted like strawberries. It was such a blessing to see their excitement and to hear their giggles as they went to play.

My heart is full ~

April is a very important and busy month what with so many birthdays and the whole area turning blue with our state flower BLUEBONNETS ... but another event has been our annual BUTTERFLY FESTIVAL where we gather to release thousands of beautiful butterflies ... many in memory of loved ones ... I would like to virtually release a few but one in particular is for my beloved grandson Jason who left us too soon.

MAY BIRTHDAYS
May 5th - Patti
May 9th - Kyra
May 13th - Joaquin