Eventful Morning

Well! We're back safe and sound from our local flea market. Heather, Curtis, a friend of ours, and I spent the morning doing some soul-winning over there.

Curtis, our friend Eugene, and myself played guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, Dobro, and fiddle all morning long. The music attracted quite a little crowd, and then Heather (and me, sometimes, when I wasn't playing) would pass out tracks and preaching CDs to the listeners. Between songs we'd all stop and talk to the people.

We arrived there at 6:00 this morning, while the moon was still up. (This place is so popular that if you get there at 7:00 or later you won't get a spot to set up your booth.) Whew! was it cold! We set up the tables and tent/canopy, and laid out our materials on the tables with frozen fingers, then stuck our hands in our pockets and bounced up and down or huddled in a folding chair. I stomped my sandal-clad feet to keep a bit of feeling in them.

The sun came up at 6:30, giving us light, and people began to flow in. We unpacked our instruments and began to play, but it was very difficult with frozen fingers. As I tried to hit the right notes on my mandolin, my fingers felt as if they were two inches wide, and clumsy as a dizzy child. We teased one another, however, and stuck it out. People stopped to listen, and loved it. They even started giving us donations, though we told them we weren't there for money.

We finally did warm up around 9:00. We even began shedding our coats. (Later on it reached 80 derees.) Lots of musicians stopped by. (This is the kind of place where you smell cigarette smoke, see lots of men's belts with large shiny buckles, most everyone has a tan, half the crowd is wearing hats, and everybody loves bluegrass music.) We loaned out our instruments to a few older men who looked like they were dying to join in. I tell you, it is the most interesting thing to see a lean sun-beaten man put his roughened hands around the skinny neck of my fiddle or mandolin, and make those strings talk while he belts out a hymn in a voice that you would never expect to hear those words from.

One man in particular was an excellent fiddler, and made me almost jealous, the way he could make Selah (the name of my fiddle) sing like a song bird. He gave me some excellent tips.

Everybody loved hearing the Dobro and banjo, especially, and when they're so enthralled by the music, it's so easy to get them to take tracts and things. Lots of folks wanted to know what church we go to, and two or three promised to come visit.

You know what else made this morning interesting? Eugene (the banjo and Dobro player) told me that he heard my name on the radio this week! I could hardly believe it.

You see, Dad had heard a local talk-show host mention on the air a few weeks ago that she loves to buy American-made things, but can't find a good source for American-made clothing. Dad came home and told me, "Amber, you ought to drop her an email and tell her you have a home-run sewing business, and offer to sew some clothes for her!" It seemed a little far-fetched, but I did.

I never heard back from the lady, so I assumed she wasn't interested. Now, Eugene tells me she mentioned me on the radio!!!! She told people my name and email address, and that I have a sewing business. I can't believe it. My name on the radio! Wow.

Anyway...I've had a very eventful day so far. *grin* Thanks to everybody who prayed for us. Please, continue praying for those who we talked to or who received tracts and CDs. May God use those things to work on their hearts.