In case you hadn't heard, our Tara is expecting a baby!  A sweet baby girl that is due to arrive in July.  Y'all know we couldn't wait to host a baby shower and start spoiling that baby (and her Mama)!

I would like to point out that to we Southerners, a shower, whether it be for a baby, wedding, house warming, etc., is not just about the spoiling. Showers and parties are the perfect way to make someone feel loved and supported by the community they live in, or by the church family they have chose to be a part of. You've never felt so special until you sit and look around a room filled with the people you loved most, who have all gathered to take time out and celebrate you!  The gifts are just an expression of love and support, as we honor the special times and the new chapters in life. (And... the gifts at Southern showers can be abundant and overwhelming!)    

At The Southern Merc, we love a theme! The chalkboard in our Cafe dining room was already decorated with our favorite Oscar Wilde quote and we thought this was the perfect starting point for the party.  Tara loves old books and the vintage feel so we kept things simple by using simple flower arrangements, stacked old books, and this fresh greenery garland.  

All of the fresh greenery was cut from Mr. Crain's yard. The purple butterfly bush blooms were cut from Jorjanne's yard and the pink and white tulips were purchased from the grocery store.  Mixing store bought flowers with things you grew yourself is a great way to keep the cost down and still have beautiful arrangements.  For some tips on making your own arrangements with grocery store flowers, you can check out Roxie's tutorial! We tried hard to pick all of Tara's favorite foods and made sure that every detail would be a reflection of her sweet personality. 

​We keep things pretty simple at our showers so after a time of eating and visiting, Tara started digging in to her presents!  She was so blessed to receive so many beautiful and useful things.

Friends came from near and far, including two of Tara's college friends, which made the day extra special!

The Southern Merc and Fourth and Cherry crew had a blast celebrating our special girl and we can't wait to add baby Lila to our family of littles!  Because of her mothers sweet spirit and ability to love others so deeply, Lila has already won our hearts!

The Southern Merc is full of helpful tips for parties and showers!  Check out our archive to finds great ideas for your next wedding or baby shower!

Our shop is stocked with cute gift ideas for wedding and baby.  Look around while you are here, we'll be glad to send a little something your way!

It seems so simple, yet why aren't we doing it?  Why isn't The Church being the village?  There are so many other practical ways to step in and be a champion for the cause, rather than participating in a march or holding up a sign.

"We must listen, love, foster, adopt, give money, babysit, donate supplies, mentor young women, and support in whatever ways God has equipped us."

I say, if we can't take care of the orphans that are living on this earth now, what shall we do? When there are over 30,000 abortions taking place in Georgia each year, what shall we do?  If we can't find foster homes to house the children who are a result of addiction and abuse, what shall we do?  Why are there over 170 children in foster care and only 10 foster families in my region?  Why do Christians outnumber orphans 15 to 1? 

Phillip and I have officially been foster parents for three months now.  As I type these words, tears fall from my eyes.  No amount of preparation, training, volunteering, or even praying, opened my eyes to the reality of raising a child that is not your own.  Responsibility, consistency, patience, kindness, understanding, strength, faith, selflessness, devotion...these are all words describing what must pour out of us daily.  We knew it would be challenging, and it is.  But we also never could have imagined the joy a child brings when they simply bring themselves.  ​

Though this was somewhat of a surprise, we are anxiously awaiting her arrival.  What we wish for her is what we wish for every child that enters our home; that they will choose to work hard for what they want, love people whole-heartedly, live selflessly, stand up for what they believe in, and be brave.  We have been blessed with what I believe to be the best village around--and I am overjoyed that we get to raise this child surrounded by such wonderful people.  

So, thank you to my village.  You'll never know how much it means to us to know how much you care.  We couldn't do it without you!  ​

​
If you find yourself looking for ways to serve, reach out to us!  We have been blessed to be involved with a wonderful organization in South Georgia that supports foster families and birth families alike.  We'd love to talk with you, and provide you with
​information and opportunities to serve.  

Even as I am writing this, it is so hard to believe that I am reflecting on the past 15 years of my life.  In some ways it has flown by, and in other ways 15 years seems so long ago!  You have heard me say before that I was young and dumb when I started this adventure in retail so many years ago! I was fresh out of The University of Georgia with no clue what I wanted to do next.  I always swore I was never moving back to my home town of Ocilla, GA, but it was home that came calling after graduation.  So I made my way back, and here I sit, 15 years later, with a life I never could have dreamed up for myself!

​In 2003, my dad had been retired for a couple of years and was running a floral and event business with his business partner, Lisa.  They decided to take on a huge project in our downtown by renovating this century-old, Greek-revival style bank building.

The renovations began in the spring, and I moved home in the summer of 2003.  The building was to house a market-style retail shop with a café in the downstairs and an event space upstairs.  Dad and Lisa were going to need someone to run the shop while they focused on the floral business, so I agreed to come home for one year and help get things going.

​That June-December of my life flew by!  I worked part-time at another gift shop downtown to make a little money until our shop opened.  On days I wasn’t working, I helped work on the building.  As you look at all of my pictures, you might be imagining a very large work crew that got this place whipped into shape in such a short period of time, but you would be wrong!  Dad and Lisa, with the help of a couple of paid workers, lots of family, and many sweet volunteers, moved mountains that summer.  I have never done so much painting in my life!  

​The Shoppes at Fourth and Cherry opened in August of 2003, and I was blown away by the excitement of the community.  The first couple of weeks were so fun.  People flocked in to see the building.  

The shop was just beautiful and unlike any store we had ever had in our little town before.  Lisa was, and is, a very talented designer.  I soaked up so much from her in a short amount of time and definitely learned a lot about the design aspect of running a store from both her and my dad.  ​

The grueling work didn’t end when we opened, as we had to move upstairs to finish renovations in time for a wedding in October!  I was still painting trim the morning of the wedding while Dad and Lisa were doing all of the flowers! ​

That was a crazy weekend, but I guess at that point, we had all gotten used to the hustle.  Fifteen years later, I can tell you that the hustle continues!  There is always something to fix, paint, clean, move, or cry over in this old building.  It has been a labor of love for sure!

I like to say I went to the school of hard knocks in the early days.  With Dad and Lisa, you have to catch on fast!  One wedding weekend they left me in the florist shop and said, “We need 15 table arrangements; we’ll be back after we decorate the church.”  I guess I should have been honored that they had so much confidence in my abilities, but I was stressing!  It seems I had soaked up a few tricks by watching my dad all those years because the arrangements turned out ok, but I was a nervous wreck!  Another weekend, we were catering a party in a neighboring town.  Dad and Lisa had done an out-of-town wedding and were traveling to be back just in time for the dinner that night.  She had me, by myself, take pot roast for about 100 people to the venue with all of our cookers to cook the roasts, with her giving me instructions over the phone.  I had never cooked a roast in my life!  

In 2004 Lisa’s husband, Harvey, was diagnosed with cancer that would later take his life.  This was a devastating diagnosis, and Lisa had to spend most of her time with him, traveling to treatments in Maryland and caring for him when he was sick.  Around the same time, my grandfather in Colorado became ill so my Dad was away for 8 weeks.  It was a stressful time for me to be pretty much alone at the shop so Dad and Lisa decided to sell the building and business.  The short version of this part of the story is: in walked Matt Seale.  He was a financial advisor from Atlanta and looking to invest in real estate.  Little did he know he was about to get a building, a retail shop, a floral and event business, a café, and a wife!

Matt bought the building and the business in the fall of 2004, so he and I have been in it together almost the entire time.  It was a trying first few years together, as we both had limited experience with events and running a small business.  I think we did pretty well considering how young we were!  We married quickly in August of 2007 because Matt was being sent to Iraq to serve with the Navy Reserve. It’s not the month I would have picked (the day we got married was, literally, the hottest day of the year) but it is pretty neat that our wedding anniversary always coincides with the anniversary of The Shoppes, since it is what brought us together in the first place.  We spent our first year of marriage apart, and looking back, it was probably the hardest year of my life so far.  Because of our quick wedding, I had to deal with the daily onslaught of nosy, southern women asking me when my baby was due.  I was a newlywed with no husband, the owner of a struggling small business with no business partner, and the caretaker of an old building that seemed to just develop one new problem after the other.  I don’t know what I would have done that year without my parents and a few really good friends.   Needless to say, that is not a time in my life I like to look back and dwell on!  

​The years rocked on as we continued catering events, making prom and wedding flowers, and keeping the shop going.   I have been involved in over 37 weddings and rehearsal suppers, countless smaller parties, and more funerals than I could ever count.  ​

Vendors in the shop came and went.  I have had over 40 vendors and 14 local consigners throughout the years.  It was so nice to get through those first few years of turnover and settle in with some serious shop owners that help make The Shoppes at Fourth and Cherry so great!  ​

​It has been so interesting to learn to deal with the specialties of running a business in a small, southern town.  Over the years I have had more than one person call and ask me to look up someone else’s number for them in the phone book.  I’ve had a customer ask me to order her something off the internet because she doesn’t have a computer.  I have customers drop off gifts for people (that they didn’t buy here) because they know we’ll make sure they get passed on to the right person.  I’ve had a customer give her bag of purchases to the mail man, as he walked in to deliver the mail, and ask him to deliver it to her mother at the nursing home (which he did, sweetly and without question).  I could fill a book with stories about customer interaction - some funny and some not so funny! The Fourth and Cherry team has been blessed over the years to have mostly very sweet people enter our doors, and we thrive on providing as many services as possible. We still operate a traditional wedding registry where brides can register for fine china, flatware and other things needed to set up a home.  We deliver to local showers, sell flatware by the piece (so there is something for everyone’s budget) and offer free gift wrap. We try to include the address of the giver on the back of every wedding card to make it a little easier for the bride to send her thank-you notes.  We’ve made salads with croutons only, cut crusts off of bread, and kept lists on the café wall of how certain customers like certain meals. We are happy to help customers over the phone, happy to pick out Christmas gifts when you send over the list, happy to walk your packages to your car, let you borrow our phone, and even fill out your check for you. (Yes we still take local checks and no, we don’t have a stamp.  If you don’t know what that means, you are definitely not from a small town.) 

Over the years our little business has grown, evolved and changed.  At some point we closed the florist, but I can’t remember what year.  The shop and the café were becoming busier, and my Dad was retired and traveling a lot, so it just made sense to let that go.  We have still continued to do weddings here and there because I just find it so hard to say no! The Café has slowly grown and now offers a much more extensive menu than we did in the beginning.  The Fourth and Cherry Company now has three full-time employees in addition to seven part-time.  I can’t pass up the chance to mention that Mrs. Carolyn has been with us the entire time we’ve been in business.  She has long been a friend of my family and came to work in The Café after she retired from the school system.  Her hours have shortened over the years and roles have changed, but she has been a steadfast and dependable friend to us over the last 15 years. She has tried to “retire” at least twice, but we are always thrilled when she decides she wants to come back!  She tells me she is going to retire for good when she is 80, so I’ll keep you posted on that! And one other fun fact, Mrs. Carolyn came to Lily Mae’s beauty shop, located in the upstairs of our building, on her wedding day to get a perm!  Just one example of how the history of our building is so intertwined with the history of our community and the lives of our customers.  

In 2015 (deciding that we didn’t already have enough to do) we created The Southern Mercantile.  I had always loved the name and even threw it in the hat when Dad and Lisa were choosing a name for the shop.  I kept it in the back of my mind with the hopes of getting to use it one day.  We are now growing and building this new brand, while running The Shoppes and Café at Fourth and Cherry, in an attempt to expand our market a little bit and share our love of the South.  We are on a mission to preserve some of our more noble traditions by sharing our simple, southern lives with you.  It has been so exciting to meet many of you at shows when we are traveling, and to hear from you through email, social media and the website.  We have loved every minute of getting to connect with a whole new tribe!

​We are excited to share with you that The Southern Mercantile is currently setting up a brick and mortar home inside The Shoppes at Fourth and Cherry!  The historic bank room of our building is in transition and will soon be our flagship Southern Mercantile location.  The bank vault has already been set up as the Southern Merc office and we are slowly transforming the retail space into a beautiful shopping area.  It’s just another way the Fourth and Cherry Company is growing and changing.

Love for our community is at the heart of everything we do.  In 2011, Matt and I made a choice to stay here and to commit to working hard for Ocilla.  We work hard to keep this building standing, keep this shop running, and keep our online presence thriving because we want to see our little town prosper.  Our team has a deep desire to continue to love, encourage, support and work for the community we live in.  We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for your support of our mission.  Whether you have been a fan of The Shoppes for the last 15 years, or if you are a new fan of The Southern Mercantile, we want you to know that you are appreciated.  Every purchase you make, every Facebook post you share, every kind comment you give, strengthens our mission as we move to be a force for good in our community. 

​If it seems this post has been more like the story of the last 15 years of my life rather than just the history of my business, it is because they are so connected, I could never attempt to separate them.  This shop and what it means to our little town is all I know.  It has been my everything.  I am humbled when I think of all of the people that have loved and supported me personally over the last 15 years.  Without your support and prayers (and checking for my horns from time to time), I would have succumbed to stress and discouragement many times.  I can’t wrap this up without a very special Thank You to my parents!  You are such an example of selfless love, always there to help, no matter what the problem is.  Water, termites, absent employees, plumbing problems, leaky roofs, holiday baking; nothing keeps you from running to my aid!

​15 years of perspective has helped me to see that time and time again, the Lord has provided just what we need, when we need it.  I know He will do the same for the next 15!
 

In the fall of 2015, a group of people from our community gathered to discuss the growing needs within and around foster care in our area.  Led by a local pastor with a heart for foster care, we agreed to form a local chapter of an organization already in place,
​Called to Care.  Towards the end of the meeting, he asked if anyone felt called to be a part of the leadership team, and I felt my hand rising.  Little did I know that my life would be forever changed by the information presented to me over the next few weeks. ​

​Why is there a need for an organization like Called to Care?
Within Ben Hill, Irwin and Berrien counties, we have 160 children in foster care and only 10 local foster families.  This great divide is bridged by foster families who live in other counties, as well as children's homes that are located hours away.  This means that not only are children being uprooted from the only home they've ever known, but they're also being moved miles from their schools, communities, extended family members, and friends.  The only remedy to this is to prevent children from coming into care (by supporting those families) and to recruit more local foster families!

​Called to Care acts as a liaison between the Department of Family and Children Services and the community by communicating the needs at hand. We (with the help of our 884 Facebook friends) started a clothing and supply closet at Ocilla Baptist Church. Thanks to generous donations, we have clothing of all sizes, shoes of all sizes, undergarments, diapers, hygiene items, blankets, toys and books available to our foster children. Working closely with our local DFCS workers, we are able to meet most of the physical needs in our area.

Our brick-and-mortar retail store, The Shoppes at Fourth and Cherry, is a drop off location for donations. We have also hosted drives for specific items, which is conveinent considering that we are in the heart of downtown!

We had a local mom, Kirsten, recently bring in an overwhelming amount of donations. Kirsten's sweet baby girl, Lindy, just turned 1 year old. To celebrate her birthday, Kirsten asked if guests would bring a donation to Called to Care in lieu of a gift for her daughter. The donations poured in as family and friends gathered to celebrate Lindy.  What a special way to celebrate her daughter's life! We have been so encouraged by this gift, and so many families are going to be blessed by her selflessness.

Called to Care hosts quarterly events in which the kids are provided opportunities to leave their worries at the door and to simply play.  Snacks, bouncy houses, art projects, nail painting and one-on-one basketball games make for a fun afternoon.  We love every minute of getting to know these kids and are thankful for the opportunity to encourage and serve them.  ​

​Here's a few examples of other projects we've completed in our area:

• Blankets that were embroidered with each foster child's name on it for Christmas.
• Birthday gifts and cupcakes for children in care.
• Bibles for each child in foster care for Easter--each with a personal note inside. 
• Countless clothing and shoe needs provided.
• Sponsorships for foster children's participation in recreational sports programs.
• Help in furnishing homes for reunited families.
• Ocilla DFCS Visitation Room Re-do. *Roxie put her magic touch on it!

DFCS Visitation Room Before:

DFCS Visitation Room After:

​In less than a year's time with Called to Care, Phillip and I felt the need to create a home for our future family--whatever that may look like.  Our budget was small, but we wanted to purchase a home of our own and begin to settle in.  ​We looked at homes that were "move-in ready" as well as fixer-uppers, but nothing felt just right.  I was set on having at least three bedrooms (this would be necessary in foster care if you have children of the opposite sex in your home) which narrowed our search tremendously due to our budget. We made a list of pros and cons for some of our favorite homes, trying to make sense of it all.  Finally, my mom asked if I'd be interested in looking at a home in town that wasn't listed, but she knew the owners tried to sell it a few years ago.  I said yes, and she made the call.  This couple was happy to show us the house that would soon become our home.  Learn more about our home and the renovation process by checking out Beech Street Bungalow: Before.

​I have always loved children. I have always wanted to be a mom, and to have a family of my own.  After coming to know the Lord, I realized I had a heart for adoption--but still wanted to birth children of my own.  After maturing in the Lord, and seeing the unrelenting needs around me, my thoughts began to change and turn into what I believe to be His.  This is what I know to be true:  He has given me a deep desire to be a mother.  He has given me a husband who shares my same desires.  He is good.  He is faithful.  He will bring children into my life who need me at that exact time, whether I birth them or only have them in my home for a few months.  

We are excited, and we are nervous.  This process is slow, especially when you're in the middle of remodeling a home!  We now have a group of 7 local families ready to complete training to have children in their homes. (Roxie, Jorjanne and I are three of those families!)  What a blessing this journey has been and will continue to be.  

​If you are interested in being involved in Called to Care, please let us know!  You can visit our Facebook page or email us at calledtocarebhib@gmail.com.  If you don't live in South Georgia, look for ways to positively impact the foster care system in your area!  We would love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have.  I believe that we are indeed called to love, called to serve, and called to care.  The beautiful thing is that everyone can do something.

I mentioned in my blog “Faithful in the Little Things” that my father grew up on the Irwinville Farms Project. Since many of you have probably never heard of it, I thought I’d take the time to explain it and the impact it made on a rural community.​
​

The Irwinville Farms Project was successful in that nearly all the families who participated were able to purchase their farms from the government and continued to do well for their families. It truly was a helping hand, not just a hand-out. If you’d like to read more about it, you can read the report from 1939 in the National Archives by clicking here, or you can purchase the book, Irwinville Farms Project, written by Joy Wilson McDaniel at www.amazon.com. Another fantastic resource, from where most of these pictures came, is Irwinville Farms, A Digital Archive Curated by Brian Brown.

It’s that time of year again, time for the annual Christmas Open House at The Shoppes!  All of you Southern Merc fans that are from Ocilla have probably been to one of our open house events and know how marvelous it is.  For those of you that are fans from far away, let me just tell you, this is quite possibly my favorite weekend of the year. 

The Fourth and Cherry team spends Friday night through Sunday morning transforming The Shoppes into a magical winter wonderland.   Every year we have a different theme (you know I love a theme!) to set the tone for the décor, food, invitations and other details.  This year’s theme was “Christmas in the Pines”.  Appropriate for a southern Georgia Christmas, don’t you think?

My awesome team spends weeks preparing for this event.  Handmade invitations are printed, glittered and mailed a few weeks before the event.  My Dad and Aunt Janet (the wizards) spend the week before making dozens of gorgeous wreaths and arrangements.  My Café girls start planning for food preparations.   Ornaments and decorations are unpacked and priced.  Tara, Jorjanne and I always have a craft project going on like stamped and glittered gift tags for all of the packages or making feet upon feet of paper chains to decorate with.

I could write pages about how much fun it is to deck the halls at The Shoppes and how awesome all of my helpers are (because really, this would not happen without them).  I think for today, I would like focus on what a special day this is for our community.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you that people look forward to our Christmas Open House all year long.  It has really become more like a homecoming, a festive day to welcome in the Holiday season and to visit with old friends and neighbors.  Every year our crowd grows.  This year we had well over 200 people including neighbors from my childhood (members of the original Alder Street Social Club) who traveled an hour to be with us.  One of my Fairy God Mothers traveled almost two hours to be here.   A very sweet couple that taught here years ago came and visited with old friends and students.  Many of my Fairy God Children were able to be here, including one that I haven’t seen in months.  I even had a cousin travel from Texas, just to be here to help for the weekend!  My heart just explodes with joy when I can have so many, who are special to me, gathered in one place, even if just for a couple of hours.

This year we collected blankets for local foster children and had almost 60 donated!  These blankets will be lovingly embroidered with the children’s names and given to them for Christmas presents.  We also had someone from our local “Called to Care” group on hand to talk with folks about “sponsoring” a foster child for Christmas.  Thanks to our wonderful guests, 12 children were sponsored during open house and we are steadily working on the rest!  If you live locally and are interested in helping to provide Christmas gifts for these children, please contact The Shoppes for more information! 

The second Sunday in November has become one of my favorite days of the whole year.  Yes, it is means weeks of preparation and three very long days with little sleep, but the reward is worth far more than the stress and exhaustion of the work.  It is one day when, not only is my shop absolutely gorgeous and filled with happy people, but a day that our community comes together to laugh and love each other and feel good about life.

We want to know about your favorite Holiday traditions.  We hope you will share with us your favorite way to welcome in the Holidays in your home or hometown. 

We have officially kicked off the Holiday season at The Southern Mercantile and we are filled with Holiday cheer!  We are revamping store and can’t wait to share our favorite Holiday picks with you!  Check back soon to see all that’s new!

Just in case you weren’t aware, every small, southern town has some sort of festival or celebration in which the community gathers together in honor of a (sometimes) quirky theme.  The Fire Ant Festival, Pig Jig, Wild Chicken Festival, and Shrimp Festival, just to name a few.  Here in Ocilla, we celebrate The Sweet Potato Festival. 

Once a year our town is flooded with festival goers on the last Saturday of October.  This special day is marked with several big events including The Tater Trot 5k Run, Sweet Potato Cooking Contest, Parade, Craft Show and yes, a "Miss Sweet Potato Pageant. " 

In honor of this upcoming Ocilla tradition I am sharing one of my favorite sweet potato recipes.  My mom, Brenda, makes the most delicious sweet potato soufflé every Thanksgiving.   I am sure it is similar to other recipes you have tried but there is just something about my mom’s special touch that makes this mouth watering side dish just perfect!    I hope you’ll try it out and let me know what you think!  Happy Fall and Happy Sweet Potato Day!

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Soufflé' Mixture:
2 c. cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. melted butter
2 eggs

Add the sugar, melted butter and eggs to a bowl with the sweet potatoes.  Mix with a hand mixer until smooth.  Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.

For Topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 c. chopped pecans
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix the topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over soufflé' mixture. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. 

In part one I told you how God has really softened my heart over the years through going to Catalyst Conferences and through my friend Donald.  In part two, I want to share with you some of the ways my team and I are getting involved in our local community to make a difference in the name of Jesus.
Regardless of your religious beliefs, I am sure we can agree that people in this world are thirsty for love.  My Shoppes and Southern Merc teams make it part of our mission every day to be kind to people and show them love.  I am not going to lie to you and tell you that this is always an easy task when you work in the customer service field.  It is not.  Just try to remember that everyone you meet has struggles, everyone you meet is going through something and everyone is worthy of love.  Everyone.  This is a lesson I am still learning daily.

We’ve been really excited at The Shoppes to be able to participate with some community organizations in an attempt to spread the love of Jesus throughout our community.  For the past several years we have participated with other businesses in town to partner with our local DFACS office.  We sell paper turkeys to raise money to provide Thanksgiving dinner for three local families in need.  At our Ladies’ Night Out event this past April we decided to host a supplies drive for Ruth’s Cottage, a battered women’s shelter in a neighboring town.  I would love to tell you that this was my brilliant idea but it was actually suggested by one of my vendors here in The Shoppes.  We were all overwhelmed by the generosity of our customers and could not believe the amount of supplies that were donated.

This upcoming Christmas and Thanksgiving we will be working with a local group, Called to Care BHIB, to provide Christmas gifts and supplies for our local foster Children.  It is absolutely amazing to see God working in our business and continue to provide opportunities for us to love and support those in our community that are in need. ​

Andy Stanley says to “do for one what you wish you could do for many.”  That is so wise and so true.  Sometimes it is overwhelming to look at different charities or “one for one” business models and feel like they are changing the world, and that you are not doing enough!  How could you ever feed all of the hungry, clothe all of the needy, or adopt all of the orphans?  Do for one.  Find your Donald.  There is someone in your community that needs you.  I promise if you do for one, it will change your life.  You will suddenly have a fire burning within you that wants to do for many. 

If you want to help others, but you are just not sure how to take the first step, we’re making it easy for you!  We need you to help us do for many.  We love loving people, but we can’t do it without you, our faithful customers! 

If you are in our area, come in and see us!  Do a little shopping, have lunch, and know that you are helping to make a difference in this community.  You are empowering us with the ability to continue to working with DFACS, Ruth’s Cottage and Called to Care BHIB. Join our Shoppes email list or check the Shoppes Facebook page regularly so you can stay in the loop of what’s going on with these organizations and what we are doing to help!

If you are a part of our online community, know that every purchase you make, every blog post you comment on, and every Facebook post you share helps support spreading the Love of Jesus in our tiny southern town.  We also support makers who give to their own ministries, so you know you are purchasing with purpose when you shop with The Southern Mercantile!
 
Southern hospitality at its core is serving others.  So much of what we focus on at The Southern Mercantile is sharing southern hospitality.  We want to make sure that we are serving as many as we can and meeting as many needs as we can, as we spread the love of Jesus and raise awareness regarding the needs of others.  If you aren’t already, we hope you’ll join forces with us in reaching our community by being a part of The Shoppes / Southern Mercantile Family!

Let me just tell you quickly how Donald has changed my heart and has helped me to start shaping a ministry out of my retail business.  Donald roams the streets of our little town, all day, every day.  He is physically handicapped as the result of a terrible car accident he was involved in when he was young and he struggles with addiction.  He is not homeless and he does have a little money.   His Father was a preacher so he is very familiar with what the Bible teaches and spouts off scripture and bible stories to those that he meets.  Most everyone in town knows him and knows that he is harmless.  Some folks ignore him, some offer him rides to where he is going, and some feed him.  Not many take the time to talk to him and show him love, including me. I am terribly guilty of hoping he would just walk on by and not come in my place of business and disrupt my guests.  Donald and I had a rocky start on our path to friendship.  He came in drunk, used very foul language towards my guests and team members, sent his food back to the kitchen, spilled his drink and proceeded to try to light a cigarette in our non-smoking facility.  Matt (my husband) had to help me get him to leave as he could not be reasoned with.  In those days, Donald was very dirty, smelled of urine and alcohol and was in terrible need of a haircut and shave.  In a nutshell, we hated to see him coming.  I am ashamed to even admit that to you, but I promise the story gets better! 

After I realized that Donald broke my heart, I returned home with a new outlook on our relationship.  As uncomfortable as it made me, I made a real effort to look Donald in the eyes and talk to him like he was a human being.  I did discuss with him that we would be glad to feed him, but behavior like he exhibited in our first encounter was not acceptable.  We had a good talk that day.  He was not drunk at the time and found it very hard to believe that he had acted that way.  He ate lunch that day and behaved like a perfect (but still very dirty) angel.  Donald began coming by almost every day, and can you believe I thought about telling him that he could only come in twice a week?  What a stupid thing to do, limit the amount of times per week that we could show Donald the Love of God!  At this point, I will skip some of the details of our story and get right to the important parts. 

Over the course of the next year, Donald began coming in clean shaven, with cut hair, and his clothes were clean.  He was so excited to be greeted by all of the smiling faces at The Shoppes and to have a good lunch.  This became possibly his most pleasant experience of each day.  I am proud to say that my team embraced Donald as I had decided to do, all of them being kind and helpful, taking the time to ask him how his day was going.  We all bragged on him as much as we could; how good he looked with his hair cut and how we had noticed such a great change in him.  I specifically told Donald that I was so proud that he seemed to be drinking less and that I thought he looked really good.  He told me that he had quit a lot of that bad “stuff” he was doing. 

Fast forward to the present, Donald is still cleaned up.  He uses his best manners when he comes to The Shoppes.  He doesn’t come for lunch as much but he comes every morning before we open to get a cup of coffee.  Everyone that works here knows how he takes his coffee and what he likes to eat.  I think he likes coming so much because he knows when he walks in the door he will get a big “Hey Donald” from everyone that works here.  He cannot remember our names so he refers to all of us as “Squirrel”. I am not going to tell you that he has quit drinking or is by any means on the path to complete rehabilitation, but he is happier and it shows all over his face.  I have recently gotten the chance to meet the barber that has been shaving him and cutting his hair.  I was able to tell him thank you and how much it means to all of us.  There is a lady cleaning his house, doing his laundry and buying his groceries.  I have never met her and Donald doesn’t know her last name.  Tara and I suspect she is an angel. 

After going through this amazing experience with Donald, I realized that God had been building a work in my business and I had not opened my eyes to realize it.  My heart had already been broken through the years for my customers.  My widows and widowers, my divorcees, my parents who had lost children… daily we were faced with people who needed to experience the love of Jesus.  I realized that we were not just selling these folks a sandwich, or a lamp, or a new piece of jewelry.  We were given the opportunity to LOVE them.  It finally dawned on me that my place of business was a place of hope and refuge to so many.  I knew that I must be more intentional in reaching out to those who were hurting, and celebrating with those experiencing victories while encouraging and befriending the lonely. 

I have so much to say on this topic that I’ve split it into two blog posts.  I hope you will check back and read Part Two of this story because I can’t wait to tell you how you can help with our mission and get involved!