Last week mom, maddie, and I traveled 1153 miles to Waco, Texas. We spent 5 full days exploring Waco and everything "Fixer Upper"!
Now that we have been home for a few days, everyone had been asking about our trip: How was it? Did you meet Chip and Jo? Did you love it all? What did you buy?
Let me start by saying. ....it wasn't anything like we expected it to be! I expected it to be a fun trip with my mom and daughter, shopping all day, eating great food at the food trucks, and sleeping in! I thought it would be all about "things"...and me, my vacation time! Boy, was I in for a surprise! It was most of that (minus the sleeping in part of course! ), but yet so much more!
We were sitting at the airport on Thursday morning and mom could hardly contain herself. She kept saying, "pinch me" and "is this really happening?" We spent the morning talking and dreaming about what and who we were going to see! When we arrived in Dallas, we couldn't get our rental car fast enough....we didn't even stop for lunch....we went straight to Magnolia!
We spent thursday afternoon at the Silos. We ate outside and enjoyed the sunshine. We went into the market and enjoyed seeing all the beautiful displays. Everything is done to perfection there, the employees are wonderful, the food is incredible, and the atmosphere is like nothing we have ever experienced at a retail store!
But honestly....if you are traveling 1153 miles just to go shopping there....you might as well stay home and order it online! They have beautiful things (a little on the expensive side, but beautiful) but inside its really just a store with really pretty bathrooms (yes, we even checked them out!)
But yet....there was something different about Magnolia than we expected...we just couldn't put our finger on it!
The next day was Friday. Someone that we met had recommended that we take the Waco Tour. It was marketed as a tour around town highlighting the history of Waco, Baylor University, Cameron Park, and some of the Fixer Upper homes....sounded good, but again we were dutch and a little skeptical about the price...but we decided to try it.
We spent the next 3 hours touring around Waco. We were in a beautiful, spacious van with 3 other couples. We laughed, we ate ice cream, we took a ton of cool pictures.
But it wasn't really just a tour....
We spent time in prayer with complete strangers, heard some incredible testimonies, and even met David Ridley (the bachelor house season 3) from Fixer Upper.... check out his testimony on YouTube, it's worth it!They also took us past their church and invited us to attend on Sunday morning. They brought us to a non-profit grocery store that the community started for the underprivileged. We heard about the wonderful Christian business men and women that are pouring back money and time into their Waco....it's not just Chip and Jo! The locals say it started before the Gaines fame, but that Chip and Jo have "fueled the fire" and have brought Waco into the national spotlight because of the TV show.
We seen God at work in Waco....people (like Chip and Jo, but also other businessmen) had and have dreams for Waco, along with a mustard seed of faith.... and God has taken that and BLESSED it!
Don't get me wrong....Waco had some interesting pieces. I didn't expect to see all the other run down houses and delapdated buildings, or the large presence of homeless people, or the fact that the Silos were right off I-35 (I thought it would have been out in a small country town)!
I also didn't prepare myself for the crazy people at the Magnolia Warehouse sale on Saturday...it was chaos..., but soooo worth it!
Waco is really closer to the size of Grand Rapids (actually it has about 50,000 more people than GR, but very similar in makeup). It's a bustling, busy city.....but a city that has something special!
All week we couldn't put our finger on what it was, what was soooo different about this place...until Sunday afternoon.
We had gone to Antioch Community Church in the morning. Yes...we seen Chip and Jo and family, but we didn't approach them. They were there to worship and so were we. Church is probably the only place they feel "normal" and don't have to hide, we wanted to respect that!
After that we drove out to see their farm. It's a beautiful place! Chip and his son were out in the pasture doing the "hammer flip challenge" with the goats and Texas long-horns watching. It seemed like we were watching a typical sunday afternoon thing at the Gaines home.
As we drove back looking for a place to eat (FYI...not much is open on Sunday's in Waco!!!), we started talking about our experiences of the day/week.
I think that's when we figured it all out....we could feel God's presence in Waco!
It was incredible! God was there blessing it, nurturing it, and watching it grow! From the food truck owner and the Magnolia gardener to the tour guides and all the way to the little vintage shop ladies outside of town....you could hear and see God! They all showed it, shared it....and gave Him all the glory for what He has done in Waco. It is way bigger than Chip and Jo and the Magnolia Silos....God is using Waco to show the world a little glimpse of who he is!
There is a peace that you can't grasp when you sit outside the Silos, there is a sense of faith and forgiveness that David Ridley explains during the "ministry on wheels", and there is a sense of love as you drive around town and see the grocery store and the "Highway Underpass"church for the homeless.
God is at work in Waco and it shows what authentic Christianity looks like by using ordinary people. I thought good-ole, Dutch, conservative west Mi had it figured out.....we DON'T HAVE A CLUE!
Jesus used ordinary people, actually mostly less than ordinary people in his ministry to further the Kingdom of God. Waco is a wonderful example of that....that's what I want to be part of!
I can't move to Waco, but I can bring a little of that back here! I want to be less than ordinary, I want to be part of Jesus' ministry...right here in West Mi! I don't exactly know what that looks like yet, but I will use my little mustard seed of faith and trust Him with my big dreams! Will you join me?
If you are going to Waco, just to shop...stay home....but if you have the chance and desire to see what God's doing in Waco, GO....it was worth the time and money!
Ps: let me know if are going, I can give you all the places to see, and especially the address of the Fed Ex store for shipping!
~Blessings Y'all
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