Tamale treasure

Timing.  Sometimes it’s everything.  We invited some friends for dinner one weekend, and their text said maybe Saturday would work best.  Days passed, and we didn’t hear again.  Saturday arrived, and I assumed something disallowed them to come, so I asked the Lord to show us how to spend the day.  My husband suggested driving to La Vernia, which is a little town less than an hour outside San Antonio, just to get away from the city.  The idea seemed good for our beautiful sunny day, though I still lamented not seeing our friends.  Suddenly my husband’s eyes lit up, “Hey! You know what we’re going to drive by, don’t you?  Ruben’s!”  This was huge.  Actually it was almost earth-shattering because Ruben’s is our all-time favorite tamale place.  But a glance at the clock showed it was already after 2:00, and the likelihood of us arriving Ruben’s before they closed was almost nil.  But we opted to try.  Amazingly we arrived at 2:50, they close at 3:00, and here comes my smiling husband returning to the car with 4 dozen of those delectable tamales.  But 4 dozen, really?  That’s a lot for just 2 people, but thank you, Lord, for the availability.  The rest of the way to La Vernia, we had a hefty tamale aroma wafting from the back seat to the front.  Constant salivating led me to wonder if we should grab some plastic forks and stop at a picnic table to take care of that first dozen.  Turns out we ate at Mr. Tim’s Country Kitchen, and we were grateful to rest our eyes on the cows grazing in the backyard pasture to give us that slow-down respite we had hoped for.  Walking back to the car, I noticed a text from our friends asking what time they should come for dinner.  Uh-oh.  What happened?  Whatever the mix-up, we'd still love to see them, but how could this work?  How could I cook them dinner when we were still out of town?  Then that tamale smell wafted to the front seat again, and suddenly I knew why the Lord gave us 4 dozen tamales.  Better than any meal I could cook, we’d now be serving straight from Ruben’s!  And how thrilling to recount our steps and see the Lord having orchestrated the day.  Not only would we get to see our friends, not only did we get to enjoy a scenic drive, but we also had been handed a very generous portion of one of the tastiest batches of tamales this earth has ever beheld, which was especially amazing, given it was holiday time when people wait in line for hours and hours, even sometimes learning too late that Ruben’s already sold out.  We had enough to give extra tamales for take-home too.  From sad to happy to giddily thrilled, a whole party was happening in my heart—confetti, those pointy party hats, and even the silly honking horns!  How I love the Lord.  His impeccable timing often lets me know He’s there.