July 18, 2025 • 46 mins
Many people dream of having a little farm, a homestead with food you grow yourself and animals you raise. The farmhands companion, Pa Mac will talk about how to move from the city or the suburbs to a rural area. How do you fit in when moving to the country? What are some mistakes to avoid? See if you agree with his helpful and humorous observations on Chris Fabry Live.
Resource mentioned:
How to Fit In When You Move to the Country (video)
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Drive Through the Bible by Colin S. Smith
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:05):
Oh, this could be good. I have a guest for
you today who is a treasured friend. I have a
topic he's going to tackle that sings in my soul.
And I'm looking for you to join us with your wisdom.
Maybe a little humor, insight and understanding. This is, in
a way, another Farmer Friday broadcast. And here's the topic
tips for those moving from the city or suburbs to
(00:26):
the country. You've bought a little farm you've decided to homestead.
You want to raise some chickens, plant a garden, live
off the fat of the land. My pal Gary, also
known as Poor Mac and the farmhands companion, will present
his top tips to help you fit in when you
move to the country. And I want to hear from
you today if you agree with Gary. Or maybe you're
(00:46):
in the process of doing this and you have a question,
here's our number (877) 548-3675. Let me thank our team. Behind
the scenes Ryan McConaughey is doing all things technical. Trish
is our producer. Lisa's in the chair. Rihanna, I think,
is going to be answering your calls unless I'm wrong.
And since it's Friday. That's right friend, it's time for
the fabulous Favori Friday. Sy. Here's what it does one.
(01:09):
We oxygenate your blood. Two, we get your endorphins going. Three,
we raise your serotonin level. Four we promote lymphatic drainage.
And five, we stimulate your parasympathetic system. That's why we
call it the five love languages. We also help you
stimulate your vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine. And
don't you dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation.
(01:30):
Take in four seconds of air through your nose right now.
Hold it four seconds, and then as you release that
air through your mouth, push on the left side of
your ribcage to get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide.
Give a sigh today for the people with the dream
of a little place in the country, a house with
a white picket fence by a stream where you can
grow some corn and beans, maybe strawberries. Watermelons. You're giving
(01:52):
up Times Square for fresh air, giving up stores for chores.
And in the process, you're slowing down. You're spending less
time in traffic and more time on the front porch
waving at the neighbors. You're trading the rat race for
a simpler life feeding the chickens, putting up hay, planting seeds.
And in the process, you are learning more about yourself
than you ever imagined. That is fabulous. Freebie Friday sized,
(02:15):
brought to you by the city. People moving in next
to country people. All rights reserved. Now here he is,
direct from Gap Mercantile in Caddo Gap, Arkansas. Paul. Mac.
Gary McWilliams. Gary, how are you doing today?
S2 (02:30):
I'm good. That's right. Chris, it's me. Gary. Paul. Mac McWilliams.
How are you doing?
S1 (02:35):
I am doing great because you're here. And I've had
this idea because I saw this video that you put
together about the top ten things. You know, if you're
moving from the city to the rural, especially to rural south,
you gave these tips. So we're going to get into those.
But first I want to explain to people where you're
broadcasting from right now.
S2 (02:56):
Uh, it's our little general store. It's an old fashioned
general store, basically a tourist trap right here in the
middle of beautiful Caddo Gap, Arkansas. It was the store
was originally general merchandise. There was a store on this
spot in 1907. The original burned to the ground in 32.
And the man who had that store rebuilt the store
that we're in. So this building is 1932, and it's
(03:18):
been in operation pretty much ever since then.
S1 (03:22):
You and I met we were working at love worth
finding together or working on that program. So you lived
close to Memphis, but you lived kind of out from
the city, right?
S2 (03:32):
That's right. I grew up here in southwest Arkansas. And
then to pursue the recording degree there in Memphis, Memphis State.
And my wife and I lived in midtown Memphis for
a while while I was getting my degree. And then
we moved out about a county away in the country,
bought our first farm there. And that's where I began
kind of getting back to my roots. And that's kind
(03:53):
of how all the trouble started with the website and everything.
S1 (03:57):
Yeah. Because you that when you left Memphis, you decided
to move down back to Arkansas in and and Caddo
gap explained Caddo gap for those who've never been there,
what's it like?
S2 (04:09):
Well, uh, in in the town here, there's probably about
a dozen people, uh, the wider area. I mean, I
live about four miles away, and our zip code is
still considered a gap. So there's probably about 200, 300
people in the area. But it, um, you know, I
had a friend one time tell me that every small
town in America has a story, has at least one
(04:29):
thing in its history that it's known for. Well, it
seems like Cattle Gap has one thing. About every ten
years it's known for. We have a statue in town
that commemorates the Caddo Indians and the Tula tribe, the
Caddo Indians, way back in the 1500s. Supposedly, Cattle Gap,
Arkansas was as far west as Hernando de Soto and
(04:50):
his expedition got when they, uh, were exploring America. Before
the Indians ripped his, whipped his rear end and sent
him back east. That's the story.
S1 (05:01):
Yes. That's a that's a good one, too. So you
you decided to buy Gap Mercantile and kind of move in,
and your farm is a little bit further down the road,
and you do stuff there on the farm, and you,
you build your own chicken houses and that kind of stuff. Right?
S2 (05:19):
Yeah. Originally when we one of the reasons, one of
the reasons we moved back here was in I had
begun the website and the idea was to grow the
YouTube channel and show how to do old fashioned skills
and things, build a farm from scratch with the old
tools the old way. And I was doing it on
the property that we have four miles from here. And
(05:40):
the idea was to build that farm, and then we
were going to begin building a little vacation rental cabins, modern,
little convenient cabins there on we're on the South Fork
of the kettle Caddo River. We were going to begin building.
Those were, for instance, a homeschool family. Any family could
come and stay in a cabin and get to see
the farm that I had built on YouTube. Well, one
(06:03):
night my wife says to me, she's looking at Craigslist.
And she said, the old mercantile in Caddo Gap is
for sale. So that kind of was the beginning of
the end. We bought the mercantile, and it actually ended
up being a better plan than ours, because now we
kind of have a central location where people can come
and experience an old store, and we have festivals here.
We have workshops here, like blacksmithing workshop used to have
(06:26):
flint knapping, wool spinning. All kinds of things happen at
Gap Mercantile.
S1 (06:31):
Yeah. And you, you have, uh, retro candy. You've got
the old kind of like, uh, hoarhound hard candy. You
probably have that there, right?
S2 (06:41):
Yes. We've got we've got that, uh, licorice. Uh, don't
tell anybody. Now, this is a secret. I'm a preacher,
and I'm peddling candy cigarettes. Yes, they still make them
and we still have them.
S1 (06:53):
I remember those. And Mallo Cups I saw on the picture.
Mallo cups. Yes. Oh.
S2 (06:59):
Mallo cups. Yep. Valomilk and all that stuff.
S1 (07:02):
Okay. And so and also like homemade things that you've
made yourself on the farm and or grown.
S2 (07:10):
Well, sometimes I have been known to bring some extra
squash or extra okra up here, but mainly we've got
a lot of handcrafted things from artisans in the area.
There's been some, you know, flint knapping things, you know,
arrowheads and things like that. Some pottery, local pottery and bracelets,
all kinds of things like that.
S1 (07:29):
So you probably have local made soap.
S2 (07:31):
We got some soap. Yep. Some old fashioned soap. All flavors.
Even root beer and coffee, if you can believe that.
S1 (07:39):
I do. You don't sell, uh, Caddo Gap coffee there,
do you?
S2 (07:43):
Uh, we actually have a company in central Arkansas, of
all places. Rosebud, Arkansas. It's a little company that imports
coffee from all over the world and roast it right
here in Arkansas. And they allow us to do a
private label. So no, I'm not roasting my own coffee,
but we do have coffee.
S1 (08:02):
Okay, so that's Paul Mac. His name is Gary McWilliams.
Met him a years ago. He had this dream. And
look at what it's become now. And he posted this.
It's like a 7 or 8 minute video the other
day that I saw of top ten things to do.
If you decide you want to move from the city
or the suburbs, you know, congested place to the country,
(08:24):
you want to buy the farm, you want a homestead,
you want to plant some things. You want to have
some animals and not have a homeowner's association tell you
you can't do that. But he says there are there
are some things that you need to do. So I
want you in our next segment. Gary, I want you
to talk about this and the music that we are
playing from Gary is actually music that he has performed
(08:47):
himself Self on instruments that you made yourself. Is that right?
S2 (08:53):
That's correct. Things I made from scratch. I'm basically I'm
a cheapskate.
S1 (08:59):
But. And you said there's a we talked about this
one time you were on a gourd diddle. So it's
a fiddle made from a gourd and a gourd in
a mandolin that's made from a gourd. Is that right?
S2 (09:11):
That's right. And a banjo made from an Irish oatmeal
can and a banjo made from a chicken water. All
kinds of cool stuff.
S1 (09:18):
Okay. All right, so as you listen to this, there's
a way you can actually get the the album, the
homemade album from Gary. But let me take our break.
We'll come back and you'll hear more from him in
the top ten things to do if you're moving from
the city to the country. You got to hear this
top ten list and then I want to hear from you. 87754836758775483675.
(10:06):
We're catching up with Gary. Paul McWilliams live at Gat
Mercantile in Caddo Gap, Arkansas today to talk about moving
from the city to the country and the things that
you need to do. Now he's going to give you
some tips and some help. And maybe this is you.
Maybe you and your spouse have been talking about this,
your family. We're going to move to the country. We're
(10:27):
going to have a farm. And you wonder what what
do you do if if you want to fit in
with the people? And so on this video, I wrote
the list down. So I want you to jump into this. Gary.
What are what's the first tip you want to give us?
S2 (10:43):
Well, number ten I called wave at people uh, and
in the country. And a lot of these, you know, are,
you know, very, uh, southern typical. But some of them apply.
I've heard comments from people on the, on the YouTube channel.
They say, well, this applies in the North as well,
and probably most of them do. Um, so the first
(11:04):
one there wave at people and then this, this might
be kind of a southern thing. I don't know if
people wave at people that they don't know in the North,
but they sure do around here. And, um, it's it's
very polite. And a lot of people who move into
the area from elsewhere, they go, why is he waving
at me? They're going down the road and somebody waves them.
I don't know that person. Why are they waving at me?
And pretty soon they begin to understand, oh, it's a
(11:26):
it's a country thing.
S1 (11:28):
Yes. And there's, there's different ways to wave. Like if
you're carrying something and you're walking down the road, you
can't wave. What do you do?
S2 (11:35):
No, you just give the head nod, you know, uh, hey,
how are you doing? You know, that's that's what that says.
And then, of course, you know, if you. Yeah, if
you if you got your hands on the steering wheel,
you know, or you're, you know, tuning the radio and
you can't get your hand quick enough. You know, you
just give them the finger, you know, the correct finger,
the index finger.
S3 (11:52):
The index finger. Right.
S2 (11:53):
Yeah. That one's a kind one.
S1 (11:55):
Just lift it. Just lift it a little bit. That's
what I because I live kind of in a rural
area here in Arizona. And so they're, you know, a
lot of farms and people with horses and other livestock around.
And my daughter, when she was walking around, she said, dad,
why does everybody I don't like waving at people I
don't want, you know, and it was it was different
(12:16):
for her. So it happens in the West as well, friend.
S2 (12:20):
Okay. Well good. That's good to know. That's good to know.
All right.
S1 (12:22):
So waving people is number ten. Number nine.
S2 (12:27):
All right. Number nine. No chains, locks or mean signs
across your driveway at least immediately. And you know, we've
like I said, we've got I live in a remote
area of Arkansas and it's a beautiful setting of crystal
clear creeks and rivers and mountain views, and everybody wants
to be here. It's almost like at this point sort
(12:48):
of becoming discovered. Everybody wants to be here. Everybody is
starting to move in here. And I have watched people
in this area and seen, you know, things that they
would do immediately. And, you know, they're really, really dumb things.
And then they ask themselves, why can't we fit in?
Why don't we fit in? Well, that's why I developed
this list. I'm here to help you. So one of
(13:10):
the things I noticed right off is that people would
buy a piece of property that, you know, that people
have known the family that lived in that area or
that place for, you know, years. And they would buy
a piece of property immediately. They would put up a
big chain and a big keep out big, you know, big.
You know, it's one thing to have a, you know,
they ought to make keep out signs or No Trespassing
(13:30):
with a beautiful font, but they look so mean when
you put them up and what that basically to me
what that tells me when I see that, you know,
driving past a driveway that I've driven past for years,
and all of a sudden I see that sign. It
says my privacy is more important than getting to know
my neighbors. And it's just it's just kind of has
(13:52):
that attitude. And I understand people want to protect their property,
and they may not know what area they're moving into.
They don't know if they've moved into an area with
a bunch of thugs and a, you know, redneck mafia
or whatever. But I try to tell them, look, you're
not in the city anymore. Just relax. Now, there might
come a time where if there's a problem, you need
(14:12):
to put a chain across your gate or whatever. If
you're going to be, you know, out of town for
a week, but try not to do it immediately, is
my point, because you're going to make all your hopefully
potential good neighbors. Uh, think you're a little weird?
S3 (14:27):
Yes.
S1 (14:27):
What about if you if you have any kind of land,
the the no hunting sign? Because a lot of people
will when they hunt. They're just looking for wherever the
game is. Uh, what do you think about that?
S2 (14:41):
Those are a little less mean. In fact, in Arkansas,
you don't even have to put up a sign. You
just paint. It's kind of a weird color for a hunter.
You know, you think of hunters being masculine, manly, and
this is like a lavender color. And you paint a
tree or a fence, post this light purple color. And
that in art for Arkansas game laws, that means no,
(15:02):
no hunting allowed.
S3 (15:03):
On.
S2 (15:03):
That property.
S1 (15:04):
So yeah. And you wouldn't know that if you're just
moving in. You wouldn't. Why is that tree lavender? You'd
have to ask somebody, right?
S3 (15:11):
Yeah.
S2 (15:11):
You'd think. Look at all these beautiful pastel colors in
the forest. What does this mean?
S1 (15:16):
Okay, so don't put up a sign. Immediately wave at people.
Number eight.
S2 (15:22):
Number eight is act happy at unexpected visits. Because, generally speaking, most, uh,
a lot of times your country country folks are a
little curious. And they might wander by and they might
pull up into your driveway and they might start talking
to you if they see you. Well, people coming from
the city most of the times are not used to that.
(15:42):
You know, they're they're ready to call the law. Who
is this trespassing on my driveway? Well, relax a little bit,
because this is normal behavior for country folk. At least
it was in the past. And I think it still
should be.
S1 (15:54):
Yes, absolutely. Uh, and those go ahead.
S2 (15:58):
You know, I'm sorry a lot. You know, a lot
of times when, when folks will show up, uh, and you're,
you know, you're people are always going to show up
when you're busiest, when you're doing something, you know, really,
really important to you. And, you know, it's it's real
easy to look put off to have that attitude. Well,
you're bothering me. You know, you end sentences quick and
you're kind of short with people. Well, if you want
(16:20):
to fit in. And again, this is people for people
who want to fit in, we might talk about people
who don't care about fitting in later. But if you
want to fit in, you're going to need to be
cordial and speak to them and not look as if
they've ruined your day.
S1 (16:34):
Right. You know, the the memories that are flooding back
to me. I remember going to my grandmother's house and
my grandmother did not have a telephone. They had indoor plumbing,
but they didn't have a telephone. And so you couldn't
call them ahead and say, hey, we're dropping by. You
just dropped by.
S2 (16:52):
And that's probably the origins of that. That's probably the
origins of that is there was no way to warn people, hey,
I'm coming.
S1 (16:59):
Right. But there was always, you know, and and my
two uncles lived with her. Kind of took care of her.
There was always as soon as you walked in, they
could be eating or, you know, whittling on the back porch,
and they would stop whatever they're doing and they just
have a conversation or tell you a story of of
what happened. It was a very welcoming thing. And I
(17:22):
hadn't thought of that until I grew up and thought back,
what what of pooch and Bill and and my grandmother.
What if they had stuff planned that day or they
wanted to watch the you know, the Price is Right
or whatever was on TV. They stopped everything just to
have conversations.
S2 (17:42):
Well, you know, now we're kind of we're saddling up,
siding up to biblical principles here because really, we ought
to live our lives, you know, each day, okay. With
a plan. I'm going to do this. Nevertheless, not my will,
but yours, Lord. And a lot of times, you know,
he changes the plans in our day. And as if
we're going to minister as believers, we need to be
(18:04):
open to those changes because usually his his occurrences and
his interruptions are going to be far more important than ours.
S1 (18:12):
Yes. But the the interruptions, if you if there's a line,
you can step over as a neighbor because even Proverbs
talks about this, you know, not to go to your
neighbor's house and, and stay too long. But it doesn't
say that. But something like that. Uh, you can over
you can overstay your welcome, right?
S2 (18:34):
Yeah, yeah. You go in, you know, if you're visiting somebody,
you know, say your piece, maybe you have a bit
of news for them or whatever, something valuable they need
to know, or you're bringing them something nice, you know? Um,
say your piece. Uh, how's the weather? And then get
on out.
S1 (18:50):
Yes, yes. So. And that leads into number seven. Uh,
what is number seven?
S2 (18:57):
Seven is ask how people are. Uh, in other words,
you know, I put it like this. How y'all doing?
That's a very common phrase for us Southerners. And it
sounds to somebody not used to asking people how you
are a total stranger, how you are like you see
somebody in the store at town, you have no idea
who they are. You've never met them. They make eye
(19:17):
contact with you, they smile, and you just say, you
nod and say, how y'all doing? And people from, you know,
outside the country go, what? How? That's being real nosy
to ask how they're doing. Well don't worry, just ask
it because they're not really going to tell you their
house may have just burned down the night before. They're not.
They're going to say, hey, we're doing fine and then
(19:38):
go right on. But it's just the polite, cordial thing
to do in the country if you want to fit in.
S1 (19:44):
Yes, yes. And that's the and that's the thing. So
let me let me pause right here, friend, as you're
listening to this, does this ring true for you if
you're from the city, moving to the country or if
you're in the country, do you have any other? I
have somebody on Facebook who's responding to this. I want
to read that to you. Do you have any other
tips than what Gary is going to give us here today? (877) 548-3675.
(20:09):
Or maybe you are moving to the country and you
want to, you know, want to make your own chicken house.
You want to the coop, the pen for some other animal.
Gary's the one to ask the question. He can help you.
And I've got, uh, if we have time here, I
want to ask you about trimming my goat hooves. Gary,
if you can help me with that before we end
(20:30):
here today. But here's the number (877) 548-3675. Or is anything
that Gary is saying if you disagree you know we
love conflict here at the back fence. (877) 548-3675. So we've
waved at people. We're not going to put up a
sign immediately. Keep out. No trespassing. We're friendly. Unexpected visitor
(20:51):
comes in. We welcome them. We act happy. We ask people,
how y'all doing now? What's number six?
S2 (20:59):
Number six is we've kind of already touched on this
is don't keep to yourself. Um, you a lot of
people move in with a mindset that I don't need
to know my neighbors, because probably they are a lot
of times they're moving in from a metro area where
their houses were one foot apart. They barely had any yard.
Their neighborhood is full of people, and they don't know
(21:21):
anybody in the house to the left, to the right
or across the street. They're too busy with their lives doing, uh, whatever.
And they don't get to know people who are immediately
close to them. Well, not so much so in the country.
If again, you want to fit in, your neighbour could be,
you know, two, three, four miles down the road and
(21:43):
you really it would do you well to stop in
and introduce yourself sometime. They probably will stop in at
some point and introduce themselves to you. It just builds
relationships because when you're living in a remote area and
there's not that many people around you, there may come
a day when you need their help and to know
their name is the starting place.
S1 (22:03):
Yes, and their kids. And if you remember the name
of a person's dog that's down that you see running
across the field, that's extra points, isn't it?
S2 (22:13):
It ought to be like at least worth a hundred.
S1 (22:16):
Or is somebody's cow? Because we would have had that. Yeah,
we would have people call up and say, uh, I'd
answer the phone and they'd say, Robert, or they'd say, Catherine,
because at whatever time of my, life, I sounded like
either my dad or my mom, and they said, well,
your cows are out. We just thought you'd want to know.
(22:38):
And then we'd have to go chase them down.
S2 (22:41):
That's right. I got a I got a few of
those calls when I was living in Tennessee. A lot
of times what I would do, I'd be coming home
and the fences, you know, some of my neighbor's fences
were almost as bad as mine. And there would invariably
be a cow in the road and in my truck.
You could have a good time and do your neighbor
a good turn at the same time. I would drive
toward that cow real fast, honking the horn, and I
(23:04):
could put a cow without leaving the seat of my truck.
I could put a cow back in the fence, and
you wouldn't believe where cow could fit between two barbed
wire strands 16in apart. But they can do it if
you're honking the horn and driving fast. So I was
having fun. I was doing yeah.
S1 (23:21):
It was very.
S2 (23:22):
Motivating for the cow. And plus I was having a
great time and doing my neighbor a good turn all
at the same time.
S1 (23:28):
Just all around and you're waving as you drive away. Okay,
so so there's the first five. Don't keep to yourself.
Ask people how y'all doing? Be friendly. Uh, especially at
unexpected visits. Don't put up a sign immediately that says
keep out and wave at people. Now, here is Angela
in Florida. Angela, go right ahead.
S4 (23:50):
Hi. Uh, thank you for taking my comment. I was
just going to say, whenever you're planning to go to
a neighbors, you should have something that you take to them.
It doesn't have to be anything extravagant. You don't have
to bake a whole cake. Although if you know in
advance that you're going. It just helps that welcoming, um,
feeling when you show up to the door with something.
(24:12):
Even if you have a container of donuts, you know
that you had had that morning or something, and you
just take a few out and put them in a
little Ziploc bag. It's just, I don't know, it seems
to make everybody want to visit with you.
S1 (24:27):
It's the thought that counts, right? Gary?
S2 (24:30):
Yeah. You're absolutely right, Angela. In fact, even if they
were stale donuts, I would be a happy neighbor. And,
you know, a pitcher of tea or a dozen eggs
or something from your garden. Just have something in your
hands that just says, I'm open to being friends. You're
absolutely right.
S1 (24:47):
But that'll work, too, in the city and the people
next door. Maybe not exactly the same, but this this
concept will work wherever you're living, I think. Don't you?
S2 (24:58):
I, I think so. I think we tried it there
in midtown. We were living in a little neighborhood with
a with several elderly people. I don't even know how
they led us into that neighborhood, but I would try
it there. And after they get over the initial shock of.
He just brought me tomatoes, um, they actually become friends.
So yes, try it in the city. Try it wherever
(25:19):
you are. It's actually just human good human behavior and connection.
S1 (25:24):
And that's what we're all about here at the radio
backyard fence. That's Gary hallmark McWilliams. You can find out
more about him. The website that I mentioned a little earlier. Angela.
Thank you. Just go to Chris Fabriclive, dawg. Chris Fabriclive.
We've got five more tips for you and your calls. (877) 548-3675.
(25:49):
More straight ahead.
S5 (26:05):
This is music from my pal Gary.
S1 (26:07):
The track is called Keep Your Skillet good and greasy.
And our topic today is tips for Fitting In. If
you're moving from the city to the country, we'll get
right back to it. When you go to the farm,
when you drive to the farm, you take the scenic route.
You go to the two lane road. You see the
creek meander through the countryside. You kind of get up
close at the houses. You look, see the barns, you
(26:29):
see the fields, you count rows of things as you're
passing by. There's another way to go that also helps
you understand things. When you drive the interstate, you get
a different lay of the land. You see the difference
between the topography of Kentucky and then Tennessee and Alabama.
You see how all the states fit together and merge
into the United States. That's kind of what Colin Smith
(26:52):
has done in his 30 day study drive through the Bible.
And this is our thank you this month. If you
give a gift to keep us going here at the
radio backyard fence, just go to Chris Fabry. Scroll down.
You'll see how you can become a back fence friend
or a back fence partner. Go to Chris Fabry or
(27:13):
you can call us at 866958669532279. Thanks for your support here.
Right smack dab in the middle of July. Gary Paul
Mac McWilliams Gary Stevens said this. My wife came from Chicago.
She was stunned about people saying, how are y'all doing?
(27:36):
And opening doors for her. The politeness stunned her since
she came from the city that you had to prepare
for that, don't you?
S2 (27:46):
You do have to prepare for that and several other things,
although I'm a little concerned because sometimes I feel like
this younger generation of men, of young men are not
practicing these old practices, and they need to be. Be
careful and treat ladies as ladies, uh, open the door
for them wherever possible. And even we husbands, sometimes we
(28:08):
slack up at that, and we ought to be opening
that door for our wife. She is our queen, and
she is worth it.
S1 (28:15):
This is how life is lived in Caddo Gap, at
the Gap Mercantile. And that's where Gary's from. As a
matter of fact, you're in the back. Uh, of the
of the store. There's the main mercantile store where you
have all the goods, and then there's a little cabin
behind it. Right?
S2 (28:31):
Yeah, yeah. A couple of years ago, 2 or 3
owners ago, they partitioned off the store and built some
rooms here in the back. And we offer that as
a vacation rental. We call it Mercantile Cottage, and it's
available on Airbnb or Vrbo. You can book a stay
and stay in the back of an old store.
S1 (28:50):
Isn't that great? With internet, you got internet in there.
S2 (28:54):
Really good internet, actually. I think the hub is right
down the road near the school, so we're doing good
internet here.
S1 (29:02):
Okay, so, uh, Willie's on the line in Chicago, but
he comes. Willie, where are you from? I don't hear
Willie for some reason. There he is. Okay, tell me again.
Where in Arkansas I'm from?
S6 (29:18):
Brinkley, Arkansas. Right. Franklin.
S1 (29:22):
Got it. Yeah.
S2 (29:23):
Yeah. Cotton country.
S6 (29:26):
Yeah. That's right. The. They they the rice capital in
that area of Brinkley cotton plant, uh, Fargo, Forest City,
Pine bluff.
S1 (29:38):
We are learning more about Arkansas than we ever knew before.
All right, so, Willie, why did you call today?
S6 (29:44):
I called to let him know that. Don't allow gossip
to run your neighbors away. And don't don't allow you
don't gossip. And don't allow the neighbors to gossip to you.
You know, I'm 77 years old, and I got 125
acres of land that I. I use for bird seed.
(30:06):
So when I go there, the people that other generation
that I don't know, I treat them just like they
treat one another, you know. So they don't know that
I'm not from there at the present time. I've been
away a while, but I go every sometime, twice a year,
sometime three times a year.
S1 (30:26):
So when you say you have bird seed, what do
you mean? You, like grow sunflowers and that kind of thing?
S6 (30:33):
No, I grow bird seed. But bird seed is a
world commodity, so I can only plant the bird seed. Uh,
unless with the government permission. Because bird seed is a
world commodity. So I have to pay my taxes to
go to the county, pay my tax, and they they
plant all of the seeds, and I get the benefits
(30:55):
of the harvest. But I have to pay my taxes
before I get the benefits of the harvest, because bird
seed is a world commodity.
S1 (31:02):
Do you know what he's talking about, Gary?
S2 (31:05):
Uh, I've not heard that. But I guarantee you, my
mother in law has bought tons of that seed.
S1 (31:10):
Yeah.
S6 (31:11):
Yeah.
S7 (31:11):
She have. You and me both.
S6 (31:12):
Did you know that? Did you know that Arkansas was
the rice capital of America?
S2 (31:17):
I believe I did know that. And there's a lot
of good duck hunting around over there too.
S6 (31:22):
Sure is good duck hunting. Uh uh. Arkansas. Uh riceland.
Rice got that big, uh, rice plant there in Stuttgart, Arkansas.
S2 (31:31):
Yep. That's right.
S6 (31:32):
Right. That's right. Yeah. Like I say, I love this program.
I listen to it all the time. I listen to
it from 5:00 in the morning until right now.
S7 (31:41):
But this is the first time you've.
S1 (31:42):
Ever called us. This is we.
S7 (31:44):
I had Gary.
S1 (31:45):
On, and you called. Finally got through Willie. And it's
because of this topic, right?
S6 (31:51):
It's because he come from. He's living in the Razorbacks.
He's living in Arkansas. That's right.
S2 (31:57):
That's right.
S6 (31:58):
Yeah. And everything that he said, everything he said from
the time that he got on it has validity for
living there.
S7 (32:06):
Bingo.
S2 (32:07):
I'll tell you something else. You were talking about gossip. Chris,
do you remember what Adrian Rogers used to say? He
used to say, don't let people treat your ears like
garbage cans.
S1 (32:17):
Mhm. Yeah. And it takes you know, and then now
we've got the social media then. And how much of
that is, you know foments and, and uh does the
exactly the same thing.
S2 (32:29):
Oh yeah.
S1 (32:30):
Just Willy I'm glad you called here today. Okay. So
so he says there's validity to the first five things
that you've been talking about. Let's hear the last five
tips for somebody who wants to fit in. Moving from
the city to the country. Number five.
S2 (32:45):
Okay. Number five is visit a local church or 2
or 3. Now, Chris, my YouTube audience is a wide audience.
I've got a lot of people who watch my show
who are not necessarily Christians or have a biblical worldview.
So I at first hesitated on this one point, but
then I thought, no, no, you know what? Go ahead
(33:07):
and say it. And when you move into a new area,
one of the best things, and we have moved a
couple of times, my wife and I. And one of
the best things for us was to find a local
church and visit it, because that's how you get to
know the people in your community. And I hesitated in
putting this point in there because I thought, well, some
(33:28):
people aren't religious. They don't care. You know, they don't
care about going to church. It's not a part of
their life. But then I thought, you know what, go
ahead and try it. What's it going to kill them?
And by the way, visiting a country and or a
especially a southern rural country church, uh, could be one
of the most interesting things you have ever, ever in
(33:50):
your life experienced if you've never been in one. And
to boot, you might actually learn a little something about
the Bible and it's not going to kill you.
S1 (33:58):
Bingo. Bingo. So number five is visit a local church.
Number four. And I love this one.
S2 (34:05):
Number four is shop local. Now I've had I've seen
people move in here and you know, we're about let's
see one of the, one of the big towns in our. Well,
you know, our state capitol is little Rock, and it's
a couple of hours away from here. And I've seen
people well, we we shop local there idea. You know,
they may come from, you know, different states far away.
(34:26):
And their idea of shopping local is to drive an
hour or two away and. Well, actually, we got towns
a little closer than that. And it's, it's good to
shop where you are. And people say, well, but yeah,
but it's more expensive. If I drive to this town,
I can save money on these products because they have
more buying power, whatever. But again, it comes back to
(34:48):
the question, do you want to fit in or are
you more interested in, you know, some pennies out of
your pocket book? Uh, because to shop local tills, these
local mom and pop stores like we are, you know,
we're a local, you know, tourist mom and pop souvenir shop.
And what you tell people when you, um, support their
(35:10):
business is I care about the people close to me
more than I care about saving a few pennies. And
you actually might actually be saving money if you're if
you consider the gas that you're spending to drive somewhere.
S1 (35:22):
Well, you mentioned the local artisans that create these things
that you sell there. You're you're helping them as well.
And you're buying something that was handcrafted by somebody who
down the street from down the road. Right.
S2 (35:36):
That's right. And that's, you know, that's a completely different
thing than something that, you know, came off a boat
that came from overseas is something that was locally crafted
and has some meaning. And when people go on vacation
and they want to buy gifts, that's something that has
a little more meaning than just, you know, a pink
cell phone cover.
S1 (35:55):
Yes. Okay. Visit a local church shop number three. Now,
you got to be careful with this one because we
got we got a lot of animal lovers, and I'm
one too. Uh, what's number three?
S2 (36:07):
I will tread carefully with this one. Number three is
don't shoot your neighbor's dog immediately. Now, that requires a
little bit of explanation, and I'm here to do it. Um,
there are going to be times when, especially for those
of us who enjoy the country life and some, you know,
the farm life or the homestead life, one of the
first things you're going to want to do is get
(36:29):
you a little flock of chickens and have you some eggs,
and maybe butcher a rooster every now and then, if
you're up to it. And people adore their chickens. Uh,
it's one of the easiest livestock to keep and to
get set up with. And then, wouldn't you know it,
the week after you get them going and you're getting eggs,
the neighbor's dog comes over and kills your best hand. Uh,
(36:51):
maybe 2 or 3 of your best hands.
S1 (36:54):
That you have named to you.
S2 (36:56):
Because named fluffy and, uh, henbit or whatever. And and
they're dead. They're laying out there in pieces, and you
feel like taking up a gun and shooting that dog
next time you see it. Well, my advice again, if
you want to fit in is first go to that
neighbor and explain what's happened. Explain. Hey, I saw your
(37:18):
dog doing this or whatever and give them a chance
to make it right. And as I said in the video,
they either will or they won't. Um, but and if
they don't, then perhaps you can take matters into your
own hands in the South. Now, here's where I got
to tread carefully, because in the South we have a
saying shoot, shovel and shut up. Um, sometimes that's the
(37:41):
only way to handle certain species of dogs. I know
that's probably made half your, if not most of your audience.
S1 (37:47):
Uh, well, cats too. You're made. You made cat lovers,
you know.
S2 (37:53):
Oh, dear. I've just done it all. I'm so sorry.
I'll never appear on this program again. Um, but anyway,
my point is, uh, don't immediately shoot your neighbor's dog.
Give them a give them an opportunity to make it right.
You might just, Lord willing, develop a friendship that will
last forever if you do it the proper way and
don't take matters into your hand to begin with.
S1 (38:15):
What? What is a good recompense for a chicken that's
been killed by a neighbor's dog?
S2 (38:21):
Oh, boy. You know, these days it takes a lot
of money. Uh, a lot of feed to get a
chicken up to adult size. And that's like a year's
investment to get a hen up to where she's finally
laying eggs. So, uh. Um, that's a hard one, Chris.
S1 (38:37):
Um, well, maybe. Maybe a chicken from his pen. He could.
Could you you swap him out?
S2 (38:45):
Well, you could, but his chickens probably don't taste good
because his dog didn't kill his. I don't know, I mean,
you got a point there.
S1 (38:54):
Maybe we could do a program on just on that
next week. What do you.
S2 (38:58):
Say? Maybe. Maybe he owes you one of his children.
I don't know, we'll just have to.
S1 (39:02):
Or. Or it could be that. What if the neighbor
says that's not my dog and and really means it.
And it may not be his. You could be wrong
about whose dog it is, right?
S2 (39:12):
You could be wrong about that. Uh, but these days,
with this modern technology, there is such a thing as
a game camera. You could actually have evidence. So, uh,
that might be the route. You can also, there's several ways,
you know, you can try to prevent that. But, you know,
if the damage is already done, give them a chance
to make it right.
S1 (39:31):
There's Gary Paul Mac McWilliams. Go to chris.org. You'll see
more about our topic today. You can visit his website,
his YouTube channel and uh, come on back. We've got
some more friends who want to help you fit in.
And we have the last two tips coming up straight
ahead on Moody Radio. All this music is played by
(40:08):
Gary Paul McWilliams on instruments. He's made himself and the
CD is available. You can find it if you go
to Farmhand's companion. Com we have a link at Chris
Fabry Live. You'll see that link right there. And, uh,
Cathy is on the line. Cathy, why did you call today?
S8 (40:28):
Oh, hi. Um, thank you for taking my call. I
just wanted to say that we lived for about a
year in Arkansas. Bismarck, Arkansas. It's about 20 minutes southwest
of Hot Springs, and we were there helping my sister
and my brother in law passed away. He had cancer,
and we were in the funeral procession, and we were
(40:50):
just shocked to see people not only pull over, but
they also took their hats off, and they got out
of their vehicles and were standing along their their vehicle
alongside of the road and respect for the funeral procession
going by. We had never seen anything like that before,
having been from the Chicagoland suburbs. Now we're back up
in the Chicagoland area, the suburban area, and it just
(41:13):
was so respectful and refreshing and really wonderful to see
a very touching moment.
S6 (41:19):
Yes.
S1 (41:20):
Yeah. That being able to connect then with somebody in
their grief. That's part of what you're talking about fitting in,
isn't it, Gary?
S2 (41:30):
It is. And that is very common to see when,
you know, whenever you see a row of cars coming
and they're not coming at a fast pace and they've
got their headlights on. Uh, that is the polite thing,
and it always has been. The thing to do is
to pull over. Out of respect for that. And when
you see that, that just it brings tears to your eyes. Yes.
It's kind of the epitome of just being not only
(41:53):
not only a good Christian, but a human being.
S1 (41:55):
Yes, yes. And and noticing somebody else's, uh, struggle that
they're going through. Uh, great. Kathy, thank you for calling
us today. There are two tips now if you're moving
from the city to the country, especially the rural south.
So give us number two, Gary.
S2 (42:13):
Well, number two is kind of a light hearted one.
It is learn to talk southern. And this is if
you're moving, you know, from outside the south into the south. Um,
and I say, you know, go, go easy on this.
Don't don't get too headstrong. Don't go too fast. Uh,
I jokingly say, uh, outsiders are only allowed to use
(42:34):
the word y'all once, per conversational engagement for at least
the first year until you learn how to use it well.
S1 (42:43):
So yeah, y'all, if you if you say you all,
then you know that you need to loosen up a
little bit, right?
S2 (42:52):
Loosen up a little bit would be good. Yeah. But
don't overdo it. That's the key. Don't overdo it.
S1 (42:57):
But and authenticity, if you try to talk, if you
try to sound like the people that you're talking to.
And they talk differently than you do. They're going to
hear the inauthenticity if you just try to fit in
that way. Right.
S2 (43:12):
Right. And that's why I say don't rush it. It'll
eventually happen. It'll take a while, but you'll eventually and
other people, probably your family members, will notice it before
you do. So it kind of happens without, I think.
Don't force it. It'll happen.
S1 (43:28):
Okay. So the number one thing, though, I think is
the most important thing on all the list, and that
is you're moving from the city to the country to
raise chickens or to raise a crop of whatever. And
what is the number one thing not to do?
S2 (43:46):
Don't tell your neighbors how wrong they are or how
they're farming or doing something incorrectly. That is one of
the most putting, putting office things you can do to
somebody if you've not, you know, yet, gotten to know him.
And I said in the video, you know, you and
I mean this and I think this touched a chord
with a lot of people. I said, as a newcomer,
(44:09):
you have not yet earned the right to be heard.
And I say that with humility because I have there
have been instances where I've moved into a new community.
People didn't know me. Uh, I've kind of always been
a bit outgoing. I'll speak to people. I'm not afraid.
But I was very, very slow to give criticism especially,
(44:30):
or to make suggestions until I felt like they trusted me.
In other words, this is, uh, another one of those
human behavior things. You kind of need to build up
some credibility. Um, and then once you've built that up,
there come a day where, where you might spend a
little bit of that credibility you've built up and they
(44:50):
might listen to you. But first and foremost, you need
to practice being a friend. That trumps everything.
S1 (44:58):
Well, listening to them, listening to their wisdom, you know,
hearing what they're saying. And this goes along with the
spiritual thing, too. There is a certain sense of, you know,
I know it all and you don't. And I'm going
to tell you, you earn the right to be able
to speak into a person's life because you show that
you really care about them. First of all, that they're
(45:19):
not just another, you know, convert, potential convert. You really
care about them on a on a person to person basis.
So it all. All of these ten things really in
a way are link into our spiritual lives, I think.
Don't you. Don't you agree?
S2 (45:36):
I agree wholeheartedly they are. It is so important to
listen to people and gain that credit, gain that trust,
and then one day you might have something worthwhile for
them to listen to, but they may have something worthwhile
that you might never even know that you needed to learn.
S1 (45:54):
Yes. All right, so I didn't get to ask you
about the goat hooves. I'll ask you that off the air.
But I want our listeners to know, if you go
to the Farmhand's companion website and you click on the
general store, there are some books that Gary has written,
such as building an Old Fashioned Pole Barn. I know
(46:14):
that's going to be a New York Times best seller. Common.
Common trees and their uses for the small farm or homestead.
That's really interesting. And then homemade. The music that some
of the music we've been playing here today on instruments
that Gary has made himself. Uh, Gary, you're a treasure.
Thanks for doing this today. God bless you, friend.
S2 (46:35):
Thank you for having me on, Chris.
S1 (46:37):
There he is. Gary. Paul. Mac McWilliams. We have a
link to that video on YouTube that he did that.
I encourage you just go to Chris. Org. You'll see
it right there. Our program is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Thanks for.
Oh, this could be good. I have a guest for
you today who is a treasured friend. I have a
topic he's going to tackle that sings in my soul.
And I'm looking for you to join us with your wisdom.
Maybe a little humor, insight and understanding. This is, in
a way, another Farmer Friday broadcast. And here's the topic
tips for those moving from the city or suburbs to
(00:26):
the country. You've bought a little farm you've decided to homestead.
You want to raise some chickens, plant a garden, live
off the fat of the land. My pal Gary, also
known as Poor Mac and the farmhands companion, will present
his top tips to help you fit in when you
move to the country. And I want to hear from
you today if you agree with Gary. Or maybe you're
(00:46):
in the process of doing this and you have a question,
here's our number (877) 548-3675. Let me thank our team. Behind
the scenes Ryan McConaughey is doing all things technical. Trish
is our producer. Lisa's in the chair. Rihanna, I think,
is going to be answering your calls unless I'm wrong.
And since it's Friday. That's right friend, it's time for
the fabulous Favori Friday. Sy. Here's what it does one.
(01:09):
We oxygenate your blood. Two, we get your endorphins going. Three,
we raise your serotonin level. Four we promote lymphatic drainage.
And five, we stimulate your parasympathetic system. That's why we
call it the five love languages. We also help you
stimulate your vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine. And
don't you dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation.
(01:30):
Take in four seconds of air through your nose right now.
Hold it four seconds, and then as you release that
air through your mouth, push on the left side of
your ribcage to get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide.
Give a sigh today for the people with the dream
of a little place in the country, a house with
a white picket fence by a stream where you can
grow some corn and beans, maybe strawberries. Watermelons. You're giving
(01:52):
up Times Square for fresh air, giving up stores for chores.
And in the process, you're slowing down. You're spending less
time in traffic and more time on the front porch
waving at the neighbors. You're trading the rat race for
a simpler life feeding the chickens, putting up hay, planting seeds.
And in the process, you are learning more about yourself
than you ever imagined. That is fabulous. Freebie Friday sized,
(02:15):
brought to you by the city. People moving in next
to country people. All rights reserved. Now here he is,
direct from Gap Mercantile in Caddo Gap, Arkansas. Paul. Mac.
Gary McWilliams. Gary, how are you doing today?
S2 (02:30):
I'm good. That's right. Chris, it's me. Gary. Paul. Mac McWilliams.
How are you doing?
S1 (02:35):
I am doing great because you're here. And I've had
this idea because I saw this video that you put
together about the top ten things. You know, if you're
moving from the city to the rural, especially to rural south,
you gave these tips. So we're going to get into those.
But first I want to explain to people where you're
broadcasting from right now.
S2 (02:56):
Uh, it's our little general store. It's an old fashioned
general store, basically a tourist trap right here in the
middle of beautiful Caddo Gap, Arkansas. It was the store
was originally general merchandise. There was a store on this
spot in 1907. The original burned to the ground in 32.
And the man who had that store rebuilt the store
that we're in. So this building is 1932, and it's
(03:18):
been in operation pretty much ever since then.
S1 (03:22):
You and I met we were working at love worth
finding together or working on that program. So you lived
close to Memphis, but you lived kind of out from
the city, right?
S2 (03:32):
That's right. I grew up here in southwest Arkansas. And
then to pursue the recording degree there in Memphis, Memphis State.
And my wife and I lived in midtown Memphis for
a while while I was getting my degree. And then
we moved out about a county away in the country,
bought our first farm there. And that's where I began
kind of getting back to my roots. And that's kind
(03:53):
of how all the trouble started with the website and everything.
S1 (03:57):
Yeah. Because you that when you left Memphis, you decided
to move down back to Arkansas in and and Caddo
gap explained Caddo gap for those who've never been there,
what's it like?
S2 (04:09):
Well, uh, in in the town here, there's probably about
a dozen people, uh, the wider area. I mean, I
live about four miles away, and our zip code is
still considered a gap. So there's probably about 200, 300
people in the area. But it, um, you know, I
had a friend one time tell me that every small
town in America has a story, has at least one
(04:29):
thing in its history that it's known for. Well, it
seems like Cattle Gap has one thing. About every ten
years it's known for. We have a statue in town
that commemorates the Caddo Indians and the Tula tribe, the
Caddo Indians, way back in the 1500s. Supposedly, Cattle Gap,
Arkansas was as far west as Hernando de Soto and
(04:50):
his expedition got when they, uh, were exploring America. Before
the Indians ripped his, whipped his rear end and sent
him back east. That's the story.
S1 (05:01):
Yes. That's a that's a good one, too. So you
you decided to buy Gap Mercantile and kind of move in,
and your farm is a little bit further down the road,
and you do stuff there on the farm, and you,
you build your own chicken houses and that kind of stuff. Right?
S2 (05:19):
Yeah. Originally when we one of the reasons, one of
the reasons we moved back here was in I had
begun the website and the idea was to grow the
YouTube channel and show how to do old fashioned skills
and things, build a farm from scratch with the old
tools the old way. And I was doing it on
the property that we have four miles from here. And
(05:40):
the idea was to build that farm, and then we
were going to begin building a little vacation rental cabins, modern,
little convenient cabins there on we're on the South Fork
of the kettle Caddo River. We were going to begin building.
Those were, for instance, a homeschool family. Any family could
come and stay in a cabin and get to see
the farm that I had built on YouTube. Well, one
(06:03):
night my wife says to me, she's looking at Craigslist.
And she said, the old mercantile in Caddo Gap is
for sale. So that kind of was the beginning of
the end. We bought the mercantile, and it actually ended
up being a better plan than ours, because now we
kind of have a central location where people can come
and experience an old store, and we have festivals here.
We have workshops here, like blacksmithing workshop used to have
(06:26):
flint knapping, wool spinning. All kinds of things happen at
Gap Mercantile.
S1 (06:31):
Yeah. And you, you have, uh, retro candy. You've got
the old kind of like, uh, hoarhound hard candy. You
probably have that there, right?
S2 (06:41):
Yes. We've got we've got that, uh, licorice. Uh, don't
tell anybody. Now, this is a secret. I'm a preacher,
and I'm peddling candy cigarettes. Yes, they still make them
and we still have them.
S1 (06:53):
I remember those. And Mallo Cups I saw on the picture.
Mallo cups. Yes. Oh.
S2 (06:59):
Mallo cups. Yep. Valomilk and all that stuff.
S1 (07:02):
Okay. And so and also like homemade things that you've
made yourself on the farm and or grown.
S2 (07:10):
Well, sometimes I have been known to bring some extra
squash or extra okra up here, but mainly we've got
a lot of handcrafted things from artisans in the area.
There's been some, you know, flint knapping things, you know,
arrowheads and things like that. Some pottery, local pottery and bracelets,
all kinds of things like that.
S1 (07:29):
So you probably have local made soap.
S2 (07:31):
We got some soap. Yep. Some old fashioned soap. All flavors.
Even root beer and coffee, if you can believe that.
S1 (07:39):
I do. You don't sell, uh, Caddo Gap coffee there,
do you?
S2 (07:43):
Uh, we actually have a company in central Arkansas, of
all places. Rosebud, Arkansas. It's a little company that imports
coffee from all over the world and roast it right
here in Arkansas. And they allow us to do a
private label. So no, I'm not roasting my own coffee,
but we do have coffee.
S1 (08:02):
Okay, so that's Paul Mac. His name is Gary McWilliams.
Met him a years ago. He had this dream. And
look at what it's become now. And he posted this.
It's like a 7 or 8 minute video the other
day that I saw of top ten things to do.
If you decide you want to move from the city
or the suburbs, you know, congested place to the country,
(08:24):
you want to buy the farm, you want a homestead,
you want to plant some things. You want to have
some animals and not have a homeowner's association tell you
you can't do that. But he says there are there
are some things that you need to do. So I
want you in our next segment. Gary, I want you
to talk about this and the music that we are
playing from Gary is actually music that he has performed
(08:47):
himself Self on instruments that you made yourself. Is that right?
S2 (08:53):
That's correct. Things I made from scratch. I'm basically I'm
a cheapskate.
S1 (08:59):
But. And you said there's a we talked about this
one time you were on a gourd diddle. So it's
a fiddle made from a gourd and a gourd in
a mandolin that's made from a gourd. Is that right?
S2 (09:11):
That's right. And a banjo made from an Irish oatmeal
can and a banjo made from a chicken water. All
kinds of cool stuff.
S1 (09:18):
Okay. All right, so as you listen to this, there's
a way you can actually get the the album, the
homemade album from Gary. But let me take our break.
We'll come back and you'll hear more from him in
the top ten things to do if you're moving from
the city to the country. You got to hear this
top ten list and then I want to hear from you. 87754836758775483675.
(10:06):
We're catching up with Gary. Paul McWilliams live at Gat
Mercantile in Caddo Gap, Arkansas today to talk about moving
from the city to the country and the things that
you need to do. Now he's going to give you
some tips and some help. And maybe this is you.
Maybe you and your spouse have been talking about this,
your family. We're going to move to the country. We're
(10:27):
going to have a farm. And you wonder what what
do you do if if you want to fit in
with the people? And so on this video, I wrote
the list down. So I want you to jump into this. Gary.
What are what's the first tip you want to give us?
S2 (10:43):
Well, number ten I called wave at people uh, and
in the country. And a lot of these, you know, are,
you know, very, uh, southern typical. But some of them apply.
I've heard comments from people on the, on the YouTube channel.
They say, well, this applies in the North as well,
and probably most of them do. Um, so the first
(11:04):
one there wave at people and then this, this might
be kind of a southern thing. I don't know if
people wave at people that they don't know in the North,
but they sure do around here. And, um, it's it's
very polite. And a lot of people who move into
the area from elsewhere, they go, why is he waving
at me? They're going down the road and somebody waves them.
I don't know that person. Why are they waving at me?
And pretty soon they begin to understand, oh, it's a
(11:26):
it's a country thing.
S1 (11:28):
Yes. And there's, there's different ways to wave. Like if
you're carrying something and you're walking down the road, you
can't wave. What do you do?
S2 (11:35):
No, you just give the head nod, you know, uh, hey,
how are you doing? You know, that's that's what that says.
And then, of course, you know, if you. Yeah, if
you if you got your hands on the steering wheel,
you know, or you're, you know, tuning the radio and
you can't get your hand quick enough. You know, you
just give them the finger, you know, the correct finger,
the index finger.
S3 (11:52):
The index finger. Right.
S2 (11:53):
Yeah. That one's a kind one.
S1 (11:55):
Just lift it. Just lift it a little bit. That's
what I because I live kind of in a rural
area here in Arizona. And so they're, you know, a
lot of farms and people with horses and other livestock around.
And my daughter, when she was walking around, she said, dad,
why does everybody I don't like waving at people I
don't want, you know, and it was it was different
(12:16):
for her. So it happens in the West as well, friend.
S2 (12:20):
Okay. Well good. That's good to know. That's good to know.
All right.
S1 (12:22):
So waving people is number ten. Number nine.
S2 (12:27):
All right. Number nine. No chains, locks or mean signs
across your driveway at least immediately. And you know, we've
like I said, we've got I live in a remote
area of Arkansas and it's a beautiful setting of crystal
clear creeks and rivers and mountain views, and everybody wants
to be here. It's almost like at this point sort
(12:48):
of becoming discovered. Everybody wants to be here. Everybody is
starting to move in here. And I have watched people
in this area and seen, you know, things that they
would do immediately. And, you know, they're really, really dumb things.
And then they ask themselves, why can't we fit in?
Why don't we fit in? Well, that's why I developed
this list. I'm here to help you. So one of
(13:10):
the things I noticed right off is that people would
buy a piece of property that, you know, that people
have known the family that lived in that area or
that place for, you know, years. And they would buy
a piece of property immediately. They would put up a
big chain and a big keep out big, you know, big.
You know, it's one thing to have a, you know,
they ought to make keep out signs or No Trespassing
(13:30):
with a beautiful font, but they look so mean when
you put them up and what that basically to me
what that tells me when I see that, you know,
driving past a driveway that I've driven past for years,
and all of a sudden I see that sign. It
says my privacy is more important than getting to know
my neighbors. And it's just it's just kind of has
(13:52):
that attitude. And I understand people want to protect their property,
and they may not know what area they're moving into.
They don't know if they've moved into an area with
a bunch of thugs and a, you know, redneck mafia
or whatever. But I try to tell them, look, you're
not in the city anymore. Just relax. Now, there might
come a time where if there's a problem, you need
(14:12):
to put a chain across your gate or whatever. If
you're going to be, you know, out of town for
a week, but try not to do it immediately, is
my point, because you're going to make all your hopefully
potential good neighbors. Uh, think you're a little weird?
S3 (14:27):
Yes.
S1 (14:27):
What about if you if you have any kind of land,
the the no hunting sign? Because a lot of people
will when they hunt. They're just looking for wherever the
game is. Uh, what do you think about that?
S2 (14:41):
Those are a little less mean. In fact, in Arkansas,
you don't even have to put up a sign. You
just paint. It's kind of a weird color for a hunter.
You know, you think of hunters being masculine, manly, and
this is like a lavender color. And you paint a
tree or a fence, post this light purple color. And
that in art for Arkansas game laws, that means no,
(15:02):
no hunting allowed.
S3 (15:03):
On.
S2 (15:03):
That property.
S1 (15:04):
So yeah. And you wouldn't know that if you're just
moving in. You wouldn't. Why is that tree lavender? You'd
have to ask somebody, right?
S3 (15:11):
Yeah.
S2 (15:11):
You'd think. Look at all these beautiful pastel colors in
the forest. What does this mean?
S1 (15:16):
Okay, so don't put up a sign. Immediately wave at people.
Number eight.
S2 (15:22):
Number eight is act happy at unexpected visits. Because, generally speaking, most, uh,
a lot of times your country country folks are a
little curious. And they might wander by and they might
pull up into your driveway and they might start talking
to you if they see you. Well, people coming from
the city most of the times are not used to that.
(15:42):
You know, they're they're ready to call the law. Who
is this trespassing on my driveway? Well, relax a little bit,
because this is normal behavior for country folk. At least
it was in the past. And I think it still
should be.
S1 (15:54):
Yes, absolutely. Uh, and those go ahead.
S2 (15:58):
You know, I'm sorry a lot. You know, a lot
of times when, when folks will show up, uh, and you're,
you know, you're people are always going to show up
when you're busiest, when you're doing something, you know, really,
really important to you. And, you know, it's it's real
easy to look put off to have that attitude. Well,
you're bothering me. You know, you end sentences quick and
you're kind of short with people. Well, if you want
(16:20):
to fit in. And again, this is people for people
who want to fit in, we might talk about people
who don't care about fitting in later. But if you
want to fit in, you're going to need to be
cordial and speak to them and not look as if
they've ruined your day.
S1 (16:34):
Right. You know, the the memories that are flooding back
to me. I remember going to my grandmother's house and
my grandmother did not have a telephone. They had indoor plumbing,
but they didn't have a telephone. And so you couldn't
call them ahead and say, hey, we're dropping by. You
just dropped by.
S2 (16:52):
And that's probably the origins of that. That's probably the
origins of that is there was no way to warn people, hey,
I'm coming.
S1 (16:59):
Right. But there was always, you know, and and my
two uncles lived with her. Kind of took care of her.
There was always as soon as you walked in, they
could be eating or, you know, whittling on the back porch,
and they would stop whatever they're doing and they just
have a conversation or tell you a story of of
what happened. It was a very welcoming thing. And I
(17:22):
hadn't thought of that until I grew up and thought back,
what what of pooch and Bill and and my grandmother.
What if they had stuff planned that day or they
wanted to watch the you know, the Price is Right
or whatever was on TV. They stopped everything just to
have conversations.
S2 (17:42):
Well, you know, now we're kind of we're saddling up,
siding up to biblical principles here because really, we ought
to live our lives, you know, each day, okay. With
a plan. I'm going to do this. Nevertheless, not my will,
but yours, Lord. And a lot of times, you know,
he changes the plans in our day. And as if
we're going to minister as believers, we need to be
(18:04):
open to those changes because usually his his occurrences and
his interruptions are going to be far more important than ours.
S1 (18:12):
Yes. But the the interruptions, if you if there's a line,
you can step over as a neighbor because even Proverbs
talks about this, you know, not to go to your
neighbor's house and, and stay too long. But it doesn't
say that. But something like that. Uh, you can over
you can overstay your welcome, right?
S2 (18:34):
Yeah, yeah. You go in, you know, if you're visiting somebody,
you know, say your piece, maybe you have a bit
of news for them or whatever, something valuable they need
to know, or you're bringing them something nice, you know? Um,
say your piece. Uh, how's the weather? And then get
on out.
S1 (18:50):
Yes, yes. So. And that leads into number seven. Uh,
what is number seven?
S2 (18:57):
Seven is ask how people are. Uh, in other words,
you know, I put it like this. How y'all doing?
That's a very common phrase for us Southerners. And it
sounds to somebody not used to asking people how you
are a total stranger, how you are like you see
somebody in the store at town, you have no idea
who they are. You've never met them. They make eye
(19:17):
contact with you, they smile, and you just say, you
nod and say, how y'all doing? And people from, you know,
outside the country go, what? How? That's being real nosy
to ask how they're doing. Well don't worry, just ask
it because they're not really going to tell you their
house may have just burned down the night before. They're not.
They're going to say, hey, we're doing fine and then
(19:38):
go right on. But it's just the polite, cordial thing
to do in the country if you want to fit in.
S1 (19:44):
Yes, yes. And that's the and that's the thing. So
let me let me pause right here, friend, as you're
listening to this, does this ring true for you if
you're from the city, moving to the country or if
you're in the country, do you have any other? I
have somebody on Facebook who's responding to this. I want
to read that to you. Do you have any other
tips than what Gary is going to give us here today? (877) 548-3675.
(20:09):
Or maybe you are moving to the country and you
want to, you know, want to make your own chicken house.
You want to the coop, the pen for some other animal.
Gary's the one to ask the question. He can help you.
And I've got, uh, if we have time here, I
want to ask you about trimming my goat hooves. Gary,
if you can help me with that before we end
(20:30):
here today. But here's the number (877) 548-3675. Or is anything
that Gary is saying if you disagree you know we
love conflict here at the back fence. (877) 548-3675. So we've
waved at people. We're not going to put up a
sign immediately. Keep out. No trespassing. We're friendly. Unexpected visitor
(20:51):
comes in. We welcome them. We act happy. We ask people,
how y'all doing now? What's number six?
S2 (20:59):
Number six is we've kind of already touched on this
is don't keep to yourself. Um, you a lot of
people move in with a mindset that I don't need
to know my neighbors, because probably they are a lot
of times they're moving in from a metro area where
their houses were one foot apart. They barely had any yard.
Their neighborhood is full of people, and they don't know
(21:21):
anybody in the house to the left, to the right
or across the street. They're too busy with their lives doing, uh, whatever.
And they don't get to know people who are immediately
close to them. Well, not so much so in the country.
If again, you want to fit in, your neighbour could be,
you know, two, three, four miles down the road and
(21:43):
you really it would do you well to stop in
and introduce yourself sometime. They probably will stop in at
some point and introduce themselves to you. It just builds
relationships because when you're living in a remote area and
there's not that many people around you, there may come
a day when you need their help and to know
their name is the starting place.
S1 (22:03):
Yes, and their kids. And if you remember the name
of a person's dog that's down that you see running
across the field, that's extra points, isn't it?
S2 (22:13):
It ought to be like at least worth a hundred.
S1 (22:16):
Or is somebody's cow? Because we would have had that. Yeah,
we would have people call up and say, uh, I'd
answer the phone and they'd say, Robert, or they'd say, Catherine,
because at whatever time of my, life, I sounded like
either my dad or my mom, and they said, well,
your cows are out. We just thought you'd want to know.
(22:38):
And then we'd have to go chase them down.
S2 (22:41):
That's right. I got a I got a few of
those calls when I was living in Tennessee. A lot
of times what I would do, I'd be coming home
and the fences, you know, some of my neighbor's fences
were almost as bad as mine. And there would invariably
be a cow in the road and in my truck.
You could have a good time and do your neighbor
a good turn at the same time. I would drive
toward that cow real fast, honking the horn, and I
(23:04):
could put a cow without leaving the seat of my truck.
I could put a cow back in the fence, and
you wouldn't believe where cow could fit between two barbed
wire strands 16in apart. But they can do it if
you're honking the horn and driving fast. So I was
having fun. I was doing yeah.
S1 (23:21):
It was very.
S2 (23:22):
Motivating for the cow. And plus I was having a
great time and doing my neighbor a good turn all
at the same time.
S1 (23:28):
Just all around and you're waving as you drive away. Okay,
so so there's the first five. Don't keep to yourself.
Ask people how y'all doing? Be friendly. Uh, especially at
unexpected visits. Don't put up a sign immediately that says
keep out and wave at people. Now, here is Angela
in Florida. Angela, go right ahead.
S4 (23:50):
Hi. Uh, thank you for taking my comment. I was
just going to say, whenever you're planning to go to
a neighbors, you should have something that you take to them.
It doesn't have to be anything extravagant. You don't have
to bake a whole cake. Although if you know in
advance that you're going. It just helps that welcoming, um,
feeling when you show up to the door with something.
(24:12):
Even if you have a container of donuts, you know
that you had had that morning or something, and you
just take a few out and put them in a
little Ziploc bag. It's just, I don't know, it seems
to make everybody want to visit with you.
S1 (24:27):
It's the thought that counts, right? Gary?
S2 (24:30):
Yeah. You're absolutely right, Angela. In fact, even if they
were stale donuts, I would be a happy neighbor. And,
you know, a pitcher of tea or a dozen eggs
or something from your garden. Just have something in your
hands that just says, I'm open to being friends. You're
absolutely right.
S1 (24:47):
But that'll work, too, in the city and the people
next door. Maybe not exactly the same, but this this
concept will work wherever you're living, I think. Don't you?
S2 (24:58):
I, I think so. I think we tried it there
in midtown. We were living in a little neighborhood with
a with several elderly people. I don't even know how
they led us into that neighborhood, but I would try
it there. And after they get over the initial shock of.
He just brought me tomatoes, um, they actually become friends.
So yes, try it in the city. Try it wherever
(25:19):
you are. It's actually just human good human behavior and connection.
S1 (25:24):
And that's what we're all about here at the radio
backyard fence. That's Gary hallmark McWilliams. You can find out
more about him. The website that I mentioned a little earlier. Angela.
Thank you. Just go to Chris Fabriclive, dawg. Chris Fabriclive.
We've got five more tips for you and your calls. (877) 548-3675.
(25:49):
More straight ahead.
S5 (26:05):
This is music from my pal Gary.
S1 (26:07):
The track is called Keep Your Skillet good and greasy.
And our topic today is tips for Fitting In. If
you're moving from the city to the country, we'll get
right back to it. When you go to the farm,
when you drive to the farm, you take the scenic route.
You go to the two lane road. You see the
creek meander through the countryside. You kind of get up
close at the houses. You look, see the barns, you
(26:29):
see the fields, you count rows of things as you're
passing by. There's another way to go that also helps
you understand things. When you drive the interstate, you get
a different lay of the land. You see the difference
between the topography of Kentucky and then Tennessee and Alabama.
You see how all the states fit together and merge
into the United States. That's kind of what Colin Smith
(26:52):
has done in his 30 day study drive through the Bible.
And this is our thank you this month. If you
give a gift to keep us going here at the
radio backyard fence, just go to Chris Fabry. Scroll down.
You'll see how you can become a back fence friend
or a back fence partner. Go to Chris Fabry or
(27:13):
you can call us at 866958669532279. Thanks for your support here.
Right smack dab in the middle of July. Gary Paul
Mac McWilliams Gary Stevens said this. My wife came from Chicago.
She was stunned about people saying, how are y'all doing?
(27:36):
And opening doors for her. The politeness stunned her since
she came from the city that you had to prepare
for that, don't you?
S2 (27:46):
You do have to prepare for that and several other things,
although I'm a little concerned because sometimes I feel like
this younger generation of men, of young men are not
practicing these old practices, and they need to be. Be
careful and treat ladies as ladies, uh, open the door
for them wherever possible. And even we husbands, sometimes we
(28:08):
slack up at that, and we ought to be opening
that door for our wife. She is our queen, and
she is worth it.
S1 (28:15):
This is how life is lived in Caddo Gap, at
the Gap Mercantile. And that's where Gary's from. As a
matter of fact, you're in the back. Uh, of the
of the store. There's the main mercantile store where you
have all the goods, and then there's a little cabin
behind it. Right?
S2 (28:31):
Yeah, yeah. A couple of years ago, 2 or 3
owners ago, they partitioned off the store and built some
rooms here in the back. And we offer that as
a vacation rental. We call it Mercantile Cottage, and it's
available on Airbnb or Vrbo. You can book a stay
and stay in the back of an old store.
S1 (28:50):
Isn't that great? With internet, you got internet in there.
S2 (28:54):
Really good internet, actually. I think the hub is right
down the road near the school, so we're doing good
internet here.
S1 (29:02):
Okay, so, uh, Willie's on the line in Chicago, but
he comes. Willie, where are you from? I don't hear
Willie for some reason. There he is. Okay, tell me again.
Where in Arkansas I'm from?
S6 (29:18):
Brinkley, Arkansas. Right. Franklin.
S1 (29:22):
Got it. Yeah.
S2 (29:23):
Yeah. Cotton country.
S6 (29:26):
Yeah. That's right. The. They they the rice capital in
that area of Brinkley cotton plant, uh, Fargo, Forest City,
Pine bluff.
S1 (29:38):
We are learning more about Arkansas than we ever knew before.
All right, so, Willie, why did you call today?
S6 (29:44):
I called to let him know that. Don't allow gossip
to run your neighbors away. And don't don't allow you
don't gossip. And don't allow the neighbors to gossip to you.
You know, I'm 77 years old, and I got 125
acres of land that I. I use for bird seed.
(30:06):
So when I go there, the people that other generation
that I don't know, I treat them just like they
treat one another, you know. So they don't know that
I'm not from there at the present time. I've been
away a while, but I go every sometime, twice a year,
sometime three times a year.
S1 (30:26):
So when you say you have bird seed, what do
you mean? You, like grow sunflowers and that kind of thing?
S6 (30:33):
No, I grow bird seed. But bird seed is a
world commodity, so I can only plant the bird seed. Uh,
unless with the government permission. Because bird seed is a
world commodity. So I have to pay my taxes to
go to the county, pay my tax, and they they
plant all of the seeds, and I get the benefits
(30:55):
of the harvest. But I have to pay my taxes
before I get the benefits of the harvest, because bird
seed is a world commodity.
S1 (31:02):
Do you know what he's talking about, Gary?
S2 (31:05):
Uh, I've not heard that. But I guarantee you, my
mother in law has bought tons of that seed.
S1 (31:10):
Yeah.
S6 (31:11):
Yeah.
S7 (31:11):
She have. You and me both.
S6 (31:12):
Did you know that? Did you know that Arkansas was
the rice capital of America?
S2 (31:17):
I believe I did know that. And there's a lot
of good duck hunting around over there too.
S6 (31:22):
Sure is good duck hunting. Uh uh. Arkansas. Uh riceland.
Rice got that big, uh, rice plant there in Stuttgart, Arkansas.
S2 (31:31):
Yep. That's right.
S6 (31:32):
Right. That's right. Yeah. Like I say, I love this program.
I listen to it all the time. I listen to
it from 5:00 in the morning until right now.
S7 (31:41):
But this is the first time you've.
S1 (31:42):
Ever called us. This is we.
S7 (31:44):
I had Gary.
S1 (31:45):
On, and you called. Finally got through Willie. And it's
because of this topic, right?
S6 (31:51):
It's because he come from. He's living in the Razorbacks.
He's living in Arkansas. That's right.
S2 (31:57):
That's right.
S6 (31:58):
Yeah. And everything that he said, everything he said from
the time that he got on it has validity for
living there.
S7 (32:06):
Bingo.
S2 (32:07):
I'll tell you something else. You were talking about gossip. Chris,
do you remember what Adrian Rogers used to say? He
used to say, don't let people treat your ears like
garbage cans.
S1 (32:17):
Mhm. Yeah. And it takes you know, and then now
we've got the social media then. And how much of
that is, you know foments and, and uh does the
exactly the same thing.
S2 (32:29):
Oh yeah.
S1 (32:30):
Just Willy I'm glad you called here today. Okay. So
so he says there's validity to the first five things
that you've been talking about. Let's hear the last five
tips for somebody who wants to fit in. Moving from
the city to the country. Number five.
S2 (32:45):
Okay. Number five is visit a local church or 2
or 3. Now, Chris, my YouTube audience is a wide audience.
I've got a lot of people who watch my show
who are not necessarily Christians or have a biblical worldview.
So I at first hesitated on this one point, but
then I thought, no, no, you know what? Go ahead
(33:07):
and say it. And when you move into a new area,
one of the best things, and we have moved a
couple of times, my wife and I. And one of
the best things for us was to find a local
church and visit it, because that's how you get to
know the people in your community. And I hesitated in
putting this point in there because I thought, well, some
(33:28):
people aren't religious. They don't care. You know, they don't
care about going to church. It's not a part of
their life. But then I thought, you know what, go
ahead and try it. What's it going to kill them?
And by the way, visiting a country and or a
especially a southern rural country church, uh, could be one
of the most interesting things you have ever, ever in
(33:50):
your life experienced if you've never been in one. And
to boot, you might actually learn a little something about
the Bible and it's not going to kill you.
S1 (33:58):
Bingo. Bingo. So number five is visit a local church.
Number four. And I love this one.
S2 (34:05):
Number four is shop local. Now I've had I've seen
people move in here and you know, we're about let's
see one of the, one of the big towns in our. Well,
you know, our state capitol is little Rock, and it's
a couple of hours away from here. And I've seen
people well, we we shop local there idea. You know,
they may come from, you know, different states far away.
(34:26):
And their idea of shopping local is to drive an
hour or two away and. Well, actually, we got towns
a little closer than that. And it's, it's good to
shop where you are. And people say, well, but yeah,
but it's more expensive. If I drive to this town,
I can save money on these products because they have
more buying power, whatever. But again, it comes back to
(34:48):
the question, do you want to fit in or are
you more interested in, you know, some pennies out of
your pocket book? Uh, because to shop local tills, these
local mom and pop stores like we are, you know,
we're a local, you know, tourist mom and pop souvenir shop.
And what you tell people when you, um, support their
(35:10):
business is I care about the people close to me
more than I care about saving a few pennies. And
you actually might actually be saving money if you're if
you consider the gas that you're spending to drive somewhere.
S1 (35:22):
Well, you mentioned the local artisans that create these things
that you sell there. You're you're helping them as well.
And you're buying something that was handcrafted by somebody who
down the street from down the road. Right.
S2 (35:36):
That's right. And that's, you know, that's a completely different
thing than something that, you know, came off a boat
that came from overseas is something that was locally crafted
and has some meaning. And when people go on vacation
and they want to buy gifts, that's something that has
a little more meaning than just, you know, a pink
cell phone cover.
S1 (35:55):
Yes. Okay. Visit a local church shop number three. Now,
you got to be careful with this one because we
got we got a lot of animal lovers, and I'm
one too. Uh, what's number three?
S2 (36:07):
I will tread carefully with this one. Number three is
don't shoot your neighbor's dog immediately. Now, that requires a
little bit of explanation, and I'm here to do it. Um,
there are going to be times when, especially for those
of us who enjoy the country life and some, you know,
the farm life or the homestead life, one of the
first things you're going to want to do is get
(36:29):
you a little flock of chickens and have you some eggs,
and maybe butcher a rooster every now and then, if
you're up to it. And people adore their chickens. Uh,
it's one of the easiest livestock to keep and to
get set up with. And then, wouldn't you know it,
the week after you get them going and you're getting eggs,
the neighbor's dog comes over and kills your best hand. Uh,
(36:51):
maybe 2 or 3 of your best hands.
S1 (36:54):
That you have named to you.
S2 (36:56):
Because named fluffy and, uh, henbit or whatever. And and
they're dead. They're laying out there in pieces, and you
feel like taking up a gun and shooting that dog
next time you see it. Well, my advice again, if
you want to fit in is first go to that
neighbor and explain what's happened. Explain. Hey, I saw your
(37:18):
dog doing this or whatever and give them a chance
to make it right. And as I said in the video,
they either will or they won't. Um, but and if
they don't, then perhaps you can take matters into your
own hands in the South. Now, here's where I got
to tread carefully, because in the South we have a
saying shoot, shovel and shut up. Um, sometimes that's the
(37:41):
only way to handle certain species of dogs. I know
that's probably made half your, if not most of your audience.
S1 (37:47):
Uh, well, cats too. You're made. You made cat lovers,
you know.
S2 (37:53):
Oh, dear. I've just done it all. I'm so sorry.
I'll never appear on this program again. Um, but anyway,
my point is, uh, don't immediately shoot your neighbor's dog.
Give them a give them an opportunity to make it right.
You might just, Lord willing, develop a friendship that will
last forever if you do it the proper way and
don't take matters into your hand to begin with.
S1 (38:15):
What? What is a good recompense for a chicken that's
been killed by a neighbor's dog?
S2 (38:21):
Oh, boy. You know, these days it takes a lot
of money. Uh, a lot of feed to get a
chicken up to adult size. And that's like a year's
investment to get a hen up to where she's finally
laying eggs. So, uh. Um, that's a hard one, Chris.
S1 (38:37):
Um, well, maybe. Maybe a chicken from his pen. He could.
Could you you swap him out?
S2 (38:45):
Well, you could, but his chickens probably don't taste good
because his dog didn't kill his. I don't know, I mean,
you got a point there.
S1 (38:54):
Maybe we could do a program on just on that
next week. What do you.
S2 (38:58):
Say? Maybe. Maybe he owes you one of his children.
I don't know, we'll just have to.
S1 (39:02):
Or. Or it could be that. What if the neighbor
says that's not my dog and and really means it.
And it may not be his. You could be wrong
about whose dog it is, right?
S2 (39:12):
You could be wrong about that. Uh, but these days,
with this modern technology, there is such a thing as
a game camera. You could actually have evidence. So, uh,
that might be the route. You can also, there's several ways,
you know, you can try to prevent that. But, you know,
if the damage is already done, give them a chance
to make it right.
S1 (39:31):
There's Gary Paul Mac McWilliams. Go to chris.org. You'll see
more about our topic today. You can visit his website,
his YouTube channel and uh, come on back. We've got
some more friends who want to help you fit in.
And we have the last two tips coming up straight
ahead on Moody Radio. All this music is played by
(40:08):
Gary Paul McWilliams on instruments. He's made himself and the
CD is available. You can find it if you go
to Farmhand's companion. Com we have a link at Chris
Fabry Live. You'll see that link right there. And, uh,
Cathy is on the line. Cathy, why did you call today?
S8 (40:28):
Oh, hi. Um, thank you for taking my call. I
just wanted to say that we lived for about a
year in Arkansas. Bismarck, Arkansas. It's about 20 minutes southwest
of Hot Springs, and we were there helping my sister
and my brother in law passed away. He had cancer,
and we were in the funeral procession, and we were
(40:50):
just shocked to see people not only pull over, but
they also took their hats off, and they got out
of their vehicles and were standing along their their vehicle
alongside of the road and respect for the funeral procession
going by. We had never seen anything like that before,
having been from the Chicagoland suburbs. Now we're back up
in the Chicagoland area, the suburban area, and it just
(41:13):
was so respectful and refreshing and really wonderful to see
a very touching moment.
S6 (41:19):
Yes.
S1 (41:20):
Yeah. That being able to connect then with somebody in
their grief. That's part of what you're talking about fitting in,
isn't it, Gary?
S2 (41:30):
It is. And that is very common to see when,
you know, whenever you see a row of cars coming
and they're not coming at a fast pace and they've
got their headlights on. Uh, that is the polite thing,
and it always has been. The thing to do is
to pull over. Out of respect for that. And when
you see that, that just it brings tears to your eyes. Yes.
It's kind of the epitome of just being not only
(41:53):
not only a good Christian, but a human being.
S1 (41:55):
Yes, yes. And and noticing somebody else's, uh, struggle that
they're going through. Uh, great. Kathy, thank you for calling
us today. There are two tips now if you're moving
from the city to the country, especially the rural south.
So give us number two, Gary.
S2 (42:13):
Well, number two is kind of a light hearted one.
It is learn to talk southern. And this is if
you're moving, you know, from outside the south into the south. Um,
and I say, you know, go, go easy on this.
Don't don't get too headstrong. Don't go too fast. Uh,
I jokingly say, uh, outsiders are only allowed to use
(42:34):
the word y'all once, per conversational engagement for at least
the first year until you learn how to use it well.
S1 (42:43):
So yeah, y'all, if you if you say you all,
then you know that you need to loosen up a
little bit, right?
S2 (42:52):
Loosen up a little bit would be good. Yeah. But
don't overdo it. That's the key. Don't overdo it.
S1 (42:57):
But and authenticity, if you try to talk, if you
try to sound like the people that you're talking to.
And they talk differently than you do. They're going to
hear the inauthenticity if you just try to fit in
that way. Right.
S2 (43:12):
Right. And that's why I say don't rush it. It'll
eventually happen. It'll take a while, but you'll eventually and
other people, probably your family members, will notice it before
you do. So it kind of happens without, I think.
Don't force it. It'll happen.
S1 (43:28):
Okay. So the number one thing, though, I think is
the most important thing on all the list, and that
is you're moving from the city to the country to
raise chickens or to raise a crop of whatever. And
what is the number one thing not to do?
S2 (43:46):
Don't tell your neighbors how wrong they are or how
they're farming or doing something incorrectly. That is one of
the most putting, putting office things you can do to
somebody if you've not, you know, yet, gotten to know him.
And I said in the video, you know, you and
I mean this and I think this touched a chord
with a lot of people. I said, as a newcomer,
(44:09):
you have not yet earned the right to be heard.
And I say that with humility because I have there
have been instances where I've moved into a new community.
People didn't know me. Uh, I've kind of always been
a bit outgoing. I'll speak to people. I'm not afraid.
But I was very, very slow to give criticism especially,
(44:30):
or to make suggestions until I felt like they trusted me.
In other words, this is, uh, another one of those
human behavior things. You kind of need to build up
some credibility. Um, and then once you've built that up,
there come a day where, where you might spend a
little bit of that credibility you've built up and they
(44:50):
might listen to you. But first and foremost, you need
to practice being a friend. That trumps everything.
S1 (44:58):
Well, listening to them, listening to their wisdom, you know,
hearing what they're saying. And this goes along with the
spiritual thing, too. There is a certain sense of, you know,
I know it all and you don't. And I'm going
to tell you, you earn the right to be able
to speak into a person's life because you show that
you really care about them. First of all, that they're
(45:19):
not just another, you know, convert, potential convert. You really
care about them on a on a person to person basis.
So it all. All of these ten things really in
a way are link into our spiritual lives, I think.
Don't you. Don't you agree?
S2 (45:36):
I agree wholeheartedly they are. It is so important to
listen to people and gain that credit, gain that trust,
and then one day you might have something worthwhile for
them to listen to, but they may have something worthwhile
that you might never even know that you needed to learn.
S1 (45:54):
Yes. All right, so I didn't get to ask you
about the goat hooves. I'll ask you that off the air.
But I want our listeners to know, if you go
to the Farmhand's companion website and you click on the
general store, there are some books that Gary has written,
such as building an Old Fashioned Pole Barn. I know
(46:14):
that's going to be a New York Times best seller. Common.
Common trees and their uses for the small farm or homestead.
That's really interesting. And then homemade. The music that some
of the music we've been playing here today on instruments
that Gary has made himself. Uh, Gary, you're a treasure.
Thanks for doing this today. God bless you, friend.
S2 (46:35):
Thank you for having me on, Chris.
S1 (46:37):
There he is. Gary. Paul. Mac McWilliams. We have a
link to that video on YouTube that he did that.
I encourage you just go to Chris. Org. You'll see
it right there. Our program is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. Thanks for.
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