Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (ESV) (Colossians 3:23)

I take you to a lot of new places and do my best to return with tales of good news. But not every story has a happy ending--so read on.  Today I was there for the grand opening of the much hyped STEAK N SHAKE located at 815 51st St, West Des Moines. I normally feature a locally owned Iowa business, but this one has had a lot of pub. Steak N Shake is a very fave place for many people, but it did not have a location in the Des Moines area. I think it gained extra attention and bucked the trend. It actually opened when so many restaurants have closed due to the pandemic. Now here is where I enter the picture. I'm just a small town kid and I'd never heard of Steak N Shake until my first trip to Haiti in 2005. Our overnight stop enroute to Pignon was Ft. Pierce, Florida. Guess where we had our evening meal--Steak N Shake, of course. My mission team friend, John Hocker said, "You just have to try the ORANGE FREEZE." Didn't sound too appealing to me--an orange flavored very thick milk shake mixed with whipped cream with more whipped cream and cherry on the top. I'm not good at new things, but an ORANGE FREEZE could almost be addicting. I tried it--I liked it.  I have always known John was a smart man, but this was really good advice! On future trips to Haiti, we nearly always stayed overnight at Ft. Pierce. When we did we always ate at Steak N Shake and you can guess what I ordered. That explains why I just had to be at the new Steak N Shake grand opening. They opened at 10:00 AM and I was there by 11. I wanted to be one of the early birds at the new Steak N Shake--but I had competition. The drive through line was wrapped around the block all the way to Jordan Creek Parkway. I couldn't come this far and back out. So I sat in my truck--just me and my radio--for 2 1/2 hours. My turn had finally come and I couldn't wait to order my burger, fries and special shake. Then that dreaded voice came over the speaker, We do not serve that at this location---NO ORANGE FREEZE!"

Now open.

Lunch in my truck.

No indoors seating please.

Almost there--well maybe 30 minutes to go.

I had ended my story here--but I just couldn't leave this page on a sad note. I thought I should admit I didn't go home hungry. I polished off my meal with a chocolate peanut butter shake. But the next time I go to Haiti I hope we stop at Ft. Pierce. I really NEED an ORANGE FREEZE!