Fourth of July Weekend

My wife and I hosted some friends this Fourth of July weekend. Our friends came from Virginia, on their way to Colorado. They were our neighbors in Germany, where Greg and I would sing old country songs and have a few beers. I was concerned that our friendship would take on a new dynamic since I don’t drink nearly as much as I did in Germany, more on that later.

First, we took them to Parrot Island Waterpark in Fort Smith, my wife promised our kids we would go. I wasn’t totally sold on the idea of taking them there. I wanted to show them some more local areas of beauty, but it turned out to be a very good time swimming and floating down Crocodile Creek or Lazy River. Oh and Greg even tried his luck on the new attraction, Flow Rider. http://parrotislandwaterpark.com/attractions/

The next day, Saturday, we showed them Little Missouri Falls. It was beautiful, however, when we arrived it was raining so we decided to eat at one of the park benches in hopes that the rain would pass. We thought we would ride out the thunderstorm in the van and when it let up we proceeded to walk to Little Missouri Falls. We got wetter walking to and from the Falls than we did in the Falls, but it made for a funny story that we will never forget. http://www.exploretheozarksonline.com/activities/parksnature/nationalforests/ouachita/caddowomble/littlemissourifalls.html

Greg and I also got up early Saturday morning and went fishing at an undisclosed location. Greg had his line broken by a monster bass, another “the one that got away” story.

Sunday, we got up early and went back fishing to try our luck on finding this poor fish with a lure stuck in it’s mouth only this time we tried our luck in a flat-bottom boat that conveniently just happened to be there (I’m glad we didn’t tip over.) We were able to fish different aspects of the pond and I “hooked” the biggest fish I have ever seen. I reeled it to the boat side twice and Greg couldn’t grab it before the monster broke straightened out my swivel and swam away. I didn’t even get a picture of this mammoth bass and no one probably even believes me. But I’ll dream of catching this fish again, and I will certainly attempt to soon.

Then we went to bible study and Church and took them to see Queen Wilhelmina State Park, where we rode the miniature model train modeled after the original Glory Train.

https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/queen-wilhelmina-state-park

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arkansas/ar-mountain-glory-train-ride-mountain-glory-train-ride/

We had a great time enjoying the beautiful view that is literally right in my backyard. And we had a great time even if I wasn’t partaking in having a few drinks. My friend stated he hasn’t had that much fun in a quite a while and I have to agree even without a few beers.

God Is Working Within Us

As we celebrate this fourth of July, I wanted to share with you the change that is occurring within my life.

My wife met some very nice people at the Holly Springs Homestead and they invited us to their Church. I was reluctant at to go at first, probably the devil making his case that I didn’t need to or want to go, but we attended the Church. Soon, we started attending Church events, gatherings and even various occasions to eat, Baptists like to eat and I could feel the Holy Spirit working inside me.

I noticed my wife reading her Bible every night. I would watch TV while she read and after about two months I started joining her, now we read the Bible together for about 30 0r 40 minutes a night. She has a plan inside her Bible; how to read the Bible in one year. http://firstbible.org/resources/helpfullinks/Bible%20Reading%20Chart-%20In%20One%20Year.pdf

We read the Bible every night, we attend Church every week and we pray. I pray several times a day, maybe five or six times and the difference it makes in my life is astonishing.

I want to share this scripture with you that I read last night:

Psalms 1:1 1. “Oh, the Joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. 3. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. 4. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. 5. They will be condemned at the time of judgement. Sinners will have no place among the godly. 6. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction”, (Holy Bible, Gift & Award Edition, New Living Translation, Second Edition.)

This is so true. everything that I do now that I am improving my walk with Jesus, and getting to know him more, is better. I am more motivated at work. I am more organized at work. I am in a better mood. When I commute to work, I see deer quite frequently on my commute to work and sometimes they will be standing right beside the road looking like they would pounce right in my lane as I drive by, of course I slow down and get over into the left lane if I can, but they stay right in their tracks and that is something I pray about on a regular basis.

I have also been praying that the storms are not severe in our area, due to my commute to and from work and the last few weeks the weather has been very good. There was a tornado that didn’t completely form in Mena a few weeks ago, again something I frequently pray about.

When I pray, I ask to be able to hear God, to let me know the right path to take in life and I was having an un-pure thought and I instantly threw up in my mouth. The timing was remarkable. I told God, ok, you’ve got my attention. I am sorry.

Another time, My five-year old was really pushing my buttons and I told her to go in her room and we were arguing. I was overreacting, I was about to put her into her room and at that split moment there was a loud lightning and thunder and that was the only loud thunder and lightning of that storm. Again, I said ok, God you’ve got my attention. I’m sorry.

God is working in me and my wife’s lives and it is truly remarkable, and its my contention that my wife finds me more attractive because we are doing something together. Enjoy your fourth of July and join in on reading your Bible in one year.

The Big Bang Theory

“Scientists” would have you believe that first there was nothing. There was so much nothing there was something. There was so much nothing there was an incredible explosion and then the Earth formed, (The Big Bang Theory). I could go on and on and on about what scientists believe but I won’t instead I’ll try to relate the nothing story into something. This is going to be fun follow along with me.

A very long time ago there was this woman we’ll call her Mary. Mary lived in Mena, Arkansas and she was the only person that lived in Mena. There was absolutely nothing in Mena, except Mary. We’ll say Mary had an apartment to live in. She needs a bed right!

One night Mary went to bed, when Mary woke up she noticed this big building across the street from where Mary lived. When Mary went to bed there was nothing, when she woke up there was something. Mary was intrigued, so she went across the street to see what this new shiny building was. When Mary got there the people that worked there was waiting for her. They even knew her name. The big building that just appeared over night was a bank and the receptionist told Mary to go to a bank representative they had been waiting on her, now Mary is very curious. The representative tells Mary she has an account at the bank. Mary can’t figure out how or why, that she has this account, but she just does. The bank teller tells her she has 100 million dollars in that bank (you can insert your own number in there.)

One day there was nothing and the next day, there is a bank across the street from where Mary lives, not only is there a bank, let’s say there is a whole City in Mena with lots of stores, even a Wall-Mart, not only a bank and a Wall-Mart and other stores, but there are people and houses now. We’ll say that around 5,000 people live in Mena literally overnight. There was so much nothing that today there is something that is what scientists would have us believe.

I’ll just stick to believing in God, instead of a bunch of nothing. Mena sure is a nice place to live, especially when you believe in God.

God Opens Doors

My family and I just moved back to my hometown in Mena, Arkansas a little over 1 year ago. I wanted to move back home after retiring from the Military and spending over six years as a civilian. I thought it was time to be around my family and I missed the beautiful Arkansas countryside.

I work for the government and there are not many government jobs in Mena much less near Mena. I applied for many jobs. I feel like I am not a great interviewer and I was interviewing over the phone because we lived in Germany. I prayed about it many times, praying if it is God’s will that I would be hired, while reminding myself that I am on Gods schedule, not mine but I finally got hired in Arkansas, not in Mena, but close enough. I felt like if God gave me the opportunity to be hired that I should take it even if it is a long commute every day especially with all the competition for jobs and my interview skills.

Not only am I back living in my hometown around family, but we met some great people that invited us to their church. I was apprehensive at first, but after a few weeks we went and in a month or two we joined the church and it has been so awesome to be accepted by the congregation. I truly believe God sent us here for a reason, to be around family, to help out when called upon and to join this Church and to help them as well. God has a plan for us. I don’t know how this is going to end, but we’re just getting started.

My story may not be all that exciting, but I wanted to share it with you, so I could share a very exciting story how God opened up doors for Stephen Baldwin. This is an amazing story. It is long, and it starts out slow, but trust me it’s awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdctQJHvpkI

The Perception of a Christian

I have this perception of a Christian and I have pretty high standards for Christians, it’s pretty much perfection. And maybe I need to work on that. We are going to make mistakes, we are not perfect, sometimes we may say a curse word (under our breath), we may overreact to a situation, or we may even get a ticket as long as we realize our shortcomings and work on changing them. It’s like having weaknesses. I have many. When you are in a job interview and are asked what are your weaknesses. I think the best thing is to state them (one of two, don’t offer up too many.) It shows that your cognizant of your weaknesses, you have identified your weaknesses and you are working on them to change them from weaknesses to strengths.

As a Christian, I believe in Christ. I am saved and I have asked God to forgive me of my sins. I believe (faith) when I die, I will live eternally in Heaven. I will strive to be a better person each day with strong morals and ethics. That’s the best we can do as Christians.

What is your perception of a Christian?

Lend a Helping Hand

Last Sunday, I got a phone call from my Cousin and she said that my Uncle was stranded on Oklahoma. His foot was swollen and he wasn’t able to drive back from a family reunion he was attending. She wanted to know if me or my wife could drive her up there and she would drive his car back.

I guess the devil was in my ear, but I didn’t really want to help, part of me wanted to push it off on my wife, but I changed clothes and went to pick up my Cousin so we could get my Uncle back home.

We drove to Clayton, Oklahoma and it was such a beautiful God-given day. We got a chance to talk and visit with each other. When we got there my Uncle had a flat tire on his car. Now, I’m really glad I went on this trip so I could not only get Allen back but I could change the tire on the car. I’m sure Allen’s brother and my wife could have changed the tire, but it wasn’t a problem for me to get the donut out of the car and change it.

I’m not trying to brag, but I think I had that tire changed in about 10 minutes or less. I followed them back and we took the Talihena drive back it was so beautiful and majestic. I’m really glad I didn’t listen to the devil and shirk this task off to my wife. I’m glad I went and lent a helping hand. I felt so good on the way back knowing I helped someone that needed me. I felt good for a couple of days.

The intent of this article is not to brag, but to remind you to help others out when given the opportunity. It was a special day for me and I made sure I didn’t forget how to change a tire.

The Power of Prayer

On Thursday, my wife called me and told me that a tornado was spotted in Mena and it was headed our way to take cover, so I got in the safest place I know in the house, the bath tub and I started praying for not only my safety, but our safety. The kids were at Church camp and my wife wasn’t home yet.

Another friend of mine, on Facebook, said that it took a few seconds for it to register, that it wasn’t noon on Wednesday, when she heard the sirens warning people in Mena.

I’m not going to lie, I was somewhat afraid, but I also knew that God had my back. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to me, unless it was time to call me home to heaven and that did comfort me.

God heard my prayer and the tornado didn’t fully develop. It could have been much worse than it was. I truly believe God heard me and possibly others praying and his hand was on that cloud. There definitely is strength in prayer.

https://www.fox16.com/news/local-news/watch-possible-tornado-caught-on-camera-near-mena/2059209529

Love

Our Church set up it’s slide in a nearby park, it was open to the public. We wanted to spread love around, meet new people and try the new slide out, before kids camp starts this week.

You should have seen how much fun the kids and grown-ups had on that slide. We had a great time fellowshipping, eating and meeting new people, some of the older members even tried out the slide. We need to do more things like this in our communities to break bread and fellowship with one another.

We made our rounds around the park looking for new people to “love on” as one of our church-members said. We got to meet some new people and some new people showed up to Church this week. I’d call that a success.

Instead of fighting, and politicking, we need more love in the world we live in now. I could certainly do a better job of loving my family, my wife, my kids, my Aunt and Uncle, Step-Mom, friends and even my enemies. Can we really ever love someone enough? We could all probably do a better job of showing people we love them.

Join me, and tell someone that you love, just how much they mean to you while we still have the chance.

Commissioning Invocation

I am blessed to have the opportunity to assist young college students become leaders and Officers in the United States Army via the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps)program at Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University. We had the pleasure to commission eight young men and women yesterday, May 10 2019.

One of our Cadets blessed us with two invocations and I wanted to share them with you.

“Please pray with me. Dear God, You are holy and righteous indeed. We thank you for the Cadets today who will commission into the United States Army as Officers. Thank you for the physical discipline and mental toughness that you have given these young men and women in order to complete their journey. Thank you for the new journey they are about to begin and all that comes with it. God, give these young men and women courage and wisdom like no other. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

“Please pray with me. Dear God, I praise you for what has been accomplished today. We pray that these young Officers would live lives of daring, of goodness, and of faith as we send them out into their ranks to impact the world. When they are wrong, make them willing to change. When they are right, make them easy to live with. So, Lord, strengthen them, that the power of their example will far exceed the authority of their rank. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

The Cadet ‘s wisdom is beyond his years. I especially liked when he said “When they are right, make them easy to live with.” Most of the time when we are right, we don’t think much of it, we are supposed to succeed, we are supposed to be right, but his insightfulness was profound giving the commissioning Officers advice to not let their success go to their heads, to be able to work with or in his words “to be able to live with them.” This young man is going to be a great Officer and will go on to do great things.

Breakthrough

Last night, my wife and I found someone to watch the kids while we had a “date night”. Our Church posted that the movie Breakthrough was playing at the local movie theater, so we decided to go watch it. We don’t typically go out much these days, we have a five year old and a three year old, so we stay at home with them most of the time, but I have a cousin that was gracious enough to come take care of them for a couple of hours. It was certainly nice to get out and see some of our Church congregation. We had a pretty good turn out of about 2o people for the first showing and there were more standing in line, when our showing was done.

So how was the movie? I absolutely LOVED it. It was amazing, however, if you watch the trailer, you can pretty much figure out what is going to happen. But I think there is a bigger picture to the movie beyond the obvious story with John, the boy that falls though the ice. I think there is another story line with Mike Colter’s character “Tommy”. You see Tommy heard a voice telling him not to stop looking for John and exactly where to look for him in the lake. But there is one problem, Tommy doesn’t believe in God, so I think a possible outcome of the true story is that Tommy finds God and becomes saved, at least that is what I hope happened.

Not only is this movie based on a true story, it is a faith based film, it also has some sports in it and the executive producer of the movie is Stephen Curry. It’s truly a great movie. I encourage you all to go and see it. I have embedded the trailer movie here and an interview with Stephen Curry stating why he wanted to be involved in the movie.

I’m sorry I haven’t written more. I’ll try to do better, enjoy the trailers.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Characters+in+Breakthrogh+&view=detail&mid=F5B8F1B46AF421DB2F3EF5B8F1B46AF421DB2F3E&FORM=VIRE0&mmscn=tpvh&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dCharacters%2bin%2bBreakthrogh%2b%26form%3dEDNTHT%26mkt%3den-us%26httpsmsn%3d1%26refig%3de90982d154734e7ae71a61cd3769241f%26PC%3dASTS%26sp%3d-1%26pq%3dcharacters%2bin%2bbreakthro%26sc%3d0-23%26qs%3dn%26sk%3d%26cvid%3de90982d154734e7ae71a61cd3769241f

God ‘Can Do Miracles’: Steph Curry on Why He Produced ‘Breakthrough’