An Arkies Musings

For the past months we have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new grandchild. Our wait is soon to be over. By the end of the week we will be grandparents once again. We are so excited. Gina has had her suitcase packed for two weeks. The fall of the year has been the time of the year for our grandbabies to be born. I can remember how we anticipated the birth of our first in the fall of 2005. One Saturday evening we were at Papa's, a local Mexican restaurant. We had been waiting for a table, and had finally been seated and gotten our drinks when some friends came in. We waited for a larger table to open so we could sit together. Just shortly after being seated at the larger table we got a phone call. Our daughter was on the way to the hospital. It was time to have a baby. We jumped up and left without ordering, ran by the house to pick up the pre-packed suitcase, and were on our way to Baton Rouge ten minutes later. We made it to Baton Rouge, an eight hour drive, se...

Last weekend Gina and I spent some time in Vicksburg, Mississippi on our way home from the Relay For Life Summit in Jackson, Mississippi. While we were there we visited the Vicksburg National Military Park. The park commemorates the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg. The city's surrender on July 4, 1863 split the South, giving control of the Mississippi River to the Union. There are over 1,340 monuments, a restored Union gunboat, and National Cemetery on the 16-mile tour road. There is so much history in the park. The U.S. Government established the battlefield as a National Military Park in 1899. The battles of the Vicksburg campaign were some of the fiercest and long lasting of the war. General Grant attacked the Confederates on May 19, 1863 and again on May 22. The Confederate positions were too strong, and the Union casualties were high. On May 25 General Grant decided on a siege of the city as he had it surrounded and had naval bombardment from the Mississippi. He st...

On September 11 I was out of town and away from my computer. No matter where I am or what I am doing, September 11 brings a flood of emotion. Each year on the anniversary of the horrible day I am engulfed in a cloud of sadness and hurt as I reflect on all those lives that were so altered by the events on that day. But this 9/11 was different. Gina and I were at an American Cancer Society Relay For Life Summit in Jackson, Mississippi. The purpose of the Summit is to inspire hope, courage and determination in the fight to eliminate cancer. If there is one word that defines Relay For Life it is "hope". It is inspiring to spend time with hundreds of volunteers whose main objective is to provide hope for the all too many people who are affected by cancer. In a world that sometimes seems consumed with distrust and hatred of people who are different in race, religion or political beliefs, it filled me with hope to see a group of people who are willing to give of their money an...

It seems that I missed my anniversary. No it wasn't my wedding anniversary. The anniversary that I missed was my blogging anniversary. My very first post was on September 6, 2008. In the last two years I have made over 200 posts and have had over 22,000 unique readers from 143 different countries. Since very few people read my first post I thought I would repost it here. SHELTER FROM THE STORM Labor Day weekend my wife and I spent visiting our daughter in Baton Rouge. We had a wonderful time with our granddaughters. Unfortunately we had to cut our visit short because of Hurricane Gustav. As we made plans for the trip we were keeping an eye on the weather reports. At first it looked like we would be fine if we left Monday morning, but Gustav sped up, and we had to leave Sunday morning instead. As we made our way home we were caught up in heavy traffic as 2 million people were evacuating South Louisiana. Why were so many people leaving? Today with satellites and television we h...

Last Thursday, the New York Says Thank You Foundation arrived in Mena to help rebuild after last year’s devastating tornado. Each year on the 9/11 Anniversary, The New York Says Thank You Foundation sends hundreds of volunteers from New York along with disaster survivors from around the country to help rebuild communities around the United States recovering from disaster. It’s their way of saying “Thank You” for all the love and support Americans from across the country extended to New Yorkers in the days, weeks, and months following September 11. At the core of the volunteer rebuilding effort were 25 New York City firefighters, many of whom survived the World Trade Center attacks. Also helping were disaster survivor volunteers from all the communities around the U.S. that the Foundation has assisted on previous anniversaries of 9/11 and who continually volunteer each year as their way to “Pay It Forward.” This group includes San Diego wildfire survivors, Hurricane Katrina survivors f...

Music has always been very important in my spiritual life. An uplifting song can be very meaningful. The message in a song can leave a lasting impression. One song that has left an impression on me is titled “Your Kindness”. I first heard the song in 1985 when it was written and recorded by Leslie Phillips. It is one of those songs that stays with me. The lyrics still speak to me. “Waiting for angry words to sear my soul. Knowing I don't deserve another chance. Suddenly the kindest words I've ever heard come flooding from God's heart. It's your kindness that leads us to repentance, Oh Lord. Knowing that You love us no matter what we do, makes us want to love You too.” The idea for the song comes from a Bible verse that we can find in Romans 2:4, “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” What leads us to repentance? Is it anger? Is it fear? Is it God’s law? Is ...