An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 29, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. A few weeks ago I self-published my first book. It is titled An Arkie’s Faith and includes over twenty-five articles from this column. After learning the process of self-publishing, I started thinking again about a project that I have been considering for some time. A few years ago my wife started doing some genealogy research. Early on in her research, she ran across the incredible story of her great-great-grandmother, Sophie. The story is compelling and fascinating. It needs to be told. Sophie and her children emigrated from Denmark in 1856. She traveled from Denmark to England where she sailed from Liverpool to New York City. From New York, she traveled by train to Iowa City, Iowa where she became a part of the Willie Handcart Company. In 1856, the Willie Handcart Company made the thousand-mile journey from Iowa City to Salt Lake City on foot, pulling handcarts. Although Sophie and her childr...

Because I have written about Mesothelioma in the past , Katherine Keys contacted me and asked if I would post her story on An Arkie's Musings. My name is Katherine Keys and I have been fighting mesothelioma cancer for the past 9 years. If you don’t know, mesothelioma is a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. My exposure came from doing years of wiring work for Texas Power and Light Company. At the age of 49 I was diagnosed with Stage 1 Pleural Mesothelioma and was told I had less than two years to live. But I was determined to stay positive and beat this cancer against all odds! My treatment included having my right lung and the lining of the lung removed--a major surgical procedure. Soon after, I began several months of radiation therapy. I am overjoyed to say that my fight paid off and now 9 years later I am still cancer free! But I know I did not face this battle alone. The doctors and staff at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center are true miracle workers and I am forever grat...

Because of some issues with Amazon and a third party; My book, An Arkie's Faith, will no longer be available. To satisfy Amazon, I have taken most of the stories in An Arkie's Faith and added new material to produce a new book. The title is The Little Things . I use personal experiences, local events, and national news as a way to bring out spiritual truths in the devotionals included in this book. Many of these devotionals were first published in the hometown newspaper of Mena, Arkansas, The Mena Star. In December 2015, the editor of The Mena Star called me and outlined a plan that she had for the newspaper in the new year. She was planning on a weekly column for the religion page written by a local writer instead of using a syndicated column. She asked him if he would be willing to commit to writing a weekly column. I agreed, and the new column, An Arkie’s Faith, premiered on January 7, 2016. The Little Things uses plain and simple stories in an easily readable s...

"God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" Genesis 1:26 (NKJV) Dominion is an important biblical concept. As free moral agents made for love, Adam and Eve were given the high privilege of self-governance. The earth would be the material space where their love for God and one another could flourish. Their dominion of the earth was a big responsibility; it was up to them to decide which way it would go. Since God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth, it was theirs to do with as they pleased. God’s intent was that they would use the power of their free will to be fruitful and multiply and build a loving society. Tragically, Adam and Eve surrendered their position of authority over the earth by giving allegiance to Satan. The Fall of humanity was a moral fall, b...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 22, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. A year ago my oldest granddaughter was diagnosed with scoliosis. My son-in-law did extensive research on scoliosis treatments and braces. He was impressed with the success of Dr. Marc Moramarco in Boston. He made the decision for the family to travel to Boston last summer so that my granddaughter could see Dr. Moramarco, and be fitted with a Gensingen Brace® In his research, my son-in-law found that the Gensingen Brace® is unique in that, for adolescents it offers potential improvement of the Cobb angle, a measure of the curvature of the spine, rather than just halting the progression. According to Dr. Moramarco, the brace’s asymmetric design focuses on overcorrection. It is the highest standard in scoliosis bracing and successfully addresses most curve magnitudes. After she returned home from Boston and began wearing the new brace, my granddaughter showed improvement in the curvature of her...

In Ezekiel 16 God tells us a very graphic and emotional story. Starting in verse 4 we read, “When you were born, no one cut your umbilical cord. No one took care of you: you were not washed with water and purified, nor were you rubbed with salt and wrapped for warmth. No one felt sorry for you or had compassion on you or did anything to help you. Instead, your parents abandoned you, tossed you out into an open field. For on the day you were born, people looked upon you with deep contempt. Then I passed by and saw you squirming around in your blood. As you lay there in your own blood, I said to you, “Live!” Again, I insisted, “Live!” And that’s exactly what you did. I helped you flourish like plants in the field. In time you grew, became a tall, beautiful young woman: your breasts developed and your hair grew thick and long. But you were still naked and bare. I passed by you again and saw you were old enough to love and to be loved, so I offered Myself to you in marriage. I wrappe...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 15, 2017, issue of The Mena Star . Last week my wife and I along with my cousins and their grandson, visited Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Gardens were the dream of Verna Cook Garvan. In 1956 Mrs. Garvan began to develop it as a garden. When she died in 1993, Mrs. Garvan gave the property to the University of Arkansas Foundation. Garvan Woodland Gardens is the largest undeveloped tract of land on Lake Hamilton. There are over three miles of recreational trails. This time of year over 150,000 tulips line the walkways.  Every year that we can we visit the gardens during the tulip extravaganza. The peak tulip viewing times at the gardens are in March. The gardens are beautiful any time of the year, but I think that the tulip season is the best. We had a very enjoyable afternoon. The temperatures were warm, and the flowers were beautiful. My cousin’s grandson had a great time. He especially enjoyed natur...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 8, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. Recently my wife and I traveled to Louisiana to see my granddaughter compete in the Pathfinder Bible Bowl. Pathfinders are a worldwide organization of young people sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, though young people of any religion, or none at all, are welcome and encouraged to join the organization. Pathfinders offer a wide range of activities including camping, community service projects, and training in a variety of recreational, artistic, nature, conservation, and vocational areas. In the Bible Bowl, Pathfinder teams made up of kids from Arkansas and Louisiana aged 10 – 16 competed by answering one hundred questions on a predetermined Bible topic. My granddaughter's team was pleased with their second place finish. The day after the Bible Bowl, we attended the Krewe of Highland parade in Shreveport. A co-worker of my daughter’s had invited our family to watch the parade from h...

For some time I have been thinking about publishing a book of the devotional articles that I write each week for The Mena Star. I have no delusions of grandeur and do not expect robust sales of a book that I might publish. Every avenue that I considered seemed too expensive. Although I was not expecting to make much money from such a book, I was not willing to take the chance on losing money. Recently I looked into Kindle Direct Publishing. I was surprised to find out that I could publish a book with no out of pocket expense as long as I did my own editing and created my own cover. I completed work on my book this last Friday and uploaded it to Kindle. It was available on the Amazon website the next day. I was pleased when my book became the #1 new release in the Seventh-day Adventist Christianity category. I hadn't told anyone, either family or friends, that I was working on this project. I had low expectations. I appreciate everyone who has taken a chance on me and purc...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 1, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. Recently a customer of mine remarked, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” I know how he feels. I have been feeling poorly for almost three weeks, and I am tired of it. Many of my friends, customers, and acquaintances are fighting colds, the flu, and other illnesses this time of the year. When I first started feeling bad, I just thought I was coming down with a cold. I started taking over the counter cold medication. After a week, I thought that I was getting over the cold, but a couple of days later I was much worse. After listening to my wife for several days telling me that I needed to see the doctor, I finally called and made an appointment. Why was I so reluctant to see my doctor? I can give you a list of excuses for not wanting to make the appointment. I didn’t want to take the time or spend the money. I was sure it was a virus, and I would eventually wear it out. The reason that I fin...