An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 26, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. This summer, our granddaughters have been spending time with us. Each one gets to spend a week at Grandma’s house. They like the extra attention that comes from being the only grandchild at Grandma’s. My nine-year-old middle child granddaughter was the last visitor to Camp Grandma. While she was here, one of her favorite activities was making slime with Grandma. Every night of the week she made slime. She made plain slime, colored slime, glitter slime and fluffy slime. She enjoyed making the slime and playing with it after it was made. Grandma helped her find recipes for slime on the internet and Papa was sent to the store to buy the ingredients. Some recipes worked better than others. Her favorite recipe used one bottle of Elmer’s Clear School Glue with ½ tablespoon of baking soda mixed in and then one tablespoon of contact lens solution added. To this basic recipe, she would add food coloring a...

One of my favorite places to visit is Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Over the years we have visited there many times. Eureka Springs was founded in 1879. Judge J.B. Saunders claimed that his crippling disease was cured by the spring waters. Saunders started promoting Eureka Springs to friends and family members across the State and created a boom town. Within a period of little more than one year, the city grew from a rural village to a major city of 5,000 people. By 1889 it was the second largest city in Arkansas. With bath house cures falling out of favor, and the depression that hit the nation being particularly bad in Arkansas, Eureka Springs fell into decline during the 30's. With the end of World War II, the era of the family car trip began. Businesses and services moved to the highway, rustic tourist courts and air-conditioned motels were built alongside diners and gift shops. Sights that had been horseback adventure were now attractions to the motoring tourist. The motor...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 19, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. On the 4th of July, my wife and I were invited to a cookout at my cousin’s place. They recently purchased a house and acreage that sits on the top of a high hill. The property has commanding views of the Ouachita Mountains to the south and the Kiamichi Mountains to the west along with the broad valley below. After watching a beautiful sunset and being entertained by our own private fireworks show, we sat on the deck and watched fireworks from one end of the valley to the other. There were so many fireworks that we didn’t know where to look next. It was truly a spectacular sight. As I watched the fireworks and thought about what the 4th of July celebrations meant, I wondered why we shoot off fireworks to celebrate Independence Day. Since I have a small personal computer, aka a smart phone, with me at all times, I looked up the history of fireworks and the 4th. I found out that fireworks were set o...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 12, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. Last week I had the honor of officiating at my niece’s wedding. It was a lovely ceremony, and we had a wonderful time visiting with family. In my wedding talk I asked the question, why are we here? Why do we spend lots of money on dresses, tuxedos, flowers and a special venue? When you think about it, the whole thing is a bit weird. Why do we have the wedding traditions that we do? Why do we have a wedding party, a veil, special flowers, dresses, and cake? What made my niece decide to come to a chapel and stand on the stage looking fancy; to be stared at by friends and family? The marriage ceremony has been important to nearly every society, religion and culture for thousands of years. Throughout our lives we have many important moments, but why is marriage so important that we mark it with a special ceremony and want to share the ceremony with our friends and family? It is because of love. No ...

Before he died my Uncle Lloyd Lawry put together a collection of stories and family history. I was blessed to have been given a copy of his collection. These are some sayings by my Grandpa Lawry from that collection. Odds and Ends  by Ben Lawry Seven colors in the dewdrops gleam When the sun is bright overhead Violet, indigo, blue and green Yellow, orange and red. Even gray and morning gray Will set the traveler on his way But evening gray and morning red Will bring down rain upon his head. An ounce of keep your mouth shut beats a ton of explanation It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. He that knows not and knows that he knows not is wise, but he that knows not and knows that he knows is a fool. Boys flying kites bring in white-winged birds But you can't do that with when you're flying words Thoughts unexpressed may come back dead but God Himself can't kill them when they are said. As unto the bow ...

Before he died my Uncle Lloyd Lawry put together a collection of stories and family history. I was blessed to have been given a copy of his collection. This is the story he wrote about his Daddy. Daddy by Lloyd Lawry My Daddy, Bennie Eugene Lawry, was born February 15, 1895, near Bronson, Kansas. Evidently, he wasn't too fond of the "Bennie." By the time I first knew him he had shortened it to Ben. When he was small, he must have had two brothers, two sisters, one half-brother and one half-sister living at home. Grandpa Lawry lost his eyesight in 1888, so they had to struggle just to live. He attended Stony Point School. I believe he completed the eighth grade. He said he farmed the home place the year he was 14. It was done with a plow and a cultivator that he walked behind as the horses pulled them. He never told me much about his early life. I do have two tales of his experiences during his horse and buggy days. He had a "moon-eyed" horse that...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the July 5, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. No one likes to go to their cupboard and find it bare. When I was a child, I loved to listen to records. I still remember a record of nursery rhyme songs that I listened to over and over. One of the songs was ”Old Mother Hubbard.” The song began, “Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard, to give the poor dog a bone; When she came there, the cupboard was bare, and so the poor dog had none.” I always felt sorry for the poor dog. I don’t know why I didn’t feel sorry for Mother Hubbard. I am a volunteer at a local food pantry. The food pantry purchases a lot of the food that they distribute from an out of town food bank. Once a month the food bank brings our order on a truck. The food bank changed our delivery time from the first Wednesday of the month to the fourth Wednesday. Because of the change, the food pantry was open for almost two months without being restocked. The cupboards were almost bare. Today...

When we as Americans think about the Fourth of July we think about liberty. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence which is now considered the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty. One of the most remembered lines is, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have been noticing that although Americans want liberty, they are becoming less likely to want to extend liberty to others. When I was in school I learned that the Pilgrims came to America aboard the Mayflower in search of religious freedom in 1620. The Puritans soon followed, for the same reason. Ever since the Pilgrims arrived millions from around the world have done the same, coming to an America where they found a place where everyone was free to practice his or her own fai...

Yesterday, I had the honor of officiating at my niece Clarissa's wedding. She and Johnny are two of my favorite people, and I was so happy to be a part of their wedding day. This is the text of my wedding talk.  Dearly beloved, we are gathered here before God to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. I think that we all understood why we were coming here this evening. Did anyone just get up this morning and decide that you would get dressed up and go down and see if anything was happening at the chapel? No, I'm sure that every one of you came here expecting to see Johnny and Clarissa dressed up and standing on this stage. But when you think about it the whole thing is a bit weird. What made Johnny and Clarissa decide to come here to this chapel and stand on this stage looking fancy and being stared at and commented on by you. I know that you have been whispering to each other, “look at Johnny in that tux,” “I never thought I would see him dressed up li...