An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 25, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. For the past few years, my wife and I have met my sister and her husband in Eureka Springs each April. Eureka Springs is about halfway between our homes, so we can easily meet there for a weekend. We have had great times over the years during our spring get-togethers. Each year we try to find an interesting cabin, bed and breakfast, or cottage where we can stay together over the weekend. This year we rented the Sunflower Cottage. It is located on First Street with a porch that looks out over downtown Eureka Springs. Sunflower Cottage was originally built in 1880 and has been updated into a very comfortable place to stay. We enjoyed staying so close to downtown. We were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go and never had to find and pay for a place to park. There was rain in the forecast for the weekend, but there were no more than a few drops until late Saturday evening. We enjoyed walking the...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 18, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. Have you ever received a letter asking you to report for jury duty? If so, what was your reaction? From talking to people, I have found that many people try to find an excuse that will allow them to be released from serving. When my letter came in the mail, I must admit that I wasn’t pleased. As a small businessman with no employees, If I am on jury duty, my business is closed. I believe in our justice system, and I believe in each citizen doing his or her part, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t find serving inconvenient. When I received the phone call telling me to report to the courthouse on Thursday at 9:00 AM, my heart sank. I was in the middle of a very busy week and had been going in to work early and working late. Why did it have to be this week? I called customers to let them know that there might be a delay in completing their jobs. When I arrived at the courthouse, I had to park a few...

Article from the April 11, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. In December 2017, Richard Lawry published his second book in the Devotionals From a Small Town series titled In the Fog. He will be signing his books at the Mena Wal-Mart on Sunday, April 15, from Noon till 3 P.M. Richard Lawry was born in 1956 in Madison, Tennessee, while his parents were attending Madison College. He grew up along the Front Range in Colorado, attending schools in Longmont, Brighton, Boulder and Loveland, Colorado. Two years after graduating from Campion Academy, he married his sweetheart, Regina. They lived in Loveland, Colorado for six years before moving to Mena in western Arkansas. He loves the people of Mena and the friendly easy going way of life there. He has owned and operated his own business since moving to Mena. Richard enjoys the natural beauty of western Arkansas and being out of doors. In 2008 he started writing a blog, An Arkie's Musings, that he continues today. In December 2015, t...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 11, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. In the summer of 1967, The Beatles released their seminal album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album number one on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” The album has sold more than 33 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums in history.  During the recording of the album, John and Paul wrote a song specifically for Ringo to sing. Drummer Ringo sang a song on most of The Beatles albums. The song they wrote was titled, “With a Little Help from My Friends.” After an all-night recording session, laying down the backing tracks for the song, an exhausted Ringo began to trudge up the stairs. Ringo was often very nervous when it came time to record his vocals, so his fellow Beatles hatched a plan. Ringo was almost at the top of the stairs when Paul called out, “where are you going, Ringo?” “Home, to bed,” Ringo r...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 4, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. As I sit at my computer this morning to write, it is Good Friday and the Easter weekend is approaching. My granddaughters are still asleep, and the house is quiet. My sister and her family are here for a visit. I’m looking forward to a great weekend. Because of the Easter season, I have been thinking about the final week of Jesus' life. One of the stories that I remember from that final week is of Jesus crying for the city of Jerusalem. If He cried over the city of Jerusalem, can you imagine how He is crying over the world today? When I was growing up, I attended a small church in Fort Lupton, Colorado with my family. The small church shared a pastor with another church. Sometimes when the pastor wasn't there for the mid-week prayer service, those in attendance would take turns reciting a favorite text. Being somewhat of a smart aleck, I thought it was amusing to say that my favorite verse w...