Mulberry Manor

One of my favorite places to stay is Mulberry Manor.  This 1800's rambling farmhouse is an amazing place to stay.  It received its name from the area it is in.  The community of Mulberry was formed in 1860 near a local wagon road between Sparta and Castor Creek Louisiana.  In 1880 a local doctor, E. N. Warren filed an application for a post office.  The post office operated  until 1900 when it was closed down and transferred to Alberta and Castor.  

Mulberry Manor is now the residence of my daughter and her family. This historical marker is just a short ways down the road.  From the information they have been able to gather, It seems that Mulberry Manor was built by the owner of a sawmill operation sometime between 1860 and 1880.

My daughter with her husband and three daughters now enjoy the country living that Mulberry Manor offers.  They are constantly working to improve the house and the farm.  They grow a large garden and have started an orchard with lots of fruit trees.

Mulberry Manor is a busy place where everyone has to pitch in and help.  The girls love being outside and helping with the animals.

Mulberry Manor has chickens, bees, a miniature cow and even a donkey.  The animals are a big part of what makes Mulberry Manor so special.

The Mulberry Manor property also has beautiful flowering trees, wildflowers and ponds that are great for bird-watching.  

I get to spend this coming weekend at Mulberry Manor.  Spring is one of the best times to visit.  I can hardly wait!

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Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge

Yesterday some friends of ours showed us Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge, an amazing natural area that I had never heard about before even though it is only about 50 miles from us.

The Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1994 and is located about 30 miles north of Texarkana, Arkansas and 10 miles southeast of De Queen, Arkansas. Pond Creek is made up of various oxbow lakes, sloughs, and bottomlands hardwood areas along the Little and Cossatot Rivers.

Pond Creek was created in order to protect the wetland and bottomland hardwood habitat and to serve as a habitat for neo-tropical migratory birds. It also serves as an important nesting habitat for wood ducks and wintering habitat for other migratory waterfowl. It is located where the Mississippi and Central Flyways intersect.

The forested wetlands of the refuge are used by migrating and wintering waterfowl during the fall, winter and spring. Mallards, gadwall, American wigeon and wood ducks are among the over 15 species of waterfowl that traditionally use the seasonally flooded wetland habitats of the refuge. Other species seen less often include northern shoveler; blue and green-winged teal.

The Pond Creek Refuge provide outstanding habitat for an abundance of birdlife, particularly neotropical migratory songbirds. Neotropical birds use the refuge as a rest stop during fall and spring migration to replenish energy reserves for the long journey to and from wintering areas in Central and South America. This habitat is also used for breeding and nesting during the spring and summer for many of these species.

We spotted a Cooper's Hawk  an American Kestrel, and a number of Kinglets, but I couldn't tell if they were Golden-crowned or Ruby- crowned.  Our friends had seen an alligator on a previous visit but we didn't see any on this trip.

This was our first visit to Pond Creek, but it definitely will not be our last.  The day was cloudy, cool and a bit rainy.  I want to return on a day that will be a bit better for photography.

If you love quiet secluded natural places, I highly recommend a visit to Pond Creek Natural Wildlife Refuge.

Tulip Extravaganza

Every spring Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas has a tulip extravaganza.  150,000 tulips line the walkways of Arkansas' premier botanical garden.  Every year that we can we visit the gardens during the tulip extravaganza.  Last Sunday was a perfect day for a visit.  The weather was perfect as we walked the tulip lined trails.

There were lots of beautiful flowers besides just tulips.  Garvan Woodland Gardens is beautiful any time of the year, but early spring is really special.

If you are ever visiting Hot Springs, Arkansas I recommend a visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens.

Luminaria

L is for Luminaria.  Luminaria are paper bags filled with sand and illuminated by a small light or candle.  My wife and I have been involved in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life for a number of years. Each Relay For Life has a Luminaria Ceremony that offers everyone at Relay the opportunity to honor and remember those whose lives have been touched by cancer. Luminaria also raise money for Relay For Life.  The Luminaria are placed around the track and lit as sunset approaches. As night falls it is a beautiful and poignant scene to see all the lit luminaria.



Relay For Life is a passion of ours because of all of the family members and friends who have battled cancer. We decorated a float for a Christmas parade here in Mena. Our theme was Luminaria. We made a large Luminaria from a refrigerator box, and we lit it with a floor lamp. We had Luminaria all along the sides of the float that we lit with glow sticks.






If you have never been involved in a Relay For Life, find out if there is one in your community and become a part of it. In 2013 there were over 5,000 Relay For Life events with over 4 million people participating. Don't miss out on the fun of this important event. Last year over 400 million dollars was raised by Relay For Life for cancer research, education, advocacy and service.

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Tolerance

On March 19th, Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church died. He was known as a preacher of hate.  His followers were known for their opposition to homosexuality and for picketing the funerals of soldiers.  They believe that God kills soldiers to punish a nation that tolerates homosexuality. They would picket soldiers funerals with signs that read, “God Hates Fags,” “God Hates You,” and “Thank God For Dead Soldiers.”

After Pastor Phelps death I did see some hateful comments and Facebook posts, but I saw something else that surprised me.  One prominent homosexual leader said, “I believe in showing love to my enemies and treating people with grace even when they don’t deserve it. I pray for [him] and his family just as I pray for those he harmed".

Another mentioned that instead of celebrating the death of Phelps, he recognized that Fred Phelps had a family who loved him and would be sadly missed by many people. And that even though there were strong disagreements with Phelps on many levels, there would be no gloating or rejoicing over his death.

Two days after Pastor Phelps died his followers picketed at 17-year-old singer Lorde’s show in Kansas.  Counter demonstrators unraveled a banner that said ‘sorry for your loss’ as a response to their ex-leader’s death.

In a blog post titled A Time for Tolerance, Pastor John Bradshaw addressed the passing of Pastor Phelps with these words.

"Some Christians—who by definition must subscribe to Jesus’ teachings regarding manifesting love towards others—find it impossible to love homosexuals, or to demonstrate toward them even a modicum of tolerance or kindness. I suspect some of this has to do with the Internet age: it is easy to be hateful when you might be geographically removed from the object of your scorn, and the expression of your vitriol is conducted via a computer keyboard. But many Christians—and I recognize that ‘many’ certainly does not equal ‘all’—treat homosexuality with a special type of hatred, and homosexuals as the worst of sinners.

There is little wonder that many people are turned off by Christianity when they witness “Christians” treating others with hatred and scorn. One prominent British personality has stated publicly that he could never be a Christian because Christians are so brutally unkind to those with whom they disagree.

I’m certainly not advocating or excusing homosexuality. As I read the Bible I see homosexuality as being contrary to the will of God. But so is dishonesty. So is pride. So is lying. And so is being hateful. In expressing hate towards gays, many “Christians” are guilty of a sin towards which God cannot—and will not—turn a blind eye.

As hard as it may be, God calls Christians—commands Christians—to love everyone.  And until we do, we are no better than those we criticize and condemn".

Pastor Daniel Darling states, "we must not allow our protest against values with which we disagree to overshadow our responsibility to show Christ's love for the world. It may very well be the person who offends us the most whom God is in the process of saving. And our gracious response might be the bridge that the Spirit uses to usher him from death to life".

Let’s follow the example of Jesus and love sinners and hate the sin in our own lives. John, the disciple that Jesus loved, tells us in 1 John 4:8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love”.