Ashdown, Arkansas

What a busy couple of days!  My plan was to stay around the RV park most of yesterday, letting Charlie Chihuahua get used to his new surroundings, and getting the 5er set up like I wanted.  But the Cowboy had other plans.  After fishing a while, then eating lunch, he wanted to go to Wal-Mart.  So off to Ashdown we went.

 

 

 

On the way, I got him to stop so I could snap a pic of this marker.  The place we are staying is Millwood Landing Golf and RV Resort

 

 

I got this pic from their website.  Pretty golf course.

 

 

 

 

.  Evidently, there was once a landing on Little River (where Millwood Lake is now), where steamboats could come from New Orleans to deliver supplies to the locals.  Just a cool little factoid.

 

 It's been a couple of years since we've been here, so we drove through town to see if things had changed much.  Looks like there's a new Family Dollar Store. 

 

We noticed the Two Rivers Museum the last time we were here, but we'd never gone in.  So glad we did this time!  It's a small museum, but they've done a great job with it.  Every place has some sort of history, and we enjoy learning about the places we stay.  This museum is especially nice, because most of the exhibits are not behind glass or ropes.  You can view most things from all sides, and even encouraged to touch a lot of it.

 

Loved the textiles exhibit, and the 19th century furniture.

 

I am so glad I don't have to do laundry in this machine!

 

 

There was a sign here that said to "open the doors and drawers" so I did.  Found all sorts of old timey gizmos and gadgets.  Sorry I didn't get any pictures.

 

Somehow, this old horse drawn hearse seems a like such a dignified to bid farewell to the dearly departed.  I bet it was the fanciest carriage most folks ever rode in.  Too bad they didn't get to enjoy it!

 

Well, we finally got to the Wal-Mart, bought a few odds and ends, and got back to the trailer.  The Ashdown Wal-Mart isn't the smallest Wal-Mart in the world.  That's in Georgia. (I googled it).  But it's pretty stinkin' small.  But it had pretty much everything we needed.

 

So, that was our yesterday.  Today was maybe the best day we've ever had RV-ing, but I'll have to journal that later.  It's past my bedtime now. 

 

How was your day?

Arkansas

 

Even the longest journey begins with but a single step, or so they say.  Our journey started at 5:18 yesterday morning, when Cowboy decided he'd slept long enough.  Of course, once he was up, I figured I might as well get up.  The alarm was set for 5:30, anyway. 

 

The Red River, just north of New Boston, TX.

 

Speaking of New Boston, we felt like world travelers yesterday.  Paris, Detroit,  and Malta were just a few of the familiar names of "foreign" towns we drove through.  Oh, and Clarksville.  And now I can't get that song out of my head.  Do you think this was the Clarksville the Monkees took "The Last Train from...." all those years ago? I doubt it.

 

So, here we are at Millwood Landing RV Resort.  This is a great resort, complete with swimming pool, tennis courts, restaurant, golf course, lakes, and alligators. 

 

Cowboy is on the golf course this very minute.  Hope the alligators don't get him.

Preparations (probably boring to anyone but me!)

Sometimes I think preparing for a trip is almost as much fun as traveling.  First, there's planning the route.  Where will we go, what will we see, where will we stay?  This is seldom set in stone.  We often get to a destination, find out it's not what we expected for one reason or another, and leave much sooner than we intended.  Sometimes we love a place so much, we extend our stay.  Sometimes, we totally skip a place we thought we might go.

Then, there's the lists:  Clothes and toiletries to take.  Groceries to use up before we leave, or give away, or take with us.  Things we can't (don't want to) live without: computer, Kindle, books, Tim's keyboard, fishing equipment, golf clubs, ropes - this list can really get long. Things our kids need to take care of while we're gone: get the mail, feed the animals, water the plants…we thank God for our kids!

Then there's all the things we have to take care of before we leave.  Things to do and people to see.  This is the most hectic part, but also the most fun.  This past week we have: Gone out to dinner with the other deacons and wives from our church, substituted for our Youth Minister for Sunday School, enjoyed our monthly Dinner on the Grounds after the Sunday morning service, gone for tacos after the evening service with the usual church crowd, took the grandgirls out to lunch, tried to buy their birthday presents (the store was closed on Mondays), gotten a clean bill of health from the doctor (me, thank You, Lord!), fed our friends' dogs for three days while they were out of town for a funeral, had lunch with a friend from high school, practiced team roping (Cowboy), went to art class (me), killed a rattlesnake (Cowboy), served meals at Center of Hope, helped with the Wednesday night Young Adult Class, bought our son-in-law's birthday present, went to our church's Ladies' Brunch (me), got haircuts, went to First Friday Singing at our church, kept the grandgirls, and, last but definitely not least, spent yesterday with our son, who lives two hours away. 

Today (it's now 8:30 a.m.) we have already gone to the church to pray over the Youth before they left on a mission trip.  We will once again teach Sunday School for those who are left, then race across town to a different church to see my cousin be baptized. Hopefully, we will be able to get a little packing done between the morning and evening service.  Tomorrow we go see our oldest grandgirl perform with her piano ensemble team, and finish packing.  Tuesday we will try once again to buy the girls' birthday present. They will both have birthdays while we are gone. I hate missing their birthdays.

The last week or two at home, we don't want to miss any opportunity to see the people and do the things that we will miss while we are gone. 

Traveling, seeing this beautiful country, is something we've wanted to do our entire lives.  I feel like it is a gift from God to be able to do this.  But our home, our family, our friends, our church…these are the greatest gifts we could ever imagine.  God's blessings really do overflow.

 

Not sure where I got this picture.  Hope I'm not infringing on anyone's copyrights. I would love to give the photographer credit, if anyone knows who it is.

 

Showers of Blessings

 

It stormed here a few nights ago.  Almighty God put on quite a show, with ear-splitting thunder, day bright lightning, and a fair amount of wind.  It was very impressive, and the rain was much needed in our area.  And, thankfully, I haven't heard of any major damage.

So. Why? Lord, You know I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why do we get the rain, and Moore, Ok has to deal with devastating tornadoes?

And while I'm being so bold with You, why do I have a hard-working, good, God loving husband who has stuck by me for over 40 years, while some of my dearest friends ended up with no-account bums who were useless in times of trouble?

Why are my children such a blessing to me, while other parents have to deal with all kinds of problems, or even worse, children with cancer or some other disease most people have never even heard of?

Why do I live in a comfortable home (with air conditioning, Thank You Lord!), while some people live and work in extreme heat and/or cold?

Why do I get to travel and see so much of Your creation, while others my age are still working just to make ends meet, with no chance of retirement in sight?

One thing I know.  It's not because I've been a better person, or a better Christian than anyone else.  With Paul, I can say I'm certainly the "chief among sinners."

And, I know, we have certainly had our fair share of problems and tough spots.  Death of loved ones, illness, money problems, marriage problems, worries over our kids….

But You were always there.  You blessed us with friends and family who lifted us up in prayer, and You heard our prayers.  And You delivered us out of every dark place.  Every time. Not always in the way we wanted, nor as quickly as we wanted.  But, eventually, You healed every wound.

Help me to remember, Lord.  Remind me daily that I never have to be afraid, because, no matter what happens, You will be there to rescue me, just as You have in the past.

And help me to remember pray for the ones who are hurting right now, as others have prayed for me when I was hurting.

As the Cowboy and I start on another wonderful adventure, I pray that You will continue to protect us, and to watch over the ones we leave at home.

And…Lord? Thanks for being patient with my bold questions.  Thank You for the many blessings You have poured into my life.  Thank You for loving me. 

Loss. And Hope.

I don't want to write about this.   After all, who am I to be writing about tragic mass shootings, or gun control, or good and evil?  But the words keep bouncing  back and forth in my head, and they must come out somehow. 

I won't blame you if you stop reading right here.  Haven't we all seen and heard and read too much already?  My heart just keeps breaking, and I know yours does, too.  It's all just too much.

But here's what I need to say:

I refuse to live in fear.

And.

I will rejoice.

These are not options.  God tells us not to fear over and over in the Bible.  Same thing about being joyful.  It's not a suggestion, or a reassurance.  It's a command.  I'm not a Bible scholar, and I don't feel like looking it up right now, but I know the Bible tells us over and over, so many times, not to fear.  And to rejoice in the Lord.

And here's something else I need to say.  The gun lovers are right.  Taking guns away from law abiding citizens will not end the violence.   Killers will kill, one way or another.

But, while I support our right to bear arms,  guns are not the answer, either.  Weapons don't guarantee security.  Our security - our only security - is in Jesus Christ.

We, as Christians, have failed in our primary calling.  We are called to be light to a dark world.  Seems like all we do is complain about what non-believers are or are not doing.  But, what are we doing?  Are we loving our neighbor as we should?  Or do we put our own comfort above everyone else?  Do we love our neighbors?  Even the ones who smell bad?  Or do we judge and condemn them?

What do we offer the world, besides criticism and self righteousness?

I'm not blaming Christians for the evil that evil men do.  Satan gets all the credit for that, as far as I'm concerned. 

But.

Jesus offers help for the helpless and hope for the hopeless.  Do we really believe it?  Or do we secretly believe we accumulated all of our material and emotional blessings because of our own efforts?  And all those "losers" just need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.  Heaven help us.

Evil is in this world, and will stay here until our Lord returns.  Praise God, the final victory is His, but right here and right now, evil is a fact of life. 

However.  Goodness and mercy overcome evil.  And there is so much goodness and mercy left in the world.  I see it every day.  And it will remain, as long as the Holy Spirit dwells here with us and within us. 

And - good news - He's already promised to never leave us or forsake us.

Hope for the future. 

Indeed.

Immersion

 

 

Even if I would not, could not believe in an all knowing all powerful Holy God… a God Who abhors sin so much that it cannot survive in His presence, yet loves mankind so much that he would give up His only son to die on a cross so that He could fellowship with us who are sinners…I would still be a Christian.

 

This is why.

 

When I immerse myself in the Bible, in worship service, in Christian music, in sermons and books about God…I am a better person, a better citizen, a better mother, wife, sister and friend.

 

To me this is only logical. When I read a cookbook, I get hungry. When I took Government in high school, I briefly imagined a career in politics. I own several books on housekeeping and organization…when I read them, I soon want to get up and do something. When I watch HGTV, I soon want to paint a wall or work on a craft. On the down side, when I watch a sad movie, I cry. Sometimes, I feel angry.

 

We are all influenced by what we allow into our minds.

 

But isn’t it wonderful to know that God is real. His Holy Spirit is with me this minute, watching everything I do, encouraging me when I need encouragement, pricking my conscience when I go astray of His perfect will.

 

C.S. Lewis said that the Christian life is the hardest thing in the world to live if you are holding back (I'm paraphrasing wildly here). But once you have surrendered completely to Christ, it is the simplest thing in the world. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

 

God, please help me to be totally immersed in all things YOU. Amen

Bad Blogger!

Shame on me...no new posts in over 2 weeks!  Guess I've got some catching up to do.  Truth is, we haven't done anything worth writing about in that two weeks.  We left Louisiana behind, stopping in Beaumont for 2 nights.  Nothing much going on there.

Then we stopped at Belton Lake for 4 nights, at the Cedar Ridge Corps of Engineers Campground.  Cowboy was happy, because he got some good fishing in.  But honestly, the highlight of my time there was going to Dollar Tree.  Love that little store!

Then we came home.  End of story.

Well, not quite the end, although I don't see why anyone would be interested in our humdrum home life.  Except us. 

First off, we were so excited about being home, we gave ourselves a welcome home party.  I fixed a huge pot of Chicken Tortilla Soup (the recipe's at the bottom of this post, if you're interested) and we fed ourselves, our son, our daughter, son-in-law and grandgirls, and our loaner son & daughter, with their little one.  Then our best friends (of 35 years!) stopped by, and we had a house full!  What a welcome home!

The rest of the week was spent visiting Tim's brother, doing laundry, buying groceries, voting, attending a couple of funerals (not fun), getting haircuts, doing more laundry, buying more groceries, delivering a car to Dallas for the local Chevrolet dealership (Cowboy's very part-time job - I just rode along to keep him company), and attending worship services.  Oh, and the Cowboy and his middle brother hauled a bunch of hay out of the field.  Horses gotta eat this winter!

Saturday was a fun day.  Cowboy wanted to geocache, and, since he couldn't find anyone fun to go with him, he bullied, I mean, sweet-talked, me into going with.  But, saved by the bell (at least I thought so), my brother called just as we were about to leave and said he and his lovely wife were in town and would like to meet us somewhere for lunch. Yay!  We went to a brand new Mexican restaurant in town, Rio Mambo, and had a wonderful, relaxing and fun lunch.  Brother only lives about two hours away from us, but it seems we hardly ever see each other, so this was a real blessing.

But, my reprieve was over as soon as lunch ended.  Brother had to get on with his business, so off we went to find those caches.  I went, armed with a cold drink, my i-phone, and my Kindle.  Oh, and Charlie Chihuahua couldn't be left behind.  Hunting for geocaches is not my favorite thing, but I do get a kick out of the Cowboy's excitement, and we had nice weather for it, and I like getting out and seeing the country, going down roads I wouldn't normally travel.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, after all.

Now comes the most exciting part of my week.  Have I mentioned that my beautiful, talented grandgirls have been in music classes since they could crawl?  And the 10 year old has been taking piano classes for 4 years, and the 8 year old, for 2 years?  I'm sure I have.

Saturday, they played in the local Piano Festival, along with I-don't-know-how-many-but-it-was-a-lot of other kids.  They were all judged, (or graded may be a better word) and received certificates according to how well they did.  The ones who got the highest commendations were asked to play in the Honors Recital at the end of the day's activities.  And our oldest was asked to play, along with about 20 other kids. 

Parents and grandparents are not allowed to watch them play for the judges (makes them too nervous), but we are invited to watch the Recital, so our daughter called to let us know about it, and we rushed to the church where it was being held. 

These kids are all impressive, but, I must say, our grandgirl was awesome.  Not one mistake.  I was so impressed.  She has always shown a lot of talent for the piano, but she's gotten even better while we've been gone on this trip.  It was just awesome to watch those little fingers fly across the keyboard, and hear the beautiful music she produced.  Just. Awesome.

After the Recital, we all went out for hamburgers (yay, did you catch that?  We ate out twice in one day!  No cooking - or dishwashing - for me all day long!)

Then we all went to see Cowboy's brother, Richard.  He fell,  back a couple of months ago and damaged his spinal cord.  After surgery to stabilize his neck, and intensive rehab in a Dallas hospital, he was moved to a local rehab center just before we came home.  I want to thank all of you who have  been praying for his full recovery.  He is determined to walk again, and is making great progress.  Keep praying, okay? 

So, anyhow, all 7 of us (us, our son, our daughter's family) stopped to see Richard on the way home.  Which was just the perfect end to the perfect day.

And that's what we've been doing.  Back to wonderful, boring, blessed, real life.  It's good to be home.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Cooked chicken - baked, broiled, grilled, rotisserie...whatever and however much you've got - I used about 2  chicken breasts.  Shredded or chopped
1 can of beans, black or pinto
1 can of corn or hominy
1 can of tomatoes and green chiles, like Rotel
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper, whatever color you like
1 envelope taco mix
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
1 tablespoon oil
Whatever else you think would be good

Saute the onion and bell pepper until softened.  Add all the other ingredients, and simmer for about half an hour.

Serve lots of toppings.  We like crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheddar cheese, picante sauce, sour cream, olives, chopped green onions, sliced avocado, and lime wedges.  And jalapenos.

Serves 4 - 6.