A weekday reprieve

I am taking my first vacation EVER where I am not going on a mission trip or going somewhere active. It came at a much needed time and it has been really good so far. I spent some great time in the woods on Monday and Tuesday morning deer hunting, but it was much more than deer hunting. I didn't even kill a deer, but the time was well spent doing some praying, thinking, reflecting, reading the Bible, and just being a part of God's creation. How often does a person sit quietly in the woods for hours on end, taking time to "be still, and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10).
I think we would all benefit from doing this way more often than we should. I feel as if I have come back from a spiritual retreat, although I did not have anything major revealed to me. It was just simply being present with the Father for hours on end. I am going to have to make a point of taking some time to be alone like that more often. Don't get me wrong, I missed my beautiful bride dearly, but I needed that time.

I did get some "business" accomplished. I shook hands with the owner of the office I will be working at and talked with the bank about getting the loan we would need to buy an old house in DeQueen. I found out there is a community church in town called His Way Fellowship that looks to be really good from the website. Cindy and I feel that this is an answer to prayer, even though we haven't visited yet. I think this will be our church home from the looks of it, though.

I believe I am seeing the works of God laying the foundation for our move. Finding a community of believers who has a world vision like we do was a concern, but not a worry. I have trusted that God would either provide a church for us before we move or would either use us to build one. The former seems to have happened. From a business standpoint, I don't think things could have been laid out any better if I had planned them. Things seem to be "falling in my lap", but I know where to give praise and glory for these. The house is not bought and the practice is not built, but I see God's hand in this which gives me much excitement and great comfort in this move. It will not be easy to leave our friends and family in NWA, but I know there is greater things to come so long as the Lord is leading us.

Below are some pics from the weekend, all taken in my parents yard. I wish I had my camera with me Tuesday morning, as the fog that rolled in would have made some great pics. The color is better in LA (lower Arkansas) than in NWA, but after these few days of being in LA I can tell NWA is catching up quickly. Another hike to the Buffalo may be in store for Sunday, being that it will be Cindy's last until she recovers from her ACL surgery that she is having on Monday.
 
Fall color seen with a slighly fog covered pond in the background
 
Sunbeams shining through on Ronnie's vinyard
 
Sweetgum tree in displaying it's fall color for our pleasure and God's glory. 

If you need a mechanic in Northwest Arkansas....

I recently had a GREAT experience with a mechanic in Springdale. The Tahoe wouldn't start the other day and I had to find somewhere to take it. The Tri City Automotive that I had previously used in Johnson had moved and no one could tell me where to find a good, trustworthy mechanic. My friend Jake Newell new of a guy in Springdale his workers had recommended, but he had never used him. So I took a chance and it turned out to be a great find.

I took it over to Alfa Auto Repair Thursday night after my friend Mark Wagner and I pulled it from Fayetteville. I got a call at noon telling me it was ready. I went to pay and found out the guy was from Guatemala and is a fellow believer. As I was filling out the paperwork, he said "97". I was thinking, that wasn't a bad price, as I was expecting this to cost me in the hundreds. I have him 5 $20's and he looked at me quizically and handed four of them back. I asked, "I thought you said it was $97". H e said, "I was saying your model was a '97. The price is $19.86".

I now have a new place I highly recommend. They didn't stiff me and probably could have charged more.

shirley temple: the russian spy

I've been meaning to post something about my recent & AWESOME trip to our nation's capital last wknd, so jus tnow getting to it. But it was a perfect 3 days w/ 2 of my favorite amigas, Lori & Virginia....So you see that blond-headed, sweet-looking girl in b/w Virg & I? She looks harmless, right? Well, don't be deceived! This 26-yr-old Shirley Temple-look-alike is actually a US spy!!! No, jk. Whenever Virginia & I can't get a hold of Lori for months at a time, we like to joke around that she is on a mission to Russia, kinda like Alias. But she does work at the Pentagon and is the 'Country Director' for both Mexico & Canada for our Dept of Defense. She took us into the Pentagon so we could see where all the magic happens, and a picture she had at her desk still makes me giggle when I think about it: it's a pic of about 30 middle-aged men in their military uniforms (mostly Mexican military officials), looking very much like you would expect Mexican military officials to look...and then there's Lori. sweet Lori, with blond ringlets and a big smile on her face. :-) She calls it her "Where's Waldo?" picture. It is priceless.

I wanted to post about her b/c I am just so proud of her. She is brilliant when it comes to foreign policy, internat'l relations, & just anything to do w/ our country's history & gov't. The bottom pic is of her, our personal tour guide, giving us a schpeal on the Korean WAr in front of the memorial. VA and I definitely picked her brain while we were there, as she is a wealth of information, so it was an equally fun & 'educational' trip. I am just somewhat in awe of this girl and all that she does & all that she knows. Rest assured that there are really wonderful people like Lori that work in our government. Praise God they're not all corrupt!

Inappropriate Laughter

I got this from Nelson. Don't drink any beverage while watching this or it will come out of your nose. This is funny, I don't care who you are...

Oh My Hog

In case you were watching something else, Arkansas just played lights out AT Auburn and blistered them 27-10. It is exciting, but I don't want to look too far ahead. If FLorida beat LSU today (GO GATORS GO), Arkansas will be sitting pretty in the SEC West standings. The Nutt haters will have to shut up for a while now, or will they. All we need now is for Mitch Mustain to get his passing act together and the Hog Nation could be in for a fun season.

October has been known for "O for October" as in we go winless in that month. Maybe this will be there year we say "Oh Yeah for October".

Exciting stuff.

Happy Birthday Cindy

 
This post is a day late, but for all of you readers in blog land, don't fret, I remembered. Just wanted to "post" my happy birthday wish to my beautiful bride. Right now, she is somewhere in D.C. enjoying time with her good friends Lori Durham and Virginia Steger. I did not order her birthday present in time, so she has to wait until Monday to get it. Ask her about the wrapping paper.