So, we are currently in the backwoods of Arkansas. The night before last I (ryan) went for an errand to the gas station and was a bit puzzled as to why they didn’t have any beer in their refrigerated coolers. Not really thinking anything other than “this must be a small town gas station for you” I went back to camp. Last night, after some delicious local BBQ (look for pics on here soon) we hustled over to the grocery cause we heard it closed at 9pm; it really closed at 5 minutes before 8 (or right as we walked up) so we were left with shopping at the Dollar General. While checking out with my supplies, I asked “where is the closest place that might still be open where I can buy some beer”. I thought that granny behind the counter had just sent me to hell with the look she shot back at me. She said, “what?” and I repeated my request. At that point she said, “son, this is a dry county, we don’t sell beer around here and you better not get caught with any either”. The rest of the dialogue was priceless – I laughed all the way back to our camp.
I thought dry counties ended in the 20’s somewhere up by Chicago.
To add further frustration to the situation, I tracked down what I thought was going to be moutain bike riding this morning by driving 20+ miles to a state park that had it listed as an option. As it turns out, mountain bike trails to them are for atv & motorcycles… nice.
The trail/road thing sucked!
So, this combined with all of the confederate flags and bugs = Ryan will NOT be moving here.
ps – I have cute videos to post of the bike & graduation but will have to do so at a later date as my Photobucket account isn’t working and I haven’t figured out how to do it with Picassa yet.
How do you explain evil to a 6 and 8 year old? Where do you begin? Do you begin with scripture and sin? Or with the act that was committed? Do you begin with what is left as the aftermath? By explaining it, does it hasten evil into their lives? Or, does it keep them further from it by showing them the sickness of the leftovers? Can the feelings elicited by a symbol left behind come anywhere close to the heartache experienced by those whose loved ones are now gone? This is the 2nd time that I have been to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial where the federal building once stood. Both times it has left me deeply impacted. Jen & I didn’t think the boys would appreciate it much, but remarkably they did. They asked a lot of questions. They were thoughtful. All of them wanted to leave something on the fences outside to say that they were there and thinking of the families who experienced loss. Across the street, stands a statue of Jesus weeping with the scripture:
Jesus wept
So do we when encountering evil; so do 6 and 8 year old boys when you give them a chance to really understand the nature of life and death.
As Ryan said, OK was muggy but I’m not sure I prefer the oven temperatures of Mesa. Monday we moved to a campground at Arcadia Lake in Edmond (just a few miles down the road from LifeChurch.tv.) The lake was nice but pretty muddy – the boys didn’t seem to care too much though. We spent the afternoon swimming and riding bikes. It was at about 2:30am the next morning that we were awakened by the tornado siren. We turned on the TV and were reassured that it was only a severe thunderstorm warning – the heavy rain and wind started up soon after. We survived the night in one piece.
While Ryan spent time with some of the leadership at the church on Tuesday, the boys and I entertained ourselves by exploring a little bit of Edmond. We went to lunch at Taco Bueno (cross between Taco Bell and Rubio’s with the fresh salsa bar) although I hear we should have tried Taco Mayo instead (personally, I prefer Del Taco.) We found a free (translation – small) WWII exhibit at the Edmond Historical Society & Museum that kept us occupied for about a half an hour. Luckily there was a park right next to it where the boys played for quite a bit longer. We picked up Ryan and went out to dinner with Brian & Janelle Shellem and their sweet twin babies, Conor and Macy. (Ryan & Brian were in a small group together in high school.) We had some ‘sweet’ BBQ at Earl’s Rib Palace then went back to their house to hang out and let the boys play in their ginormous wooded backyard. (THANKS again Brian & Janelle, for dinner and the great visit – and for the help with the car. It was great to see you and your sweeties!!)
Wednesday, Ryan spent more time at the church while I took the boys to the Omniplex Science Museum of Oklahoma. It was a GREAT time – the boys enjoyed learning hands on about so many science related subjects; magnets, energy & power, pendulums, planets & stars, earthquakes, weather, fish, small machines, sound, rocket & plane engines, glow in the dark rocks & minerals, even gymnastics and teeth. We saw a show in the planetarium which prompted a great conversation about the ‘Big Bang Theory’ at lunch. After the science center, we killed some more time by getting ice cream at Braum’s. We picked up Ryan and headed to an area of downtown OKC called Bricktown. The boys played at the ‘dancing fountains’ then we went to a mediocre dinner at the Bricktown Brewery. It served its purpose in filling us up though. After dinner we walked around the bombing Memorial. It looked really cool at night all lit up. And my favorite part was when Ryan sat the boys down before we walked in to explain what happened and why there is a memorial. Then while walking through Elias said, “Mom, when I’m 31 I’m not going to do that bad thing.” (referring to what Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols did – I’m not sure where he got the 31 thing though.)
We’re now in Arkansas. We stopped in Fort Smith to meet my dear friend, Rebecca and her husband Roger for lunch and now we are heading south to the Crater of Diamonds Park near Murfreesboro. I’ll post a slide show of our time in OK soon.
“You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes.”
~Walter M. Schirra, Sr.
