Grant County to Implement $10 Charge for Non-Criminal Fingerprinting Services

The Grant County Quorum Court unanimously approved an ordinance allowing the sheriff's office to collect a $10 fee for non-criminal electronic fingerprinting services.

The service is often required for employment opportunities including teachers, healthcare and others. Recently the county has seen an increase in fingerprint requests for concealed carry permits. Grant  County Sheriff Ray Vance estimates his office has received six to eight recent requests for fingerprints related to concealed weapon permits.

Vance's office can waive the fee and does not plan to charge the fee for employment requirements but will implement the fee for requests that are not "necessary."

"Concealed weapon's I don't feel is quite a necessity," Vance said to the quorum court.

Arkansas House Bill 1227, passed in 2015, allows local law enforcement agencies to "charge a reasonable fee for noncriminal fingerprinting services to offset the cost of expenses associated with offering a noncriminal fingerprinting service." Vance said this is the same amount the Arkansas State Police charge for fingerprinting services.

Justice Alex White of Sheridan voted "no" on the first two readings of the ordinance which allowed for discussion. White proposed allowing the community to attend a future meeting for discussion. The ordinance unanimously passed after the third reading and takes effect after 30 days.

The quorum court also approved hiring Roof Connect to fix a five-layer flat roof and four skylights for an estimated 19,515.

The meeting was adjourned after Vance updated the justices about meetings with the state highway department after more than 20 accidents have occurred on the U.S. 167 bypass since it opened in March 2015. Vance said half of those accidents involved large trucks on both the south end and north end of the bypass. The state has about $330,000 to widen the south end of the ramp. Vance also noted the possibility of extending the time lights are red or yellow to allow additional time for cars to stop. He said a flashing yellow light was discussed but related expenses would be the responsibility of the county.

2040 Miles of Highway

Today I returned from a 2040 mile road trip. With no specific plan except to drive eastward and not use the interstate until our return trip, Ashley and I set off and eventually ended up driving about 1,025 miles on various U.S. and state highways to end up on the beach in South Carolina.

We didn't know how far we would get or even where we would end up, but hoped to see sights that we would otherwise miss by traveling by interstate. By Friday afternoon we had ended up back on U.S. 278 again and after determining we were too far North of Birmingham decided to continue following the U.S. highway. Two of the main things we saw were the longest "natural bridge" East of the Rocky Mountains and a covered bridge before ending up in Atlanta. We ended up Googling Atlanta and decided to stay the night, only to pay $20 for parking the first night and deciding to skip the activities we planned for Saturday. Instead we used the GPS and navigated via the back roads to Charleston, SC.

After officially reaching the coast, we began using the Interstate system. Before leaving the area we found a national park and even ended up seeing dolphins. Then it was on to I-26 all the way to I-40 and into the Smoky Mountains, then home.

It was an enjoyable trip but a tiring one. I am hopeful that I will be better about writing a few more follow up blogs about this trip than ones in the past:

• Comparison of interstate driving and back road driving
• Blogs by destination
• Food

Destination Unknown Part 2: Houston, Mississippi to Atlanta, Georgia

Day two of our roadtrip began early Friday morning. We began the day by picking up a geocache in a local park in Houston before heading slightly north and eventually picking u p Highway 278 again. We traveled 278 most of the day with a few turns here and there to avoid following an interstate. But we would always find our way back. We haven't been using maps or a GPS on the trip so we hoped to end up in Birmingham and/or Huntsville but our route ended up passing North of one and South of the other. We did, however, make two stops -- the first one at the longest natural bridge East of the Rockies and the second at a covered bridge.

Based on road signs, we ended up making up our mind that we would try to make it to Atlanta. Ashley began looking at things to do in the city and we settled on staying in Georgia for the night. We decided to continue avoiding the interstate but to use the GPS once we were within 30 miles of Atlanta so we could find a hotel. After unloading the car, we headed on into downtown to find food and figure out where we were going Saturday morning for the Olympic park and CoaCola tour.

A word of advice, make sure there are no events in downtown Atlanta before going. We ended up paying $20 to park. Based on the price and the time to our next goal, we decided we will probably skip the tour and downtown tomorrow and continue on our journey. We now have the goal of reaching the East Coast without using interstates. Once we reach the coast, we will have driven from Sheridan, Ark. to the East Coast without using any interstates. After meeting that goal we will go as far as we can (using interstates) or until we reach that Appalachians. We hope to have time to spend a few hours in Gatlinburg and Smokey Mountain National Park.

Destination Unknown

Most of the time when I travel, I have a set destination with set sights I want to see. But one (of many) trips I have wanted to take was just to take off driving. This weekend, Ashley and I are doing just that. We left Sheridan, Ark. at about 4 p.m., Thursday afternoon and headed south. Shortly thereafter we turned onto AR35. This began new territory for me.

We passed through several towns I had heard of but never been to. I was actually surprised at the size of a few of them. I have to say, I don't think I have seen as many cemeteries along a single road as Highway 35.

When we crossed into Mississippi, we decided to stop at the casino and stretch our legs and backs. I carried in $17 and quickly spent $1. The next dollar went a little slower, but still was gone before long. I was satisfied after a cup of Pepsi and a cup of Mountain Dew that were free -- I'd gotten my two dollars worth. I decided to sit down at one more penny slot machine and put a $5 bill in. Finally,  I won a little something. I played myself back down to almost $5 before spinning another win and cashing out with $5.25 -- a net loss of $1.75. It was my first time in a real casino and I have to say I felt out of place. And here I thought it would be as simple as pulling a lever, not all those buttons!

We continued on through Greenville to find a bite to eat and fill up with gas before heading down some Mississippi highways.

All in all we made a 300 mile drive without interstates and without using maps. (I'm pretty sure I saw close to 300 deer too!) Eight hours later we stopped for the night. Back at it tomorrow! Where will we end up, who knows.

Texas Road Trip / Red Wolf Reunion 2015

Yesterday and today wrapped up a week-long vacation and road trip with friends from college who are now spread out between Arkansas and Missouri, along with one friend who recently returned from teaching in South Korea. Initially, seven of us left for Galveston, Texas early Saturday morning. We visited four Texas cities before returning to Arkansas. There is a lot to write about and I am short on time right now. I hope to write some reviews and blogs about our hotels, food and destinations over the next couple of weeks. But in the meantime, I wanted to post some highs and lows for each city.

Galveston (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday)
Highs

• Nice view of Pleasure Pier and the beach; balcony 
• Cool weather most of the time
• Evening walk on the beach
• Sunrise on the beach

Lows

• There were warnings about bacteria in the water and the beaches seemed a little dirty

Houston (Monday, Tuesday)

Highs

• Houston Space Center
• Seeing the signs that said we were leaving Houston

Lows

• MASSIVE TRAFFIC JAMS (Two hours to go 25-30 miles on the interstate)

Austin (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday)

Highs

• Awesome hotel (essentially a two-floor apartment) and friendly staff
• Act of random kindness at In-and-Out when a stranger recommended our meals (ordering things that weren't on the menu) and then paid for the five of us.
• Less traffic; easy to navigate
• Karaoke and hanging out afterwards at the "apartment"
• Accidentally being at the state capitol during the time of a scheduled event that we didn't even know about until we saw a bunch of people walking around in costumes

Lows

• No free access to Lake Travis
• GPS telling me to turn RIGHT while the GPS Map showed us turning LEFT. (Left was the correct direction to turn...)

San Antonio

Highs

• Watching the sunset and seeing the city from Tower of the Americas
• Walking the River Walk, especially our last night when we did "light writing"
• Easy to walk in the downtown area where we stayed

Lows

• Some crazy person walked out in the middle of traffic; I slowed down as to not hit him and he got mad at me, waved me on and almost caused me to go the wrong way down a one-way street
• Walking behind our hotel the first evening and thinking we were about to get mugged
• Knowing vacation was almost over

Writing Prompt: What do you look forward to every week?

The weekend! That one was an easy one! I mean, it comes every week and I always look forward to it, even when I don't have anything planned. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and my work, but I still look forward to the weekend every week. Oh, something more specific? I think that is still a simple question -- I look forward every week to church on Sunday morning. 

I'm not a morning person and since the schedule change I think I have been on time one time, but it is something I look forward to each week. Some Sundays, my Sunday school class never makes it to our lesson. But that is OK. I go to learn, but the most important thing is the fellowship with other Christians. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:23-25)." And then after Sunday school is the worship service.

The Church is one of he reasons I chose to stay in Sheridan. I hadn't attended church regularly since graduating college; I'm glad to be back.

Other things I look forward to each week:

• Watching weekly T.V. shows with my family
• Duck Dynasty
• The Last Ship
• Once Upon a Time
• Criminal Minds
• NCIS
• etc.
• Bible Study with friends
• Sleeping in

Preparing for Temptation

Temptations are around us all the time. Luckily temptation isn't sin, rather, we have a choice to make in how we deal with that temptation. Jesus himself was tempted three times at one of the times he would have been the weakest (Luke 4:1-13). "He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry."

I've heard this passage many times but as I read through it yesterday and lead a bible study discussion on it today, several things popped out.

It is important to learn and memorize God's word.
In verses 9-11, Satan quotes scripture to tempt Jesus to throw himself from the temples. Satan knows scripture and he will twist it to tempt us. If we don't really know God's word, it will be much easier for us to fall into Satan's trap.

Furthermore, each time Jesus was tempted, he responded with scripture (verses 4, 8 and 12). "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)."

Even when things are going well, we should be prepared for Satan's attack.
In verse 13 it says, "When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." Jesus passed the test. But the verse doesn't say that Satan left for good. Indeed, although I don't recall any specific instances the bible specifically states he was further tempted, I imagine there were many other temptations. In Luke 22:42 Jesus prays, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." There again was a choice to do God's will and go to the cross or to sin and disobey. We too should be prepared for that "opportune time."

We should always wear God's full armor (Ephesians 6:10-18). And again, we should memorize God's word. "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Without God's word, we have no weapon to fight temptation. 

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)."

There is a way of escape.

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13)."

I have personally found that when I am spending time reading God's word and praying, I am much more well equipped to stand firm when temptation comes my way. Unfortunately, I know all too well how quickly I am to fall when I am not spending time in God's word and in prayer like I should. One of my favorite church sign quotes reads, "Seven days without prayer makes one weak;" it is so true. This is an area of my life that I know I have much room for improvement.

Sharing Jesus Without Fear

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

This verse was my go-to verse before a "fishing trip" in college. I wouldn't hesitate to call myself socially awkward. When I am talking to people I don't know, I tend to stumble over my words. I don't know what to say. Carrying a conversation with a new person just, unfortunately, isn't one of my strong suits. But 1 Corinthians would remind me that it wasn't by my own power I would be speaking, it was the Holy Spirit who would be speaking through me. It has been a while since I was in college and we made these semi-regular trips to "tailgate city" to share the gospel. During those trips we were using tracts and a technique we had learned through Way of the Master / Living Waters. The tracts not only contained the gospel message, but were presented in a creative way that allowed us to walk up to strangers and start a conversation. My personal favorite was the "Survey Pad," which had a series of trick questions to break the ice, before moving on into more serious questions like "How does a person get to heaven?"

Even after those trips, I wouldn't say it really got "less scary." At the beginning of 2015, I participated in an exercise in which event participants wrote down things they wanted to leave behind from 2014 and then toss them in the fire. I have a lot of bad habits, but I chose one word to write down: Fear. Oddly enough, not long before that, I purchased a bible study from Lifeway, Share Jesus Without Fear. Unlike the previous study "Praying With Paul," our small interdenominational group chose to simply read through this study because of its layout.Share Jesus Without Fear was organized as a four-week study with each week broken into five days. With two hours, once per week, we managed to complete the study in about six weeks. Here are some of the things that stuck out to me:

• Not sharing my faith is a sin; it is disobedience. (Sin of Silence)
• Because sharing the gospel is a partnership with God and it is the Holy Spirit who will change hearts, I can't fail if I simply obey and share our faith. If the message is rejected, the person isn't rejecting me.
• Even Moses made excuses; many of which are similar to an excuse we might give today. But he followed through. (Ex. 3:11-12,13-17; 4:1-9,10-12,13)
• Remember to always Say something, Ask questions, Listen, and Turn the conversation (SALT).
• There are ways to share the gospel, through questions, that make the person feel more at ease. Don't argue with the person, simply listen. The study presents five questions to help open the conversation.
• Mark a small bible with seven bible verses (provided) and ask the person to read each of them aloud; ask them what it means to them after each.
• Close with key questions, offering the person a chance to respond to the gospel.
• If I need a "cheat sheet," it is OK. I don't have to know everything and the person may appreciate the fact I am a normal person, not a bible scholar.

The study closes with a list of 36 possible negative responses a person might have and some responses. Many times a simple "Why," is the response. Other times, more detailed answers are provided. I must say there are a few I don't agree with.

Maybe it is my semi-sarcastic nature, but if I were not a Christian and when I said I was not ready to make a decision the person told me something like, "OK, drive carefully," or "Have a nice day," and then walked away, I'm not sure I would take that positively. I think I would lean more in the direction of some of the previous responses and encourage them to think about our discussion and let them know I would love to talk to them again and at least leave my contact information.

So now I have to ask myself, what am I afraid of? " What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). When we started the study, my two responses were a fear of not knowing what to say, and not knowing how to start/hold a conversation (and social awkwardness in general). Now, I think the latter is my primary fear. In college, I found the gospel tracts from Living Waters helpful. The two methods in sharing the gospel are slightly different -- I could see a way to combine the tracts from Living Waters with the approach presented in Sharing Jesus Without Fear.

What are your biggest fears in sharing the gospel? What holds you back? How have you overcome these fears? I would love to hear from you; feel free to leave a comment.

Travel: Bull Shoals - White River State Park

Destination:	Bull Shoals - White River State Park
Destination Type:	Outdoors
Location:	Bull Shoals, AR
My rating:	A-
Website:	Arkansas State Parks

Whether camping, hiking, geocaching, swimming, kayaking or fishing, the many outdoor opportunities are my favorite thing about Arkansas. When I go camping, it is usually in one of Arkansas' 52 state parks, with the occasional Army Corp of Engineers or local park in the mix. I have my favorites -- based on what I want to do -- but I also like to try new ones; eventually I hope to visit all of them.

During my niece and nephews' spring break, I managed to take some vacation and go camping at Bull Shoals - White River State Park. I had never been and didn't know what to expect. I knew we would camp. I knew we would trout fish. I knew we would hike. We did all of that, plus some more.

Of all of the state parks I have been to, this was the hardest one to find. First, I missed the turn into the visitor center which wasn't well marked. I quickly dismissed it and decided it was probably a country club or lodge of some sort, not part of the park. I continued driving, and soon saw some more signs for the park, which I followed. It turns out, check-in for the camping wasn't even in the visitor center -- lucky for me -- it was in a small building closer to the camping area. It also happened to be right at another turn in the road that goes down to a restaurant called Gastons. Luckily there were a couple of no-hookup tent sites available. I hadn't made reservations and didn't know if there would be space available upon arriving. I had a backup plan to take a road trip if there hand't been but as it turns out there are a lot of camp sites at the park.

Our campsite was at the very end of the campground. After we set up camp, we quickly went down to test out the fishing. We had learned at Walmart that artificial baits, treble hooks and barbed hooks were banned on portions of the river. Before fishing, we talked with park staff to make sure the game and fish weren't going to ticket us for fishing in the wrong spot. Once we were sure of where we could fish, we walked down the shore and began to wade in the water. Just deep enough to cover my feet, I stopped. It wasn't long before I had pain shooting up my entire leg from the cold water. It was only March and they were trout waters after all. I ended up fishing from the bank for half an hour without any luck before going back to camp and cooking dinner.

I think the best part of where we were camping was all of the open space. Right behind our site was a large open field where my nephew and I were able to throw the Frisbee around. He also found some other kids and threw around a football while I was (failing at) building a campfire for the night. We also found the park had a playground and basketball court. Like most of the parks I camp at, there were bathrooms with flushing toilets and showers.

Being March, the cool/cold evenings were to be expected. What we didn't expect was the lack of hot water. I think the park only had three bathrooms for the park with more than 100 campsites. There just was not enough hot water to support that many people. At least the bathrooms themselves were warm. Much warmer than the tent.

I slept well enough, despite the sirens from the dam when they would open the gates. The next morning I woke up before sunrise and cooked breakfast so we could be at the water by daylight. Of course, we still didn't catch any fish. It is a good thing I had brought enough food for dinner every night, although I had wanted to eat some trout for dinner. After giving up on fishing, we hiked one of the trails the park had to offer. It was nice, but I have been on better trails. Still, it provided our first overlook of the river -- at least that I could stop and enjoy without risking a wreck.

I know there were more trails in the general area outside of the park, but I hadn't prepared to hike elsewhere so we settled on going to the trout doc and charging our phones. It was nice to relax, read a book and look out on the river. The trout dock was also a nice place to escape the rain. I must admit there was one staff member there I didn't like a whole lot, but most of the staff were very friendly. One of them came out and talked to us for a while. Since we had all heard it was probably going to rain most of that day, I decided to take a road trip. While I was preparing for the trip and looking for geocaches, I saw a dotted line going across the lake. When I zoomed it it said "Peel Ferry" so I investigated a little further and learned that it was indeed an operating ferry. I asked the staff on the trout dock (since they were state employees) if they knew anything about it. One of them told me it was the last operating ferry in Arkansas, was indeed free and gave me directions. So my nephew and I set off for a drive, hoping to escape the rain.

It turned out to be a really beautiful day- at least most of it, where we were. On the drive to the ferry we saw a bald eagle which appeared to have caught its prey (a snake). Once on the other side, I proceeded to my planned destination, which I didn't tell my nephew was Branson, MO. There we met up with one of my friends from college and spent the day. We ate at Olive Garden before heading back to camp. Then we drove back in the storms the entire way. Instead of being cooped up in a tent, we were driving with the storm. By the time we arrived back to the park, the rain was over. We were able to lead in some lost visitors who were camping that night -- poor signs striking again. 

On our last day we walked through the visitor center, waiting for the water levels to go down. They had opened several extra gates that morning which meant the water levels were high and the river was flowing fairly quickly. Once the levels went down we were able to go kayaking. That was fun but probably not the best idea. We ended up getting in shallow water and having to wade to get back to the campground.

At first, I gave the campground a "B" but decided I would give it an A- because of its proximity to other locations, the open spaces and the friendliness of staff. I expect the bathrooms would be kept cleaner in the summer and the water itself will feel better when the temperatures are higher. Although I won't put Bull Shoals - White River on my list of favorite places, it is definitely a pretty park and worth at least one visit.

Do you want to build a snowman?

...because sometimes, you just gotta be a kid at heart.

Review: Z82 Retrocade

Business name:	Z82 Retrocade
Business type:	Entertainment
Location:	Sherwood, Ark.
My rating:	A
Website:	Facebook

I enjoyed video games much more when I was younger, mainly because I had more time to play. Since high school, I have spent less and less time playing video games as my daily responsibilities have increased. Although I find myself playing less, I still enjoy the occasional game. 

This weekend I finally had the opportunity to go to Z82 Retrocade in Sherwood, Ark. I had been wanting to go since a friend told me about it in 2014 but hadn't had the chance. With rain forecast for all day Saturday and no plans, I needed to find something cheap to do indoors. Z82 offers a variety of old arcade games set up on free play and only costs $7.50 per person for the entire day.

Environment

The arcade is a family-friendly environment. There were kids and adults enjoying the games. The machines looked new, the facilities were clean and the staff was very friendly. There aren't a lot of options for food and drinks and no outside food or drinks are allowed. However, a thirty-minute pass is available to allow for reentry. Several fast food restaurants are within walking distance, including Subway, Sonic, Arby's and McDonalds.

The Games
I was first introduced to Galaga when I was in middle school at which time I spent way to many quarters to play. Later I found it again on Gamecube. Saturday was probably the first time I had played in 10-12 years. Z82 Retrocade features classic arcade games such as Galaga, Donkey Kong, PacMan, Frogger and many others. I was even reintroduced to some games I had played in the 90's on the computer but had forgotten about like Asteroids and Missile Launch II.

Along with the classics other options such as Foosball, Air Hockey and Digital Dance Revolution were available.

My nephew and I spent from noon until about 9 p.m. at the arcade on Saturday. It was an affordable indoor option for a rainy day. My rating: A!

Prompt: What is your favorite way to spend a lazy day?

To answer the question, "What is your favorite way to spend a lazy day," I must first determine what kind of lazy day it is. At first thought, it is just a day when its cold, cloudy and rainy outside and I am stuck indoors. That is the easy answer to the question. Those days are usually spent on the couch in front of the television. If I am lucky, it is spent on the couch, in front of the television with family.

But then there is the other side. Sometimes there are days I just don't feel like doing anything. A few years ago, I was living in Washington D.C. for two months. I had planned to get up and go hiking from Georgetown up to Maryland, but the weather was just the opposite of what I previously described -- it was sunny and more than 100 degrees. That morning, I decided to roll over and go back to sleep. 11 a.m...2 p.m....4 p.m...6 p.m... I ended up sleeping the entire day away. Now, if that isn't a lazy day, I don't know what is!

But my absolute favorite way to spend a lazy day is out camping. Usually I am always on the go -- fishing, hiking, geocaching or something. But there are those few moments in there when I get to "be lazy" and just sit around camp and relax in nature. That has to be my favorite way to spend a lazy day.

Out with 2014 and in with 2015

Please bare with me. This post may be quite lengthy. By the time I get home in the evenings, I tell myself it is too late to make a blog post. As I begin writing this post, it is 10:45 p.m. I won't finish tonight!

Reflections of 2014
I wanted to start with reflecting on years past, especially 2014. I've tried making resolutions just the opposite of what I really mean in order to motivate myself. "This year, I will gain 20 pounds." Since I don't usually meet the resolutions, maybe I wouldn't meet those. And if I did, I could at least say I finally kept one! But in 2014, things were a little different. I didn't really make a resolution at the beginning. After all, why wait until the beginning of a year to make positive changes? Resolutions can be made at any time of the year, not just January 1.

I knew I wanted to take more photos, improve spiritually and lose some weight. January and February weren't off to a great start for any of them. In mid to late January, I went through somewhat of a dark time, which I didn't really tell anyone about. It was a time of doubt and questioning everything I believed. I went through something like that while I was in college as well, but it wasn't like this time. I found myself sinking into a degree of depression I hadn't experienced since I came to know Christ, as I questioned whether God really existed. How did I know he was the true God? How did I know that Christianity was right and not Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Wicca, etc.? I feared what was to come next. I don't remember the order exactly, but my grandfather passed away March 1, 2014.

In late February or early march I began showing some signs of the flu and had a 103 degree fever. It was a Friday so all I could do was curl up in bed and take tylenol to lower the temperature. Monday evening I went to the doctor -- feeling much better and with only a low grade fever. It turns out it was merely a sinus infection. But something else came out of the doctor visit. The  nurse asked me if my blood pressure was normally that high. I don't remember what it was exactly but it was definitely higher than the last time I had taken it. When I got home and my family asked the diagnosis I told them, "I am officially on a diet now." I did not want to be put on blood pressure medicine at age 25.

Almost a year later, things have gotten a lot better. All of those other religions, including atheism, offer no hope. And I thought back to the life of Jesus and the empty tomb he left behind. If he weren't who he said he was, how did his body disappear from a guarded tomb? Why were there so many witnesses to him walking around before ascending to heaven? Why do so many people still believe today? And if Jesus is who he said, then that is the proof of God and his promises.

In August, I was finally hired at Heifer after a little more than two years as a temporary worker. God answered a prayer. After finally becoming an employee, I was able to get an apartment of my own. I weighed the pros and cons of moving to Little Rock and settled on staying in Sheridan for the time being which lead me to join First Baptist Church which I had been attending for about six months.

In October, I started what we are calling "Central Arkansas Young Adults Bible Study" in Little Rock. We are trying to emulate a group we were a part of in college in which we studied the bible, witnessed and provided each other with accountability. The new bible study group has put me in a place of leadership once more and I have felt God moving in my life through both my church and the bible study.

Faith has also been an important part in losing weight, which I must admit I haven't had the right focus lately and have fallen back into old ways of going back for seconds, eating sweets, etc. I did my best at losing the weight when I focused it on glorifying God. I took encouragement in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "19 Or do you not know that your body is a [a]temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from [b]God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." The verse isn't talking about weight but I think it is still applicable, and realizing that my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit means I should take care of it -- whether it be exercising, what I eat or what I do.

Looking Forward to 2015
I made excuses about writing this blog for five days now. Oddly enough, one of the things I want to challenge myself to write at least one post every couple of weeks in 2015 on whatever topics come to mind. They may be life lessons or completely random writing prompts I find online. But I want to write more. Not only that, I want to do things I love doing more -- hiking, camping, geocaching, photography, spending time with friends.

I actually spent my first day of the new year at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. And then Sunday, I went back for another guided hike "off the beaten path."

After the #FirstDayHikes, we returned to the pavilion for hot chocolate and a campfire. The ranger had pieces of paper for each participant to write down something from 2014 they wanted to leave behind in the new year. I thought about it and some of the ways God had been moving in my life. I wrote one word on the piece of paper: Fear.

In 2014, I was asked to help at the Fall Carnival at church. There were clipboards going around to sign up for different posts. The one I was going to sign up for never came to me, but the parking attendant came to me three times so I finally signed up. I had no clue what I was doing and was nervous up until the night of the event. I had signed up for a two hour shift and ended up arriving early and leaving late. And nothing went wrong -- no cars had a wreck because of me. God was in control. A few weeks later there was an incident at the gas station which I wrote a note about on Facebook. Fear took over and I didn't do or say what I had wanted. Finally, I received a letter that I was to serve as an usher at church for January and October 2015. Again, I had never done this, don't like getting up in front of people, but knew that it was important and there was a reason God had me there. The first Sunday a rolled around and went just fine. In 2015, I want to be fearless. God began showing me the conflict between faith and fear. I want to have more faith. I want to trust him more.

Prayer is another aspect I want to work on in 2015. I strongly believe in the power of prayer, but so often I fail at actually praying. If I pray in bed, I fall asleep. If I pray at my desk, my mind wanders off to other...squirrel! You see? So most of the time I just fail to pray all together. I have started 2015 with a devotional on prayer and we are beginning an eight week study, "Praying with Paul" in the bible study group. I led the first session yesterday and a couple of things stood out. I think my three biggest take aways were to be intentional/schedule time for prayer, use a prayer list/journal and don't be afraid to ask others for prayer. 

I need prayer that I would get up early in the mornings to pray. I am NOT a morning person. Waking up at 6 a.m., Monday through Friday, to be out the door by 6:30 a.m. and to work by 7:30 a.m. is difficult enough. Now I am attempting to wake up by 5:45 a.m. to allow at least 15 minutes of time with God before I begin my day. If I do not get up by 5:50 a.m. (or at least consciously choose to turn the alarm off), I have to solve 10 difficult math problems to snooze the alarm or one difficult math problem to turn it off. Again, I am not a morning person and do not want to do math problems that early. Hopefully it works! And eventually, I would like to move it back to 5:30 a.m. and maybe 5 a.m. I'm just not sure how I will function on an average of 5-6 hours of sleep per night.

And finally, I want to continue trying to eat healthier, exercise and reach a healthy weight range in 2015. I lost about 40 pounds in 2014 and if I can do the same in 2015 I will meet my goal. I currently need to lose about 35 pounds to reach the upper limit of my target range.

Only seven days into 2015 and it has already been a year of firsts. I hope it will continue to be so and continue to bring improvements.

Happy New Year everyone!

Word of God Speak

God still speaks and he isn't always subtle. We started our bible study with this expectation, having little prepared and allowing God to lead us in his word. I earmarked two verses just to jump-start the conversation: 2 Timothy 4:2 and 1 Peter 3:15.

Little did I know that God intended to continue speaking to me, building on the experience I had after last week's bible study. Rather than simply read the individual pieces of scripture we read from a section heading to another section heading to include those verses in order to try to keep them in better context. As I read 1 Peter 3:13-14, I stopped reading for a moment.

"Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. 'Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened."

Wow.

I didn't believe the story I was told last week. But that doesn't change the fact these people need Christ, just like I do. Yet, even starting with the greatest of intentions, a fear set in. And tonight after reading those verses it set in. How am I supposed to serve and love people when I am afraid of them. Fear gets in the way. We hear about all the bad things in the news, but maybe the actions of a few are not representative of a whole. And the stereotypes go both ways. How many times have we as the Church heard people say they don't want to be a part of the church because of hate from groups such as Westboro Baptist Church or abuse by Catholic priests?

I am so thankful that God still chooses to speak to us through his word.

Panhandlers

The Shell station on the corner of 9th street and I-30 access road in downtown Little Rock is not one of my favorite places to stop at night but I had to use the bathroom and knew if I didn't stop for gas there I would likely be walking several miles to the nearest gas station. I looked around and pulled up to a pump; everything seemed to be clear this time so I get out, lock my door and go inside to the restroom. Before going back outside, I stop at the register and pay for $14 in gas, all of the cash I had on me. This was on purpose, remembering the last time I stopped at the gas station. 

"Nice jacket, can I have it?" a man asks me as he approaches me next to my car. In my head: "Is he serious? You know, it is cold out here, maybe he does need it." It wasn't long before he said, "just kidding." Did my surprise show on my face? Regardless, he continued talking to me. "I'm from Missouri and I don't have any place to go. The Mission only lets you stay one night. I tried to steal some vienna sausages earlier but I got caught. Can you spare any change, even a dime would help." In my mind: "There are multiple shelters in Little Rock and I don't think that any of them have a one-night policy. And if you were caught trying to steal, how are you standing here?" What I said, "I just spent my last cash to buy gas. Let me finish pumping and I will go inside and buy you something to eat." I place the nozzle in my tank and begin (or think I begin) pumping gas and notice by this time a second person is standing five or six feet behind me. At this point, I have become nervous. The first guy continues, "Thats. OK, I am meeting a friend and hes got some KFC for us..." I realize I haven't flipped the gas pump on and say, "I guess this works better when you turn it on," I say to the two of them with a slight laugh. The second guy agrees. The first continues, "But you could buy me a pack of Marlbro cigarettes. I could sell them for 50 cents a piece and make a little bit of money."

"I'm not going to buy the cigarettes," I tell him. "I'll buy you something to eat but no cigarettes. The first man continues to try and convince me, but I'm not giving in on it. Again in my mind: "What if I did buy these for him and he sells them to a minor? Plus, you probably have to have a license to sell cigarettes and thats just going to get you in more trouble." The second guy starts talking and telling me how he had been in prison and liked it there becasue all the white people kept their distance. "All I had to do is show them this," he said as he pulled the front of his shirt up to reveal a scar. 

It is eventually the second man who takes me up on the food and he begins to explain that he wants one of the hot jack links sausages being very specific. "You might want to come in with me," I tell him. He sends the first person in with me who wasn't much help in choosing the correct one and then he picks up a bag of chips for himself. At the register he begins pointing to the newspaper and talking to me again as I try to run my credit card completely blocking out the cashier who was apparently asking, "debit or credit?" The man continues talking and asks me what I think about the Grand Jury's decision in Ferguson. At that point I am thankful I can honestly say I have purposely remained ignorant on that current event. Yes, I know it was about excesive force by law enforcement, but the remainder of the case I have remained out of the loop on. That is one news quiz I am happy to fail tonight as I could answer that I hadn't been following the story and couldn't answer the question.

We walk out of the store and I hand him the bag of chips and speed up to hand the other guy the sausage. "Only one?" he questions. "I'll take one." I then head toward my car, wanting to get in as soon as possible. "I love you brother," the second man shouted as I opened the door. "Likewise," I yell back.

Now, safely at home I am left to ponder...did I do the right thing(s)?

• I've been reading a book, "How to help the poor without hurting them or yourself." One of the main points it makes is that by simply giving 'handouts' we are actually making things worse for them and even ourselves. Instead we should work alongside them, building relations and helping them grow to be self-sufficient. What kind of harm might my buying the food have caused?
• Matthew 5:40, 42 says, "And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well...Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." Should I have immediately taken my jacket off and given it to him? What might God have done if I had?
• Was my fear/nervousness obvious? When the second person approached and stood behind me, I have to admit my thoughts were going toward, "I really hope I don't get stabbed/robbed." And having these thoughts made me wonder, "Am I being judegemental?" Forgive me.

Adventures at Longpool

Adventure is never far away in Arkansas, with so many places to get outside and enjoy nature. Adventure hasn't failed to find my family during our now annual trip to Longpool Recreation Area near Dover, Ark. I wrote last year about one of my most interesting Geocaching experiences (see Ghosts of Spanish Conquistadors). On our first night camping at Longpool, we attempted a night-cache located nearby. We didn't find the cache due to a crowd of people, but we did find ourselves semi-lost in the dark (if only because we were trying not to be seen).

This year my sister didn't come with us and we planned on attempting it again. After we set up camp we decided to go swimming while it was still daylight. Rather than swim much, we walked in the water upstream to some rapids. As we came closer to the rapids, we saw a trail (or a dry creek bed) and had a pretty good idea it would lead us inland to the waterfall. If it didn't we would just turn around and go back the way we came. Sure enough, it wasn't long before we came out and intersected with the main trail at the waterfall. It was our first "hike" barefoot through the woods and around the rocks. It was interesting to think about all the indigenous people who might have lived this way in the past.

---

As the light began to fade, we decided we had better get back to the water before it got too dark. We hiked down from the waterfall and began to follow the creek bed until arriving at a tree and brush in the way. "I don't think this is the way we came," I told my niece and nephew. "I don't remember crawling through all of this."

My nephew said it was the wrong trail and he saw the trail further back. So we followed him down the alternate path as the light continued getting dimmer and dimmer. Eventually the trail closed in around us and we found walking barefoot through the weeds. It wasn't long before there was no trail at all and no clear way to the water. I don't want to go running through a lot of weeds and brush with the number of snakes I have seen this year; I have no desire to be bitten. We turn around and try to find our way back to where we started from, at least we could hike out using the main trail if we had to. By this time, it had become difficult to see; of course we had arrived by water rather than land. So we end up deeper into the woods. Panic is beginning to set in. "I really don't want to spend the night out here in the dark with no shelter and no good way to start a fire."

We continued walking, searching frantically for any sign of a trail to the water or back to the waterfall. By this point we were running through the woods, stepping on thorns with our bare feet.  My niece began complaining that she could not see me; I was less than ten feet in front of her. I squatted down and said a prayer. Before long we came to another deer trail and I told my niece and nephew to stay where they were and make noise. I would go ahead on the trail to see if it went anywhere and if not, would follow their voices back to prevent us from getting separated. It was a major relieve when I came to the edge of the creek and called my niece and nephew down.

It seemed that not only was camping at Longpool becoming an annual trip, but becoming lost in the woods on the first night was too.

---
Back at camp, we decided we had enough adventure for one night. Rather than going geocaching we just prepared for bed. After placing our non-refrigerated items in the car we took our showers and went to bed. It wasn't ten minutes before the commotion started outside our tents. I think I slept a total of two hours Friday night with all of the raccoons rummaging through the metal garbage cans, meant to keep wildlife out. Of course, the most annoying part was listening to them in our campsite.

About two hours after going to bed, I rolled over and said to my nephew, "I don't think we are going to have breakfast in the morning." He asked me why not. "I think the coons are eating it all." We got up and went outside to see what damage had been done; sure enough we had been robbed. The animals (I won't say it was all racoons) had taken our ham, hot dogs, mayonnaise and bacon. Of course, it wasn't until Saturday evening I found they had also tried to eat my can of bug spray.

On Friday and Saturday evenings we enjoyed watching the wildlife (although were slightly annoyed with the noise they were making and the fact they robbed us). Animals we saw:

• Mouse
• Raccoon
• Skunk
• Cat
• Deer

Winter Masterpiece

I'm not much of a morning person, nor am I much of a cold and icy weather person but I have to say the drive to work this morning was a treat. The sun had risen to my right but it was still early enough it cast a grayish pink hue in the clouds ahead of me. The evergreens and bare trees all frozen over sparkled in the sunlight. It was like the scene straight out of a painting. It was one of those times I really wished I could pull over and take a picture. Of course, my good camera was at home. But that made me think even more about the "painter."

Many artists look at a picture or a subject and paint what they see. But either way they are painting the second or third version of it at minimum because God was the original author. He is the one who created it all from nothing. He is the best artist in the world.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

Joining the Gym

January is almost over and I am happy to say that I am still holding to my goal of drinking at least 28 ounces of water every day at work. That is about 28 ounces more than I was drinking and is about three cans of soft drinks less. Oddly, one thing I have found is the more water I drink and the less soda, the more my body craves the water. I've found myself going for the bottled water at home even more than for the coke, which is awesome.

I'd hoped to start slow, not cutting out any food or adding any exercise, just adding water. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before the doctor's visit messed that up and put me into high gear for weight loss and dieting. My diet isn't anything special. Right now it is simply cutting back on my portion sizes and not allowing myself to go back for seconds. I am also trying to limit myself to one or two sweets each week.

Tonight, I joined the gym that my sister joined last week. Hopefully paying the membership fee, joining fee and monthly cost, along with having someone to go with will be encouragement to work out, even on those frigid days when getting outside isn't on my agenda. I don't usually stay out late on work nights but will now be going to North Little Rock at least three nights per week, maybe more. This evening I arrived shortly after 5:30 p.m.and didn't leave until about 7:30 p.m. By the time I got home it was almost 8:3 p.m.

I do believe it is time to start eating sandwiches for dinner and eating leftovers for lunch.

Review: Coordinates for Murder

Title:	Coordinates for Murder
Author:	Darren Kirby
ISBN:	1470079100
Pages:	123
Copyright:	2012
My rating:	2/5 (below average)

Geocaching is one of my favorite hobbies, not only because it takes me to new places but because it often combines many of my other hobbies like camping and hiking. I don't get to do enough of any. As with most hobbies, I usually enjoy books and/or movies about the subject. I received a gift card for Barnes & Noble at Christmas this year and ended up searching for Geocaching, just to see if there were any fiction books around on the subject. Sure enough, I found two, one of those being Coordinates for Murder by Darren Kirby.

I didn't pay attention to the rating, reviews or even information about the book, other than the synopsis, when I made the purchase. (Now that I go back and look, there is none.) The book is the story of two friends who go camping in the wilderness of northern Wisconsin. While there they attempt to gain bragging rights of being the "First-to-finds" on a new multicache. But what they find is not what they were expecting.

The narration in the book switches primarily between the two main characters. That is tolerable but unfortunately it isn't quite as predictable as in some other series such as Ender's Game in which each chapter switches narrators. Usually when the narrator does switch in this book it goes back in time and tells the same events from another character's point of view. Most books I enjoy, the concept of narration is left behind as the images of the story block it out but in Coordinates for Murder the narration stayed most of the time.

Now, I can't say the book was all bad; it did have its suspenseful moments and I did actually read the entire thing, more than I can say for some. *The following sentence may contain spoilers. Highlight the text to view.* The end of the book was even a huge surprise and out of the ordinary.

I think one of the biggest problems for me was simply the age group the book was probably intended for. I probably would have enjoyed it more when I was in elementary school. Of course, I don't think some of the content is appropriate for children that age. But then again, in the past 15 years since I was that age, American culture has changed a lot. But for parents to decide, the book does contain some bad language and some mild (compared to a lot of movies) gore.

I personally give the book a 2/5 (below average) rating. I've read worse, but I have also read much better. Have you read the book? Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below.

Unexpected Outcome from Doctor Visit

Almost the first thing that I did after dinner tonight was take a call from my grandmother who inquired about how my doctor visit turned out. I told her, "The doctor said 'some people make a new years resolution to lose weight but for you its doctors' orders.'" I proceeded to laugh and told her it was only have true when she began to question about the diet. The thing is I've known I needed to lose weight and I've wanted to lose it for a while. I was thinking today of the Facebook status I wanted to post: "One of my new years resolutions for 2014 was to make myself drink more water. I cannot leave the office until I have drank a minimum of 28 oz of water. This is for every day I am at work and, so far, I have kept it. The thing is, if drinking more water and less soda doesn't help me lose weight, maybe the extra 500 steps back and forth between the other end of the building will add up!"

I went to the doctor after my headache, neck ache, back pain and some chest pain lingered for too long. Friday I came home exhausted and had a 102 degree fever. Luckily by Saturday it was low grade and by Sunday I didn't appear to have a fever at all. I returned to work Monday feeling much better than Friday. But the other pain when it hit made me wonder if I was still sick and what I had, although I continued to suspect sinus headaches for part of it. But just to be safe, I went to the Little Rock Walk-in Clinic on North University Avenue in Little Rock after work today.

What I didn't expect was for the nurse to take my blood pressure, ask me if it was always that high and then tell me to monitor it because they may need to put me on blood pressure medicine. I am 25 years old, too young to be on blood pressure medicine. Later the doctor also expressed concern about my blood pressure. He didn't put me on a diet, but it looks like its time.

I had set out to make one small step at a time with 2014, starting with more water and gradually building up to less calories, better balance and more exercise. Instead, it looks like I am going to have to tackle head on and drop the weight. Not that it is a bad thing, but there is definitely a difficult road ahead.