Fall Break and Blessing a Guy With a Chicken

 Hi friends! I hope you all have had a great few weeks. I took a break from all technology during fall break so I could spend time with my dad! For Father's Day this year, I bought us a trip to go camping in Rogers, Arkansas over fall break. I bought all of our food and I paid for our campsite from Thursday to Sunday of last week. I really enjoyed our father-and-daughter trip. I needed time to relax, unwind, explore, try new things, and be one with nature. I must say, it was nice "living off the grid" for a few days. I had never been tent camping before, but it was such an amazing experience. It probably won't be for everyone, but I highly suggest tent camping when the weather is nice for all you explorers and outdoorsy adventurers. We made several fires, hiked some miles, went kayaking, and made camp food. It puts into perspective how many people work for what they have. We had to work to wash dishes in a bucket and then go walk to a dump site to dump the water. We walked to the bathroom that had stalls with toilets that dumped into a hole. We walked a ways to find ice, just to find out there was no ice. We truly were one with nature and worked for what we wanted/needed. I just think about all the people who have no running water, who live in mud homes or shacks, and I think about all the people who have to walk miles upon miles just to find water or food. Some people don't even have access to clean water. Anyway, this trip taught me a lot and it made me incredibly thankful for all of my experiences and belongings. One last thing that stuck out to me on my fall break trip: I went to make hashbrowns with a real potato. Dad let me. Well, I learned the hard way that you can't make hashbrowns from a regular raw potato because there is too much moisture. Dad knew this, but I didn't. He wanted to teach me something through this lesson. It taught me two things. 1) don't make hashbrowns from raw potatoes because it doesn't work, and 2) my dad is the best teacher there is. If this story doesn't show you what love looks like from a great parent, I don't know what does. Lastly, today Sam and I went garage sale-ing. We paid $1.50 for this chicken that was a chalkboard. It was pretty cool and we were going to give it to Sam's mother. Well, this old man and his wife were at this sale, and he says to me "Oh no, did you get the chicken?" And I said, "Yes, but here, I bought it for you". He looked so genuinely happy and he said "Well how am I going to pay you for this chicken"? and I said, "Don't worry, I bought it just for you." You should have seen the joy in his eyes. This brought a whole smile to his face! I found out that this man loves collecting chickens (chicken figurines and all things chicken), and told me about how he has this really fat chicken that he loves. Well, he shook our hands and he and his wife thanked us. Lastly, he said, "There are still good people in this world". I hope I was able to bless this elderly man by buying him a chicken, and I hope by doing that, that I blessed God Himself. You can be halfway across the world or right in town at an Edmond garage sale to bless others and love others. Take this advice into your daily lives, and please love and bless others, even in the simplest of ways. Your experience could be smiling at a stranger or talking to a neighbor. My experience today was blessing a man with a chicken chalkboard figurine.