Saying Goodbye

Christopher Allen Rice
August 19, 1968-July 31, 2010
Bentonville, Arkansas

Christopher Allen “Chris” Rice, 41, of Bentonville, Arkansas died Saturday, July 31, 2010. He was born August 19, 1968 in Hurst, Texas to William Miles Rice and Lois Norris Rice. He worked for All-Weather Heating and Air Conditioning as an installer. He was fun loving and adventuresome, yet was a serious, hard worker. Chris was also a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan. He loved his family dearly and will be missed by all who knew him.

He was preceded in death by his father William; one sister, Deborah and one brother, Calvin.

Chris is survived by two sons, Levi Rice and Keenan Rice both of Washburn, MO; his mother Lois Rice of Bentonville, AR; five brothers, Roy Rice of Azle, Texas; Kenneth Rice of Elm Springs, AR; Larry Rice of Bentonville, AR, Robert Rice of Bentonville, Curt Rice of Garfield; two sisters Connie Scroggins of Rogers; Janet Carpenter of Jay, OK; two very special nieces Angel Slinkard, Misty Underwood; and one grandson.

Graveside services will be at 11:00AM Monday, August 2, 2010 at Bentonville Cemetery in Bentonville with Pastor John Dean officiating.

We Love You Chris.

Where have I been???

I can't believe it has been so long since I have checked in with y'all! (I hope I still have more than one person that checks in on me!) Things have been a little crazy around our house. Let me catch you up on our family.

On Sunday April 11th we had an absolutely beautiful day. The weather had been very cold up to that point, and it seemed that it either rained or snowed every weekend! So on this particular Sunday my Handsome Prince decided to take full advantage of the warm, sunny day and get some much needed yard work done. He cleaned the front porch and pulled weeds out of the flower beds and even mowed the lawn.

At about 11 in the morning he didn't feel good. Sort of short of breath and just not "good" so he decided to take a little break. He grabbed a bottle of water and sat on the porch for a little while and started feeling better so he went back to working. That happened a couple more times and the shortness of breath became more of a tightness in his chest. Hmm, maybe this is something more than just 'working in the yard for the first time this year' aches and pains.

He decided it was time to call it a day with the yard work around 2. Came in, cleaned up and then sat in the chair for a few minutes. Still didn't feel good. I began with the list of questions - "Does your left arm feel numb? Are you nauseous? Dizzy?" No, to all of the above. He decided maybe he should check his Blood Pressure - it was 166 over 100. Okay, we are going to the Emergency Room - NOW! We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before 3 and by 3:05 we were in a room and he was hooked up to more monitors than I could count.

We were VERY fortunate that we didn't wait any longer than we did. The first blood test they did showed no enzymes, but because they couldn't rule out the heart as the source for his discomfort they decided to admit him overnight for observation. They did three more blood tests during the night and each time the enzyme level was a little higher. My Handsome Prince had a Heart Attack. They scheduled more tests Monday to determine where the blockage was and how much blockage he had. They had thought they could just do a stent (stint?) and all would be fine. Unfortunately, the blockage was 95% in his main artery, and 40 and 45% in two other arteries on the left side. Bypass surgery was the best option and scheduled for Tuesday Morning.

The Medical Staff at Mercy Hospital is just phenomenal! We were so Blessed to be cared for by highly qualified Doctors and Nurses. Everyone was so kind to us and very good to explain all of the different procedures and what we could expect. This is scary new territory! We are getting through it though, and Larry is feeling MUCH better. He even went back to work for a few hours yesterday! (We both work for my Parents, so you don't have to worry that he overdid it. He went to the office to get caught up on the projects we have going on and then came home to rest.)

This has certainly caused us to put things in perspective. You really can not take ANYTHING for granted! Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. We are making some changes for the good in our lives. There will be a LOT less stress and a LOT MORE family time. Larry and I want to Thank all of you that carried us through this in prayer. We appreciate you! I'll check in again soon!

Prayer Request

Well, we had an eventful weekend - and NOT the fun kind. My twelve year old Nephew Blake is on a fall baseball team and they had a game on Saturday. Blake was at bat and got hit in the face by a wild pitch. Thankfully, his only injury is a broken nose. It looked a lot worse, and we know it could have been MUCH more dangerous.
His Doctor has scheduled surgery to repair his nose this Friday morning. I would SO appreciate if you would remember our Blake in your prayers on Friday!

The 5 Finger Prayer

You know those e-mails.

I get them all the time. Lay a guilt trip on me to forward to everyone I know. Every once in a while I get one that is SO GOOD I feel like I MUST SHARE. This is one of them.

This is so neat! I had never heard this before - and it is surely worth making the 5 finger prayer a part of our lives.

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a 'sweet duty.'

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger - the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, 'The least shall be the greatest among you.' Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Red Envelope Day

Some days I think I live under a rock! I have not heard a thing about this wonderful project, but I read Shannon's blog this morning and I think this is a GREAT idea! Just in case you don't know anything about Red Envelope Day either, you can go to Bless our Nest and read more about it, or go to http://www.redenvelopeday.com/ and watch the short video clip. You can even order your envelopes from the sight if you don't have any.

Here is a snippit written by Christ Otto that I have taken directy from the websight:

Why red?
The envelopes represent the innocent blood shed through abortion, and the plea for the blood of Jesus over the sin of our nation. This campaign is a symbolic act to flood the mail with red. The more we send, the more powerful this symbol will be.

Why March 31?
Although that date was chosen arbitrarily by Brian Potter when he created Red Envelope Day, it also reinforces the symbolism of blood. The envelopes will be arriving near the beginning of Holy Week, just prior to the start of Passover. I don’t think it is a coincidence that these arrive so near the annual remembrance of the Passion and Death of Christ.

As long as you have proper postage, federal law requires the delivery of all mail. Messages on the outside of an envelope will not hinder their delivery. There are many strange urban myths about where the mail is going, and that no empty envelopes will be delivered by the USPS. Red envelopes are not a problem for the postal service (hand addressed envelopes are more of an issue and require hand processing) and can be scanned. Although empty envelopes may not be opened, they will be delivered.

PLEASE PUT YOUR RETURN ADDRESS ON THE LETTER–RED ENVELOPES ARE BEING PULLED AND SENT TO THE DEAD LETTER BIN BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE RETURN ADDRESSES!!! This from a postal worker on Friday March 27.

Postal workers have contacted me to tell me the letters are coming through the mail, but that they need to be standard sizes. If you send square red letters, please put 62 cents on the envelope. They will be returned without proper postage.

What is the goal of this project?
This project is a living parable of my philosophy of life, “listen to the Lord and do what He tells you.” If you make listening to God a habit, and you do what God tells you, you are going to impact the world around you. My main goal is to show people that anything is possible if you listen to God.

My second goal is to communicate the message, “Fear not, God can be trusted.” By simply trusting God, this idea has reaped amazing results.

Finally, we are trying to change the president’s heart. This is a message to a man that God hears the cry of innocent blood. It is not a political stunt, although I hope it changes policy in Washington. If the capitol is flooded with so many letters that no one can deny it, I am hoping the image will be burned into Barack Obama’s mind that this is about human blood, and that he lies awake at night until he cannot resist doing something about it. Even if the mainstream media ignores this, I know I was obedient, and SOMEBODY in Washington will have to cope with 50 million red envelopes.

I already have some Red Envelopes, so I am planning on mailing them tomorrow. I have written this message on the back of the envelope:

"This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world. Responsibility begins with conception."

I have addressed the envelope to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500


I hope you will prayerfully consider mailing an envelope tomorrow.

Jaxon Update and another craft project

First of all, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU! for your prayers for my nephew Jaxon. He was diagnosed very quickly, responded to the medication and was sent home late Sunday evening. PRAISE GOD! The Doctors anticipate a FULL Recovery, after about a month of medication. Thank you so very much for all your prayers for my family!

Here's a little preview of my latest craft project. I bought these eggs at my favorite craft store, AKA Hobby Lobby! I liked the size of them, but they were a little too plain. So I grabbed up some craft paint while I was there.

Here they are in various stages of "done-ness"! I've gotten very creative at finding things to prop them in while drying!

I already had some glitter glue from a long ago project. This is working perfectly to add a "little Bling" to my Easter Eggs!

It has been kind of fun having these to work on a little each night while we are keeping up with our intense Reality TV schedule! I'm just about finished with these bigger eggs, and I have started on some adorable smaller ones. I'll post pictures when I 'm done!

URGENT! Prayer Request.

**Edited to add 3/7/09 Jaxon was admitted to ACH last night. They are still running tests, but Jaxon's kidneys are functioning at 50% right now, and he has very high blood pressure that they are trying to determine the cause. The Doctors do feel that he is 100% treatable, so that is GOOD news! Thank you so much for your prayers! We will continue to update as we can.



Please be in prayer for family RIGHT NOW.

My brother Royce and his wife Tammy are driving to Little Rock to the Children's Hospital with Jaxon, their youngest. He is 5, and complained last Thursday about a red spot on his leg hurting. They took him to an after hours clinic and couldn't find anything wrong. Friday he was screaming because it hurt to touch it, and he could hardly walk. Back to the clinic, gave him some pain meds and sent him home. Saturday Tammy took him to the emergency room because he still hurt so bad. They determined he had a very bad kidney infection, gave him some antibiotics and sent him home. They have monitored him all week, this morning Tammy noticed some swelling in Jaxon's face and took him back to the Dr. They called us this afternoon saying the Dr sent them to LR because Jaxon's kidneys are failing fast.

Please be in prayer for a safe journey for Royce and Tammy. I'm sure he's driving too fast.
Wisdom for the Doctors - determining WHAT is wrong and the best treatment
My family, peace while we wait for some answers
Thank you!

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday!
We had a great weekend - I hope you did too! I did some cleaning and the never-ending laundry on Saturday. We watched the Hog game, and then went out to eat Saturday evening. I was given a gift card as a Christmas gift that was good at either Olive Garden or Red Lobster. The closest ones to us happen to share a parking lot! My choice would ALWAYS be Olive Garden, but Larry was in the mood for some shrimp, and since I wasn't cooking, I didn't care. I figured if one lot was more full than the other, that would be my choice! It was even, so the Lobster won. I had the Parmesan Tilapia - it was YUMMY!!

Sunday afternoon I went to see a movie with most of my family. My Dad and brother were wanting to see Clint Eastwood's latest movie "Gran Torino". Mom and I wanted to take my brothers children along, so we chose "Hotel for Dogs". I thought it was a cute movie. It was a nice distraction and good for several giggles, plus it had a happy ending! It was fun to listen to the kids giggling. Larry stayed home to watch football. My team is done, so my interest is too.

I spent a bunch of time throughout the weekend checking for updates on little Miss Harper Brown Stamps. It fascinates Larry that I don't "know" these people and yet I can be so concerned. It is sort of hard to describe, but I feel like I know them. I know you fellow bloggers feel the same way. Kelly seems like someone I could be friends with - the same as any of the bloggers I read on a regular basis. I was in awe Friday evening when I read the news about Harper, and it was almost a chain reaction - you could see posts going up on every ones blog requesting prayer for this sweet family. And the prayers are WORKING! Isn't God AWESOME?? Please continue to remember this family in your prayers, you can click on the button on the right for the latest on Harper's condition.

I hope you have a GREAT week!

Please PRAY!!!

Before I started my own Blog, I was reading several other blogs on a daily basis and enjoying little glimpses in to other peoples lives. One of my favorite reads is Kelly's Korner . Kelly is a sweet young lady that has prayed for a child and God has blessed her and her husband Scott with a beautiful baby girl! Kelly has been blogging about their journey, and yesterday the entire blog world was giddy with anticipation! Harper Brown Stamps was welcomed last night at 7:03 PM weighing in at 9 LBS 12 OZ! Unfortunately, Harper was having trouble breathing, and the Doctors have flown her to Tulsa to St. Francis where she is in the NICU. For more up to date information, go to Kelly's Dad's Blog , or Kelly's Blog. This family needs our prayers! Please pray for Harper!

Bye Bye Baby

Yesterday sucked.
This sweet kitty came to live with us in late July. He was a skinny little thing that Larry rescued while he was at our storage unit that we have for our business. He had been orphaned, and was in desperate need of food and medical attention. To be honest, we didn't even name him for the first few weeks we had him, because we weren't sure he would live. We (Larry) took him to the vet and got some worm medicine and I nursed him back to health. We named him Baby because his "Meow" sounded like a baby crying.
He was spunky! Our routine was he would come to the back door and cry until I would let him in. He would go directly to the tote that I kept his food in, and then climb in as soon as I opened it. He would start munching while I would fix his bowl. He didn't show up yesterday. And Larry found him on his way to work.
And I can't talk about it anymore.


RIP sweet Baby

A new blog to read

One of the blogs I really enjoy reading is Kelly, from Kelly's Korner. She has started a wonderful new Prayer blog for ladies that are waiting for God to bless them with either a Soul Mate, or a child. We all know the power of prayer is AWESOME! If you have a chance, please stop by "Dwelling in the Land" and say a prayer for these ladies as they seek God's plan for their lives. I have added it to my bloglist, click on the link over there!

I want to share just a little bit about why I think this is important. It is easy to get caught up in our own lives, I know I do. There are many women around us that are secretly hurting - longing for someone to spend their forever with. I feel very Blessed to have a Husband that loves me - and all that comes with that! We longed for children, but that was not to be. I can tell you that I know what it is like to sit in the hospital waiting room, ready to welcome your family and friends children and wonder why you will never experience that joy. It is hard to smile, and hold back the tears, when you can't explain the sorrow (and Jealousy) you are feeling in your heart as you hold that beautiful child. Mother's day is another struggle, especially since the Sunday service usually has a baby dedication. Just another painful reminder that you are not any one's Mommy.

So Prayer Warriors, get on your knees! Let's support these ladies and lift them up in prayer. God will provide!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.