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It rained in Arkansas this year.

A lot.

The 127-year-old record for wettest year in Arkansas was demolished in 2009 with 79.13 inches. The previous record was set in 1882 at 75.54 inches. Historic.

Christmas Eve I had to make a quick run from Cabot to Conway to LR Airport and back to Cabot. It had been raining for two days straight. At around 11:30pm I merged onto 67/167 from I-440 only to find a long line of cars. It took about 30 minutes to inch up to what was holding everyone up. Water.

Cars were stalled out everywhere. I could see just off the interstate billboards that were partially submerged.

There were no police. No one giving direction.

It was man against H2O. Epic.

I took my foot off the brake. Me and the Nissan Maxima waded in. I didn’t really have a choice. Where else could I go? When I saw that the water rose to mid bumper on the car in front of me, I knew this was serious business. To make matters worse, there was no end in sight. Just water lapping against the cement wall as far as I could see.

I kept one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas somehow remembering that water that makes its way too far up a car’s tailpipe isn’t good. The seals on the car doors began to give as water leaked into the floorboard.

I made it. I started breathing again. The Maxima’s belts were screeching for joy.

Two days later I was driving from Cabot to Memphis. Check out the on-ramp at the Lonoke exit.

Crazy thing was no one seemed to notice the water. Go figure.

My mother-in-law, Ginger, busted out her prom dress which she wore to the Crossett High Prom where she was crowned prom queen. Sophia put it on, too.

Stuck in Folsom Prison from Ryan Bush on Vimeo.

Our car broke down while we were in Crossett last month. Wayne fixed it. Wayne is Amanda’s uncle. He drives a motorcycle. And, he is THE MAN.

He successfully diagnosed the problem, removed the starter, fixed it, and reinstalled in about an hour.

Thanks, Wayne!

Everyone at the Promise House is good (maybe just a little shaken up). Others in and around Little Rock weren’t as fortunate.  Here are some images reported by THV.

We just managed to get all the girls to bed after spending 30 minutes down one of the halls waiting for the Tornado Warning to pass. It did. The girls calmed down. Lights out.

Or so I’d hoped . . .

Our director just called telling us to get ready for round two. Apparently, there is another tornado-ish storm system making its way up the I-30 corridor. We might be heading back down the halls. No one knows yet. I’m the lone soldier keeping watch, crossing my toes hoping I don’t have to wake the house. We’ll see what happens . . .

Today, we loaded up the mini-van and headed for Jonesboro to represent ABCH at the Global Impact Celebration hosted by Central Baptist.

I’ve never been to Jonesboro. It takes forever to get there! Seriously. FOR-EVER.

I was just about to my wits-end when we came upon Weiner. That’s right. There is a town in Arkansas that goes by the name of Weiner. Here’s a photo to prove it.

Happily, I’m picking up some wireless at our host home. They’ll be more to come as the weekend progresses. Stay tuned!

[My wife made me take all the mood pictures off.]

Amanda and I will be representing the Arkansas Baptist Children’s Homes this weekend at the Global Impact Celebration hosted by Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas. We are pretty excited about it for lots of reasons. One being that this guy is going to be there. The Austin family came to Peru to join the ReapSouth team 2 weeks before we were leaving it.

Come on over if you get the chance!

I’ll be posting about the conference throughout the weekend. Ya’ll come back now. Ya hear?

I got this email from a good friend first thing this morning.

Ryan,

 It looks like Kentucky and Arkansas are going to have to share the title of “Indirect Co-National Champs” since they both beat the national champion. Congratulations to the Hogs

 Brad

 I think he makes a good point.

Congrats to all you LSU fans. Go SEC!

I’m a razorback fan. I guess you could say it’s in my blood. Some of my earliest memories of my grandma are of her yelling at the officials (who had obviously been paid to call against Arkansas) through the TV screen.

But, I have to admit, all this craziness with the football program has left me more than a little disillusioned. All the drama with Nutt last year, his departure, and now all the rumors about Mike Petrino. It’s all kind of disheartening.

Then, a breath of fresh air. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Sunday, Dec. 16) published a story about Felix Jones, a junior out of Tulsa, OK. If it weren’t for Darren McFadden, he probably would have won the Doak Walker award and it probably would have been Jones in New York with Heisman hopes. But, it wasn’t. And what did Jones have to say about playing second fiddle to college football’s best running back?

I looked at it as a challenge, just going at it and putting all my trust in God, knowing he was going to lead me in the right direction. It was a good choice I made [coming to Arkansas]. I learned and I’ll keep it forever.

A little humility and selflessness where it has been lacking for a while it seems.