The Arnold Heritage

 

 

I was thinking recently of my Arnold heritage. You know, the examples my ancestors and family members left for me to follow.

I was thinking about my Granddad in particular. In his younger years my grandfather was a hard working, hard drinking East Oklahoma cowboy. I have heard my Dad tell stories of watching Granddad catch a fresh horse, saddling him, and riding the bucking horse until blood was running from his ears, and on until the horse settled down and they could go back to working cattle.

Grandma found Christ first, in a Pentecostal meeting. She and a friend used to play tricks on their drunken husbands, as well as pray for them. Grandma’s prayers were effective, too.

A time came when Granddad and some of his friends were at the bedside of a dying friend. The man began to struggle and thrash violently around on the bed. Granddad and the other men had to hold him down. With his last breaths, he was crying out for them to pull his feet out of the fire.  

That was quite an incentive for Granddad. It didn’t take long for him to find the Lord, and commit his life to him. He turned to Christ, and turned his efforts from working cattle and farming to preaching the gospel. Most of the old timers around the town are gone now, but in the old days if you asked for Preacher Arnold, you would have no trouble finding him.