A Horn, A Drum, And A Gun
February 14, 2025 by admin
Filed under Christian Life, For Him
By Ed Crumley
In the early years of my life, at least the ones I can remember, I wanted the same three things every Christmas: a horn, a drum, and a gun. Not sure why. We were in the midst of World War II, so at least the gun could’ve had something to do with the war. Maybe I wanted the musical instruments to make my war games sound more dramatic. Or, perhaps I could blame Roy Rogers, our musical cowboy hero, who always got the bad guys with his nickel-plated revolvers blazing.
During those times you couldn’t buy many toys, so Dad made Christmas presents for us. He got out his tools and built things out of wood. Big things like a rocking boat or a rocking horse complete with mane, bridal, and saddle. Those were fine secondary gifts as long as the three required items mentioned above also came in Santa’s bag.
In later years, our Christmas present requests migrated more toward clothes. My brother and I both had to have SMU football jerseys with the number 37, the number of our local hero, Doak Walker. I don’t know why Ken couldn’t have had some lesser player’s number instead. In junior high, my gift request reflected fashion. There was a cool kid at school who was the original Fonz. I had to have the same jacket and scarf that he wore. Funny, but when I put them on, I didn’t look like The Fonz.
A Cure For Winter Malaise
February 13, 2025 by Don S. Otis
Filed under Christian Life, Health and Fitness
By Don Otis
The days are short and cold. Is it any surprise that our motivation to get outside diminishes as the temperatures plummet? Only the hardiest of us wants to venture out after dark. The slick paths can lead to injury as footing and visibility become less predictable. The temptation is to sit inside, watch television, or make cookies. While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with these seasonal pursuits, they don’t help us stay in shape. The winter months can create other challenges to those of us who want to stay in shape.
A year ago I was feeling enormous fatigue. This led to one stale workout after another. At first I simply dismissed the poor results as age-related, or altitude (I live above 5,000 feet), or possibly too much stress. It is probable that each of these contributed to my malaise but I wasn’t sure. My doctor ordered a treadmill test, electrocardiogram (EKG), cardiopulmonary diagnostic test, and eventually some blood work. Other than discovering that I had a slight heart murmur, nothing explained my tiredness. Finally, I received a call after my blood work was in. My vitamin D levels were seriously low.
Slow Slide Into Sin
February 9, 2025 by Shae Hamrick
Filed under Christian Life, For Her
By Shae Hamrick
“Mom. The speed limit’s 40,” my daughter said as I sped down the street to take her to a friend’s. I was hurrying. I had been working on a project and was anxious to return in order to finish as much as I could today. She always asks to be driven somewhere when I’m in the middle of something. I sighed and slowed from 45 to 40.
Over the last several weeks, I have taken notice of my tendencies to push the boundaries of right and wrong. Listening to the news, I wonder about our nation’s tendency to change what is right and what is wrong. A bill was put forth to protect the sanctity of marriage, while at the same time, measures are being pushed to protect gay rights to employment under the hate crimes bill. Our freedom of speech, protected by the first amendment, is threatened in the same manner under the same bill.
When did it become wrong to have opposing positions and beliefs? To exercise our rights to them?
Reflections
February 7, 2025 by Caro Jackson
Filed under Christian Life, Family Focus
By Caroline T. Jackson
This was to be a year of reflection…..kick back….find out what makes me tick and where I want it to take me. In addition we were expecting our first grandchild, and I wanted to be available at the drop of the hat to help them. These were excellent intentions, well thought out and purposeful…..right! I did all the right things, declined some volunteer opportunities which ONLY I could do, got out my art supplies and dusted off the easel as I was going to explore my artistic side. I even signed on to TCP to write because I love to play with the written word and it gave me an opportunity to buy myself a little notebook to take with me when we travel. My husband is very territorial about his computer! Doesn’t this sound like a plan to you?
On September 2, our daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl…2 weeks early who just happened to be breach. This prompted an unplanned C-section which required me to stay with them for 3 weeks. Oh, how I hated every minute of that situation! Right……I could hardly tear myself away to return to my home….they NEEDED me. Truth be known, they were probably glad to see me go! So I returned home to ready myself for a long planned trip to Big Bend National Park and the Davis Mountains located in the far corner of West Texas. I capitalized “west” because it is big enough to be its own state! I had joined up with 8 artists to “paint Texas,” and we were off on our first adventure.
Two Marys Celebrate Christmas
February 6, 2025 by Olivia
Filed under Christian Life, Health and Fitness
By Julie Morris
“I hate Christmas!” Mary spewed out the words boiling inside of her as she rushed into my church counseling office. “Every Christmas I spend money I don’t have buying presents no one appreciates. And I waste time going to parties I don’t enjoy where I eat food I should do without.” After a deep breath, Mary sighed, “I can’t wait to get Christmas over with so I can get on with my life!”
Mary’s feelings are shared by stressed-out people across the country, and others have a love/hate relationship with what should be the most joyous season of the year. I have to admit that I, to, used to get caught up in a tornado of meaningless activities that brought only chaos. I missed out on the joy of Christmas until several years ago another Mary–my Aunt Mary–showed me the real meaning of Christmas.
