Barbara Walton
January 15, 2009
Old Man Winter has sure taken a toll in Spearsville. Everywhere we turn there are people suffering from “the ole crud” – bad colds and coughing, mixed with sinus infections. Our church attendance was down Sunday; some that could not attend were Billy Rea, John Rhodes, Frankie Futch, Nell Upshaw, Jennifer Lenard and Maurene Barron. Patsy Saunders is out of the hospital but didn’t feel up to braving the cold for fear of a relapse. Chris Canterberry filled in for Jennifer as choir director. Thanks, Chris!
There was come good news on the sick. Joan Miller is home from the rehad after a long hospitalization. Efton Rockett is home, also, but continues to need someone to stay with him during the day. Joan Smith is getting better day-by-day. It has been a long recovery and she continues to need our prayers. We look forward to seeing her back at the organ each Sunday. It was also good to see Shirley Miller back in church and appreciate the effort it took for her to bundle up and come out on such a cold, windy day. She is our prayer warrior, even when she is unable to attend. Thank you, Shirley, for your commitment to God and this church. We love you! It was good to see Wilbur Upshaw back in the choir. He has a beautiful bass voice and we have missed him during his recovery time from his deer stand accident. Keep well, Wilbur, we need you.
Several of us daily walkers, Bonnie Rhodes, Floy Rea, Betty Barron, Debbie Plummer, and I, were out Sunday afternoon when we met up with Rebecca Farrar. She was “sporting” a beautiful diamond ring. Her marriage will probably be in the summer. We extend our congratulations and best wishes to her for many years of happiness as she enters this new chapter in her life.
Last Sunday Bro. James gave each child, during the children’s sermon, a $1 bill; explaining to them that 10% of that dollar belonged to God. He asked that each child bring a dime, on the following Sunday, for the tithe as required in the scripture. It was wonderful to see the children go to the altar and drop his/her dime in the collection plate, yesterday. What a wonderful and memorable way to teach this concept, even to such small children. Hats off to Bro James for his love of children and the creative ways he uses to teach about God and His love for them.
It’s that time of the year when resolutions are made and broken very quickly. Losing a few pounds or managing time/money better is very difficult. Perhaps if we concentrate on service to others we’ll have better luck; things like visiting a nursing home, making calls to shut-ins. There are lots of other ways of contributing to improving our town or our parish. Put on your thinking cap. The following thought prompted my thinking beyond my own little nest and daily routine.
“As person only starts to live when he can live outside of himself” –Albert Einstein — And Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves’.
What a difference we would see in our community, state, nation, and world if we all made a commitment such as these.
Shiloh to Canaan 