Sticking Together

by   February 4, 2023 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            Most of you know that I have retired from teaching full-time but I have not retired from teaching. I still teach part-time at the community college. It is such a great, low-stress job. There are so many things you are required to do in a full-time job that are not required in a part-time job. I get to spend most of my time actually teaching. There is such joy in helping someone learn something that they did not know how to do.

            In my career I have worked with many different people; some I enjoyed and some I do not miss. The people you work with can make or break a job. I know people who have changed jobs because they did not enjoy working with their co-workers. I can think of at least one job I left because of the people.

            I love the people I am working with on my current job. We get along, see things alike, work hard to do an excellent job, and we laugh all the time. I have always been a jokester at work. We have to spend so much of our lives working, why can’t we have some fun and laugh while we work?

            One of the best parts about my current job is that we are there for each other. We work well together to accomplish our goals. If one of us has to be out, we all pull together to get the job done. We are a team. Our supervisor and her supervisor strongly encourage us to be there for each other and they demonstrate that by their example. I feel their support every day at work.

            I feel that same support in my church. My pastor and the whole leadership team at our church are there for each other. It doesn’t matter what any of our members are walking through we are all there to love, support, and encourage each other. Jesus never intended for any of us to walk out our faith alone. He intended for it to be a team effort.

            The enemy wants to convince us that we can walk out our faith alone. His plan is simple because it is easy to pick off people who are alone. If we are alone, the enemy will fill our minds with all kinds of doubts, worries, and fears. It is easy to get our mind focused on negative thoughts. When we are alone there is no one there to help us turn our thoughts around and focus on the positive.

            I always have areas of my life that need to be worked on. There are times that I see great victories and I am moving forward. Then there are other times when it seems like I am losing more battles than I am winning. It is easy to get discouraged when the battles seem intense. We often lose sight of the previous victories. We don’t realize that we are about to break through.

            Those are the moments when we need each other. I need you to look in my life and say, “Hey, don’t give up! Keep fighting! You will overcome and win!” The truth is we need each other. When the battle is raging and we feel overwhelmed that’s when a brother or sister in Christ can make all the difference in the world. They can encourage us to keep pressing on because a breakthrough is just ahead.

            It’s powerful when we pray quietly and out loud for each other. The enemy wants us to stay apart so he can pick us off. Coming together and sharing each other’s burdens is how we succeed in the battle. We have to be careful who we share our struggles and worries with because we want to find those who believe in us and will fight with us to overcome. We need people who will build us up.

            We are in a fight. It is important who we pick to be on our side. Knowing that I have your back and that you have mine makes us pretty hard to defeat. We will all get knocked down. It’s critical that we surround ourselves with people who will pick us up and fight with us.

            I want to encourage you to consider carefully who’s on your team. Are they speaking words of life and hope to you? Are they praying and believing for your best? Are they there for you? Choose people who have faith in you. It is a team effort. Be there for them too! We are in a fight together. If we stand together we will see the victory.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Ways of a Young Fool

by   February 3, 2023 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

            In May 1968 I graduated from college with a degree in English. I went home that summer to work in Cannon Mills, Plant 1, but as soon as August came, and Uncle Grant sold me that two-toned green rambler, I headed to what I viewed as the “promised land” of the North, which for me was Washington, D.C. I remember on the long drive to my apartment in Maryland seeing a “Wallace for President” sign somewhere in N.C., and thinking, “No more of that.”

            During my college years I became good friends with William MacPherson, who had grown up in Arlington, Va. I visited his home and thus, D.C., over the four years of gaining an education. I came to think of the area as the “land of milk and honey” for such a fired-up, young radical as I. The time of my graduation was the time of George Wallace and “Clean” Gene, who were candidates for President. It was also the time of Dr. King, Jr.’s assassination and the subsequent riots. It was the time of protests. It was the time of Howard Zinn and nightly newscasts of battles in Vietnam, complete with the day’s body count. It was an exciting time to be twenty-one years old and beginning a teaching career in a rural county of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

            Or so I thought until I recently ran across a reference to a man named Clarence Jordon. Jordon was a strong believer in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the fall of 1941 when he met a gentle missionary named Martin England who believed as he, they began dreaming of establishing Koinonia Farm as a way of countering the plight of farmers.  Life on Koinonia Farm would follow Scripture, especially the Sermon on the Mount. In 1942 they purchased a run-down farm southwest of Americus, Georgia, and the work to establish a community of all people began. But, the local population objected to the Koinonians eating together because some were white and some black, and just wages were paid to black workers which went against the rules of Jim Crow. Violence was not long in coming and until his death of a heart attack in 1969, Jordon peacefully followed the tenets of the Sermon on the Mount as angry whites burned down buildings of the farm, stole from it, destroyed its equipment, shot at its members, and local merchants refused to sell seeds and fertilizer to the farm. In describing the personalities warped by hate that tried to kill the farm, Jordon said, “We have too many enemies to leave them [without hope].”  I am indebted to Joyce Hollyday for some of this information.

Since reading the reference to Jordon and the Koinonia Farm, I have read his Cotton Patch Version of Luke and Acts, a brief sketch of his life by Joyce Hollyday, and have begun his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. I am captured by his faith, adherence to Scripture, and his legacy of Koinonia Farm. And I can’t help but go back to my years of college in the 1960’s and my mistaken belief that everything I desired was in a large, northern city.

A son of the South, I highly anticipated the time I could move to a world more suited to my beliefs—equality for men and women, peace, honest work, learning, in brief, everyone coming together to make the world better. I saw my dream in D.C. and went there. But, now, all these years later in 2018, I “discover” a man and a place that had everything I desired. Now, I am not fool enough to think that, going back these fifty years, everything would be peachy. Perhaps Jordon would not have appreciated me or my ways; maybe I not his. So be that. Yet, I am intrigued by my not seeing what was almost right in front of me and held all that my radical heart desired in 1968.   

Molly Nunn: The Face of Winter Flight

by   February 2, 2023 with No Comments

By David Freeze

I mentioned in last week’s column that our very popular Winter Flight races are just ahead on Feb. 5. One of the best things about one of the state’s oldest races is that I get to see and meet great people from the state and region when they visit Salisbury. One of the best of those is Molly Nunn, and here is her story.

As a small child and tomboy, Molly often set up obstacle courses in her neighborhood for friends to race through. Neighbor’s yards, the surrounding woods, hills, over logs, creeks, etc. were tests for Molly and her friends.

Then came soccer where Molly was good enough to have aspirations for the Olympic Development Program, hoping to be the next Mia Hamm. She said, “I ended up practicing with the boys’ team in high school and tearing my ACL in practice one day. My soccer dreams were ended.” Frustrated and depressed and in a full leg brace, Molly limped to the road and hobbled one step at a time to the top of a big hill, Molly added, “I stood there crying and angry that one dream had ended but that changed into a fire and determination to keep going, and that’s where the birth of my running career began. Every ending is a new beginning.”

Born in Hickory, Molly with mom, dad, and brother Adam moved to Winston-Salem at age three. Molly spent her school years at Calvary Baptist involved in sports, student council, choir, Quiz Bowl, chess club and as a camp counselor in the summers. Next came Wake Forest University where she majored in English and journalism and also walked onto the cross-country/track and field team. Having never run a track race upon entering Wake, Molly was simply told, “Molly, just go left!”

After Wake, Molly taught students with learning and attention disorders at Forsyth Country Day School and coached the running teams, even including being a 20-something terrified bus driver. After five years of teaching, she decided to change careers and went back to Wake to get her MBA. Molly said, “I was working full time, going to school and also pursuing a goal of qualifying for the Olympic Marathon Trials. What I came to realize was that all the hard work, the journey, and the commitment to that goal provided me with invaluable lessons that help me today.”

Molly worked in global finance for 10 years with the great gift to travel internationally and see a lot of different countries. She’s now with Lowes Foods in Winston-Salem as a finance director and about to hit her one-year anniversary.

Molly’s top running memories include leading a blind runner through the Outer Banks Marathon for 6 hours and 33 minutes, running a super muddy cross-country race in London as “Myrna Dune” because she couldn’t use her real name, and missing the Olympic Marathon Trials time by 8 seconds while puking all over the finish line. Lesson learned-take on a goal way bigger than you think you can achieve, and you will surprise yourself.”

For fun, Molly has taken up golf and after a year and a half, she hopes to soon break 90. Always reading, she’s currently enjoying a book on Winston Churchill.

For 2023, Molly said, “I’ve trained very hard for almost 20 years and so I decided for this year, I will find joy in simply being able to run, pushing myself or not, while finding the freedom that comes with why we fall in love with running in the first place. In the future, I would like to break 5 minutes in the mile again and run a low 17-min 5K.”

Molly summed up her Winter Flight experience, “When I traveled extensively, I loved ‘coming home.’ When I started running the Winter Flight 8K, it was about winning, trying to set records and running a fast time. The course is tough and I loved the challenge, but as the years go by, it got to feel a lot like coming home with that warm sense of welcome and seeing familiar faces, catching up with friends that I sometimes only see once a year at the race, and with each year we make another year of great racing history. So, it is an honor to be able to a part of the Winter Flight races.”

The female 8-time winner of the 8K, more than double the wins of any past entrant, Molly will be at the 40th Annual New Sarum Brewing Winter Flight races again. I hope you will too.

All proceeds benefit Rowan Helping Ministries.

A Memorable Teacher

by   January 31, 2023 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

Did you have a favorite teacher in school? I did. Mrs. Cowan, our chorus teacher was amazing. But she scared the life out of me. First of all, I took her class as an elective because I wanted something easy. But mostly I figured chorus would be one class where I could goof off with my friends.


Boy was I wrong. That woman was tough.


But! She taught those of us who had very little vocal talent to sing the harmony part. I was definitely in that category and was happy to be placed in the alto section. When it came time for our exam, I was NOT happy to discover that we would be expected to perform in front of our peers. Oh, we could have one or two classmates sing with us for their exam too. But holy cow I was nervous. Together me, Rhonda Parks and Renee Overcash sang the very somber folk song Blowin’ in the Wind.

These were the days of the Vietnam War. The song spoke of young girls crying for their dead and something about flowers and the answers to life blowing in the wind. The only problem was that I got so nervous during our performance that I started laughing. It was Mrs. Cowan’s fault. She accompanied us on the piano and played so fast and loud I could not keep up. Me and the girls had practiced together without music and were used to dragging out each note with sorrow. I think she just wanted to get it over with. But when I started laughing, though she shot daggers from her eyes, I could not stop. My poor friends got tickled too and the three of us laughed until Mrs. Cowan banged out the last note. I just remember hurrying off the stage with tears running down my face, probably my legs too, from laughing so hard. It was not pretty.


I ended up taking chorus the next year too. Bless Mrs. Cowan’s heart. That year she taught us a song taken directly from the Psalms. I still think of her when I read it.


“Create in me a clean heart O God. And renew a right Spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence. And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12
At the time I did not know the Lord. But singing that song stirred something inside. The seed was sown. A year or so later I trusted Him to seal me with His Holy Spirit.* And often I thank the Lord for the patience of a very faithful teacher.

*Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:30 is a great place to read for more about the Holy Spirit.

Light and Dark

by   January 30, 2023 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

My family had spent the day at Black Mountain Campground with approximately 100 friends from our church. As the daylight began to end, we began to gather around the campfire, set up our folding lawn chairs, and joined the group to end our day with testimonies, singing, conversation and laughter. The darker it got, the more prominent the light from the fire became. As the darkness began to overcome, the light from that fire became even brighter. If anyone walked away from the circle we were sitting in surrounding the fire, soon they were in darkness. Our focus became the light from the fire — and we stayed there for hours.

Later, some children began falling asleep in the arms of mom or dad. The crowd began to dwindle and families began to slip away to their tents.

It had been a special evening, watching daylight be overcome by the darkness. Flashlights had been turned on and lanterns had been lit. (Yes, this was before we all had cellphones with lights.) Many of us chose to stay around the fire late into the night, soaking in the goodness of God with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The hour grew even later, the fire dwindled, and we sleepily headed into the darkness toward our tents. I settled in on my air mattress that was on the floor of our tent, and began the process of trying to sleep. I knew I would not be able to, and I was right. Lots of snores were coming from lots of tents. But…the snores were not what bothered me the most.

The main reason I could not get to sleep was because it was too dark! I held my hand in front of my face. I could not see it. Even with my eyes closed, I knew. If I opened them, it would be too dark to see anything. There was no way I could sleep in total darkness. My solution was to take possession of the flashlight from my snoring husband, so that I could flip it on and off anytime the darkness began to overwhelm me. At times, I turned the flashlight on briefly, just to make sure I was still there. I had zero sleep and was thankful to finally see the morning light return.

Light and dark — it is definitely in the Bible.

Darkness has always been a part of our world, but so has light! In the darkness, Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable so that we could see the light! The wise men were in the darkness, when they saw the light from the star. The shepherds were working in darkness when the angel of the Lord shone on them.

First Peter 2:9 tells us that Jesus has called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light and John 8:12 tells us that Jesus is the light of the world.

That’s about all we need to know, isn’t it? No one wants to live in darkness, although sometimes we allow ourselves to do just that. I will repeat:

Jesus has called us out of darkness, and He has called us into His light.

That light is the light.

Do you need to come from the dark into the light?

Reach up.

The light switch is right above you and the power is always on! Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker.

Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

A Quiet Week

by   January 28, 2023 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            For many years I listened to Garrison Keillor on Saturday nights. He had a variety program on the radio that included music, comedy routines, and a story about the people living in a fictitious town. He would always begin his story with, “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Woebegone…”  Then he would proceed to tell a great story about all the happenings in his fictional hometown.

            Today as I sit at my computer contemplating the upcoming week, I think it will be a quiet week here at home. We only have one thing listed on the calendar for the week. That wasn’t the case last week. We traveled to Winston on two different days. There were a few other things on the calendar as well. I was glad when the weekend arrived.

            The weekend was quiet. I ran a few errands, but other than that it was a nice, quiet weekend at home. After such a hectic holiday season, I rather enjoyed a quiet weekend. I like being active and having something to do; but I also enjoy some quiet times. It’s nice when things are NOT expected. It’s nice just to be…

            I realize that there are always things that need to get done. You have to make food, clean the kitchen, do laundry, and go to work. These are the basic routines of life. After having an especially busy week or month it is nice to slow down and catch your breath. While it is good for the body to catch some extra sleep and slow down, it’s also good for the mind and spirit to rest.

            I have sensed the Lord’s presence in this recent quietness. Sometimes when He draws close it’s because there is something I need to work on. Thankfully, there wasn’t anything on His agenda. He was quiet, peaceful, and present.

            While I was walking I thought about the times I felt the presence of God draw close. Naturally, God draws close when He needs to convict us about sin in our lives. God wants us to live a better life not trapped in sin. His grace and mercy help us when we stumble and fall. His love draws us back into a right relationship with Him.

            God also draws close to us when we are going through a hard time. When we experience loss of loved ones or when we find ourselves sick or in need of His healing touch God always draws close to us. He is our comforter and our healer. Whether it is our heart or our body that is broken God wants to heal us.

            There are times in our lives when God draws close so He can mold us. God’s goal in our relationship is to make us into the image of Jesus. That means that sometimes He needs to bring His refining fire or maybe He needs to trim us back. Nobody likes these experiences but God is molding us to make us stronger. He is preparing us to be more fruitful.

            We also know that God draws close when He intends to work through us. God always wants to reach out to others and most of the time He chooses to work through us. So to reach people He will draw close to us to use our hands or our lips. We are His ambassadors to the lost and hurting.

            The one thing I don’t think we consider is that sometimes God wants to draw close to us just because He wants to be close to us. He has no agenda or purpose. He, like a loving parent, wants to draw close to His children. He wants to walk with us, talk with us, and just share with us about our day. He wants us to experience His peace, joy, and love. He wants us to know that we are accepted and that He is proud of us. Many times we feel bad about ourselves but He doesn’t feel that way. He sees us and He smiles. We are not a burden. He wants us to want to be with Him. No expectation on either side, just being together.

            I want to encourage you to think differently about your next quiet day. Maybe God isn’t worried about changing you. He just wants to be with you. That is something to consider…the God who made the whole universe wants to stop and just hang out with you. God wants you to experience His love, peace, joy, and total acceptance of you…warts and all. It’s been a quiet couple of days here and to be honest, I hope it continues…

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Stewards

by   January 27, 2023 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

Since my wife Mary Ann had an entry for the annual Chili-Cookoff, we arrived early  at the Family Life Center in order to set up the crockpot of her sure-fire winner. But when I entered the FLC before 5:30 for an event scheduled to begin at 6 P.M., I was surprised to see 10-12 round tables, each fully decorated and set with napkins and spoons, gracing the center of the room. Over to one side another table was loaded with condiments to enhance each bowel of chili. In short, long before the big event, the room had been prepared in style and substance. All we participants would need to do was sample from the 16 entries, listen to the music–alas, no Willie Nelson or Trisha Yearwood– talk with table mates, and combine with them to give answers for the trivia quiz. (By the way, did you know that grapes are the most produced fruit in America?)

As I talked with others at our table, tried to answer Pastor Vern’s trivia questions, and sampled bowls of chili, I kept thinking of stewardship, the incredible first gift that God gives us in Genesis 1:28. And somewhere between the Cowboy Chili and the No Gas Chili, I realized that what was on display in the FLC was stewardship at its best.

When the topic of stewardship comes up, we tend to think: Money. However, in the era of Genesis 1:28, there was no currency, so God must have had a view of being good stewards that did not include dollars and cents. Yes, later in the Bible the topic of a tithe is mentioned, but that is only one dime out of every dollar, and it is an undeniable need in today’s world. But being good stewards entails more than monies, and the work that took place in order for the chili cook-off to happen so well, is a great example of stewardship: Time, perhaps each person’s most precious possession, was given by some folks so that we all could enjoy the event —time to purchase goods, time to plan the room, time to set up the room, time to clean up, and more time.

There are many needs at St. Mark’s but fortunately many talents. Please examine your gifts and find a way(s) in which you can be a good steward of our church. As my Granny Susie was fond of saying, “If you want to get, you have to give.”

40 Years of Winter Flight

by   January 26, 2023 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Salisbury and Rowan runners have known about the Winter Flight races for a long time. Most races have a much shorter lifespan, simply because there are challenges to put just one event on. This race has a life of its own and to keep it going for 40 years through sickness, weather, course changes and more as it has evolved into one of the best races in the Southeast is quite special. The year, Feb. 5 is race day and momentum is building for the historic event.

At present, we know that it is at least the fourth oldest race in the state, and I suspect it will become the third oldest this year. Definitely the oldest 8K (4.97 miles) in N.C. status keeps bringing back some of the best competitors, a fun environment and some wonderful personal stories.

Here are just a few highlights over the years. The first Winter Flight was held in 1981, not held in ’82 or ’83 and was then reborn in 1984 as a combination of 5- and 10-mile races. These races originally started and finished at the mural in downtown. The race was moved to Catawba College in 1986, also the year that the venerable 8K distance was introduced. The 8K events were very popular then but have been replaced by the shorter 5Ks as the main race distance over the years since.

The races were postponed by a measles epidemic in 1989, and heavy snow in 1996 and 2005. I remember SRR members having to call race registrants with a plan for the postponement and new race days due to the snow.

In 2001, SRR went online with races and registrations. In 2002, the only course change since 1986 occurred due to new construction for Shuford Stadium at Catawba. The race was actually moved to Millbridge and the Sloan Park area due to COVID for only the 2021 version.

Course records remain with Olympians Hans Koeleman of the Netherlands with his sizzling 23 minutes and 34 seconds in 1988 and Joan Nesbitt of Chapel Hill in 1992 at 26.48. A Kenyan runner took the male record several years ago but was disqualified for illegal substance abuse in various races more than two years later, so it has reverted to Koeleman, a former Nike executive.

In 2003, the Salisbury Rowan Runners began making significant charitable contributions from the race. All proceeds from the 2023 event will again go to Rowan Helping Ministries.

This year’s New Sarum Brewing Winter Flight event kicks off on Feb. 5 with a free half-mile fun run on the track and open to any age at 1:30 p.m. Wheelchairs hit the street at 1:58 p.m., followed by the 5K and featured 8K race that will start at 2 p.m. Registration is available at www.runsignup.com and by printing the form at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Winter Flight offers tremendous opportunities for participation to runners and walkers of all abilities and age. The fun run is open to anyone, the 5K is a moderate distance open to anyone while the 8K is geared to those who can complete the course in 90 minutes. Special thanks to the City of Salisbury for services provided that allow us to have the race!

The SRR/Sidekick Karate Self-Defense Seminar is set for Jan. 21 from 10 a.m.-noon at the Sidekick Karate dojo on Main Street. To reserve your spot or for any questions about Winter Flight, email me at david.freeze@ctc.net

And finally, there has been a huge amount of conversation during the last week about vitamin D deficiency after last week’s column. Signs of low vitamin D levels include fatigue, bone and muscle pain, hair loss, anxiety or depression, and lingering sickness. Sunlight is the best source of D, while food sources are salmon, cod, eggs, and fortified yogurt, orange juice and milk. Vitamin D3 is readily available locally where vitamins are sold.

For more information on these events and others, go to www.salisburyrowanrunner.org.

Trusting

by   January 25, 2023 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Psalms 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

  • If we knew what God was doing and understood all things, we would not need to trust Him.
  • We depend upon Him completely, because He is our defense and just by His faithful and wonderful nature alone we can depend upon Him.
  • Just because of who He is and His greatness we can be full of gladness and praise Him, regardless of how things seem.

Prayer:  Lord, I lift my hands in praise and thanksgiving to You today because You are the almighty God.  No matter what I am going through I trust in You, because You have never let me down.  I worship You.  Amen.
 

Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

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