Cold Days, Quiet Puzzles

by   January 18, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

I have a fondness for puzzles; maybe you do, too. Five years ago, puzzle and board game sales increased as people found themselves housebound for weeks and months on end. My oldest son bought me a 1000-piece puzzle this Christmas. I smiled and brought out a different 1000-piece puzzle later in the day that I knew he would enjoy (a Van Gogh-inspired one) and said, “Let’s get to work!”

I especially enjoy puzzles in the winter. Christmas busyness has passed, and productivity is stalled for a bit, yielding to opportunities to just be present. There is a beautiful quietness as one sorts edge pieces, those with words or unique patterns, and then the rest of the pieces. Isn’t it interesting that we see our desire for structure in life in something as simple as completing a puzzle? Usually, we try to get the frame – the edges – in place to help us understand scope and context. Some pieces seem very ordinary, nothing special – all those black pieces with no variation in shading. But, just like life, some parts are not meant to be showstoppers; they just exist to support the greater whole of what we see and experience.

In my most recent puzzle, I became frustrated at repeating patterns, even though they were patterns from art I enjoy. While unique patterns made some parts easier, a repetition of a background or color scheme could throw us off and stall our process. Discernment is key to getting things into the right alignment, both in puzzles and in life.

The daily ritual and resoluteness for completing the larger puzzles remind me of the importance of just doing the next thing. It may not be flashy, progress may seem minuscule, but learning to faithfully show up patiently and dutifully is a lesson that is rarely learned through something so lovely.

Then, we come to the last piece of the puzzle – the most sacred of pieces. Everyone jokes about how they will sweep in and put in the last piece – usually the ones who have only helped place four of the pieces and then abandon the project for more exciting things. I was very honored when one son, who stuck with me the longest on this journey, quietly held the last couple of pieces and then handed me the last one – the keystone – to place in the last hole. No ceremony or regalia, just a knowing look that we stuck it out. Things we could not see as we worked through the jigsawed pieces now became visible and obvious. “Why did that piece not really fit there? How did I miss placing this one here?!” There is a quiet emotion resonating through me as we look at the whole picture. A bit like our lives, a whisper calls to our hearts of longing for wholeness and searching our entire lives for it.

At last, it is time to consider when it is appropriate to tear apart the puzzle and put it away. I have heard nasty rumors of families who, upon completing, have a family member who rips the puzzle off the table in a grand gesture. I guess that is like ripping off the band-aid. I suppose the lesson for those of us who do not glue and frame our puzzles is that we can be okay when meaningful things are taken apart. It does not mean our time has been wasted. We have learned something long-lasting in the process.

Time start a new puzzle…

Ashlie Miller gets lost in puzzles in Concord, NC. You may email her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.

Ordinary People

by   January 17, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Ordinary People

            Have you ever looked around your church and realized how lucky and blessed you are to be in the family of God? My family has been through some challenging things recently, and my church family has stood with me and supported and encouraged me through it all. We never know how much a hug, pat on the back, or simply asking about a situation can really make a big difference.

            Knowing your church family is praying for you and with you can make all the difference in whether we press through or give up. You don’t have to be a giant in the faith or a designated church leader in order to offer your prayers, love, and support to your church family. The Bible teaches us that the elders are called to pray for church family members. That doesn’t mean that we can’t pray for people in our church family. Our prayers are powerful and effective.

            My recent Sunday school lessons have been about the twelve disciples. I have been digging into their lives and have found some very interesting things. One of my favorite lines is that God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things for His kingdom. The twelve disciples were just ordinary guys who were called out to turn the world upside down.

            The Bible tells us that Judas took his own life after he realized what he had done. The Bible also tells us that one disciple was martyred, but tradition holds that nine others were also martyred for their faith in Jesus. It is believed that John, the remaining disciple, died of old age. The disciples paid a high price to get the word out that the Savior had come.

            Jesus picked ordinary guys to be His followers. Several were fishermen. I imagine these guys were not holy men. They probably believed in God and knew the promise of a coming savior, but these guys were busy working at their trade. They probably missed services at the synagogue to go fishing. They probably lived self-centered lives.

            Matthew was a tax collector and would have been hated by his fellow community members. Imagine the distrust between Matthew and his fellow disciples. Then you have Simon the Zealot, who was at least training to assassinate Roman leaders. We don’t know if he actually killed any Romans. He would have had a rebellious spirit, ready to participate in, if not lead a revolution against Rome.  

            These are the kind of men Jesus chose to surround Himself with during His time here on earth. They were ordinary men with all kinds of issues and problems that He turned into the disciples that we all know and love. It was these very unlikely men who literally gave their lives in order to spread the gospel.

            It was these guys who healed the sick. They healed the crippled and restored the sight to the blind. They raised the dead. They restored the minds of those struggling with mental illness. They preached to the lost and saw them get born again. They were brave enough to speak truth to power. They saw visions, angels, and had spiritual dreams.

            What is the difference between those guys and us? Obviously, they walked and talked with Jesus. But can’t we walk and talk with Jesus? Jesus empowered them by the Holy Spirit to do all the things they did. But didn’t Jesus give us the same Holy Spirit? You and I are just ordinary people, but how are we really any different than those early disciples? Just like them we have hang ups, doubts, worries, fears, failures, and we have all probably done things that don’t seem holy or very godly. Could Jesus use people, ordinary people, like you and me to reach the people in our sphere of influence with the love of God? 

            I want to encourage you to consider that maybe God can use an ordinary person like you and me to reach our world with God’s love. Maybe He will do some miracles through us. I’ve seen and heard of some in my lifetime. Maybe we are the ones that God wants to send to this generation. He doesn’t need super holy people to do His work. He needs ordinary people just like you and me who are willing to step out in faith and share our stories with the people He brings our way. Then we, like the disciples of His day, can step back and watch Him and the Holy Spirit do incredible things in people’s lives. He doesn’t need someone special, just someone ordinary like us!

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

Ways of a Young Fool

by   January 16, 2026 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.   

So You Want to Run a Marathon

by   January 15, 2026 with No Comments

By David Freeze

So You Want to Run a Marathon?

 Every few years, I visit this topic. Running a marathon is for many a bucket list item. For me it was achieved one year to the day past my first training run. How do I remember this exactly? Because I watched the 1979 New York City Marathon on TV and then gained entry before finishing the 1980 NYC event. I chased marathons for the next 20 years.

    Running a marathon is complicated, and much of that comes from goals, many of them that are based on what the participant would be happy with for their first marathon (26.2 miles). Lots of questions become immediately important, like the “why?” What made you want to do this, at this time, at this particular place and what results are you looking for?

    Most runners do think about the possibility of their own marathon, even if just in fleeting. I also suggest that runners figure out their own why with some experienced input.

    Is the timing right, do you have available hours to hit the road over a continuous period for an average of about 16-18 weeks? At this point, runners need to decide what pace they want to run and how many training days a week will be needed. Usually for beginners, there is a day off or even two per week. And consider a professional who can help you with a training plan that needs to be posted in plain sight. This is your goal sheet for the whole training cycle from start to finish.

     The key to a good plan is to increase the long run distance weekly, making this day the most important day of the week. No good marathons come without long distance training runs, the meat and potatoes of marathoning. You want to build to at least a minimum of 20 continuous miles running, but my recommendation for those more competitive is to do 23-24 minimum miles, All this at a slightly slower than race pace but to instill in the mind that you “can” do this distance. Along the way are the evenly paced base runs and the interval sessions or occasional 5Ks to keep your legs remembering how to run fast.

     Next comes the “where”. There are thousands of good marathons around the world, so find one that excites you to visit and see closely while on the course. Make it a destination event, to build more energy and excitement. Some want to make the first marathon into a group event, with friends participating or spectating too. Or maybe, your goal is an all-in adventure focused on yourself or just close family. My suggestion, make sure you meet your own goals of how to experience this “once in a lifetime moment!”

     Once you have made these decisions on logistics, lock in your travel plans. Take that worry out of the equation and also register at first opportunity for the race. At the cost of marathons now, get the cheapest early pricing. Lock in both and push far away any thoughts of backing out.

    Learn about yourself during your training. Do the work, make up any lost training days and research your race. Learn the course and plan how you will run it. Set a goal time and pace but know that you will learn a huge amount about yourself in this first marathon.

    What else do you need to worry about? Get your sleep, try out your race day gear, food and any gels you plan to use. Anything else that stresses you, figure it out and remove the issue. Practice your early morning runs at the same time your race will be.

   There are a few things you won’t know about until you experience them during training and the marathon. Follow a good plan, get your miles and complete your marathon challenge. Good luck.

   Don’t forget Thursday’s Resolution Run 5K at The Forum for a great price while benefiting Rowan Helping Ministries. Look for more info and other upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Gotta’ Run: So you want to run a marathon?

A Brush with the Law

by   January 14, 2026 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

I love my little town. Salisbury, NC has so much going for it. Sure, that includes some crazy but don’t you think every family has a touch of crazy? It keeps things interesting. Sometimes folks refer to us as “Smallsbury” in a derogatory fashion. That’s okay. I think small is a good thing. In fact, someday when I write my book I might just title it that. Smallsbury, USA.

Many neighborhoods still exist here where we look out for one another. The other day I was standing at the kitchen window when I noticed a cop car slowing down. It proceeded to pull into my mom-in-law’s driveway. My heart just stopped. I alerted David so we both moved to the front window and peered through the curtains like Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched. What is going on across the road?!!

We checked our cell phones to make sure we hadn’t missed a call. As we watched to see what was afoot, David grabbed his shoes so he could run interference between the police and his eighty-nine year old mother. Not that we needed to warn her in case she was smoking pot or something. We just wanted to be there if she was going to be arrested while “Bad Boys, Bad Boys” played in the background.

Jay w KK

However, before David could get his shoes on all fear was gone. The policeman turned out to be our nephew. Since he was in town for court, he decided to stop by his grandmother’s house to check on her. Then every cop’s worst nightmare happened. His grandmother sent him across the street to our house with a box of doughnuts. Talk about stereotypes. Bless his heart. 

This would not be Nina’s first brush with the law. She was driving home from serving Meals on Wheels one night years ago, when she made a right turn beside a vehicle which was stopped for a light. Since there was no turning lane, the police pulled her over. When asked for her license she realized her purse was locked in the trunk. Exiting the vehicle into a night filled with flashing blue lights, there she was, guilty before God and everybody. As she opened the trunk she was sure that all who passed thought she’d been busted for drugs. Nervously she retrieved her purse. Suddenly matters got even worse. Dropping her pocketbook, as we say in the South, she watched as the contents spilled across the pavement. No telling how many tubes of lipstick rolled into the gutter that night. As she stood there mortified, two nice policemen chased down the contents. Her lifetime motto has always been, “Lipstick makes everything better.” That night might have been the one exception.

As you know, things aren’t always as they seem. The policeman knocking on her door was not there to interrogate. The cop carrying doughnuts across the road was just doing his grandmother a favor. And the lady in the blue light was not being busted for drugs. In Salisbury though, we already knew that. Word travels fast here because we’re all standing at our windows, peering out checking on our neighbors. I especially love that small town living includes policemen who love their grandmothers, deliver doughnuts, and chase lipstick for nervous women.

God bless Smallsbury!

*Special thanks to my beloved nephew Jason Hinson who allowed me to take his picture while in uniform holding a box of Krispy Kreme. What a man!

Hope & Joy!

by   January 13, 2026 with No Comments

Have you ever seen a beat up car or truck driving down the road? Have you ever wondered why? Most people just point, or now, take pictures and post them. This Steve Hartman story is about just such a truck… ENJOY!!!

Our Timeless Jesus

by   January 12, 2026 with No Comments

Max Lucado says we just did something God never does… Know what it is? Take a few moments and listen to his encouragement… You will be encouraged!!

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