It Was Only Pie

by   June 10, 2026 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

I finally shared with my husband a terrible thing that happened nearly thirty years ago. I was traveling home with three little girls in tow when I had a flat tire. I limped it into a service station where a nice young mechanic came out of the garage area wiping the grease from his hands. “What can I do for you ma’am?” he kindly asked.

“I’ve got a flat.” I showed him the back left tire as I got out of the car. “Could you fix it for me?”

“Sure thing ma’am!” he was all over it lickety split. Three little girls watched from inside as he made quick work of something that would’ve taken me all morning to figure out… if I could’ve done it at all. I asked sheepishly if he’d take a check as I had zero cash in my purse.

“No problem! That’ll be five bucks for the use of the wrench,” he kindly replied.

“Are you kidding? Let me pay you more than that…” I protested. When he shook his head no and repeated, “Five bucks.” I asked “Would you like an apple pie?”

I had a yard full of apple trees at the time and had learned to make homemade pies. That would be the least I could do. He suddenly got his back up and replied in a tone I will never forget.

“My WIFE would not be happy! I try to stay away from things like that!”

“Things like what?” I wondered though I never asked. I have no idea what the man thought I was offering, but believe me, it was PIE.

I was so embarrassed.

Look at me man! Of course I’m terribly attractive here in my pleated mom jeans, blinding white tennis shoes and big eighties hair. It’s surely hard to resist a woman with three kids in a hatchback who has to write a check for five dollars. But c’mon man! Pie is not CODE for anything.

I only told one person what happened in case she knew something about offering pie that I did not. She was hip like that. I knew I could trust my friend Ann not to tell anyone. She didn’t. But every once in a while something would come up and she’d ask, “So did you pay with ‘pie’?” …wink wink

Even now as I confess this indiscretion to you, my neck turns red with embarrassment. It took me thirty years to tell my husband who loves me with all his heart. Why?

It’s hard being misunderstood… maybe because we feel the shame of what others assume about us.

But I’m telling you… it was PIE for crying out loud.

Big 80’s hair with my man rockin’ the stache

PS- Happy Anniversary beloved David; the first one I will spend without you. Praise God for the 51 years of wedded bliss He gave us which included lots of …. cake.

Randy & Vicki

by   June 8, 2026 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Randy and Vicki

I lost two friends last week.  The good news is I know where they are. They are with Jesus. The event was on the news. It was in the newspaper. It was talked about within many families , circles of friends, and churches.

To many, they are the couple that was killed in a fire in their home near Landis.

To me, they are Randy and Vicki.

Randy is now surely in heaven greeting new arrivals and Vicki is having personal conversations with the new arrivals about how they reached the end of their earthly journey and began their new life in heaven.

She does not have to remind them of how much greater their home in heaven is because now they are experiencing it for themselves.

I served in the same church they served in for over ten years.

May I tell you a little about them?

Randy inherited the role of keeper of the door. He greeted. He hugged. He helped. He watched. He and others on that team made sure we were all seated, safe, and comfortable as the worship service proceeded.

Vicki also had an very important role. She was wife to the keeper of the door, who developed the role of talking with those who were there. I could call her a greeter, but she chose to just be called a friend of everyone who entered.

She and Randy both had a knack for getting to know others. Usually, between Sunday School and the morning service, I would be running around  doing errands (I have no idea what) while Vicki was sitting on the back row listening to someone share their prayer needs with her. Her voice was soft and compassionate and she would listen, nod her head, hold their hand, and then their heads bow as they prayed together. I saw that weekly, but I was busy heading to the choir, and rarely got to participate with them in such heavenly matters. Her voice was filled with compassion, as was her heart.

As Vicki mentored, prayed, and listened to others share with her, I am not sure what I was doing, but it was not anywhere near the role she was fulfilling in those few moments of time.

She was a listener. She took the prayer needs to her heart – and prayed for others on the spot.

Their roles in serving expanded throughout the years, as they remained faithful members of their church. They were loving Christians you knew you could call when you needed them.

If you are a ‘church person’ you probably know a Randy and Vicki at your church. If so, will you give them an extra hug next time you are there – just for me?  Tell them, ”Thank you!”

My longest enduring church greeters are now with the Lord.

18 Years of Waiting

by   June 7, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

Recently, our 18-year-old son graduated from high school. While he was but a newborn, an event nearby rocked the community – what became known as the “Sun Drop Murders” (whose victims were Donna Barnhardt and Darrell Noles). Our family would often pass by the area on the way to my in-laws, the kids’ grandparents.

At our son’s graduation, I reminisced on the passage of time – a time that went by too quickly. I recall the early years of struggling with language arts in particular, and then seeing him later thrive and enjoy those subjects. Likewise, it seemed like yesterday that he was struggling to breathe when many colds would affect his little body and turn into infections. The sweet times when I was his world, and he was mine, transformed into launching into independence. Eighteen years flew by too quickly. Some days were long, but the years really were short, like the saying goes.

But 18 years can also drag on senselessly, sometimes seemingly without hope. While we cannot speak on behalf of the victims’ families, most of us know some measure of prolonged waiting, though many of us may not relate to a sense of delayed justice. In this case, and in my comparison, those years of waiting really have been a lifetime.

Perhaps you resonate with excruciating years of waiting for something or someone. We resonate with the Psalmist who said, “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 13:1). Tragedy, estrangement, betrayal, despair, and scarcity can feel more tangible than the resolution our soul longs for.

Though these murders may have been unsolved, they were never fully closed. The Concord investigators pursued justice, and the case was never forgotten, either by the families or law enforcement, thankfully.

In our own lives, we can also trust that God sees all wrongs that need to be made right, keeps record of our tears, and never forgets. But when we cannot see Him working, or things are not resolved in our way and understanding, we might doubt Him or our faith. Yet, He is still working. The recent arrest can remind us that secrets have an expiration date. Yes, sometimes humans can uncover them. But our Sovereign God sees when things happen and will, in His way and time, either now or in eternity, execute perfect justice.

Do you feel unsettled when stories seem unfinished? For years, I remember seeing the banner outside the Sun Drop Bottling Company with requests for information on the horrendous acts against the sanctity of two lives. Eventually, though there was no resolution or answers, the banner eventually came down. It still felt unsettling when I would drive down Old Concord-Salisbury Road. We all still longed for answers, none more so than their families. Many people chimed in on social media when the case broke in May. So many exclamations of justice served and resolution, because deep down, each of us knows that evil should not have the last word. Is that evidence that we were created by a just Judge?

Stories like these give us cause to celebrate our local law enforcement. But it does not have to end there. We can reflect on God’s sovereignty, that He never forgets, that true justice (His justice) will prevail, and our longing for it is evidence of His design in us (whether we believe in Him or not).

To the Class of 2026

by   June 6, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

To the Class of 2026

            It’s graduation season and young people are spreading their wings and flying off on new adventures. With optimism and hope they are leaving behind the familiar to fly into the unknown. High school students are heading off to careers, the military, or college educations. The excitement is bubbling over from both parents and students as graduations are occurring around the country.

            I attended graduation each year of my career. I can’t believe that it has been seven years since I last attended a graduation. Retirement from full-time teaching has been great but I still enjoy the blessing of teaching part-time. I am helping students earn their high school equivalency. It is so rewarding to help students achieve this goal.  

            I don’t remember every gradation I attended because the ceremony is pretty similar from year to year. I do remember looking at the list of graduates and putting a little mark beside the students that I had. I was always amazed at how many of the graduates I knew as my students. What I enjoyed the most about the ceremony was seeing my students afterwards and congratulating them. The students who were actively involved in my DECA club always held a special place in my heart.

            I enjoyed listening to the speeches at graduation. Some were given by students, others by the principals. I always took notes on those speeches and used them as the catalyst for a column. There were always special gems in those speeches that encouraged and challenged me. While I am definitely not interested in giving a graduation speech, I have often wondered what my message would be if I was in that situation. Here are a few thoughts that I would like to offer to the class of 2026.

            Congratulations to the Class of 2026. You grew up during the pandemic and you saw firsthand that life can be crazy. I hope you also saw that things will get better. Life is full of ups and downs. The ups never seem to last as long as you hope and the downs do not last forever. When you find yourself knocked down in life remember the pandemic; you have to learn to get yourself back up, brush yourself off, and start moving forward once again.

            You have already learned about one of the keys that make life better: friendship. You and your high school friends are all about to travel different roads that will take you away from each other. You will make new friends in college, in your places of work, in your communities, and in the social circles you will choose in life. Friendships are important and they will cost you time and commitment to maintain. I encourage you to work at them because they will sustain you when you go through troubled waters and you will sustain others during their troubled times. We need each other to make it through the journey of life.

            Look back at your life and find something that you enjoyed doing. Can you find a career that encompasses that activity? Cooking. Playing sports. Reading. Math. Science. Collecting. Showing others how to do something. If you can find a job or career doing something you enjoy, a way you can pursue your passion, you will never have to go to work. You will enjoy your job. You will look forward to going to work. Please know that there will be problems, every job has them, but you will figure it out and enjoy yourself through the process.

            I want to encourage you not to neglect your spiritual life. Your job will provide for your physical needs and hopefully bring fulfillment. Your friendships will meet your emotional and social needs. Often people forget that we have a spirit and it has needs too. Find a church where you can connect with other believers, where you can discover more about yourself and God. Jesus wants to be in a personal relationship with you and He has provided a way for you to connect with the Father, Himself, and the Holy Spirit.

            Class of 2026, I encourage and challenge you to build strong friendships, discover your passions and pursue them, and most importantly develop deep spiritual roots that will sustain you through the ups and downs of life. God loves you. He’s offered a way for you to be forgiven. He will guide you to fulfill your God ordained purpose. He will help you and never leave your side through the good times and the bad. God has a wonderful adventure planned for your life. Take His hand and fly into your destiny.

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

Reading Old Journals

by   June 5, 2026 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

Reading Old Journals

Reading old journals can be an unsettling or a rich experience. Having thought of some of my journals from the mid-1990’s and later that I had shoved into a drawer of a file cabinet residing in a closet, I decided to pull them out and organize them in chronological order. I realized that I would need to read them, not too closely, but close enough to get the flavor of whatever day, month, and year in which I had written. I opened the first one remembering that Rick Bragg writes in All Over But the Shoutin’ “…dreaming backwards can carry a man through some dark rooms where the walls seem lined with razor blades.”

Reading the first journal that is over twenty years old opened a window to a life half-forgotten. Reading my thoughts of events and people in my then life, most entries surprised or pleased me and a few read as if they were of someone else’s life. Yet one entry was not about me but something I had thought enough of to copy into the journal without naming where I  had found it. Fortunately I had cited an author, whether correct or not.

A July 2000 entry read “Found this”, followed by what I had copied from somewhere– “Walker’s Decalogue by Howard Zahniser.” Like so many entries, I do not remember anything about this one and not knowing anything about Howard Zahniser I did a quick Internet search and read about his brief but impressive life as the primary author of the Wilderness Act which Congress passed in 1964. In his 2016 essay about Zahinser’s  achievements, Max Greenberg for the Wilderness Society paid tribute to him in these words, “He was just a dogged man who did the good, hard work of preserving our natural heritage for generations to come.”

However, what I was most interested in was the “Walker’s Decalogue.”  Regardless of its authorship, here is what I had written in my journal, and I am as awed by it now as I obviously had been when I copied it.                                                  

1.         Don’t pack your troubles in your rucksack

2.         Don’t grouse at the weather

3.         Don’t miss opportunities of friendship with man or beast

4.         Don’t walk half a yard in front of your companion

5.         Don’t overfeed your body

6.         Don’t starve your mind

7.         Don’t overwork your legs

8.         Don’t lose your temper if you lose your way

9.         Don’t leave anything behind you but a good impression

10.       Don’t take anything away but pleasant memories

I grant that a reader could argue that the decalogue is negative because of the Don’ts, or for subtraction or addition to the ten. However, I see the decalogue as positive because our lives are packed with journeys such as a trip to a grocery, or a drive to visit a friend, and any number of longer/shorter journeys whether we walk, ride, run, fly, or float.

After all, we all are sojourners in this life.

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