Local Running

by   April 3, 2025 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Local running and racing are getting busy!

      Late March through early June are usually busy months for racing and this year will be no exception. Here is a recap of the choices for late March and April.

     The Mt. Hope Run for Missions 5K and Fun Run starts off the fun. This run/walk is at Salisbury Community Park on March 29th and uses the paved greenway and gravel roads for both races. Mt. Hope uses the proceeds for a long list of annual mission projects. One of the areas best managed races in a beautiful park setting is a great way to start the morning.

     Next up is the West Rowan Bible Teachers Association 5K and Fun Run at West Rowan Elementary School in Cleveland. This run/walk is in line to possibly take over as the largest 5K in the county with this year’s event on April 5th. The run/walk is on one of the fastest courses in the county while touring Cleveland.  Proceeds from the event helps provide Bible teachers in the local schools since they are not funded by the state.

      On April 12th, the One in 5K and Fun Run will also be at Salisbury Community Park. Race start is 9am. Since 1978, Family Crisis Council of Rowan has provided services such as emergency shelter, hospital accompaniment, court advocacy, case management and counseling to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, incest, and human trafficking in Rowan County. The significance of the race name is that one in five of all females will be abused in their lifetime. All proceeds go to FCC.

      Two Special Olympics will be held soon as well. On March 27th at Catawba, the older students and adults will have their competitions on the football field and track. April 10th, the younger athletes will compete at West Rowan High School. Both events start at 10am and will conclude by shortly after noon. Spectators are invited to attend this especially rewarding day.  Special Olympics Rowan County is in charge.

       Last week’s column was headlined by two Catawba College athletes who achieved national prominence. Both qualified for the final by doing well in the prelims with a strong showing in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Fall Creek Pavilion in Indianapolis, Indiana. Winfred Porter finished second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.65, a personal best for him. Miles Stephens was eighth in the same event with a time of 6.76, Both are now All-Americans for their efforts.

       Three of the oldest races in Salisbury will all shift to a new course this year because of construction at Knox Middle School. The new course will be central to Overton Elementary and will use West Park Drive, the greenway and the Prescott neighborhood while starting and finishing at Overton. Spectators will get to see the runners and walkers three times during the 5K. Races held this year on the new course will include Teens With a Mission 5K from First Presbyterian Church on Friday night, May 2nd, the Bare Bones 5K for Salisbury Rowan Runners on May 24th and the Greenway 5K for Salisbury Parks and Rec on July 19th.

Lynna’s “J” & Listen Please

by   April 2, 2025 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” -Hebrews 13:8

What does that mean to you? To me it is a reminder that He can be trusted… always. My circumstances can take a nose-dive when I least expect it. But I can rest assured that Jesus never fails. The One Who told me yesterday that He would never leave me is still faithfully walking me through whatever dark valley I stumble into today. Everything around seems to be changing. However, Jesus stays true.

Psalm 73:26- “My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.”

Listen Please

“O Lord, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind you promised.” -Psalm 119:169

Have you ever met someone with true discernment? They are a rarity. So much stuff goes out as news when in truth, it is not real at all. I got a text the other day explaining the great danger I was in because of unpaid toll fees. Honey I don’t even drive anymore. That one was easy. But at another time I quickly cancelled my credit card because of unusual activity. Turns out it was just a charge I forgot I made. Of course discernment in Scripture is waaayyy more important. The above prayer is really needed today. Especially when something new comes along.

Dear Lord, please bless us with Your discerning wisdom.

Sly as a fox? Or maybe wise as serpents, harmless as doves. We spotted these beautiful creatures in the dunes at Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Thankfully we had sense enough to keep our distance.

Serving Matters

by   March 31, 2025 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Serving Matters

In some ways, I believe serving students in the college cafeteria while attending Gardner Webb AND serving customers at the Pizza Inn while attending UNC Charlotte, seem to have been almost as educational as the college courses I was taking at the time.

While serving my peers in the college cafeteria, I said things like, “Pizza or taco?” Yes, I was on the serving line with my hair net on, saying the choice of food over and over to people who mostly never looked at me, because they were studying the food choices in front of them. I did not mind feeling invisible. Food is something I understood.“Potatoes? Beans?” I would continue. It was my daily dinner routine as I worked my way through college. I was there to serve! Serving mattered!

When it came to my other job at Pizza Inn, the entire scenario changed. Three days out of seven, I would work from 4pm until 4am, drive back to my dorm and sleep until time for class. Other than the tired feet, I thought it was remarkable being a waitress! I think I would have loved making a living at it! I got to be super nice to people who were there to enjoy pizza. The nicer and more competent I was, the happier the customers were! The happier the customers were, the more money I made. That pretty much summed it up! Serving mattered!

Then, there was the job at McDonalds, where I could get off work around 2am. I loved nothing more than using a cash register and counting back change to customers. As the night ended, the managers checked our registers and mine always returned monetarily perfect! I was quite proud of that since this was in the days before the register told you how much change to give back to the customer. Maybe that is a reason I became a math teacher?

Mostly though, I liked to serve. Adding the perfect scoop of potatoes to the tray in the cafeteria, handing over the perfectly cooked slice of pizza at the Pizza Inn, or making sure the Big Mac handed to a customer was wrapped properly, bagged beautifully, and not smushed – was my mission.

I must admit – I enjoyed it!

I liked interacting with people to get something they wanted to them – and for it to be just right!

My favorite times were the busy times, when there were four lines of customers across the front of the store at McDonalds.Working as hard as I could, I would move quickly and and efficiently to make sure every customer was happy.

However, no job beat working in Cannon Mills where I worked 8 hours a night during the summer on a very loud Twister machine in Number 7 Spin. It was non-stop, but during those hours, my dreams for my life were formed, while the rest of Kannapolis was sleeping. It was so loud that I could talk, sing, and pray at the top of my lungs and no one could hear me. I talked to Jesus. I sang to Jesus. I memorized the words of Jesus and carried prayer requests and Bible verses in my pockets as I walked around the twister machines all night long, while wearing my required ear plugs. What seemed redundant to my coworkers was life-changing for me – because I spent those nights walking around my three huge, loud machines while seeking God. What a great education I received staying up all night with Jesus!

Not long after that, I finished college and became a teacher. One day, as I was walking around my classroom helping students, I realized that I was still carrying Bible verses on a post-it in my pocket every day. If I did not have a pocket, I would put them on my desk.

Those experiences are a huge part of how I became me. Those years were formative, which means they served to form me, which means they had a profound and lasting influence on my development.

It actually made me smile to type this:

I believe I was a great McDonald’s worker.

I believe I was a great Cannon Mills worker.

I believe I was a great teacher.

I loved it all!

NO! Of course I was not paid enough at any of those jobs.

But – I was there to serve.

Serving matters.

Guilt-Free Leisure

by   March 30, 2025 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

If someone asked you the difference between idle time and leisure time, could you clearly articulate that? I recently read that idle time is stolen time. We should be doing other things during our productive times, but we allow temptations, even shallow, meaningless ones, to captivate our minds and bodies. You are often left feeling guilty as a result of wasting time. On the other hand, leisure time is earned, often after hard work. No guilt needed! Yet, how often do we struggle to fully enjoy leisure?

While we may know the differences and struggle to avoid idleness, we can also be guilty of enjoying leisure time. Productivity and efficiency are the monarchs ruling our time, most often. Accomplishing a task can consume the best of caregivers, and allowing children to enjoy discoveries frequently turns into an organized time of study and lessons. I can be as guilty as the next, especially as a homeschooling mother. 

In our quest to find our purpose and higher meaning (which oftentimes only means getting our never-ending task list done), we often miss the simplicity of basking in the daily delights we rush past to be more productive. Gardening becomes a chore of necessity rather than something to enjoy. Instead of choosing fiction to read, we feel our reading time must be an investment to master doing something.

Rather than further elaborate, I offer a few stanzas from a poem that served as a good reminder in the midst of teaching my children:

“Leisure”                                                                                                                          by W. H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
 We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to see, in broad daylight,
 Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
 And watch her feet, how they can dance:

A poor life this if, full of care,
 We have no time to stand and stare.

I hope you get to enjoy some well-earned leisure time. Did you work hard all week, even if something is unfinished and will still be there next week? Then, make time to enjoy a guilt-free walk after dinner. Do you feel bad for time misspent? Tighten up the reigns on the time you steal this week. Lock yourself out of that app that is a thief to your productivity. Work hard and enjoy guilt-free leisure next weekend. 

Ashlie Miller is preaching to herself on this one. You can send her your own admonishments on how to enjoy guilt-free leisure to mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.

Teamwork

by   March 29, 2025 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Teamwork

            We are in the heart of March Madness. I can’t tell you much about it because I don’t really follow sports. However, if I see a game on TV I will watch it. If it is on at a restaurant, I will pay attention. A game was on the other day when I visited my Mom and I watched it while we were talking. It’s not that I don’t like sports, I just don’t follow them.

            One year for my birthday a neighbor gave me tickets to see the Charlotte Hornets play the Chicago Bulls. I had a great time at the game and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is so much to watch when you go to see a professional game in person. I have been to a variety of sporting events and I have always had a great time.

            When a team pulls together and everyone is playing their best, it can be very exciting to watch the team play. For teams to be successful each player has to give their best. It’s not about an individual member shining like a star. Each member has to pull their weight and do their assigned job for the team to win.

            A coach once explained it to me best by sharing something he overheard one night on a bus. The boys’ and girls’ teams from the school were returning home after their games. The boys lost their game but each of the guys was bragging about what they had done on the court. “I got ten points and six rebounds.” “I made eight points.” Then the boys looked at the girls and asked, “What did you do?” One of the girls looked up and said, “We won!” It’s not about individual performance; it’s about team effort.

            Teams come with a variety of skills and abilities, but each member has to learn how to work with the other members to make the team successful. I’ve seen teams with incredible talent that could not win a game, and other teams with fair talent grow to become undefeated.

            I believe we can look at churches and see the same results. I have seen churches with great talent, good worship, and a welcoming children’s department that closed their doors. But a church that recognizes that they are a team can achieve a level of success that others can’t touch.

            I wonder if there are people in churches who feel undervalued so they find it difficult to contribute to the success of a church. The Bible makes it clear that every member of a church has a vital role in the health and success of that church body. We each contribute in our own unique way. Some people do highly visible things that may garner more attention, while others work quietly behind the scenes…both are very important to make that church work. Neither is more important than the other.

            When Jesus sent the disciples out two-by-two He probably paired some of the guys together who wouldn’t seem like a great match. The disciples, like us, had to learn how to work together, to build unity and trust in each other. When we can form bonds with each other through common goals there is a deeper respect and a greater love that can develop.

            The disciples also had to learn to step out and take risks in sharing God’s love with others. This requires faith. God always requires us to have faith. God’s work is far beyond our ability to be able to perform it. We have to depend upon Him to work through us. He is the one who can save a soul. He is the healer. He is the one who can set the captives free. But God chooses to work through people like you and me in and through our churches.

            I want to encourage you to look at your church and its members in a new light. Consider the idea that God looks at you as a team. Teams have to set aside differences and focus on the goals at hand. Is the color of the choir robes or the carpet more important than maintaining unity and reaching the lost? God has given each church an assignment, and that is to be a light in the darkness in their community. To bring His hope and forgiveness to those who are far from God. To help people find healing for their broken lives. To let people know that God loves them in spite of the crazy world we live in. Let’s set aside our differences, join the team, and fulfill God’s purposes in our communities for His glory. 

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

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