Try New Things

by   June 25, 2026 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Try New Things for Summer’s Challenges

    Last Friday, I brought my granddaughter home from a week’s summer camp at BrickEd Academy. She had a great time and graduated a “secret agent.” We had a planned stop at Food Lion, and the subject of peanut butter came up. Booper said, “I don’t like peanut butter, and you can’t make me eat it.” When we stopped at Food Lion, I had two goals in mind. One was to get a box of Little Debbie cookies filled with peanut butter.

     The other was to get a quart of Tillamook ice cream. On my very first cross-country bike ride in 2013, I rode through Tillamook, Oregon and stopped for some of the famous ice cream. I loved the ice cream then and had a current savings coupon, so the Booper and I had a conversation on which flavor to get. I overrode her top choices, and we purchased Strawberries and Cream. The Booper moaned, not happy.

    On the ride home, she devoured the peanut butter cookie and loved it. Clarification from her included, “I meant I don’t like it on bread.” I laughed. After her short nap, she also devoured a bowl of Tillamook ice cream and tolerated my story of pedaling right to the company location, 3,000 miles from home.

    Over the last few weeks, she ate an egg sandwich with tomato and onion, two more things she vowed never to eat. Another previously feared item was deviled eggs, once ranked high on her “will not eat” list. That item was conquered last week. Booper loved all these things once she tried them.  My granddaughter is a very lively six years old and not as committed to her “dislike” list as she once was.

   As we head into summer, nearly everyone struggles with exercise commitment during a time that many outdoor exercisers dislike. Consider some new things just like the Booper did. We got a dose of humidity last week along with a few hot days. Early morning humidities make running tough, and hot days do too. How can we keep some level of fitness on the tough days and the long haul of summer? Here is a simple solution that works for me. I keep a second watch, mostly just good for time, pace and distance. Some days are just better for walking, or if your run wasn’t the best, consider adding a mile or more of walking. Keep track of your miles, note them on a calendar on the wall and use it all to motivate your summer fitness journey. Walking miles count one for one with running miles, and we can add our swimming and cycling miles too. One mile of swimming is worth three of running or walking, and three miles of cycling also count for a mile of walking and running.

    Speaking of watches, Skinny Wheels Pedals and Pints Bike Shop now is our local Garmin watch dealer. Garmin is generally rated the premier running watch and also the most accurate. Owner Porter Baker is well-schooled on watches and bicycle computers from Garmin and can recommend a good match for your fitness goals.

     Another new item just on the market may gain a foothold. The RunSafePRO lightweight safety vest has a smart component. Their data suggests that 67% of runners and walkers are concerned with their safety while on or near the roads. 20% of motor vehicle-related accidents have to do with runner/walker visibility. These vests scan for approaching traffic and can also send a GPS alert in event of an accident. Should the wearer unexpectedly stop moving, the vest checks in and if no response, the vest then sends an alert and location to your primary contacts while sounding an audible alarm. Front and back lights adjust to your environment. Current cost is $119 per vest and look great for cyclists too.

       Our next race is in Faith on Saturday, June 27th. The Shiloh Run for Missions 5K and Fun Run is a popular summer event which is highlighted by great door prizes, good competition and a challenging course that area runners love. Look for this race and others upcoming at www.salisburyrowanrunner.org  

Gotta’ Run: Try new things for summer’s challenges

A Jig for That

by   June 24, 2026 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

We filled a row of rockers on the huge porch. For over twenty years while mama was alive we rented a place at the beach for the extended family. I’m sure locals scattered to the four winds the first week in June each summer just to avoid our chaos.

Thanks to mama it was an organized chaos. Each family was responsible for certain things on the master list she kept year after year. Seldom did we have to make a grocery run while vacationing. Ice cream sundae night was the one exception. We looked forward to it all week. Mama taught us the value of organizing our chaos. Daddy however, has wisdom of a different sort.

One night while rocking and sipping coffee on the aforementioned porch, he noticed his rocker was not performing to his satisfaction. Being a man who repairs everything the moment there’s a need, he commented with disdain. “For want of a nail, the house was lost.”

Handing me his coffee, he fetched his tool box and fixed the rocker. “Anybody else settin’ in a wobbly rocker?” he asked while walking down the line of chairs. I know what you’re thinking. What kind of person takes a tool box on vacation? The same kind that packs his weed-eater so he can clear the public walkway. Yep. That’s my dad.

Sure I’m a little partial. But I declare, I think my daddy can fix just about anything. I may have told you this before. But he built and hung the rafters over his lake deck so he could turn it into a screened in porch. I asked him who helped get those heavy things hoisted.

“I built a jig,” he answered like it was nothing. For those of you who still have no idea how he did it, don’t confuse jig with a little dance one does to express joy. No, daddy’s jig was a homemade tool he built to prop one end of a rafter while he climbed a ladder and hung the other end. I wasn’t there so I can’t imagine it either. It’s just another one of those things daddy knows how to do. The old adage “Necessity is the mother of invention,” is very true. The problem is that there’s not a lot of necessity in our culture anymore. My daddy has lived that particular kind of wisdom all his life. When you don’t have exactly what you need, you make do with what you have. Wise indeed.

I heard that during the early years of space exploration the American government spent millions trying to figure out how to make an ink pen write where there was no gravity. Our solution to every problem is to pour money on it. The Russians beat us at that game. They just used a pencil. Though daddy’s no Russian, that’s his kind of common sense. Even now I can still hear his reprimand when I did something less than brilliant.

“Ain’t ya got no common?”

Sometimes I worry that I’ve missed out on that old fashioned practical kind of wisdom. My phone has a calculator so my memory of the multiplication tables is fading fast. It also has folks’ names so I don’t have to memorize anyone’s phone number. BUT! I can still count out change when paying with real money. On days when I’m feeling especially mischievous, I hand the baby-faced cashier a twenty dollar bill plus whatever change it takes to pay so she can hand me back an even ten. Watching her eyes glaze over is weirdly satisfying. However, I try not to gloat too much as I will surely be asking someone her age for technology advice before the day is over. Too bad there’s not a jig for that. I could call my daddy.

Daddy’s Festive Jig

When Father’s Day Falls Short

by   June 21, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

While Mother’s Day is responsible for catapulting card and flower sales, Father’s Day has been reduced evidently to beer paraphernalia, novelty office games, or grilling supplies that are more ornamental than useful. Dads, do you really want any of that stuff? The clearance tables, weeks later, would have me believe the answer is “no.”

Television and movies succumb to the common tropes of the befuddled father often surrendering to his inadequacies as a household manager or the overconfident but not taken seriously professional or blue-collar worker. Why would anyone want to spend a Sunday celebrating someone like that?

Fathers are often absent from the nuclear family or, at best, disengaged. Then there are families who have lost fathers due to tragic situations, abandonment, or terminal illness. My childhood was not unscathed either.

Fortunately, I was blessed with precious father figures for different seasons of life. My Daddy, the definer of what I would think “Father” would be – tall, handsome, a Marine. Oorah! I saw him as strong, although I did not know he was living with cancer. My maternal granddaddy along with my grandmother, stepped in during difficult years to love and to care for me.  Later, God provided a stepfather and another grandfather to share love and care as well.

Then there is my my husband, with little expectation growing up of having a large family of his own, who has proven to be an exemplary father. He displays love, intentionality, and engagement with each of his children. The moments, memories, and milestones I missed by not having a bond with my own Daddy in my developmental years, I partake through his relationship with our children. I’m a big believer in God’s redemptive story. Seeing a loving earthly father imperfectly but  beautifully echo the Heavenly Father is something to celebrate!

Realistically, not everyone has the same redemptive stories in their lives. There may be generations of absent, disengaged, or abusive fathers. It can leave a person jaded from clearly observing the good in another father figure, even the Heavenly Father, yet He is the perfect Father. Maybe a good scavenger hunt through the Bible will set things right:

If you have been rejected or dealt with harshly by an uncaring father, God is tender and compassionate to those who fear him (Psalm 103:13).

Do you see yourself as fatherless? He inclines Himself to the fatherless and the widows and places the lonely and deserted into families and homes (Psalm 68:5-6).

Did your father fail to be the provider he was supposed to be? God the Father knows your needs before you ask (Matthew 6:8), sees your worth (Matthew 6:26), and not only rewards us based on His all-seeing presence (Matthew 6:4) but also gives good gifts for the asking (Matthew 7:11, James 1:17).

Whether or not you have had a loving example of fatherhood, Father’s Day can be happy if you get to know the Heavenly Father this weekend.

The God of Through

by   June 20, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

The God of Through

            There is always something to do if you love gardening. You never get it all done. There are projects waiting to be tackled. There are ALWAYS weeds that need to be pulled. There are always new flowers, shrubs, and plants that need a new home. Gardening is a fun adventure with plenty of rewards for all the hard work.

            Speaking of rewards, we ate fresh green beans from the garden tonight. I have enjoyed some blueberries. My brother gave me a tomato plant for my birthday and I have eaten several tomato sandwiches off that plant with more to come. It’s not even July 4th. Our flowers are putting on a show, too. We have flowers in containers in various places around the house. We are also enjoying the daylilies blooming.

            I am not sure I mentioned the adventure of putting up a fence around the garden. I had a friend come who did most of the work installing my fence. The fence has been doing its job keeping the deer out of the garden. We will get to enjoy more of the daylilies because of the fence. I am afraid the rabbits, squirrels, and turtles will still be enjoying the garden.

            The other problem gardeners are facing is the lack of rain. We have had a dry spring and early summer. The hot spells are not helping either. A few lucky ones have enjoyed some thunderstorms, but at my house we have remained dry. Trying to get the flowers and vegetables through the dry weather is a challenge. Some plants have wilted in the heat while others have had their leaves turn brown. Gardening is full of challenges.

            It’s not just gardening that is challenging; life is full of trials and difficulties. Here is just a short list of health-related issues from people that I know: bronchitis, neck and back surgeries, a broken wrist, ear surgery, heart issues including circulation and fainting spells, and someone facing open heart surgery. It’s hard to deal with all the ways our bodies are not cooperating. All these situations require people to make it through to the other side. I am praying for all of them to have a full recovery.

            Getting through something is always challenging. If someone else is struggling to make it through it doesn’t seem as bad. We believe they can make it through and sometimes we find ways to encourage them along the way. However, when we have to find a way to make it through, that is a totally different story. We want to see the Lord move in the miraculous and bring us instant relief. But the more I observe life I am beginning to understand that God is very interested in walking us through the trials and difficulties to build our faith and trust in Him.

            I have seen God move in miraculous ways and it is very exciting. I pray, hope, and believe God can and will move in the miraculous to bring healing. But I have also watched friends and loved ones being put in the position where they have to walk through the fire of difficulties so they can see firsthand that we really do have a loving and compassionate God who never leaves or forsakes us.

            In my life, I have experienced God’s miraculous touch, but more often I have learned to walk through the challenges and learned to lean on Him. Each trial I have walked through has built my faith and deepened my trust in Him. I would rather have avoided the challenge altogether and seen God move miraculously, but knowing He has helped me reach the other side is important for my spiritual growth. It helps me understand and have compassion for others. Making it through builds endurance, perseverance, and faith.

            Are you walking through something? Are you struggling to have faith in the midst of your circumstances? Don’t be discouraged, because we all struggle when we walk through difficult times. I want to encourage you to trust God to help you and to believe He will see you through to the other side. You become the winner! You become stronger! You become a mighty warrior in prayer! You become the overcomer! You develop a testimony to others who find themselves facing similar circumstances. You become a blessing because you have endured and made it to the other side. Hang in there…God is going to see you through your circumstances and you will be a stronger person with a deeper faith! Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Culture Wars Abound

by   June 19, 2026 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

The loud voices from every side that are involved in the oft referred to culture wars give me pause, and I remember the experience of my mother.

My mother was a divorced woman of six children in Kannapolis, North Carolina during the 1940’, 1950’s, and 1960’s. She hemmed washcloths in Cannon Plant #1 and attended a local Baptist church. It is that Baptist church during the 1950’s and its treatment of my mother that caused me to remember. While I was only a boy of only eight or so, I was old enough to hear adult talk and old enough to sense something was wrong.

A devout Christian, my mother took her six children to church twice each Sunday and every Wednesday night. She Believed and worked to make sure that her children Believed. The church we then attended accepted our presence in Sunday School and “preaching” and Training Union, and all else. However, my mother was told by church deacons that she would not be allowed to teach children Sunday School because she was a divorced woman. And, as one deacon strongly pointed out, the Bible taught against divorce, and it did not matter that my father was an abusive alcoholic who had deserted his wife and children. She was divorced, so no teaching children for her.

A few years after this ugliness, we moved to an in-town mill-hill house and began attending a Baptist church a few blocks from our new home. My mother confessed that she felt uncomfortable in a woman’s Sunday School class because she was the only divorced woman in the class, and she was often reminded of that either directly or indirectly. However, before long the church announced that an adult was needed to teach the children’s Sunday School and my mother stepped up.  Perhaps she was the only adult who volunteered to teach the class, but no matter, she began teaching the class and for the next fifty years she taught “her children” the Bible. When she retired from teaching the class, the church named the Children’s Sunday School wing in honor of her—the divorced woman who at one time was considered “unfit” to teach in her Baptist church.

All of this occurred over sixty years ago, and now, a divorced man, I have been a deacon and Sunday School teacher in a Baptist church. Some Baptist churches even have pastors who are divorced. There has been a cosmic shift and our culture survives. The issue of “divorcement” is not the only cultural change in these years, but it is the one I am most familiar with, and it demonstrates that things do change, and our culture can and does change as well. And we are no worse off for the cultural change.

For instance, many church attendees are quick to point out the sins of homosexuals. These church goers, while admitting “we are all sinners”, seem to condemn homosexuals because, as I am often told by church goers, “They continue their sinning life style.” Yet, the same church goers will admit  that every church is “Full of sinners”. But perhaps those sinners have a different favored sin than the homosexual– if one’s sexuality is a sin. In fact, I suggest we all have a favored sin, a breaking of a Commandment that we seem to gravitate to. Me? I’ve never met a woman that I have not liked, and I work at controlling that part of me, even at the advanced age of almost 75.  I once saw a church sign that read: “Don’t judge the other person because they sin differently than you do.” Amen to that.

What I find wrong in my mother’s ordeal with her first church and what she initially experienced at her second one is not what the Bible teaches, but how some deacons and church members interrupted its teachings. The Bible is a complex book that teaches simple truths such as “Love one another as I have loved you.”

All of this noise surrounding CRT, LGBT, BLM, and more will pass, but it will take its toll just as the “good deacons” did with my mother. But my mother knew that the battle was not about her, but one within each of the church leaders who were searching for an external enemy instead of looking inward, where the  greater threat stirred. Their names do not appear anywhere honoring their service to either chuch. But the divorced woman’s does.

Shoes, Shoes, & More Shoes

by   June 18, 2026 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Shoes, shoes and more shoes!

   I have been fortunate to lead the Walk Club at Rowan Helping Ministries for five years now. Eight weeks in the spring and eight more in the fall are when we offer positive information about healthful walking. The first part of each weekly meeting provides participants with a handout and discussion, and then we head outside to walk together on a repetitive half mile loop. We walk and talk and often the RHM participants share about their life journey. I love this part and look forward to it each week.

   In the spring class just finished, we had several unique individuals. One man played YMCA basketball as a child on a team I coached about 29 years ago. Another was a municipal water expert who was down on his luck, but was hired by a nearby city and is reportedly doing very well. Another was an intriguing young woman with a big personality who spent part of her life in Jamaica after being born in Springfield, Mass. Her name is Shanariah Simpson, a 23 year old who didn’t have good walking shoes.

    One week, I spent most of a two mile walk following Shanariah. I noticed that her shoes appeared to be very uncomfortable. On the last lap of the walk, I asked, “Would you like for me to see if I can find you a good pair of used running shoes?” Shenariah replied, “I would certainly appreciate that, but my feet are very small and you’ll probably have a hard time finding them.”

     The runners club will have over 30 races this year and we often collect used shoes from participants and club members at those races. Plus several active club members like Joel Whittington and Connie Hoffner have ways of finding large numbers of shoes.

      Shanariah mentioned that she needed a women’s size 6 or 6 ½ and said. “I have a small foot, and it is hard to find my size.” I knew right away who to ask. Adalie Harrison has recently run her first marathon and has small feet too. I knew that she was doing big mileage and would have some recently retired shoes. Those shoes would have lots more walking miles in them. I asked, and Adalie replied, “I have two good pairs and Shanariah is welcome to them.”

     These two pairs of shoes were part of over 300 pairs of shoes and sandals already donated to RHM by club members and race participants for 2026. Regular serious runners get a new pair every 400-500 miles and casual runners get them often too because they want to try the latest and greatest in shoe trends.

    The best part of the shoe connection happened on Wednesday afternoon.  Shanariah and Adalie met for the first time amid some amazing similarities. Both are 23, wear the same size of shoe, and were local athletes in high school. Shanariah did track and basketball at West Rowan High and Adalie did basketball, cross country and track, as well as soccer at East. Shanariah also attended Early College with a GPA of 3.6, good enough for the Crosby Scholars and National Honor Society

    The focus was on Shanariah. After Springfield, she lived for nine months in Kinston, Jamaica. Shanariah ended up in foster care but her adoptive mother eventually took her back to Salisbury. She is now living at Rowan Helping Ministries and took our walking class, then walked our Chillin’ to the Bare Bones 5K. Shanariah told Adalie that her “new to her” shoes feel like walking on clouds.

     Besides the walking club, Shanariah likes many things about her time at RHM. She takes the “New Tomorrows” classes managed by Keven Yates, and her favorite is the Health and Hope class which teaches her how to advocate for herself. The great meals in Jeannie’s Kitchen are a favorite too, especially when the Harmony Believers prepare supper for the residents. Shanariah said, “I love how they bring fresh things from their gardens, but I admit to being partial to their desserts even with a lot of sugar.”

    Shanariah is currently enjoying the art class in a big way, but she said, “I will be surprised if someone buys any of my work!”

    Shanariah could see herself working at Rowan Helping Ministries as a certified peer support specialist or case manager. She said, “Yes, I would be happy to end up right back here. I just want to help people just as the current staff is helping me.”

    With that, SRR keeps collecting used running shoes and they are needed. Drop them off with us at a race or at the receiving dock for RHM. Our next race is the Shiloh Run for Missions 5K/ Fun Run in Faith on June 27th.  Look for it and other events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

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