Decent Underpants

by   May 27, 2026 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

I take great pride in keeping my home neat. It’s not always clean, but it is tidy. There’s a bright tablecloth on our little kitchen table, with a fruit bowl or flowers. Dirty dishes are placed in the portable dishwasher as soon as they’re used. David and I are the only ones here and the house is so tiny that it only takes a minute to make it neat.

However, last Monday we finished a long day and crashed. The tablecloth was dirty so I tossed it on the floor toward the laundry room. The dishwasher was full and in front of the kitchen sink hooked up to run. David wasn’t feeling well so he grabbed an old sheet and quilt then hit the recliner sofa. The week before, he moved to a new office and had pulled books off our shelves, sorting stuff in piles on the floor. Our house was unusually trashed.

Books were not the only thing to hit the floor that night. About 2am, he got so violently ill that his blood pressure bottomed out. I found him passed out on the bathroom floor and had to call 911.

As I jerked on clothes, described his symptoms to the dispatcher, and prayed my sweetheart wouldn’t die, I ran to turn on the porch light and open the side door. Lickety-split my little upside down house was filled with firemen and paramedics who do not know what a respectable housekeeper I am. Wouldn’t you know it! The one time…

This is where the wise person would tell you that none of that matters now that I know David is okay.

While that is very true…

The next day I found myself cleaning the house top to bottom, rearranging the bookshelf, spreading out a clean table cloth, washing all the linens, disinfecting the floors, and thinking of a reason to invite the emergency guys back for a do-over.

Perhaps if I bake a cake to thank them for their great efficiency and kindness…

This time the 911 call would sound like this:

“911. What’s your emergency?”

“Oh… no emergency. Is the same crew working that worked Monday night?”

“Yes ma’am. Is this the lady with the messy house?”

“They TOLD you that?”

“Yes ma’am. They were appalled. Apparently there was a pink striped sheet on a red sofa. Sounds hideous!”

“Could you please send them back? I have cake!”

“No ma’am. They said if you ever called again to tell you they would not return to such a pigsty.”

“But… but I have cake.”

“No cake in the world would entice them back. They also told us about your bedhead. Said you looked like a woman in a bad wig wearing clothes with yesterday’s coffee stains.”

“Sigh… it’s true. It was bad. Sorry I called…um… have a good night.”

“You too ma’am… because they are not coming back.”

Mama always said to wear decent underpants in case there’s an emergency.

You know… they did not even check our underpants!

Thank the good Lord.

Kindness in Schools

by   May 26, 2026 with No Comments

I taught for 34 years and I wish I knew about Steve Hartman’s lessons. I would have shown them every week. I am semi-retired and teaching at the community college. I teach the high school equivalency program helping people earn their high school diploma who missed out for some reason. We watch Steve Hartman’s videos every week. There is no law against kindness and it can change another person’s life. With all the negative things we see in the news, we need our faith in humanity restored and thanks to Steve Hartman each week it is… Here’s a story about a teacher who uses the Steve Hartman stories in his classroom. ENJOY!!!!

A Death Louder Than Words

by   May 24, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

My latest $2 splurge at a recent yard sale was “The American Patriot’s Almanac: Daily Readings on America.” Written as a “this day in history,” it prompted me to go down online rabbit holes to learn more about Memorial Day.

On April 26, 1866, many gathered in the South to decorate the graves of fallen Confederate soldiers. This date, April 26, marked the surrender of the Confederacy in North Carolina in 1865. Yet, during those commemorations, some Southerners noticed the unadorned, neglected graves of Union soldiers left behind. Some may have been brothers or uncles. Many could have simply been strangers. But all were fellow humans, fellow Americans. This acknowledgment—the sanctity of life even in death—tugged at their heartstrings. These men once belonged to someone. So, they also decorated the graves of their enemies in battle (Union Soldiers), but brothers in humankind.

Can you imagine something like that happening today – recognizing the humanity in someone who varies so vastly from you, even to the point of death? This is not a call to celebrate the difference, but to look past their opposing point of view to see the person.

A few years later, in May 1868, Major General John A. Logan commissioned Decoration Day, calling 5,000 people to gather at Arlington National Cemetery for this day of remembrance. Late May was chosen for the abundance of blooms throughout the North and the South available to bestow upon the graves. General James A. Garfield, who was not yet president, gave a speech that may be worth taking your time to read in full this holiday weekend. A quick Google search will bring it up. I was struck by the following:

“I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem, the music of which can never be sung…We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.”

Being remembered for how one dies, not what one says – we will not likely be asked to pay such a high price. But while many of us work to cultivate a perfect social media post, do we seek to live lives built on action? At the end of the day – the end of our lives – what will matter most is what we did, not what we said.

We would all do well to remember the men “whose death was a poem” this holiday and strive to live lives louder than our words.

Ashlie Miller lives with her family in Concord. You can contact her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.

Is it Real or Fake?

by   May 23, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Is it Real or Fake?

            A while back I was going through a tough time. I felt like I was in a hole and couldn’t find my way out. One night while I was scrolling social media I discovered a podcaster. I was about to scroll past her when something she said caught my attention. I listened and her words comforted and encouraged me in my situation. I watched additional posts from her and found some rays of hope that lifted my spirit.

            It’s never one thing that pulls us out of a rough spot. It takes the prayers and encouragement of good friends. In my case, talking with my pastor and his wife helped to get my thinking straightened out. Sometimes we need help to work through the challenges of life. God sends help from a variety of places, including a podcaster.

            Last week I was scrolling social media when a neuroscientist offered some insight into how our brains work. I listened to several short clips from her as they popped up on my feed. Many of her clips were focused on positive motivation. She explained how the brain can aid us if stimulated properly, which I found fascinating.

            Her posts were generated from her home office, in her car, out by the swimming pool, and sitting in her living room. I wanted to find out more about her background, so I Googled her. The search brought up a movie star with the same name. I dug deeper and discovered that she didn’t have a website. She only had a presence on Instagram and Facebook.

I went to her Facebook page and discovered something unbelievable to me. She was not a real person. The videos of this woman were all AI generated. That means this woman does not exist. The AI created character has quite a few videos on a variety of topics. The homepage plainly states that this is not a real person but an AI generated character. The information is neurological science on how to be motivated to change.

I wasn’t sure how to take this discovery. The AI character seems warm and friendly. The information provided should be based on facts and research, but would I trust it? We all trust Google when we ask a question, but can we trust an AI character that shares information that we are seeking?

I have used AI to help develop curriculum for teaching. I wondered what else I could get AI to do. I went to an AI platform and asked it to write a column in my personality. I gave it some specific guidelines and sent it to my website. Then I waited a few minutes and out popped a column. I have to admit the AI did a good job, but not a great job. In some places you could obviously tell it was not my style, but in others it picked up on the way I write pretty well. With a little extra training…who knows?

There is one place we can all look to find the truth in a world that has made it increasingly more difficult to distinguish between what is real and fake. The Bible is God’s truth and it can be trusted in every situation to tell us the truth. It can guide us as we make important life choices. It can reveal the true character of God: His faithfulness, kindness, love, mercy, and forgiveness. It can encourage us in and through difficult times. It can challenge us to change and live up to higher standards.

In an AI world filled with fake news it is comforting to look into God’s Word where truth is revealed and darkness is shattered. God wants to reveal the truth to you and set you free from the lies you have heard. He wants you to know that He created you and that you are beautiful in His sight. You are His son or daughter with complete access to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Your prayers are heard, valued, and answered. You have influence with God. He knows everything about you and loves you more deeply than you can understand. That’s the truth!

I want to encourage you to open your Bible and read the truth. You can trust God and His Word completely. You can learn about His character. You can learn His ways. You can learn to hear His voice. You can enter His presence without fear. You can believe His Word and trust in His promises. God is real and He has great things planned for you. That is the truth and you can trust and believe it.

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

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