What Was I Doing?

by   October 21, 2026 with No Comments

Today marks a very special season. No, not Autumn… though as I write it is September 22. Now is also the time when all things pumpkin arrive. A Facebook friend of mine posted a picture of pumpkin baloney. Ewwww…

No thanks.

However, I do have an awesome recipe for Cranberry Pumpkin Bread. Along with it comes a bit of advice for those of us moving into the “What was I doing?” phase of life. Thankfully, the burning questions that haunt me no longer involve life changing decisions. I picked my handsome man about a hundred years ago. We didn’t decide to have kids. We just had them, one right after another until my kind neighbor, JT asked me one day. “Don’t y’all know what causes that?” By the age of twenty five all that was settled.

We still wonder sometimes where we’re supposed to land in our golden years. We’re not quite into golden yet. I think we’re closer to the Rust-Oleum years: that magical time when everything we own could use a good coat of paint. Honestly I don’t care where we land, just so it’s together. No, the burning questions that haunt me are more like, “Did I add baking soda and salt to the batter yet?”

I find myself counting egg shells to figure out if I finished what I started. Just because my beloved calls me from the other room to observe the replay of a fantastic tackle by my favorite linebacker Luke Kuechly, doesn’t mean the pumpkin bread should go without eggs. One cannot go leaving stuff out all willy-nilly and expect proper results.

So I’ve found a solution. It’s as good as having a dish by the door for your keys. That way you can always find them. You’re gonna love this.

Spread all the ingredients in the recipe to the left of the mixer. As you add them to the batter, move them to the right. Seriously, it’s the only way I can keep up anymore.

I remember one time when we were out of black pepper. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember to buy it. When finally I did, I went to put it away and found two other boxes. Apparently I had remembered it three trips ago but forgot I remembered.

I’ve learned not to interrupt David in the middle of a story. If I do, he forgets what he was saying and I don’t get to hear the rest of it.

Bless our hearts.

The other night I woke up and thought, “Denzel Washington!” I couldn’t wait to tell David the next morning. His excited reply was, “Huh?”

“Denzel Washington. You know… we were trying to remember who played the guy in the movie.”

His eyes glazed over. “Movie?”

“Yes! Remember the new Equalizer movie we saw on television? That was Denzel Washington.”

He nodded. “Yep. Glad you cleared that up. I was pretty worried about it.”

Apparently things do not bother him as much as they do me.

Of course he’s never experienced Cranberry Pumpkin Bread without the eggs.

Pigeon Tours?

by   October 20, 2026 with No Comments

Steve Hartman tells the story of a couple who take people on tours of the pigeons in their city. Aren’t there pigeons in most cities, so what makes these pigeons so special? Watch and enjoy!

Rest Without Guilt

by   October 18, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

I am certain many of you can attest to being in a busy season. We are either taking children to sports practices and games or supporting the athlete. We attend or host birthday parties, fall festivals, or other season-specific events we can’t miss (tradition!). Maybe we help with church outreach or fellowship opportunities your church hosts. Perhaps you have to travel this time of year to close up a home for the winter or prep one for your winter snow-birding. Then, of course, the holidays will be here soon, so perhaps we should finish those house or garden projects, prep the house for decor, or start shopping for gifts.

Where is the rest in all of this? Once upon a time, families gathered on Sundays as part of their Sabbath/weekend rest. Now, many families opt for travel ball as their community, which, from everyone I’ve ever known in travel ball, is not restful. For others, Sundays are another day to get ahead of the work week, or wrap up what wasn’t completed.

Then, Monday comes, stubbornly and faithfully each week, and we work in recovery mode rather than restfully refreshed. It’s a bit like going on a trip, not a vacation, with small children, and then needing a week to recover! How many weeks until the next vacation?

This unsolicited topic of guiltless rest has come up frequently in recent conversations with ladies I know: A pastor’s wife relishing the Saturday movie she enjoyed at home – one she picked out, not her children (who were all surprised that mom liked picking out movies). A mom enjoying the late-in-life blessing of her 7-year-old daughter and choosing time at home with her rather than hiring a sitter so she could attend a party with other adults with whom she had little in common. A working mom enjoying an unexpected 3-hour nap on a Saturday when no sports or extended family activities were planned. These ladies each brought up the unapologetic delight of moments of rest and unwinding. I, too, have noted in my journal a couple of cozy afternoons uncluttered by projects and plans, where earned leisure was the agenda for the day.

Regardless of the season, we are busy people, but with the sacredness of Thanksgiving and Advent, it is important to prepare ahead of time. That goes beyond the table decor, as a dear friend recently reflected in conversation. Perhaps, if we put as much intention into entering the season with restful, welcoming hearts as we do in assembling beautiful fall foliage, candles, and pumpkins, our family and friends would be likewise refreshed.

We live in an age where we push back on the right kind of rest. Oh, sure, we all give each other permission to scroll endlessly on our phones, but do we feel rested after draining our hours and lives in that way? More often than not, honest reflection reveals we don’t feel refreshed and invigorated after those indulgences. Perhaps that is why we envision weekly rest as a guilty pleasure – we simply have had little experience cultivating those moments. And yet, the Creator of all good things Himself rested. He modeled what He knew we need – regular, routine rest for our spirits and an understanding that we depend on His provision by limiting our productive days.

Also, we say “yes” to too many good things (often fearing what we are missing out on or what we think is beneficial for our children or us) and can’t say “no” to such commitments. In the last 6-10 years, however,  “no” became easier to say – mostly to things that would build community or ask something of me beyond mere consumption. Often, the things that seemingly take from us are the very things that refresh our souls – being present to benefit the larger community.

The Christian Church provides rest in Christ and in honoring a Sunday Sabbath, while Judaism and Messianic Jewish tradition may honor the weekly Shabbat. A guilt-free rest from work. A recognition that the weekly day of rest is essential to our growth, glorifying God, and enjoying Him forever, which, after all, is the chief end of man.

What can you say “no” to so that you can say “yes” to good, regular, refreshing rest?

Thankful Even When…

by   October 17, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Thankful Even When…

            I am so thankful for the cooler weather. I worked outside over the weekend and enjoyed the pleasant temperatures. Fall brings many tasks that must be done. It helps when the weather is cooler to get all that work done. I cleaned up some of the vegetable beds. I still have a couple of tomato plants that are giving me some tasty tomatoes. I also have sweet potato vines that have taken over a couple of the beds. I am expecting a big sweet potato harvest.

            I have been working on getting the weeds under control, too. I plan to work on them some more this week. The garden was productive this year for both good things to eat and weeds. It is one of those eternal battles for gardeners.

            I am planning to head to the garden center this afternoon to find some violas. It is time to replace the summer flowers. In recent years we have started buying fewer pansies and chosen to go with violas. They seem to hold up better over the winter and recover quicker after storms. Violas help us make it through winter with their beauty.

            I also like to plant some spring bulbs in the fall. It is fun to watch for them as they pop through the soil and bloom in the spring. They help to give us something to anticipate on those cold winter days. When winter’s doldrums start to get us down we go out and check the progress on the bulbs and look at all the violas blooming.

            It is easy to be thankful in spring when you watch Mother Nature awake after a long winter’s nap. It is easy to be thankful when you are enjoying some fresh corn on the cob and a tomato sandwich. It is easy to be thankful when you see the beauty of fall spread across the mountains. It is easy to be thankful when you are sitting in a warm house watching snowflakes fall from a winter sky. It is easy to be thankful when life is moving smoothly and troubles and problems are nowhere to be found.

            Are you thankful when life is not going as planned? When you have to go to the hospital instead of the park, are you thankful? When you are struggling with pain, are you thankful? When your bank account will not cover your bills, are you thankful? When your car and house need repairs, are you thankful?

            When life gives us bumps and bruises it is naturally more difficult to give God thanks and praise. We often find ourselves saying, “Where are you, God? Help us, God!” The truth is we can’t feel Him because we are being held tightly in His arms. We can’t see Him because He has hidden us in His robes. It is often more difficult to find God during difficult moments because we are focused on our circumstances.

            Peter shows us what happens when we take our eyes off Jesus. He was the only disciple brave enough to step out of the boat onto the water. Peter walked on water! You know that’s impossible, right? Then Peter got distracted and started to look at His circumstances. The waves were rough. The wind was blowing. It was raining. He looked down at the water and realized that he can’t walk on water. Then he sank. When he took his eyes off Jesus and put them on his circumstances; that’s when he sank.

            We have to keep our eyes on Jesus in spite of our circumstances. We need to thank and praise Him for all He has done. He has forgiven our sins and is preparing a place for us in heaven. He gives us hope in the midst of our circumstances. He meets our daily needs. He comforts us. He heals our sicknesses. He gives us a place to call home. He gives us a church family to stand with us. He comforts us through our circumstances.

            I hope I gave you a place to begin thanking God. I want to encourage you to thank and praise God even in the difficult moments of life. My Pastor teaches us that if we praise God in the difficult moments they are considered a sacrifice of praise. It touches God’s heart in a special way. It is easy to trust when things are going well, but can we trust God in the tough times? Do we believe that He is faithful? I promise that He will be there for you to carry you through the storms of life. So count your blessings every day in every circumstance.

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

Count Your Blessings Part 1

by   October 16, 2026 with No Comments

Sometimes life comes at us hard and it can be difficult to count your blessings. I share a personal experience of how God helped me count my blessings and it turned things around. I gave the sermon are our church while our Pastor was traveling. So come and count your blessings with me.

What we are made for

by   October 16, 2026 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Song of Songs 6:3  He is within me—I am his garden of delight. I have him fully and now he fully has me!

  • We were created to worship and love Him.
  • We have been made in His image with His own DNA, His love for us is unlike any other love that He has for any of His other creation.
  • We ought to belong to Him and our life’s journey should be one of growing and intimacy with Him.

Prayer:  My Father, how I thank You for Your salvation and Lord Jesus that You died for me.  I can not live without You and can not even entertain the thought of not walking with You.  Thank You for Your kindness and love to me through all these years.  I worship You and commit myself and my love towards You once again fresh today.  I love You with all my heart.  Amen.
 

Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

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