The Unique Journey Debra Cress Chose to Better Fitness

by   July 17, 2025 with No Comments

By David Freeze

The Unique Journey Debra Cress Chose to Better Fitness

    Debra Cress is a long-time volunteer at races and other events in the area. After volunteering with the Girls on the Run program at Enochville Elementary School where her oldest granddaughter was a participant, Debra found a calling. Her daughter, Tonya Kepley, was a teacher and coach for the program and Debra began to volunteer weekly, assisting the teachers and coaches and eventually served as a mentor to many young girls over the years.

     The rest of the family includes son in law Billie Kepley, another daughter Angie Fink and grandson Korben Fink along with three granddaughters, Kyrsten Kepley, Kadence Kepley and Kassie Fink. They all began to do 5K’s together. Debra said, “Along each trail, we talked and encouraged one another to keep pushing and not to give up. The faster ones of us would finish and come back to run with the ones who were a little slower. My son-in-law, Billie Kepley, continues to be an avid runner.”

    On June 25, 2024, Debra’s mom passed away after a vehicle accident. Debra said, “I decided on July 1st to start running/walking at least 10,000 steps a day as a tribute to her life. I have gone as far as 27,000 steps on multiple occasions. Through this journey, I have retired four pairs of Brooks running shoes, the steps and miles have been monumental and each day has been memorable.”

    Now 71 years old, Debra said, “At my age, I felt it was important to keep moving. That’s when I decided to challenge myself to do it for a month, which turned into two months and now a year later I am still going strong. I have had a few unusual days. One night I realized at 11:00 pm that I wasn’t at my goal. My friend Earl took me to the IGA parking lot, and I completed my steps before midnight. Another time during bad weather, he took me to seven or eight different stores so that I could make sure to get my steps in for the day.

    Debra took one of the best and most unique approaches to improving her health that I have ever heard of. She decided to regravel her driveway and had multiple truckloads of new gravel delivered. Each morning following breakfast, Debra used a gallon can, hand scooped the gravel into it and then dumped it on her driveway. Many neighbors offered to use their tractors to quickly get the job done.

    Debra wouldn’t take the help and said, “This had become my new exercise plan and after three months of perseverance, the task was complete. What a feeling of accomplishment it was!”

     She continued, “As a tomboy, I have enjoyed the outdoors all my life. I plan to continue my adventure and see where it leads me. This has been the best spring I can remember with my asthma. Due to walking and being active, I have been able to avoid and prolong various medications and have dropped my weight. It is my goal to live my best life and be as active as possible for as long as I am able! Regardless of the weather, I never give up and continue to push through each day.”

      Debra weighed 177.6 pounds last June 30th and, on this June 28th, she weighed 161.4. Debra’s food choices have improved, and she also is a proponent of intermediate fasting. Over her lifetime, Debra has also given a total of 97 pints of blood. Her 10,000 steps a day regularly average about five miles, so a good estimate of mileage for the year is just over 1800 miles. Well done! She added, “I almost wore out Cress Road!”

     The next race locally is the Run for the Greenway 5K and Fun Run on July 19th. And past that, the SRR August Prediction 5K at City Park is set for August 23rd. Look for more information on both these events and others at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Gotta’ Run: The unique journey Debra Cress chose to better fitness

David Wesley Clark

by   July 16, 2025 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

Editor’s Note: Lynna Clark’s husband David passed away on June 29th. Pray for her and her family as they miss him. We know that he is at home with the Lord, but we are left here with a hole in our hearts.

My beloved husband David is finally home. Like a wounded soldier after a long hard fight, his battle with pain is over. Born on July 11, 1955 to Jim and Nina Clark, he left this earth on June 29, 2025. One might say, “If he had only lived 12 more days he would have been seventy!” But actually the Lord answered our fervent prayers that David would be relieved of his suffering before that. It was a sweet picture of grace. As you know, cancer is a terrible foe. And though David and all his doctors fought well, it was not the Lord’s plan to extend this good man’s life on earth. Instead He provided the ultimate healing in His perfect timing. So today as we reflect on his passing, we give thanks and praise to our merciful Lord for taking him home. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” -Psalm 116:15. What a beautiful time it was as we surrounded his bed at home and sang Precious Lord. Knowing that my beloved had trusted Christ as a teen, then took me to a place where I trusted Jesus too, confident assurance of heaven came easy.

David was born in Rowan County to James Morrison Clark and Nina Peele Clark. He grew up on Rowan Mills Road and nearly 70 years later passed away in his home across the street from where he grew up. Married to Lynna Pittman Clark for 51 years, they experienced a lot of really good life. Together they became proud parents of three beautiful Godly daughters. David leaves a legacy through them: Stephanie Clark Shouse [Jeff] of Ramsey, Illinois; Amanda Clark Huneycutt [Shane] of Concord, NC; and Hannah Clark Basinger [Brandon] of Salisbury, NC. Grandchildren include Mykaela Shouse, Kianna Shouse, Able Huneycutt, Jesse Basinger, and Marie Basinger, all of whom he loved dearly.

David graduated from South Rowan High School with his sweetheart [me] in 1973, then attended Florida Bible College. After working in the Food Lion warehouse for ten years, he completed his college degree. From there he began teaching at Sheets Memorial Christian School in Lexington, NC. The crazy man loved his Middle School students so much that each summer he would comment on how much he missed them. He also coached Women’s Softball winning two state championships, plus Women’s Basketball. David also taught Culinary Arts to a select few High Schoolers. He commented often on the insanity of trusting them with hot oil and sharp knives. But he truly loved his job/ministry. While he taught at SMCS for twenty years, he also wrote an entire Bible curriculum, taking his 6th – 8th graders completely through the Scriptures in three years. After his teaching career, David became a Care Pastor for High Rock Church and Life Group Bible Study leader in our home. Some of our best friendships were formed through those final years. After retiring he worked part time for our son-in-law Brandon as a dispatcher for Spencer Plumbing. As much as David hated talking on the phone, he learned to enjoy doing that job as well. He had a wonderful dry sense of humor which got us through numerous hard situations. When things were especially difficult he’d take a long ride on his motorcycle and call it therapy. Mostly he was praying with his knees in the breeze.

In addition to his wife, children, and grands, David is survived by his two sisters who loved him dearly: Jo Eagle and Gail Lambert [Jeff]. He was also loved by my two sisters Janice Mull [Milton] and Tamra Lesley [John] and father-in-law, Seabert Pittman. So many nieces and nephews loved and respected David. Several asked him to perform their weddings. Special thanks to all of you who have reached out to take care of us during our time of need. Our neighbor Vickie who held me while the ambulance took David to the hospital after an especially difficult night; Neighbor Terry who mows our grass just because he’s kind; Chris and Leslie who let us borrow their car when ours bit the dust; Dennis and Barry who took David to chemo; Ann and Randy who loved us through it all. Your compassion is what the Lord loves best of all.

A casual reception will be held at Grace Bible Church fellowship hall on Wednesday, July 2 from 6-8pm. Feel free to drop by, but due to my limited strength, we ask for brief visits with whichever family members you know personally. Instead of flowers, feel free to express your well wishes in a card c/o PO Box 602, Spencer, NC 28159 , or make a donation in David’s honor to Grace Bible Church, 6725 Hwy. 152 E, Rockwell, NC 28138.

David truly was a beautiful man of God. I will miss him with all my heart. He truly loved me well. To God be the glory!

One More

by   July 14, 2025 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

One more

Most of us were aware of it.

Many of us prayed about it.

Help them find one more, Lord.

They were young girls at a Christian camp in the middle of the night, as a flood carried away their cabin, every person, and every thing  inside of it. Quite frankly, it is hard for me to fathom. As soon as I typed the word fathom, my eyes blurred with tears, and  I looked up the definition to make sure the word was strong enough to express how I feel. Yes, it is hard to fathom, for sure.

If I knew the definition, I had forgotten it –

Definition 1. Noun –  A unit of length equal to six feet, mostly used in reference to the depth of water.

Definition 2. Verb –  Difficult to understand after much thought.

As I often do during a tragic event, I watched TV coverage non-stop, hoping for just one more person to be found alive. When that did not happen, I began to hope for just one more body to be found.

Yes, many of us who watched the coverage were praying for the same – one more!

A tragedy is defined as an event causing great suffering, destruction, distress, and sometimes death. How tragic it is for those who lost their lives in that unimaginable circumstance.

The ‘one more’ I was hoping for from the Texas flooding was not found.

I had written down the words ‘one more’ in my sermon notes the previous Sunday at church during the pastor’s message.

The phrase has stuck with me. A few years ago on a mission trip to Jamaica, people of all ages accepted Christ, and we found ourselves praying for just one more. In our everyday lives, reaching the thousands is unlikely, but reaching one more is very likely IF we make the effort.

While in Jamaica visiting many churches and towns to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I was a little surprised on our last day there, when the bus driver who had been taking us everywhere, watching and waiting for us at each stop, turned toward those of us loaded on the bus – and asked if he could have a Bible.

We had ministered to hundreds that week, but the bus driver became our one more.

As the writer of this column, I feel blessed to reach thousands each week. One day, a reader emailed me that she had accepted Christ as a result of reading my columns. She was my one more!

Sometimes, for all of us as Christians, as a result of our testimony and God’s grace and mercy, there is one more. And maybe another one more.

What greater victory can we have in our lives than to experience the spiritual salvation of those we cross paths with along the way?

I am praying that God will send us all one more!

Where Two or Three Gather…in the Backyard

by   July 13, 2025 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

I remember the excitement of sharing school yearbooks at the end of the school year. More often than not, someone would write, “Have a great summer! See you next year!” We were at the mercy of our working parents’ schedules, so we often wouldn’t see many of those friends until the next school year. But, when we did get to connect over the summer, what a great joy that was!

One does not have to be a student or a teacher (homeschool or brick-and-mortar) to relish summertime. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the summer season offers a nice break in routines. There is a season for everything, as Ecclesiastes states. Summer is a wonderful time of year to have friends and neighbors over. The idea of sharing a summer meal together with outdoor entertainment – whether it be the pool, corn hole, frisbee, or a late-night outdoor movie on the sheet spread across a couple of trees – is too good to pass up. 

My husband and I have delighted in opening our home each week this summer to members/regular attendees of our church-plant congregation. We usually invite a couple of households to come share a meal, sit around the table, let the kids run all over the yard and cul-de-sac, and share our life stories along with our hopes and dreams. We ask questions like: tell us about your journey to Jesus, what special gifts has God given you to build His Kingdom, what are you excited about being able to do for others as you share the hope we have? The answers have been riveting at times. As one older gentleman shared a gripping testimony of repentance and forgiveness, my youngest son (7) proclaimed quietly to me as he grabbed a seat on the bench beside me, “Oh, I’m here for this!”

It reminds me of sitting around summer campfires with other families in my youth, listening to them not only share the hilarity of stories we had all heard before, but also conveying the goodness of our great God in their lives as they recounted special church services or making it through difficult times together. 

Summer is also a time to have cousins over for special adventures. Laughing at inside jokes or sharing a little harmless mischief. It’s also the season to invite friends to the pool for a play date, meet up with that long-time companion you always mean to catch up with, and pick the brain of an acquaintance with some experience or insight into something you are exploring. 

Our church visits parks after church on some Sunday evenings in the summer. We play and share together, but we also invite others from the community to join our fun. Sometimes it ends in a gospel conversation, and other times it is simply sharing a good time. 

Monthly Sunday potlucks continue in the summer, but people linger a little longer as the sun prolongs our days. It can sometimes be as leisurely as seeing Andy Taylor, Barney, and Aunt Bee sitting on the porch on a Sunday afternoon.

Yes, the reality of Acts 2:46 looks a particular kind of way in the summertime – “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” Don’t we love it?

Maybe for your family, friends, and community connections, it looks like family reunions, big family vacations, attending parades, festivals, and fairs, camping trips (mountains or beach), participating in summer sports leagues, block parties, volunteer opportunities, or enjoying outdoor movie nights. It could be planned weeks ahead or spontaneously thrown together. 

The calendar is a little different. There is a respite if we do not overschedule, but there is also ample time to prioritize those friends and neighbors whom we get too busy to see at other times of the year. 

Don’t wait to see if your friends had a great summer. Spend some time together to make it a great summer.

Ashlie Miller is wife to Chad Miller, pastor of Mission Bible Church in the University City area of Charlotte. They raise their family in Concord, NC.

Rescue Mission

by   July 12, 2025 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Rescue Mission

            We’ve all seen the pictures and videos coming out of Texas of the flooding they have endured. It brings back memories of what the folks in our mountains went through last year. I have watched videos where people were miraculously saved and others that left me wondering if the people survived. In one, the house is picked up off its foundation and begins floating down the river and flashlights can be seen inside the moving house.

            The Piedmont of North Carolina experienced some flooding over the weekend due to the remnants of a tropical storm. I saw stories of many road closures and even the interstate was closed due to flooding. I saw pictures from that area that showed businesses and people’s homes under water.

            I watched some videos of swift water rescues. It is amazing to see those guys work together to reach someone who is trapped in a car or clinging to a tree. They work cautiously, deliberately, and bravely to help stranded people. I find myself cheering when I see them complete their mission.

            People aren’t the only ones being rescued; I have also seen pet rescues. I have the upmost respect for those who run towards danger in hopes of saving both people and pets. Swift water rescues look so dangerous.

            Some videos show guys going into flooded areas to rescue people who are trapped on the roofs of their homes. Some rescues look like they are being done by average guys, not the professionals. That made me think of some of the guys at my church who love to fish. Several of them own boats and I can easily imagine them using their boats to go rescue people who are sitting on their roofs. They would be out there helping in any way they could if we were in situations like those in Texas and the Piedmont of North Carolina.

            That got me to thinking about people who are in trouble spiritually. Some people have found themselves trapped in the middle of the storms of life and they are sitting on the roofs of their spiritual homes needing someone to rescue them. Some people are trapped by drugs or alcohol. They are looking for an escape because they are overwhelmed by life.  Others are trying to ease some pain in their lives.

            People who are trapped in drug and alcohol abuse are calling out to be rescued. They need someone who can lead them to Jesus so they can discover the healing, forgiveness, and restoration that only He can provide. The question becomes who is brave enough to share their faith with the people who are stuck living in the darkness.

            All of us know people who are lost spiritually. They don’t believe in God and only use His name in a profane way. When we die there are only two options: heaven or hell. If we understood what hell is going to be like with no love and eternal suffering, then we would be eager to reach out to the lost. If someone still has breath in their body, there is still hope. Can we find the bravery needed to share the love of God with the lost?

            I know and understand that reaching out to broken and lost people is difficult. Some will reject you. Some will curse you. Some will stop being your friend. The risk and price are high. But sometimes reaching out can be as simple as being kind. Can we love those who feel unlovable? I don’t think we have to shove the gospel down someone’s throat. We can live the gospel and be lights in the darkness. Allow them to be attracted to us and see that there is something different about us. It will require words, but it might begin with a warm smile, a helping hand, something good to eat, or just hanging out and listening.

            We all know people who need rescuing, so I want to encourage you to take the first step towards winning them to faith: pray for them. Pray and ask God what you can do to help win those who are lost. God knows what they need and He can reveal it to you. Be obedient to what God shows you even though it might be scary. Be kind; kindness is often irresistible. Imagine it this way: you own a boat and there are people sitting on the roofs of their houses crying out for someone to come and help them. Will you be brave enough to help? They will be eternally grateful for your courage. 

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

Others…..

by   July 11, 2025 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Philippians 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

  • It is the nature of God in us not to consider ourselves first.
  • Love is kind and generous and seeks not its own – let us always be considerate.
  • Even when we are busy we should take time to be concerned, interested and focused on other people too and their needs – it is the way of the cross.

Prayer:  Lord I yield myself to You today that Your Holy Spirit may create Your nature inside of me continually that I would be focused and concerned for other people’s needs sincerely and want to help.  Lead me Holy Spirit to want to be that person that cares for others.  Amen. 
 

Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

The Arrival of High Humidity Slows Running

by   July 10, 2025 with No Comments

By David Freeze

The Arrival of High Humidity Slows Running!

   No other single obstacle to running or any physical activity outside compares to humidity in warm temperatures. We’ve had a great spring so far, but the humidity hit us hard starting this past weekend and continues to linger.

   Humidity refers to the amount of moisture in the air. In most weather apps and forecasts, humidity is recorded as a percentage. The percentage of humidity measures how saturated the air is with moisture.

   The difficulty with humidity is that the measurement is relative to the temperature – the higher the temperature, the more moisture the air can hold. When the measurement is not absolute, it is difficult to compare. 90% humidity will feel entirely different in 50-degree temperatures as compared to 80 degrees. And we’ve just had some 70’s morning temps and upper 80’s to low 90’s humidity. Typically, as the day evolves and temps rise, the humidity does lower but several days this past week the air retained a level of 60% or higher.

   Running in high humidity can make it feel difficult to breathe and we often struggle to settle into a rhythm throughout the run. You know it’s bad when your shoes get soaked with sweat inside. Enough humid miles make for a sloshing sensation. And a shirt and shorts left outside on the deck takes hours to dry.

    Conditions are considered “ideal” when humidity is between 30-50%. When humidity creeps above 50%, running might begin to suffer. Humidity above 70% is sure to slow most runners down. According to Runner’s World, the average decrease in pace is about 30 – 90 seconds per mile when running in high humidity.

     Runners who have already acclimated to a humid climate will find it easier to sustain their typical pace, whereas runners in our area who were thrown into humid conditions suddenly will likely experience a decline in performance for multiple days.

   What can we do? Run early to beat the heat and direct sun. Reduce the intensity of the run. Be Ok by dialing the pace back to keep the run going. And even consider walking during some of the most oppressive times, remembering that the quicker the body acclimatizes to the conditions, the better the runs and walks will be.

   Run in light and loose-fitting clothing, and as minimal as you feel comfortable dressing so that more skin can be exposed to the air. Run early enough to avoid the need for a hat and if sunny, wear a visor instead. Trapping warm humid air in a hat makes for a hot head.

    Make sure to hydrate ahead of your run or walk. I don’t always get it done right but make sure to note each morning your urine color. I’m looking for clear or only slightly yellow, bringing the prospect of a better run. If not, I will drink another cold half bottle of water before leaving the house. Usually this brings an easier effort as the water catches up in my system. Drinking colder water helps to cool the body. If you are carrying water, consider adding ice to it.

    If you can, just as I did on Sunday, manage your run so that you find any available shade and catch any breeze in the second half of your run. Just remember that any advantage gained will help you get past another workout, and get you more used to the humid conditions. That is the biggest issue of the first humid runs of the season,

     Next up on the local race circuit is the 15th Annual Shiloh Run for Missions 5K at Shiloh First Reformed Church in Faith. This popular race begins at 8am and is a two-loop course, meaning that spectators can see the runners and walkers pass by the church twice on the way to the finish. Known for great awards and some of the best door prizes in the county, the race will benefit Shiloh mission teams that have served in various places in the US and abroad for 20 years.

    Look for this and other upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Gotta’ Run: The arrival of high humidity slows running!

United Voices

by   July 7, 2025 with No Comments

Steve Hartman shares a story that will make your spine tingle. A group of high school students who are all chorus members will teach us all a lesson. We are a UNITED country…no matter what the politicians try to tell us. ENJOY!!!!

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