Steve Hartman tells a great story about how some children decide to honor the memory of their father. ENJOY!
What is Orbisculate?
May 27, 2025
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Taps Across America
May 26, 2025
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If you want to honor those who paid the price for our country, may I suggest Taps Across America on Memorial Day. Here is a great story told by Steve Hartman. Enjoy!
The Heart Behind the Holiday
May 25, 2025
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By Ashlie Miller
Memorial Day holds a special place in the hearts of many. Usually, that entails things less memorable, like eating hotdogs or going to the lake. But, I can recall when I first learned that the day was a day for decorating graves – originally called Decoration Day.
My sister-in-law would make annual treks to her home state to visit and decorate family graves. I always wondered about that. Then, several years ago, my brother and his family, along with my own, decided to journey to our father’s grave in Thomasville, NC, on Memorial Day.
Having never visited his grave since his death many years ago, I was not prepared for what visiting Thomasville would be like on Memorial Day in 2018. Boy, we were in for the most wonderful surprise, arriving just before the town’s annual parade to honor heroes and their families.
I realize now that this is not an uncommon occurrence in many towns. In fact, you can attend a parade Monday in Salisbury. Most likely, it will not draw the crowds that the Independence Day parades and events will, but is it any less significant? It is amazing what a smaller event on Memorial Day will do to set your mind and heart ablaze in memory and gratitude.
After our bodies and hearts were thoroughly nourished after a light lunch and a fantastic parade, we made the short drive over to the Holly Hill Memorial Park Cemetery, where Daddy is buried alongside other family members who were also in the service. It is a bittersweet memory. Daddy did not die on the battlefield, but like many veterans of Vietnam, cancer came calling for him just after his time of service and beginning a young family.
I think of soldiers during this time and their acts of service. For many, however, service was not an option but a task put upon them. It was a sacrifice in many ways; they may be uncomfortable being reminded of their “service.”
That’s why, when I see a veteran, I try to look him in the eye and say, “Thank you for your sacrifice” instead of “Thank you for your service.” Sometimes, I see the eyes of my father’s generation look back with gratitude for perhaps being understood and truly loved.
Like many today, I did not grow up fully recognizing Memorial Day for what it was, and I would confuse it with Veterans Day. Thankfully, slowing down, taking note, and observing others opened my eyes before my children grew up so we could share such things together.
I encourage you to slow down this extended weekend. Look through Granddaddy’s medals or Grandma’s old photo books. Find out what those medals mean and where those pictures were taken. Visit findagrave.com and look for where relatives are buried. Maybe make an impromptu visit to the town for a parade or to the grave to pay respect. It will change you, and perhaps it will change all of us.
Ashlie Miller and her family live in Concord, NC. You may contact her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.
Who is He?
May 24, 2025
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By Doug Creamer
Who is He?
Have you ever been out and you see someone you know…but they are out of place so you don’t remember how you know them? You know them from somewhere, but you just can’t place them. Then this person sees you and greets you warmly. Naturally, you return the greeting just as warmly…still trying to place them. Has this ever happened to you? It happens to me more often than I want to admit.
My wife tells me it’s because I know so many people. I talk to the stockers in the grocery stores. I talk to waiters and waitresses. I know my cashiers. There are so many people in my professional life that I knew from East Davidson. We have been out of state and people have come up and greeted me. My wife once asked, “Is there any place we can go where someone doesn’t know you?”
Remembering names has always been a problem for me. I will also go blank at the absolute wrong time. I once went to introduce my pastor and couldn’t come up with his name. He laughed so hard at me. Being a teacher makes this flaw very challenging. I go to call on a student and the name won’t come to me. It drives me crazy!
I know that I am not the only one who struggles to remember names. I have seasons when I remember names really well, and then there are days that no one’s name comes to mind. Okay, that is a bit extreme, but I wish I could change this part of myself. I want to show honor to people by remembering their names.
I find it interesting that God is called by many different names. Often the name is related to a quality about God that we need in our lives at a particular time. For example, one of the names of God is Jehovah Jireh, which means God our provider. God provides for His people. Sometimes God will test us to see if we will believe and trust Him, especially in this area. God has always met our needs through the good times and the financially lean times. He is and has always been faithful.
If you are struggling with your health, you may turn to Jehovah Rapha, which means the Lord who heals us. We have all been in places where we needed God’s healing touch for ourselves or a loved one. We cry out to God for His healing touch. I have witnessed and know people who have received a miraculous touch from God.
Some people may be calling out to Jehovah Shalom, the God who is our peace. If you find yourself struggling with worry, anxiety, or depression, then you need Jehovah Shalom to bring you the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. God does not want you to live in mental distress because He can provide the peace you need in your daily life. Even when life seems to be turned upside down, you can live in God’s perfect peace.
I think one of my favorite terms for God comes from what many Jewish children call their father, Papa. The Bible uses the term Abba. It is an intimate term. I believe in the crazy world in which we find ourselves living many of us might need to call out to our Abba, Papa. I was unfamiliar with the name Papa because I refer to my father as Dad. During a season of my life when I was seeking a deeper intimacy with God I started calling Him Daddy. Some may wonder how I could call God Almighty Daddy, but I believe it reflects His desire to draw closer to us. I believe that God wants us to crawl up into His arms and allow Him to pour out His deep love upon us.
Whatever your need in life, I want to encourage you to see God as the One who met you at your place of need. He is God Almighty, yet He desires to draw closer to us. He wants to reveal more of Himself to us. He wants us to see Him as the God who will meet our needs. No request is too big or too small. He wanted a deeper relationship with us so badly that He made His Son pay the price for us. Our salvation and relationship with God cost Him dearly. The good news is that God has opened the door to anyone who will open their hearts to Him. Who is God to me? He is my Daddy. There is room in His arms for you, too!
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
First Things First
May 23, 2025
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By Ed Traut
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
- His Kingdom – the spiritual dominion of which our Lord Jesus rules over is what we are to pursue. All the understanding and lifestyle.
- Being righteous is to walk in right standing and relationship with Him on a continual basis. We are justified through faith and now we pursue our relationship with Him.
- All the things we so want or need will automatically come to us when put these first things first.
Prayer: Almighty God, I do choose Your kingdom and Your ways. Teach me Your ways and Your Kingdom and I will follow them with all my heart. I know You will add all which I need and desire, putting everything in its place. I comfort myself in You today and yield completely to Your full control. I bless Your Holy name and thank You for Your goodness. Amen.
Ed Traut
Prophetic Life
Lynna’s “Q” & The Broken Road
May 21, 2025
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By Lynna Clark
I bet you’ve been wondering what would land here on Q day. Here ya go:
“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.” -Isaiah 30:15
The sad part is that the verse continues with the Lord adding, “But you would have none of it.”
May we choose to return to Him, resting in quietness and confidence. When we are weak, He is strong. As we draw near to Him, He promises to draw closer to us as well. -James 4:8
A couple of friends talked over the events of the last few days as they walked along. Sadness was written across their faces as they admitted, “We had hoped…”
Hoped, past tense.
As in, we used to hope, but not anymore.
Have you been there? Have you gone through something so hard that your soul is crushed beyond repair? Someone you love has suddenly been taken… and way too soon. The spouse you trusted tossed you aside like an old shoe. Something you planned and even dared to dream about died, leaving you…
Hopeless.
That’s the feeling of the friends who traveled down the road together. Having witnessed the horrible death of the Person they had closely followed, their hopes were just as dead.
Where do we go from here? How will we ever recover? Is all we’ve believed in been wrong?
A few miles later, they realized they were in the very presence of the risen Lord!
That first Easter morning changed everything.
The powerful Son of God stepped from the grave to prove the hopeless wrong. Since death cannot defeat Him, how could anything else? What could separate us from the love of God?
Our fears?
Our loss?
Our worries?
Things changed in an instant! The moment He was raised from the dead, hope was forever restored! Do we dare to trust Him?
“O death where is thy victory?! O grave where is thy sting?”
Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ!
All creation shouts with joy on Easter Sunday morning! Our Creator lives, and reigns with power over any circumstance that brings suffering to His beloved ones. With the strong arms of a Shepherd, He reaches out to pull us close to His heart as He gently leads us home. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love as we walk in the presence of the risen Lord!
Praise His sweet holy Name! Our conquering King lives!
And there is hope!
You can read about the friends traveling to Emmaus when Jesus suddenly appeared and walked with them in Luke 24:13-34. Romans 8:1 helps us understand that we are no longer condemned by God when we trust His Son as our sacrifice for sin. There’s more about His great love for you personally in Romans 8:23-39.
Call out to Him. He’s waiting for the time when you and He can walk the broken road of life together. This wonderful God of all creation longs to adopt you as His very own. What a “Blessed Hope!”
A Lesson in Selflessness & Saying Good-bye
May 20, 2025
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Steve Hartman tells a story with the help of his kids about how to be selfless….we could use a little of that now. ENJOY!
The next video is tough… How do you say good-bye to a beloved pet, a family member? Steve Hartman found a kid who can teach us how… it’s not easy!!!
No Diploma for this
May 18, 2025
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By Ashlie Miller
Pomp and Circumstance—It’s a tune many of us will be familiar with in the coming weeks. We have some young friends graduating from colleges and high schools; some even within the same family. My husband also has a graduation as he continues to further his education as a lifelong learner.
Although I graduated from UNCC quite some time ago, other ladies I know well have discussed how nice it would be to have taken college classes much later in life rather than fresh out of high school. Our brains were still developing. We understand so much more now and can think more abstractly, critically, and with wisdom. But, the last time I checked, they don’t hand out diplomas or cords for maturity gained over the years, and only seldom does one receive a degree for life experiences.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were graduation celebrations for hitting new levels of maturity and experience in life? There are practical things like learning how to be responsible with a budget, maintaining a first apartment, having a better handle on time management, and home and car ownership responsibilities. As we grow in a family, there is maturity in self-sacrifice as a parent or simply preferring others over oneself. We learn how much one can do with so little sleep.
Then, there are more important things that some learn and master better than others—learning to avoid gossip (giving or receiving), not worrying what others think of you (people-pleasing), replacing FOMO (fear of missing out) with JOMO (joy of missing out), replacing comparisons with contentment, and becoming comfortable in your own skin.
Though there may not be new certifications, distinctions, diplomas, and celebrations for these significant, life-altering milestones in the lives of Christians, there is something better – sanctification. The word is sometimes as hard to say as the process is to endure, but the rewards are sweet. How often can you look back at your life and say, “Wow, I’m further in that area than I was 6 months or a year ago!”? If our ultimate aim as Christians is transforming into the likeness of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 3:18), shouldn’t we be able to look back and see significant change at various stages of life? I’m not speaking of compromise or the all-too-popular deconstruction that has arisen in recent years. Rather, the results of life-long sanctification are so profound that they can even astound us. In Colossians 3:10, Paul speaks of a new self that is being renewed daily in this process that we gradually journey through.
While God the Father graciously transforms us thanks to the sanctifying gift of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection, the fruit of the Holy Spirit shines through our lives (love, joy, peace, etc.). We submit to the work of God in our lives as we allow Him to shake off the things that cling to us. It is a process. It can be painful at times but also beautiful and comforting. But, when we look back, we should see evidence of growing and graduating from one victory to the next.
As you sit in the crowds this season to view the slow processionals accompanied by the familiar graduation march, take a moment to reflect on areas of life where you, too, have graduated. Glory to God, and hats off to you!
Ashlie Miller celebrates her husband’s recent Master of Arts in Theological Studies. You may send regards or comments to mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.
Gardening This Year
May 17, 2025
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By Doug Creamer
Gardening this Year
It is a busy time for gardeners. It’s time to get the vegetable garden ready for a new season of growing. That means pulling the weeds, running the tiller through the beds, and getting everything planted. A gardener also has to go to garden centers and find all the plants and seeds. It is an exciting and hopeful time. It is a wonderful time of the year!
We also need to trim the bushes and get our annual flowers planted. There is more weeding to do in the flower beds. Have I told you that I do not like weeding? It’s my least favorite gardening task, but I have to admit I like the way things look when all the weeds are cleaned out and fresh mulch is applied. I am glad for the longer days and the opportunity to work outside in the yard.
My gardening excitement this year has been tempered. Several weeks ago, I was working outside and I took a tumble, landing on my back. I lay there for a minute. Getting up was not easy. A massage therapist I went to once taught me some back stretching exercises in which I slowly engaged. It has been a very s-l-o-w but gradual recovery. I saw a new massage therapist who shared her gift with me and helped to ease the pain and move me closer to recovery.
While there is no good time to have pain, I have explained to several people that this is a terrible time to be struggling with back pain. There is so much work that needs to be done outside, but I am limited on what I can do. I have recovered enough that I can handle carrying groceries and light items. I can drag heavier things, but still I have to be careful doing that, too. No matter how careful I am, by the evening my back is sore, which makes me tired and weary.
Because of the pain, I have had to approach my vegetable garden differently this year. I normally run the tiller through my raised vegetable beds. I till in the leaves and some new soil, preparing a great place for my new vegetables to grow. I couldn’t run the tiller this spring because of my back. This year I pulled the leaves back and mixed in some bags of soil and then planted my seeds and transplants. I am leaving the leaves around what I planted in hopes they will help keep the weeds down. I have heard of this idea; it’s called no till gardening. I haven’t tried it before, but necessity led to experimentation.
It’s challenging when we are forced into changes. I want to garden as I always have, but pain forced me to make some changes. I do believe that God is still in the healing business today. I have experienced healing and seen too many healings of others to believe otherwise. But I also firmly believe that God will lead us through things because He wants to teach us more about Himself. He wants me to know that His grace is sufficient for me. He wants me to know that He will always be with me.
Some may wonder why God didn’t protect me, but I argue that God did protect me from something far greater that the enemy wanted to do to me. God did something miraculous a few days after my fall. He gave me a supernatural peace. I struggle to maintain my peace at times in life, but I have felt His presence as I have struggled to recover. He has helped me to do some things…slowly. I have also had to humble myself and ask for some help, which I am very bad at doing. These are important lessons that I have been learning.
The bottom line for me is this: I believe that God is actively involved in our lives but sometimes we have to look a little harder to find Him. I want to encourage you as you are going through your struggles…and I know we all have them…to look closer and see God in the middle of them. He is the God who will see you through your struggles. He loves you, but He wants you to learn more about who He is for you in the midst of your struggles. He cares for you. He will see you through to the other side. He is faithful. He is the Master Gardener who wants to produce fruit in your life. Let Him work the soil in your life and produce a harvest for His Kingdom.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
What You Deserve Went Missing
May 16, 2025
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By Roger Barbee
An internet server in the Charlotte area airs a commercial touting the advantages it offers consumers. After the usual hype with an attractive person talking, the over voice says (to paraphrase), “It’s time to get what you deserve.” My hardback dictionary states that “deserve” means “to be worth of” or “merit.” That first meaning has two connotations: to gain something positive, such as an award; or to receive a negative response to a particular action. Thus, a studious student may be awarded with academic accolades while a spiteful person may be ill-treated by another person. So in general, we use “deserve” to denote being awarded for hard work, courage, or other such positive acts.
Now, I know that language changes over the course of years because of our usage of it. In fact, several academics will argue that it must change in order for us to communicate effectively. Thus, the verb “quote” is now used to designate the noun “quotation”, and the longer form seems to have suffered a slow death. But my favorite new grammar usage, used by even the best of written sources, is “went missing.” A sentence such as, “The toddler went missing over the weekend” is as common as the sin of lying. I do not know why writers use two words when one, such as “disappeared”, would suffice, but “went missing” is here to stay. Furthermore, the verb “went” is a transitive which means that if it has a direct object, that object must be a noun or pronoun. However, that may be too complex, so let us just suggest we all use one simple word for the awkward phrase “went missing” because “missing” is not a place but a modifier.
It is no surprise that a television commercial maligns our language since its purpose is to communicate to the consumer. But I think we are headed down that “slippery slope” of misunderstanding each other if we continue on the path we are following. For example, I am old enough to remember the flap over a popular cigarette advertisement that stated, “… taste good like a cigarette should.” Our world has survived that confusion between like and as, but I wonder at what price.
Not too many years ago, I was teaching 12th grade English in a school in Woodstock, VA. The position was provisional for that spring semester, but would become full time the following fall, so I applied for the full-time position. During the interview, the principal asked me why I was requiring my classes to read Macbeth in the original and not in a translation. Shocked by her ignorance, I answered that we read Shakespeare for many reasons, but especially for the language. More recently when I shared with a friend one more article by an English teacher arguing that there was no need to teach Shakespeare, he responded, “Soon Shakespeare may be offered as a way to satisfy a foreign language requirement.”
Language matters and if we shift too much in its use, we will create confusion instead of clarity. To defend incorrect usage by, “Well, you know what I meant,” is a lazy excuse. As a reader and/or listener, all I know is what I read and/or hear. Anything else is a guess and if you don’t want my attention to go missing, then be precise. We both deserve it.