Shepherd’s Sticks

by   August 9, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

Many children (and some adults) gravitate towards collecting something, particularly things found outdoors. Our cabinet of curiosities is a veritable natural history museum, housing glass containers with various seeds, nuts, feathers, butterfly wings, snake skins, old nests, and seashells. Small tubes hold sharks’ teeth or tiny gemstones sifted from buckets of dirt. There are books with pressed leaves. Then, there in the corner are the current favorite walking sticks. Each of my children has gravitated towards certain textures or specific finds, but my youngest, whose name happens to be Shepherd, loves a good walking stick. How appropriate. This love was magnified when his grandpa found a small shepherd’s crook on a mountainside and gave it to him.

Sticks are humble extensions of something grand, often victims of a storm or a rotting tree, and then released to a forest floor. While that sounds like the end of a story, the more observant and thoughtful admirers of nature see great potential.

A sturdy walking stick provides support when we are weak. On an unpaved road, knee scooters will not serve you very well. And while one can acquire telescoping aluminum poles for two-handed use on a hike, a long walking stick can still provide great assistance. On a steep hill, a stick may keep you from falling and help you steady your steps. It may even serve to help someone else by pulling them up from behind you – an extra-long arm, if you will.

Sticks are good for clearing, poking, and stoking. Clear a path ahead to avoid thorns and briars. Poke the stick down into the ground to determine whether the covered terrain is unsteady or stable. Help a fire continue to provide warmth and light by stoking it to provide more fuel and oxygen. When things are just out of reach, a good stick will knock it into place, out of the way, or sometimes get into the right position to be grasped by a hand.

Others see even more grandeur in a humble stick, envisioning clever art to whittle into the head or staff of a rod. Why have a simple walking stick when you can have a conversation piece?

It reminds me of the shepherd’s staff in Psalm 23: “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” A rod and staff in the hand of a good shepherd is not merely a weapon or a tool of discipline, although guidance for dumb animals like sheep is a necessity to keep them safe. The staff gives support and help to needy creatures. It may clear out danger ahead or provide a sense of stability when crossing uneven terrain. Perhaps a fallen sheep can be scooped up by the crook of the staff and comforted by a warm fire tended to by his loving shepherd.

I have a Good Shepherd who serves me daily through His Holy Spirit and His Word. These helps are more than just a crutch, though those poor in spirit enough to recognize their weakness and need are indeed blessed (see the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 in the Bible). They are my constant comforts and companions.

Do you have a good walking stick?

Anniversary

by   August 8, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Anniversary

            We all celebrate anniversaries of various types. The most common we think about is a wedding anniversary. We celebrate the anniversary of our annual trip around the sun, which we refer to as our birthday. We recently celebrated the 250th anniversary of our country on July 4th. Our country commemorates the anniversaries of D-Day and Pearl Harbor day.

            The anniversary that I have been thinking about for the past week is the anniversary of my Dad’s passing, which was August the 4th of last year. It’s hard to believe that a year slipped by so quickly. I have been thinking about the events that led up to his passing and what I was doing.

            There were a couple of occasions soon after his passing that I picked up my phone to call him. It is a strange feeling to realize that someone important in your life is no longer there. My Dad read my columns and in his younger years he was confrontational about the content. In his later years, I looked forward to his email responses because he offered more positive feedback and his questions led to more open-ended discussions.

            I find it interesting how often I think about my Dad. Unpleasant memories have softened with time. I find myself savoring the good memories. One thing I have done numerous times is wonder what Dad was doing when he was my age. Then I would think about what age I was when he was my current age. I would try to remember what was going on in my life. It is strange how our minds work.

            Some say time heals all wounds. When we lose loved ones I am learning that time doesn’t heal those wounds. Certainly, the day-to-day feelings can ease with time, but there are still unexpected moments when we remember and feel the loss. An odd one came this year around Father’s Day. I was walking through one store and they had a display in the middle of the aisle with Father’s Day gifts, which really didn’t bother me. But they had put some cards on the display and there was a perfect card sitting front and center. My Dad loved to golf and this card was one of the best golfing Father’s Day cards I have ever seen. The emotions that stirred caught me off guard.

            So anniversaries come as reminders of both wonderful things that we celebrate and sometimes painful things that we don’t want to remember. One anniversary that we all seem to enjoy celebrating each year is the coming of our Lord…Christmas. Sometime in the next two months retailers will begin stocking things to celebrate Christmas. I’m not ready for that! We also remember the anniversary of our Lord’s crucifixion on Good Friday and celebrate His resurrection on Easter Sunday. Many churches celebrate and remember the arrival of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday.

            We celebrate our birthdays, but do you remember your spiritual birthday? Our spiritual birthday is the day we accepted Jesus as our savior. I have fond memories of the day I accepted Jesus as my savior, but I do not know the date. It was summer and I was young. I remember the church and the circumstances and can see it all in my mind. It was a special day that I enjoy reflecting on from my past.

            Our minds can work for us in both positive and negative ways. We can remember bad things that happened in our lives, moments we wish never happened. Those kinds of memories I wish would fade for all of us. We can also remember the good things, especially the spiritually good moments in our lives. Maybe we went to a conference, heard a special speaker, enjoyed some beautiful music, or had a special moment with the Lord. These are things we should reflect on, memories we should ponder and enjoy. Moments we grew or made changes in our lives are important to celebrate and remember.

            I want to encourage you to spend a few moments reflecting back on your spiritual life. Remember your growth. Remember your victories. Remember making it through the hard times. Remember the revelations. Remember the verses that are special to you. Remember your rebirth and baptism. God wants you to celebrate these anniversaries…these moments when you overcame and found victories. Why? There are still challenges ahead for all of us and we need to remember how God came through for us in the past to see ourselves overcoming our current circumstances. Remember how He came through for you in the past, He will come through for you again…trust Him!

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

Here is a picture of my Dad…..

Everything Starts in Your Mind

by   August 7, 2026 with No Comments

Steve Harvey helps you understand that everything begins in your mind. It’s up to you and your faith in God where you go. He will challenge you…. You can change your stinking thinking… Listen to Steve Harvey!

No Concern

by   August 7, 2026 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

  • So often and so easily our hearts are troubled by so many things in life.
  • We have to really work against getting stressed, anxious or troubled in our hearts.
  • We trust in the Father God Almighty and in Jesus who never lets us down.  We will depend upon Him.  Trust is blindly dependent upon the one you are trusting.

Prayer:  Lord I do trust in You and decide to continually trust in You regardless of how things look.  I will leave my life in Your hands and know that the outcome will always be according to Your purpose and plan.  Amen.  


Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

A Visit to Reed Gold Mine

by   August 6, 2026 with No Comments

By David Freeze

A Visit to Reed Gold Mine

   In 1799, 12- year-old Conrad Reed found a 17-pound gold nugget in Little Meadow Creek on his family’s farm. Nobody knew what it was, and it remained a door stop for three years in the house of his father, John Reed. This was the first documented gold discovery in the United States. Once identified, the family sold the gold nugget for $3,50, about the same as a laborer would earn in a month on their farm. Valued at $3,500, John Reed realized his mistake and went looking for more.

     North Carolina led the nation in gold production as the fever spread to many neighboring counties and then other southern states. During peak years, gold mining was second only to farming for income in North Carolina.

     My granddaughter and I visited another North Carolina Historic Site at today’s Reed Gold Mine off Highway 200 near Midland on Friday, July 17th. The day was hot, but I knew that we would likely tour the mine and be well underground where temperatures would be more comfortable. The visitor center is free with numerous exhibits concerning mining techniques and the history of mining in general.

   We first tried our hand at gold panning. Children under eight can’t have their own pan for some reason, but Booper and I agreed to share the $5 pan about half filled with dirt. I am a frequent viewer of Gold Rush on Discovery where the mine owners occasionally do their own panning when in hopes of finding profitable ground. Booper took over the pan mostly and did a good job of shaking it, dumping out water and getting more, as she tried to shake the heavier gold to the bottom of the pan. We threw rocks bigger than a thumbnail back into the sluice and gradually got the pan down to the small rocks and sand. None of ours were gold, which we were assured can easily be seen in the pans when successful.

    Next came a look around the gift shop and we took time to watch a nine-minute orientation film. Then we were off to the mine tour itself. In the mid-90s and very humid on the trail, the tour leader led about 25 people to the site where Conrad Reed’s gold nugget was found. Just a small and unimposing quiet creek, still I heard one man say, “Can we go over and pan in the creek?” He was told, “No, not today!”

    We walked past some old mining equipment and stopped just before the mine entrance for some instructions which included the need to stay together and to keep an eye out for bats. The mine itself was designated a NC Historic Site in 1977. As we entered the mine, almost immediately the air temperature dropped to 60-65 degrees, a level of coolness that was at first uncomfortable but quickly became very present.

   Immediately, we saw a bat and the kids in the group were amazed as it wiggled while hanging above us in a mine shaft. The old shafts here were short and often not flat. We saw the openings braced with wood and heard how mining went on almost every day in these shafts from the 1830s. Miners were free to keep their gold once they paid Reed a royalty on what was found. The guide speculated that probably as much gold was stolen as was reported to the Reed family. We also learned that we were only about 50 feet underground and mine shafts occasionally hit tree roots.

    Placer mining, the method of extracting gold from the loose sediments of creek or stream beds, was successful at Reed Gold Mine, but the underground shaft mining never proved profitable long term. Miners underground followed quartz veins and tried to extract gold from those veins.

    The largest nugget ever found at Reed Gold Mine was 28 pounds and caused controversy. All the miners working together usually shared profits equally, but in this case, one of the regular miners was sick and sent his son to fill in. With the exceptional payout of this large nugget, a lawsuit developed over whether the young boy should share equally with the experienced miners. The lawsuit took years until the boy’s family eventually did share in the proceeds.

    In 1966, Reed Gold Mine was also designated a National Historic Landmark. There are several walking trails around the property, which now includes 70 acres. The Reed family sold the mine to the Kelly family in the early 1900’s, but mining eventually played out and the site was closed. In 1971, the Kelly family sold the rest of the 760 acres but donated 70 to the historic Reed Gold Mine project.

    More NC Historic Sites are ahead. Upcoming races and our fall beginning runners class have current information available at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org And who knows, there might just be a bike ride ahead too!

Gotta’ Run: A visit to Reed Gold Mine
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