Peace & Joy

by   May 23, 2020 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

My wife and I love gardening. I focus on planting and growing the vegetable garden. She loves to create planters with beautiful plant combinations. She has a number of perennials that come back every year. Our back patio and front porch are filled with beautiful plants which makes spending time outside like being in an oasis.

            I like to sit outside among the plants and enjoy the peacefulness. Our street is generally quiet and I can always hear some birds singing when I am outside. I enjoy walking around the yard and looking at all the beautiful flowers and vegetables. Each plant has its season which I anticipate with great joy. There is always something to see in our yard.

            I finished planting the vegetable garden the other day just before all the rain hit. Everything is looking good and I am excited about the new growing season. There are still more flowers to plant and I am always scheming about how I can get a second planting in my vegetable garden. I just love having my hands in the dirt and seeing what I can get to grow. I often talk about working in the garden, but it doesn’t feel like work. Being out in the yard gives me such great pleasure.

            We have some fruit growing out back, too. I love red raspberries and have a good sized bed full of them. We also have some blueberry bushes, although I want to plant more of them. I can eat blueberries all year long. I would like to grow some strawberries one day. There is nothing like eating something you grew.

            I am fortunate; I find peace and joy in many things. Gardening or just being outside around things that are growing ministers to my spirit. I also find joy in teaching my Chinese students. I also experience joy and peace when I am writing.

            There are so many things that can steal our peace and joy. Some people are working overtime on their jobs, especially in the health care field. Imagine the UPS, FEDEX, Amazon, and US mail employees who are delivering packages to our houses since we can’t get out and go shopping. Then you have to consider the retail that is open, grocery stores, pharmacies, and the restaurant workers who are all working hard to provide goods and services for us. I wonder if they are able to disconnect from their work and find the peace and joy they need.

            Then you have to think about all the people who aren’t working because of Covid-19. They want to work, but the stay-at-home orders have kept them from their jobs. The financial stress and worry that these people are facing has got to be stealing their peace and joy.

            As a retired teacher, I think about schools. Teachers get such great joy out of imparting knowledge, skills, and abilities to students. There are no students in physical classrooms now. Students are missing athletics, clubs, and all the after school activities. They are missing their friends at lunch and in the halls. They are missing milestone moments like prom and graduation. It’s easy to lose your joy and peace when you are missing a major part of your life.

            Finding your joy and peace comes back to two main things. First, our main source of joy and peace comes from being in our Father’s presence. God is the source of perfect peace. He longs to fill your heart with joy. Sometimes we don’t have it because we don’t ask for it.

            The second source of joy and peace is a little more challenging because we have to analyze ourselves. What can we do that gives us joy and peace? For some it is found in music. For my little sister, it is going for a run. For others it might be doing something artistic. Many enjoy working on their vehicles. Each of us enjoys doing something that brings pleasure to our lives. Discovering your pleasurable activity and participating in it can help to restore your peace and joy.

            I want to encourage you to spend time with God who is our source of peace and joy and allow Him to stir that up within you. I also want to encourage you to spend some time on yourself. You know what brings you peace and joy. Take time to do those things. Allow the Lord to renew your spirit so you can share your new found peace and joy with your family and friends. We all need a refreshing dose of peace and joy. I pray God will restore yours.

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

Crash!

by   May 16, 2020 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Crash!

            I teach Chinese students very early in the morning. I really enjoy my job because I can do it online from the comfort of my home. The students can steal your heart. I have several “favorite” students. I really like connecting with the students and learning about their lives. It’s actually “fun” to go to work, except for the early hour.

            The other morning I was teaching a student when I heard a huge crash outside of my window. It was so loud that I stopped teaching and tried to look outside and see what happened. I couldn’t see anything, but knew that something was up.

            When I finished teaching, my wife asked me if I heard the loud noise. Then she told me that I better go look in the woods, a big tree had fallen and she wondered if anything might have hit the house. Thankfully the house was fine, but there was a huge mess to clean up.

            Last fall we had a big wind storm that snapped an old, dead pine tree. The tree got caught up in other trees and did not fall. It was actually very scary. I figured I would have to hire a tree guy to come in and take the tree down at quite a big price. Without the slightest breeze, the big tree came crashing down, taking several other trees with it on the way to the ground.

            I spent the biggest part of a day working on the mess. I am not even halfway through the cleanup. I will probably have to cut a couple more trees down that are being bent over by the large pine tree. I haven’t worked that hard in a long time and my body complained about the work for several days. I haven’t even begun to think about how I will take care of the large tree trunks. I guess nature will have to take care of that.

            I have been thinking about what we are going through and imagining it must feel like that big tree falling. There has been a crash in our lives, now what do we do? I have a dear friend whose home was hit by a hurricane. It took 18 months to get back home. I know that some of my readers have been hit financially. Your dreams of a rosy future have come crashing down.

            Other readers have lost their jobs or been put on furlough. You have a double hit. You are struggling to figure out if your job is still there or where will you work in the future. Then you also have all the financial worries of how are you going to make ends meet. What started in January as a year filled with dreams has turned into a nightmare, with your world crashing down.

            Still other readers have faced the impossible, the loss of loved ones. In spite of how healthy and careful you thought you were, you or some loved ones came down with Covid-19. All the prayers you prayed and promises you made God have come crashing down. Your world has changed forever.

            Where is God? Why didn’t He come and rescue you? God is with you, even when you can’t feel His presence. His heart is broken over what you are going through. His people are here to comfort you. His angels have been dispatched to surround you. He is walking with you through your circumstances. You are NOT alone.

            The Bible is full of people who had to go through trials, wars, famines, and even unknown diseases like Covid-19. Just like today, some went home to be with the Lord, while others fought through to the other side. God hears our prayers, just as He did in biblical days. God will send answers and comfort and strength just as He did in biblical days. We don’t understand our suffering, but we can trust that He will see us through just as He did in the Bible.

            I know things are not easy right now, but let me encourage you that God is with you. Don’t run from God, run to Him. He is the source of your peace, comfort, and strength. He may not give you the answers you seek, but the wisdom you need to make it through. I believe we have more to go through, but we know the One who can get us through. He has not given up on you. He has heard your prayers. He will help you. Never give up. His love for you is greater than you can ever imagine.

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

How Does She Do It?

by   May 12, 2020 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Another trip to the grocery store. I should be awarded a prize as Food Lion’s best customer.

As always, I was dressed appropriately for swift and effective shopping — stretchy pants, comfy shirt, sneakers.

While loading my groceries into the car, I saw her. The perfectly dressed young mom — perfect makeup, perfect hair, and wearing heels.

There she was — the inspiration for my column.

As she stopped to look both ways prior to crossing the street to the parking lot, her four neatly dressed young children, stopped obediently. Two were on one side of her. Two were on the other side. Each was carrying two grocery bags — one in each hand. They looked both ways and then toward mom before crossing. Once reaching the car, they lined up to put their grocery bags in the trunk.

As I was loading my groceries in my car, I said aloud to myself, “She is perfect. How does she do it?”

I shook my head, thinking about my years as a mom of young children, my years as a mom of older children, my years as a mom of grown children. My years of juggling a work schedule and motherhood. As I watched Perfect Mom, that ugly voice in my head — the one I need to ignore — said to me, “Failure.”

It stung.

As I was pushing my shopping cart a little more forcefully than usual to its proper location, I heard a real voice — not the one in my head — call out my name, “Mrs. Farabee!”

It was her — Perfect Mom — calling out my name. She told me who she was, and then turned to her children and said, “This was my favorite teacher!”

It was one of the nicest introductions I could ever have received.

I confessed to her that I had seen her crossing the street with her children, had not recognized her, and wondered aloud, “How does she do it?”

Perfect Mom smiled and responded perfectly, “Your children were young when you were my teacher. How did you do it?”

I started to remember: School. Church. Baseball. Basketball. Football. Gymnastics. Dance. Homework. Grocery store trips. Taxi service. Well, not officially a taxi service, but it often felt like it.

Some days if everyone got dressed, had food, and brushed their teeth — that was enough.

Some days if our efforts to parent allowed us to see God breaking through to their hearts — it was way better than enough.

Hmm… now that I think about it, I guess I did do it.
Mother of the Year material — I think not.
My weaknesses made strong through Christ? Definitely so.
I did my best — and trusted God to do the rest.
There is no way to be a perfect mom — but a million ways to be a good one.

As I headed back to my car, Perfect Mom called out, “Thank you for everything. You’re the best!” I smiled and thought, “Not failure. Just the opposite. Success.”

Disclaimer: I still have no explanation for the night I took one of my children home after a basketball game and left the other behind. Hey — I said I wasn’t perfect.

But…this has been comforting to know: According to Luke 2:43, Mary and Joseph returned home from the festival, and did not even notice they had left Jesus behind.

Races MIGHT Happen…

by   May 11, 2020 with No Comments

By David Freeze

By the end of May, we are usually winding down a successful series of spring races and other events. Spring 2020 may end up with no races, but we are doing our best to still have at least one of them. The 19th Annual Bare Bones 5K is one of Salisbury’s oldest races and we’re working with Salisbury city officials to find a way to meet the upcoming requirements amid Phase 2, now projected hopefully to begin on May 23.

The city can’t OK the permit until North Carolina is actually in Phase 2. The original race date of May 23 won’t work due to the current uncertainly of when Phase 2 will begin, but we hope that one of the next few Saturdays will work. Salisbury was designated a national Runner Friendly Community due to a lot of criteria involving cooperation with city government. We are certainly getting that cooperation again and we will keep everyone posted as the situation develops.

Bare Bones is an interesting race that started 19 years ago when the title sponsor dropped out just two days before the race while suggesting that the event be canceled. With less ways to spread the word of a cancellation than are available now, the Salisbury Rowan Runners decided to take it on, treat the whole event as a thank you to the running community and keep the registration prices very reasonable. Over the years, we’ve recycled trophies and even unused T-shirts, but the 2020 event will have great awards and a slightly different logo on a brand new commemorative T-shirt. Proceeds go to Relay for Life and Rowan Helping Ministries.

Two other races scheduled for June have new updates. The very popular Main Street Challenge 5K, originally planned for Friday evening, June 5, in China Grove, has been postponed until Friday evening, Aug. 21. The Shiloh Missions 5K, held as part of the Faith Fourth of July is still scheduled for June 27. I spoke with race director Luann Fesperman on Thursday and she assured me that they have every intention to have the race on that date.

Over the last two weeks, I have exchanged various communications with the Road Runners Club of America about a return to racing amid the coronavirus. RRCA is the parent organization of more than 1,200 running clubs nationwide. They have suggested certain parts of the process that could be changed or altered to make social distancing work over 3.1 miles. While road racing is not a contact sport, the first races back will likely be required to follow at least certain guidelines for the safety of the volunteers and participants. During my competitive racing period of more than 800 running events over various distances, only once did I have more than a light brush of physical contact with a runner. A tight turn and a couple of bumps amid the start and then it was over. No other part of a race is as congested as the start.

Some of the suggestions for more social distancing that are likely to be used in the early return to racing include a larger starting area and the possibility of multiple starts. We can do these to meet the approved number for a gathering.

The second biggest gathering is usually the awards ceremony following the race. If the number likely to attend is above the gathering limit, we’ll hand each finisher a bag with refreshments and give them directions on how they can pick up any earned awards. Likely in that case, winners will need to visit Ralph Baker Shoes beginning on the following Monday.

Finally, Bare Bones has a virtual 5K choice. Virtual means that the runner doesn’t run the actual race but can complete the 3.1-mile distance at any time of their choosing within a week of the official race day. Those participants get a reduced price and a shirt but aren’t eligible for awards.

You’ve read the latest and you can find more as it develops at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org . Or you can call 704-310-6741. It seems that runners are ready to compete again, and interest is high so far in the three upcoming races. Hope to see you there.

1 … 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 … 179