All contributing writers
By Roger Barbee
A beautiful poem by Roger….
Snowbirds and Deacons
A white scarf,
wrapped about the neck of the world,
muffles all sound
but for the fall
of birds’ feet;
as they move
like church deacons
from place to spot
searching for some morsel
of salvation.
By David Freeze
We are fortunate to have most races back on the calendar for the fall and winter season. Being courteous to other runners, walkers and race organizers is probably the easiest and best thing we can all do to make for the best race day experience possible. Just this past weekend, several occurrences made this topic worth some attention.
Arrive on time to handle all the pre-race participant responsibilities that include parking, bathroom stops and race check-in. Don’t be that person who can’t get these things done to comfortably arrive at the start line on time. Most regular participants plan to arrive an hour early, enough time for a warm-up and to find the start if in a different place from the registration area. This is also the best time to make sure that you have at least some understanding of the course. Maps normally will either be posted online, on the brochure or at the race. If not, ask a race official to explain the course to you. Veteran runners do this all the time and officials are glad to help.
Pay attention to the pre-race and welcome announcements. The pre-race announcements are directed to the participants and include final race directions. Such was the case at last Sunday afternoon’s 5K when about half of the attendees kept talking during those announcements. Six runners got off course because they failed to listen to course directions. Be assured that the pre-race announcements will be as brief as possible.
Don’t crowd and never push other participants at any turns or tight spots on the course. A good rule of thumb is that all runners should be able to see their feet when making the turn and usually that will keep participants from getting tangled up. This is also especially helpful if the course has wet spots or leaves where you might be turning. “Keep your footing, save your race!” is an old adage that applies.
Don’t pass someone in the race finish chute if you didn’t beat them to the finish. One of my worst memories is of a well-known local guy who couldn’t beat two girls running side by side to the finish, but he sure could after he raced past them in the finish chute. Don’t hang over the race staff who are compiling results. Let them work. Again, don’t be that person who isn’t considerate of others.
Be courteous to others at both the refreshment area and at the awards ceremony. After the race is over, generally there will be plenty of food and drink but possibly not if everyone grabs six donuts and a bunch of bananas. Dispose of your trash and don’t leave it for race organizers to clean up.
The awards celebration should be fun for everyone. Make sure to keep your conversations at a reasonable level so that all may hear the winners and post-race announcements. If you feel that any award was given incorrectly, wait until the announcements are complete and your questions will be answered.
Next Saturday’s Clean Water 5K and Kid’s Fun Run will be held at Grace Lutheran Church. If you haven’t participated as a runner or walker, consider this race for your first. There is plenty of parking, it’s not going to be crowded, the event is well organized and cost friendly plus you are almost guaranteed to make some new friends while raising funds for a worthy charity. The “rest of the day feeling” is especially gratifying after challenging yourself physically to start the day, and the shirts and refreshments just add to the fun.
More information about the Clean Water 5K and other upcoming events can be found at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.
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!
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
By Ann Farabee
It was a typical day when the family comes to visit. Instead of four of us, the number increased to double digits. The fun began.
Video games, board games, puzzles, 4 Square, basketball, trails in the woods, bikes, hover boards, one wheels, swings, sandbox, trampoline and a treehouse. I would describe it as somewhere between a playground and a park — or both. It was given the name “Farabee Fun House” by a previous guest.
During a break, the refrigerated pre-packaged chocolate chip cookies were placed in the oven. We may — or may not — have eaten some of the raw cookie dough, which the writing on the package forbids. After the oven timer beeped, and the cookies were ready, one would think everyone had been handed a meal fit for a king, as opposed to three cookies on a paper plate.
As the afternoon began to come to a close, and the crowd dwindled, I felt like I always do — grateful that we had been able to get together one more time.
After waving good-bye to the last ones leaving, I went back inside to straighten up.
That was when I noticed the greater than usual assortment of broken leaves and dirt, that had been brought inside on the bottom of quite a few pairs of shoes.
What in the world? Had they not known they were carrying dirt and leaf particles around on their shoes? Had they not seen the “Welcome Mat” that is there all the time for them to shake that dirt off their shoes? Sigh…
One bit of dirt here, one bit of dirt there, one bit of dirt everywhere. The same was true for the crisp bits of leaves — they were everywhere. The kitchen floor seemed to be covered with dirt, so I began to sweep it all toward the center of the room, and was surprised to see how much dirt had accumulated in that pile. Each small particle had seemed minute, but when put together, a mound of dirt had formed.
As I grabbed the dustpan and bent down to sweep the dirt up, this thought came into my heart, “Just like my sin.” We may not even notice one small sin, until that pile of sin grows larger, leaving us feeling that we are becoming entrapped, as even more dirt accumulates around us.
Isaiah 64:6 (NCV) says, “All of us are dirty with sin. All the right things we have done are like filthy pieces of cloth. All of us are like dead leaves, and our sins, like the wind, have carried us away.”
But Ephesians 2:1-5 says, “And you has he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. In times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature children of wrath, but God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love for us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive with Christ, by grace are we saved.”
Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God.”
Because of Jesus — we have been made worthy. If you do not know Jesus, invite Him to live in your heart today. You will not regret it!
Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.
By Lynna Clark
Can you keep a secret? There’s stuff going on at church. Big stuff. Does it scare you to hear that? It does me. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s a lack of trust.
Now for the secret: There’s definitely stuff going on at church. Good stuff; the kind of stuff that God stands up and applauds. The kind of stuff He blesses. Good ideas and plans to reach out to people in a whole new way. Is the leadership perfect? Good gracious no. Do they fail? Often, just like the rest of us people who are made of dust. Does our ministry rise and fall on mere men? Thankfully the answer is NO! Praise God!
So where are we going on day five? Just a reminder that our leaders will have ideas that are not always mainstream. God placed them in leadership to give us a direction and a purpose. Are we to blindly follow and eat poison and drink beer? [Still trying to make a sermon out of the mouse story on day four] The answer is of course a resounding NO. But here’s a lesson from Nehemiah 2. Verses 11-16 tell about Nehemiah’s discretion. Everything will not seem logical to everyone at all times. Discretion is key. So if you hear of a plan in the works, trust the leadership of those God has placed in position. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Pray often for them. And when a new idea is presented, you will have prayed ahead of time, and it will be easier to say, like the folks Nehemiah shared his vision with in 2:17-18, “’Good! Let’s rebuild the wall!’ So they began the good work.”
Wouldn’t you hate to be named with the guys in verse 19, who, when they heard of the plan, “scoffed contemptuously?” Sounds like some business meetings I’ve attended. So today, pray for your leadership, for exciting plans, for stepping out where no one has gone before. The sky really is the limit. God has no need of one more church that sits around holding hands with each other saying, “We’ve never done it that way before.” The world is watching to see if we care.
More Nehemiah 2:9-20
Prayer: Lord please strengthen us today with positive words, and support for our leaders. Help us when we doubt, to look to You, knowing You love Your church way more than we do. Give our leadership great wisdom, and wonderful ideas for reaching a world that has no hope. They need You so badly. Help us to love them enough to risk a little change in order to meet them where they are, for Your glory.
Listen to Bill Johnson share on the power of the Holy Spirit. Be encouraged…..
By Doug Creamer
Last Friday I worked at getting up the leaves from my yard. My preferred method is to use my lawnmower and bag the leaves. I like to collect them and put them in my garden to enrich the soil. I worked for a couple of hours getting the leaves up. I went inside and got a glass of tea and relaxed, feeling that wonderful sense of accomplishment.
I looked out the window a few hours later to bask in my accomplishment, only to discover that my yard was covered in leaves again. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The wind had blown a whole new group of leaves down. The new leaves will have to wait until next week.
On Saturday I got some pansies and violas from the local garden center and worked on planting them in our planters. My wife and I like to see things blooming. In the middle of the bleak winter we can go outside and enjoy these wonderful flowering treasures. While I was busy planting them I watched my neighbors working hard to collect their leaves. They created a huge pile in front of their homes. The next morning there was a whole new crop of leaves waiting for them, too.
Some fall chores, like getting the leaves up and cleaning the gutters, have to be done multiple times during the season. I guess in some ways it is similar to pulling weeds. As soon as you finish there will be a whole new crop waiting for you. So we go out and do these chores over again as often as it needs doing. It seems to me that leaf collecting persists into early January.
I was thinking about how the Lord works hard at teaching us lessons. Some lessons we are bound to repeat over and over again, like getting up the leaves. Some lessons in our spiritual walks come easy and we learn them quickly. But if you are like me, some of life’s lessons take a few times through to actually learn. I think about forgiving myself when I stumble and fall. I find it much easier to forgive others than to forgive myself. So God brings that lesson to my attention again until it finally sinks in.
God wants us to learn and grow in our spiritual lives. The only way to grow is through lessons. Being a teacher, I work on ways to construct lessons so my students will grasp the concepts and grow. My lesson starts with a solid foundation and then pushes them. God does the same thing with us. He looks at our lives and picks an area that needs improvement… we all have plenty of those areas. Then he designs a lesson to drive the point home.
This year God has been working on teaching me how important exercise is in my life. I have always been an active person but can become inactive in the extreme heat of summer and on the coldest winter days. I am content with waiting for better weather. My doctor talked with me this year about the benefits of walking. He told me that walking has physical, mental and spiritual benefits. Walking gives me the opportunity to think and process things as well as the opportunity to talk with my Heavenly Father.
When my allergies kicked up in October I stopped walking. I hardly had the energy to walk to the kitchen to eat. When my allergies quieted back down I did not return to my walking routine. It’s easy to stop good habits. I was busy with other things; I didn’t have time to walk. The trouble is I could see physical, mental, and spiritual declines in my life. I couldn’t figure out why. God was trying to whisper the answer but I wasn’t listening. I wasn’t walking, thinking, or praying like I should have been. Lessons!
I want to encourage you to continue working on the lessons God is working on in your life. He is there knocking on the door of your heart, wanting to help you learn your lessons. I know it requires work, but the benefit is that He will help you because He is trying to mold you into the image of His Son. If you are still struggling with the same lesson over and over again, don’t worry, He will be patient with you. He sees great potential in your life and wants to bring out the good things He has stored up in you. You will pass the test soon enough because He is helping you to overcome and succeed.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
By Roger Barbee
Election Day, 2022
On election day morning, 2022, I went out to ride my stationary handcycle as I do most mornings. The day was warm, even in the early sunlight, and as I rode the forty-two pine trees in our front yard showered the grass, the cars, the driveway, the roof, and me with pine needles. At each puff of the morning breeze they would fall, slicing through the morning air; each a thin, three-pronged mark on the calendar, a hallmark signifying the ever-present cycling of life. I cranked the cycle, watched for walkers coming by, and thought of the day’s importance for America.
Later that day, in the early dark of standard time, my wife and I were watching the news when we both saw it—a massive, full moon appeared over our lake cove. It was not the blood moon of the night before, but a bright and reassuring symbol of eternal change, much like the pine needles of the same morning.
Pine needles. Full moons. Morning breezes. Fall sunrises. All of that I have seen during my blessed life, and I bet you have, too. Nothing new here for you or me; yet is there something of this day for us to grab hold of like we would a glass of cold water on a hot day?
November 08, 2022 was an important day for our country because it was the day when all citizens have the privilege of voting. Think of that! Some of those who came before us died so that we could go to a polling place and voice individual opinions, and we each got to help decide on our government. So I, and many others, carried a bit of excitement or even anxiety yesterday.
However, I offer that everything from the falling needles to the massive moon, to more not seen in yesterday’s cycle, offers us a lesson. In his short book, the disciple James writes about life and how to live it. He asks the question: “For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (KJV)
Our government and our leaders matter. Our lives also matter and are affected by the leaders we elect on election day. But it all is but a vapor that lives briefly. To paraphrase Dr. Clarence Jordan, don’t get all tangled up. Watch the moon rise or hear the wind travel through the pine trees or follow a falling pine needle and don’t take our comings and goings too seriously.
By David Freeze
At least in my circles, I have heard recently of some long-time local exercisers who are having trouble getting back to their regular exercise after having COVID. While it seems that most have bounced off of it and able to return to normal activities, at least the concept of a slow return to normal is widespread and also getting some national attention.
While most have listed at least a month of poor exercise following COVID, some are lingering much longer with no apparent reason otherwise. Health magazine has reported that long COVID can drastically reduce a person’s capacity for exercise and physical activity. Researchers analyzed 38 different studies on how long COVID affects exercise and their recovery. Findings say that exercise intolerance can steal away up to a decade of exercise ability.
“This roughly translates to the expected decrease in exercise capacity by aging one decade,” lead study author Dr. Matthew Durstenfeld, a cardiologist and clinical researcher in the department of medicine at the University of California. This could look like going from the ability to do light jogging to only being able to do a brisk walk, he added. While this may not be the case for everyone with long COVID, it does show that long COVID’s impact on exercise is varied and can be extreme.
“As this is an average, some people experience no decrease in exercise capacity at all,” Durstenfeld said. “And others experience a really profound decrease in what activities they can do. It’s associated with heart and lung function and is a common symptom of many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes and heart failure.”
Regarding long COVID and exercise intolerance, Durstenfeld and his colleagues looked into the connection after seeing participants of another study — the Long-Term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus study — regularly report that they weren’t able to exercise as much or at the same intensity as they had before having COVID.
“For some, it was going from being an elite cyclist to ‘normal,’ and for others from being able to exercise normally to an inability to do their regular activities,” Durstenfeld said.
Researchers analyzed 38 different studies with a total of 2,160 participants, and ultimately homed in on nine studies including 464 individuals with symptoms of long COVID and 359 without. The studies relied on cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to measure exercise capacity, specifically their peak oxygen consumption (V̇o2).
Researchers found differences in the peak Vo2 among people who had symptoms of long COVID more than three months after a bout of COVID, and those who did not. Researchers also said the reduced exercise capability goes beyond just deconditioning, or the physiological changes that come after a period of inactivity. People also experienced dysfunctional breathing, chronotropic incompetence (inability to increase heart rate during exercise) and impaired oxygen uptake and utilization.
As with most information surrounding long COVID, much is still unknown about the condition — including its connection to exercise intolerance. “No single mechanism emerged as to why long COVID contributes to a decrease in exercise capacity,” Durstenfeld said. He and his colleagues concluded that more research needs to be done on the connection, but that exercise intolerance should be considered a potential symptom of long COVID.
If you suspect you are affected, please see your doctor for the latest treatment.
The self-defense training clinic offered by Sidekick Karate and the Salisbury Rowan Runners is filling up. While planned as a result of recent female runner deaths nationwide, the session is open to men as well. The training clinic will be held on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Sidekick Karate from 10 a.m. to noon. Reserve your spot by emailing me at david.freeze@ctc.net . Look for this and other activities at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org .
By Ann Farabee
The people of Cana of Galilee may not have realized that a divine agent and his mother were in attendance at the wedding. His mom told the servants at the wedding to do what her son told them to do. Apparently she, the mother of Jesus, already knew he was the divine agent from God — and would become known as not only the Savior of the world, but also as the miracle worker.
Did the servants take heed? Yes, they did exactly what Jesus told them to do, which was to fill six pots with water.
They probably did not understand the purpose, but they filled those pots to the brim. That simple act of obedience led to a miracle, because when they drew water from the pots — that water had turned into wine.
Jesus was the miracle worker:
• Fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
• Healed a diseased woman when she touched the hem of his garment.
• Sent a demon out of a man who had an unclean spirit.
• Walked on the water on the Sea of Galilee.
• Restored the sight of two blind men.
• Healed 10 lepers.
• Restored a man’s ear.
• Raised Lazarus from the dead.
Do you believe Jesus performed those miracles? I do, too.
Do you believe Jesus performs miracles in 2022? I do, too.
The same Jesus I learned about as a child, through Sunday school quarterlies and flannel board pictures, is the same Jesus that now lives in my heart. If we can trust Jesus for our salvation, we can also trust Jesus for our miracles!
When we need a miracle, we do not see Jesus standing physically by our side, delivering that miracle like He did for those in the Bible.
What we see is even more amazing — Jesus lives in our hearts — which is even closer than face to face. Since Jesus is in our hearts, our miracles are there, as well.
Why do we sometimes not receive our miracle? Is it because we do not do what Jesus tells us to do? Is it because our faith is weak? Is it because we are not expecting a miracle?
“Why can’t I have my miracle, Lord?” I prayed. I sat. I waited. I listened.
“You do,” the Holy Spirit spoke tenderly to my heart, “You do have your miracle.” Immediately, understanding came. Even if I do not see my miracle, it is on its way and it is from God.
A miracle can be defined as an extraordinary manifesting divine intervention in human affairs that cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws and therefore is considered to be the work of a divine agent.
For me — my divine agent is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Amazingly, He lives in my heart and can live in your heart at the same time. Now, that is a miracle!
Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.