Opinions

On the eve of sending my second child--yes, my baby--off to school for the first time in his life, I realized there were many subjects in my All You Need To Know About Life course that I had not covered adequatelt. His fifth birthday was only weeks away. Please tell me: how did this happen so fast?

Monday morning, we opened the office on South Jefferson Street, in the heart of downtown Perry, Fla., and noticed that one of two concrete planters flanking the front door of the newspaper office was missing a plant. There wasn’t dirt scattered around; the plant had been retrieved carefully, dirt intact, and was nowhere to be found.

Stop for a moment and closely observe this trial you’ve been going through. When you are wounded and perplexed, it seems all you can think about is the pain, but within this raging battle ask yourself (and be honest) if you’re focusing more on the circumstance than on God who has all the answers. Ask and allow Him to heal your heart. This situation will not last forever and after a period of suffering the time will come to crawl back to your knees, stand up, dust yourself off, and try to glean wisdom from what has happened so that you will be stronger and wiser next time. Yes, there will be a next time because life is a constant classroom filled with learning opportunities. This is how God develops us to help others in their times of disappointment, and frustration.

Watching politicians speak at rallies isakintopeprallieswherecheerleaders and the band cut loose in the friendliest of settings. You pretty much know what will be spoken and the results will be a charged-up base of supporters. Over the years, the Democratic and Republican conventions have drawn me like Blue Bell at a party full of Bubba’s. The rhetoric has gotten so nasty in recent years that what was feared most, finally transpired on July 13 in rural Pittsburgh. Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, took the stage in Butler, PA (pop. 13,176), just 41 miles north of Steel-town. Just minutes into his message, he took a bullet that grazed his right ear.

It is always interesting to me to hear the stories of what inspired great songwriters to pen their works. When you learn more about the lives of the writers, it gives you a greater appreciation for their works. One song whose story is pretty remarkable to me is the old hymn, “There is a Fountain.”

News has been pouring out at such a volume in the past month, it’s like trying to get a drink from a fire hose.

For those of you who are not fashion-savvy, a skort is a cute word for a cute skirt that also has cute shorts underneath. Golfers, in particular, wear skorts. Or tennis players.

It is construction season. The building we live in is 40 years old, and it was recently discovered that water was finding its way behind the brick. This requires some very loud repairs that are not expected to be finished until fall.

On September 25, 2000, two years after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, 19-year-old Kevin Hines in a state of chaos and despair, attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. He fell more than 220 feet to the freezing dark waters of the Pacific Ocean, slamming into it at 75 miles per hour. The fall took only 4 seconds, and no one was more surprised that he had survived than Kevin himself. You see, the bridge was completed in 1937 and since that time nearly 2,000 people are known to have jumped to their deaths. What makes Kevin unique? He is the only known survivor.