Opinions

Even in my kindest recollection, Nancy Messick was a strange girl. She could have played linebacker for the Chicago Bears which pretty well nixed her success in beauty pageants and sorority teas.

What President Joe Biden revealed in the humiliating debate against his challenger, Donald Trump, was a halting performance. Whatever his cognitive condition, it was cringe-worthy. To call it the effects of a cold or to whisk it away as just a bad night is an insult to those who witnessed the worst-ever showing of Biden.

When the Lottie Moon Offering was taken each year at our church, my father stood behind the back pew in the sanctuary, which accommodated more than 200 people, as various women’s circles and youth organizations voiced their individual totals in an orderly process.

I’d never been to a U.S. citizenship ceremony before. I’d never even thought about it much. I knew the process took a long time but, beyond that, I knew nothing about it, until I was invited to one. My dear friend, Betty, was coming in from out of town to attend the citizenship ceremony of her son-in-law, Raul. Raul is a quiet and soft-spoken man who works in corporate catering. He has been waiting to become an American citizen for many years and finally, last Thursday, he became one.

After watching the recent presidential debate, in which the CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, a pair who spew a nasty disdain about Donald Trump, were surprisingly objective during the 90-minute encounter between President Joe Biden and his challenger for the Oval Office.

Many of you refrain from watching national news or reading daily newspapers for a variety of reasons: you dislike the liberal media, you don’t enjoy watching politicians argue or you simply don’t care.

I’m actually writing this column from my cabana in the mountains of Ecuador. In fact, if I look out my window, there is a snow-capped volcano in the distance. While you are enduring a hot Texas summer, I get to experience perfect weather. It goes from a low in the forties in the morning to a high in the seventies during the afternoon. It’s unbelievable. However, I feel like I should clarify at this point…I’m not here on vacation (though the weather and views are breath-taking). I am here on a mission trip with a team of twenty-five people from my church. The cabana that I am staying in is located on the grounds of Camp Chacauco near Patate, Ecuador. This camp also has a seminary on campus! We are here to help the camp and go out to a local church plant and do some construction work and a Vacation Bible School.

Last night, my husband, Peter, and I went to see the play “Come From Away.” I read about it last year, waited for the day tickets were available, and bought the very best cheap seats I could buy. I love going to the theater more than almost anything, so you might be surprised to learn my husband is not much of a theatergoer. I’ve learned, over the years, if I ask him months in advance, he imagines the date will never come and agrees to go with me -- and that’s what he did when I asked him last December about this show. The show came to town last night. Peter is a good sport.