Lifestyle & Opinion News

By Rylee Freeman I have never been a person who is okay with the unknown. I like to be prepared for every scenario that could come next. I could probably live the exact same day over and over again and never go crazy. Recently, I was praying over a situation that’s going on in my personal life, and I just repeatedly said to God that I trusted him and I knew he was in control. So why did I still have a pit in my stomach? Life is not a series of

By Melissa Motes Have you ever stopped to think about why you’re here? Not just what you do, where you work, or what role you fill—but why did God put you here? I remember being a little girl lying on my slide outside and looking up at the heavens and asking God this very question. I certainly didn’t have the answer then. But even as a little girl, I think I understood that there had to be more to life than just being born and dying. We were created for something. When Jesus

Can you feel it? That twinge of electricity that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and that sense of unbridled excitement that only happens during one time of the year? Can you hear it? The echo of that roar that only comes from one place and rings loud with the sounds of fanaticism and pride. That twinge and that roar only come from one place and that is the local football stadium on a fall Friday night in Texas. And folks, it is back! Those proverbial Friday

Over the last week or so it has again come to my attention a fact that everyone should know, and that is, you just can’t please everyone. You can try…but you will fail. Doing what we do here at this newspaper, and other community newspapers all across the country, you learn to have a pretty thick skin. We are never going to make every reader happy, and will often be the focus of criticism and ridicule. In my more than 25 years in this industry, that is a fact that just can’t

By Connie Pinkham At the time of this writing, I am waiting for my two youngest grandchildren to wake up. Their parents both work very early today. I came to their house and made myself comfy on their couch. I didn’t want the children pulled out of bed and brought to me in the wee hours of the morning. Not a great way to start a day…for them or for me! I’ve spent a lot of time waiting. Even as a child, I remember waiting. Waiting with raised arm for my turn in the school

By Pam Kumpe Some days, our wandering feels a little more like wondering. We take steps that leave us confused or tired, or that end up leaving us with calluses in places nobody can see. But even there, the Lord is working—within us, around us, and often beyond what we realize. He reminded me of that again after I had spent time with a few homeless friends, dropping off Gatorade and little nuggets of friendship. I had emptied my trunk and was driving away when I rounded the b

By Melissa Motes “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:16-17). Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up. These powerful words were immortalized by one of my favorite coaches when I was growing up. Coach Jimmy Valvano, was one of the greatest NCAA basketball coaches of all time. I was glued to the telev

We all have things that some call core memories. Memories that stay with you forever. Memories that leave a mark on your subconscious and often guide us through life. One of those memories for me is the very first time the steep trek was made up to the DeKalb Bears press box. Call me silly, but the memory of that first step into that tiny press box really did leave an indelible impression. It is a memory that runs the gamut from thinking what a small space it was, to the utte