Prayer List
Don Baker will be taking therapy for his back problems.
Kathy Hill is recovering at home.
A.C. Quinn’s great-great nephew Connor Quinn is having seizures.
James and Florene Griffin, Jerry and Betty Harris, Don Hickerson, Billie Phillips, Billie Bradford, Betty Clark, Eddie Hickerson, Gary Hickerson, Dorothy Hodges, Bobbi King, Audrey McKin, Beryl Miller, Della Price, Eddie Rolens, Brian Scott and Della Skerkis.
Serving in the military;
Cody Blomstedt,
Josh Van Deren and
Chris Johnson. All are in the U.S. at this time.
Tyler Davies has been deployed to Guam.
Let us pray for our country and government leaders and those who are in harms way, military and civilian personnel.
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much…
Fellowship is today after morning services. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend.
Pantry Item: Assorted Cereal
June Announcements: Robert Embry
Lord Supper: Greg Counts, Robert Courtney and Don Harrington
June 3 Prayers: Morning: Don Harrington – Kerry King
Evening: Greg Counts – Charles Counts
Scriptures: Robert Embry
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A few months before I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors:
Mom taught me the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger? He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.
If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answer about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league baseball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn’t seem to mind.
Sometimes Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to her room and read her books. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house… not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our long-time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.
My Dad was a teetotaler who didn’t permit alcohol in the home, not even for cooking. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked.. and NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.
Still, if you were to walk into my parents’ den today you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name? We just call him TV.
Note:Folks, there is more fact than fiction in this little story! Don’t you agree?
(ACQ)