Musings

      By Sean Dietrich The misperception about New Year’s is that it’s supposed to be a happy occasion. Sort of like Christmas. Or a birthday party.  But it’s not Christmas. New Year’s represents the end of something. And goodbyes are not joyous.  New Year’s is also a beginning. Beginnings are not entirely happy...

      By Pastor Doug Stauffer On December 31, the clock strikes midnight, and one second later, we step into 2025. Many hearts will be full of hope, eyes fixed on the horizon. Like every new year, the coming year brings a fresh slate, a chance to start again, grow and live...

By “Doc” Doug Stauffer It’s a familiar scene often portrayed in nativity displays: the wise men gather around a baby in a manger. However, a closer look at the Bible reveals a different picture. According to Scripture, by the time the wise men arrived in Bethlehem, Jesus was not an...

By Gueary Clendenning What was your perfect gift you received as a child during Christmas? You know, the one gift that stands out in your memory even after all these years? I remember my perfect gift was a fully loaded red, chrome Schwinn bicycle! How many of you from my generation...

      By Sean Dietrich The Third Day of Christmas. My three French hens must have gotten lost in the mail. The weather was a stolid 34 degrees. The water in the dog bowls was stone. The sun was out.  Waffle House was warm and inviting. The parking lot was mostly empty except...

By Pastor Doug “Doc” Stauffer As this reaches you, another very contentious election has passed, and the results are now known. For some, it is a time of celebration, as the outcomes they supported have proved victorious. The future seems less certain for others who had hoped for different outcomes....

  By Sean Dietrich  It was late. I pulled into the campus after seven o’clock to attend my last class of the semester. My last college class. Ever. It was a night class. In America, most self-respecting people my age were finishing supper, settling down to watch “Wheel of Fortune.” But I...

By Sean Dietrich “It’s all gone.” That’s what the lady on the news said. She was an older woman, being interviewed by a reporter. Giant news camera shoved in her face. The lady sounded like she was in a uniquely frantic state, poised somewhere between panic and absolute exhaustion. It is a...

By “Doc” Doug Stauffer The most controversial issue on the November ballot is Amendment 4, titled the “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.” Abortion is, unfortunately, divisive, but this amendment is deceptive. This change to the state’s Constitution would forever alter Florida. While Amendment 4 is being marketed as a...

By Sean Dietrich Sunrise on Lake Martin. I’m usually the first one awake. I rarely have any company in the mornings. I wake up with the chickens. Most mornings, I sit on my porch alone. Just me and the feral cats. This morning, however, I had company. I heard small feet walking...