By CAROLYN NEWMAN I’ve been thinking and I’ve been told Everyone you meet could be carryin’ a heavy load. So with a handshake, a hug or a smile We can lighten someone’s load for a little while. People in line at stores decked with holly, Looking sad and impatient—’Tis the season to be jolly? All of this rush and this
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON When Kathy and I first got married, we lived in a little house on Orange Street in Abilene. We didn’t have much. She was working for $50 a week at the public relations department at Abilene Christian. I was going to school and working part-time at Gibsons Discount Center. We didn’t have a lot of bills,
Read moreBy OMER HANCOCK Waiting makes life difficult. Some people have two seasons of the year. One is the Christmas season. The other – waiting for Christmas. Yes, waiting isn’t easy. Threaded throughout the Old Testament and the Intertestamental period (between the Old Testament and the New Testament) God’s covenant people continued to accelerate their hope in waiting for the Messiah, the anointed one, the
Read more
By JANICE SIX It occurred to me that even though we define Advent as a time of preparing for the coming of Christ, the majority of our attention focuses on that which has already taken place: Christ’s birth, and Christ’s ongoing presence with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, rather than preparing for the coming of Christ,
Read more
By DANNY MINTON Every year at this time people tell “The Story.” It’s the story of a baby wrapped in rags, born in a stable in a remote town called Bethlehem. It was the beginning of the fulfillment of a promise God made to Abraham thousands of years ago. Other stories continue to inspire us to do good during this
Read more
BOOK SIGNINGS Monday, Nov. 26, 4-6 p.m. at Texas Star Trading Co., Gary McCaleb, former Abilene mayor, is the co-author of Treasured Places: Celebrating the Richness of America’s Cities & Towns ($18.95 paperback). Saturday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m.-noon at Texas Star Trading Co., Charles Lynn Russell is the author of the novel, Coming Home ($15 paperback) Pre-signed — Playing for More: Trust Beyond
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON You’re in a dark room. You take a match and strike it. You can hold the match on the end and watch as it slowly burns down to almost the tips of your fingers and then, as it nears the end, blow it out. At that point, the match is blackened and useless never to be used
Read more
Looking for a different kind of Thanksgiving with the opportunity to make new friends? Aldersgate United Methodist Church is hosting an unusual Thanksgiving Day meal. It will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the church’s Open Door Community Garden, located at the corner of Amarillo and South 19th streets. Guests are asked to bring a dish to share. The church’s associate
Read more
By NANCY PATRICK I enjoy Thanksgiving more than any other holiday. Its position between two of the most publicized holidays of the year—Halloween and Christmas—offers a chance to breathe and focus on something other than commercialism. Thinking about Thanksgiving actually makes me feel good. It reminds me of the plans for my fall wedding back in 1968. Enrolled in Hardin-Simmons
Read more
Spirit Of Abilene 