Posts from 2021

My future sister-in-law, Pam, attended Appalachian State University with Kim Hodges who later became Kim Oliver. In fact, they were roommates for a period of time. It was Pam who arranged the blind date that led to our marriage three years later! It all started when Pam suggested to Kim, who had been in a rather lengthy relationship, that she might want to meet her boyfriend’s brother who was coming out of a serious two-month Myrtle Beach romance. She suggested…

As you pass my office door do not see all the artwork as clutter. These are valued kids’ creations that I have come to cherish through the years. These are the masterpieces of our little ones here at Poplar Springs that I have plastered and hidden throughout my workspace. They remind me each day how wise, caring, and loving our children can be, not to mention how fun they are. As I did last week, I will try to preserve…

As most of you know, I am fairly new to the world of technology and computers. For the longest time I thought a modem was a bathroom device and a monitor was a lizard. I thought a keyboard was where auto mechanics placed these small ignition utensils on the wall when you took your car in for repairs. I spent thirty years avoiding computers. They grew in popularity but I was worried about getting hooked on solitaire or pressing the…

When I was a youngster, I was always told to clean my glasses. I could never see out of them, and I discovered that the best view was over the top of the corrective lenses. So, my spectacles which not only cleared my vision and corrected a condition known as “attractive nose syndrome” (my nasal appendage was so pleasant to observe that my eyes liked to look at it) did very little good. I simply was not using them. There,…

In the Rob Reiner film, Stand By Me, three adolescent (or close to it) young men go on the search for a body that was reported to be in the woods outside of their small town. Yes, it was a human body and not a body of water. I will not focus on how the body got there. Nor will I elaborate on some of the language in the movie. I will simply say …they are adolescent boys on a…

Since November, I have been in a season of trial and error as I sought different ways (with the guidance of the fine medical staff at Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem) to get my rather suspect brain back into working order. The process has been frustrating and at times quite discouraging. Medicine has always been a challenge. But now I am trying to figure out the proper combination of medication and machinery since I am now battery operated. Needless to…

I have decided that I am a rather sensitive, drama loving movie buff with a heart for redemptive films for the most part. I discovered that as Kim and I recently became customers of “complicated television” requiring two controllers and a computer science degree. But I have choices. Kim is without options because she no longer knows how to operate the TV. But there is hope for her. Her wonderful husband is in touch with his sensitive side so we…

Today is one of those days I referred to in my Sunday morning message a couple of weeks back. Today at some time I will close my office door, get my phone out, look at my playlist, dial up the Allman Brothers, press play when I find the classic tune Whipping Post and crank it up real loud. Lord forgive me but it’s been coming on for a while: “sometimes I feel …sometimes I feel …like I’ve been tiiiiiide to…

One of the best decisions made by Poplar Springs over the past couple of years was the formation of the Health Promotion Team. When it formed it was seen as a group of medical people in our congregation who would keep us informed concerning healthy living, nutrition, monthly medical emphases, and general well being. We wore a variety of colors on assorted Sundays to emphasize various health concerns. We had blood pressure checks, nutrition talks and “in church” visits with…