Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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Some years ago, while in Williamsburg, Virginia, I had the privilege of sitting in on a teaching session led by Corrie ten Boom. Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian author and speaker, who was known for her efforts to hide Jews from arrest and deportation during the German occupation of the Netherlands, during World War II. This led to her imprisonment in a concentration camp, and loss of family members who died and were mistreated while in Nazi captivity. Her strong faith saw her through these trying times and she had many stories to tell of...
Enough! Enough already!!! That seems to be the cry of people across our country. We are seeing more anxiety as thoughts and conversations seem to turn to the Covid- 19 virus, the 2020 election, fires, droughts, hurricanes, loss of jobs, loneliness, concern for family and friends and tragic loss of lives. Even people who are usually optimistic are having a hard time overcoming the hardships and negativity that surround us. During trying times, my grandmother would always say, “This, too, will pass”. That always helped me through my tough tim...
As a young girl, I can remember my mom saying, “I have so much to do, I can’t even think!” At the time, that didn’t make much sense to me. However, I can now better understand what she was saying. She was saying she was under a lot of stress and couldn’t think straight. She wanted peace and a quiet mind. Does that sound familiar to any of us today? We all want peace of mind in these uncertain days. We all need that peace and quiet… not escaping from our new unprecedented responsibilities and way of life, but finding quiet in the midst of th...
Recently, I received a card from a dear young friend. On the front of the card was a big bright sunflower. In the card, she noted this thought: “Sunflowers follow the sun…but did you know that when it is cloudy and gray, they face each other and share their energy….”. Of course, this turned my thoughts to the present times. Throughout the cloudy and gray days of this pandemic, people have turned toward each other, sharing their energy and their love with their friends, neighbors and complete strangers. We know the source of that love comes f...
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! That is the triumphant shout we will hear in churches around the world on Easter Sunday Morning. Yes, we have a lot to shout about...the resurrection of our Lord! God revealed his strong love for us in his son, Jesus Christ, Who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and life eternal. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 Often we focus so much on the las...
We are about to come to the end of an exciting time in the church year…Advent. Many Christian churches celebrate Advent four Sundays and weeks before Christmas. Advent means “coming” in Latin. This refers to the coming of Jesus into the world. Christians use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas. In a day or two, Advent will be over and Christmas will be here! With much excitement, we will welcome the birth of our savior, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the governm...
As you read this, the official start of fall is just around the corner. The first frost, brisk winds and the crunch of autumn leaves beneath our feet can’t be far behind. As a young mother, I always felt the maternal instinct to gather my “little chicks” close to me as the days grew shorter and colder, to keep them safe beneath my wings. As a grandmother and great grandmother, this instinct remains within me. However, as any parent or grandparent knows, the time comes when you can no longer keep your “brood” close to you. That is as it should b...
I am sure most all of us have had times in our lives when we wondered if God was really hearing our prayers. There are so many life situations that can make us feel that way. Maybe a prayer, prayed for a long time seemingly goes unanswered, and even worse, God seems so far away. Perhaps a prayer, being prayed for a loved one in prolonged pain, might make one shout out an angry prayer to God. Perhaps a difficult prayer concern, that had been prayed over and over, leaves one not knowing for what else to pray. The above are just a few reasons we...
Valentine’s Day is about over and hopefully we didn’t neglect to show the people we love and those around us how special they are to us and to God. It was easy for me to assure my family of my love for them. Each year they look forward to my heart-shaped Swedish sugar cookies with the pink butter cream frosting and each special loved one’s name written on top. They know those cookies are a labor of love. Their appreciation, love and hugs bring me great joy. More importantly, God assures us of his love everyday. 1 John 4:16 reminds us, “We h...
Christmas Day is past and we are now into the 12 days of Christmas, which leads us to the church season of Epiphany on Jan. 6. Epiphany is traditionally celebrated as the time the Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus. A favorite Epiphany hymn is “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” The words of the chorus are: “O star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright; Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.” The Magi were compelled to follow the star to the King that had been foretold. You probabl...
Recently, we were blessed with the birth of our 13th great-grandchild … a sweet little baby girl. We have not yet met her nor will we be able to see her anytime soon. Distance makes it very difficult. Yet, in spite of the distance, our hearts are full of love for her and we know so much about her through pictures and updates from her parents and grandparents. However, at this stage of her life, she has no idea how much she is loved by us. Our prayer is that someday she will know us and love us in return. This reminded me of a quote by author R...
I am sure most all of you have seen the poster or tee shirt that proclaims “Freedom isn’t Free!”. These words drive home an important message, whether it pertains to the freedom we enjoy as an American or to our being set free as a Christian. Someone paid the price! As free Americans, we owe so much to so many. Past generations of brave men and women gave the ultimate sacrifice and a new generation is now giving of themselves to protect our country. Our prayer is for God to protect them as they protect us. We must not take our freedom for g...
Alleluia! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! These shouts of praise and joy will be heard throughout Christian churches on Easter morning. Easter! What a glorious time for Christians, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is a time of great joy, as we celebrate Christ’s resurrection and acknowledge and give thanks for our Saviour’s undying love for us, the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting! A dear family member of mine lost her only child, a son, a few months ago. His birthday will fall on...
Over the past few months, I have heard a couple of songs playing over the radio, that have caught my attention. Each of the songs carried the same theme. In the lyrics of one of the songs, a husband tells how, in spite of his sinfulness, his wife “.... loves me like Jesus does”. The other song is a young man assuring his sweetheart that he “will love her like Jesus does”. Whenever I hear those two songs, my first reaction is, “Good luck on that!” However, luck has nothing to do with helping us to love others as Jesus loves us. In John 13:34,...
As a little girl, I loved fairy-tales. I always loved stories that had happy endings. However, real life is not a “happily every after” fairy-tale existence. Christians will live happily ever after when we are taken to our heavenly home, but in the meantime we face various struggles. We see and hear of these struggles every day... in the world, in our nation and here at home. It seems our prayer lists grow longer and longer. It is easy to become discouraged after a steady diet of bad news in the media, along with our own struggles. I rea...
Many of us are shaking our heads in disbelief at how quickly time passes! It seems only yesterday we were celebrating Christmas and New Year’s. Now, we are already into the Season of Lent and Valentine’s Day is behind us!!! How can that be? With the business of the day and swift passing of time, it is so easy to forget to keep Jesus in our life. During the past fleeting weeks, so much has happened. Some of us have witnessed the loss of dear friends and loved ones, illness, surgery, loneliness, or loss of a job. Some have experienced an eng...
