Local writers and stories
By: Mark Holtsberry Blanchard Bert Reeb was born April 21, 1897 in Antwerp, Ohio. The son of Berton Clayton “Bert” Reeb and Irene Iva (Fauver) Reeb born February 17, 1879 in Ridgeville, Henry Co., Ohio. This couple was married in 1896. This marriage did not last. By 1900, Blachard and his mother were living with…
Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker I have enjoyed singing and remembering the verses to this Christmas Carol for many years, but always wondered what the meaning was. First of all a partridge in a pear tree was mentioned in all 12 verses so what does a partridge represent? While playing Christmas songs at an…
Johnny, a 19 year old college boy returned from a walk one day with an abandoned baby raccoon. He didn’t want to turn it back out to die, so they took it to a vet to have it checked out, and they found why his mother abandoned it. The baby raccoon was blind. Johnny named…
On December 8, Pastor Dwayne Richardson delivered a heartfelt sermon titled “Advent – Peace in Jesus’ Name,” focusing on the profound gift of peace that comes through Christ. Drawing from Luke 2:25-38, Pastor Richardson reflected on the story of Simeon, a devout man who held the infant Jesus and declared he could now “depart in…
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And all went to be taxed, everyone to his own city.” The old familiar story that we marvel at this time of year. When we were children in school and in…
Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker Getting old is not fun. It’s good to be alive but I think the headlights on my (car) body have gone out. My headlights on this old body are my eyes. Yes those nasty little growths that dim the eyes of a lot of us seniors have made their home…
Dear Lord, you are our delivered. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us…but we need your strength to take the first step. We need your help. Please help us. Please give us a strong desire to change. We ask that you remove all negative outside influences that hinder us. We ask in…
The simple Christmas Story. You have heard it hundreds of times, but it’s new every time you hear it. Seems like every time you read the Bible you see something new. I’m not a scholar, I can simply read. I want to point out that this story actually happened. It is an historical fact. Luke…
I am a new creature predestine for greatness. (2 Corinthians 5:17) I am a child of God fully accepted by the Father (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:6) God loves me regardless of how I perform and His love toward me never runs out. (Jeremiah 31:3) My conscience is purged from dead works; I am forgiven and…
Heavenly Father, I need your Holy Spirit to help me not think and live according to my old ways. I place my childhood fears and bloodline curses behind me and I cancel them, in Jesus’s name. By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I choose not to be enslaved to them any longer! Today, I…
We tend to think that the pilgrims were the first settlers in America but that is not the case. A group came over from England and settled in Jamestown, Virginia, 10 years earlier. On April 26, 1607, three ships landed in America. They had sailed from England in December, and carried 100 passengers. They landed…
Father, in the name of Jesus, I make a fresh commitment to You to live in peace and harmony, not only with the other brothers and sisters of the Body of Christ, but also with my friends, associates, neighbors and family. I let go of all bitterness, resentment, envying, strife and unkindness in any form.…
Father, I praise You that I dwell in the secret place of the Most High and that I shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (whose power no foe can withstand). I will say of You, Lord, “the Lord is my refuge and my fortress, my God; on Him I lean…
