Happy Birthday:
Aug. 26: Kenny Freeman, Ralph Brown, Jr., Laurie Calhoun McLaughlin, Edward May, Wes Tabor, Pat Barnes, Jr., Mrs. William J. Cobb, Lissie Smith, Allen Lovett, Ann Warren, Kristin Irvin, Julie Foster, Matthew Gage Reynolds, Haley Mitchell, Emma Barnes, Erin Barnes.
Aug. 27: Bobby Watkins, Mrs. Sam Waggoner, Margaret Pickett, Sammy Blossom , Dana Roby Moore, Albert Gibbs, Jr., William Threadgill, III, Victoria Sebren, Brandon Karnatz, Maybeth Lang.
Aug. 28: Sharon G. Moore, Stephanie Nelson, Opal Austin, Mike Pope, Kim Walls.
Aug. 29: Lynda Wolverton, Mona Chambers.
Aug. 30: Nelda Risher, Nancy Bramlett, Dawn Odom, Mrs. R. L. Hatch, Leisa Michelle Wilkerson, Joshua Jeffcoats, Becky Vincent, Rose Mary Brown, Elsie McCrory.
Aug. 31: Paul Hunt, Andrew Glenn Pennington, Lena Noblin, Rod Keenum, Val Gene Williams, Frank Glick, Jr., Wilma Dell Moore, Don Mitchell, Leah Edmondson, Dale Weatherford, Mary Roberts, Thomas Pete Pearce, Jackie Kunkel, Clisby Clarke.
Sept. 1: Becky McMillan, Gwen Crout, Barbara Jones, Carmen Riser, Bill Tabor, Stephen Lewis, James Howell Moore, Paula Gail Calhoun, Tim Chambers, Tim Mackwood, Ashley Machelle Sanders, Daniel Butler.
Saddened to learn of the passing of Peggy Hydrick Harvey, of Memphis, Tennessee, widow of the late football great, James Harvey. Peggy had been in poor health for a number of years. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hydrick, her brother, and precious daughter, Jennifer. Our sympathy to her son, Brit and all the extended family. Funeral plans were incomplete when this column was sent.
“Old timers” will be interested in knowing that Reva Boutwell died last week. Services were held on Thursday in Lafayette, Louisiana where she spent the last years of her life in a retirement home. Reva will be remembered by many for her love of travel, especially cruises. Sympathy to the Boutwell family.
Gene and Dianne Walker met Christy Cofer and children Grace and Thomas in Starkville last weekend for a fun visit before school began.
So sorry to have omitted one of the Fillingane’s children in last weeks column. We extend our sincere sympathy to Dr. Sam Fillingane, now of Hattiesburg, and the four children, Chip, Grace, Faith and Athalia, in the death of their mother, Freida Fillingane.
Rhett Mitchell had a scare Thursday night, when he was taken from Forest by ambulance to Baptist Hospital in Jackson with severe stomach pains.
He was assigned a hospital room on Friday, and was thankful that Baptist is now allowing patients to have one family member accompany them. Rhett felt even better after son Mitch returned with the forgotten phone charger and A LOT better when the urologist came in Saturday morning with the good news that a cyst had been the culprit! After that news he said he was doing fine and seemingly free of pain. He was released Saturday afternoon. Son Stan and Kellie Mitchell, with daughter, Haley Mitchell, departed on the weekend for Tampa, Florida, with an overnight stop in Tallahassee. We are all so happy to have some news with a happy ending! Thank you, Lord!!
On a lighter note, two little Graces with Forest connections have started kindergarten together at Hall Kent Elementary School in Homewood, Alabama! The moms had enjoyed sitting together at gymnastics last year, not yet realizing their families had been friends for generations! Happy to hear that Christy Walker and Paul Cofer’s daughter, Grace, and Virginia Thomas and Woods Ormond McKibbens’ daughter, Anne Grace, are friends and classmates! And both girls have little brothers, Thomas and Woods Thomas! For anyone who doesn’t know, Christy W. Cofer is the daughter of Gene and Dianne Walker, and Woods is the son of Loren O. McKibbens and the late Ben McKibbens. Small world!
Proud of Jan Risher, who emceed a press conference last week for United Way of North Carolina. They released a report that has the potential to change the way North Carolina lives and works. Sounds really interesting and I hope Jan will let us hear more!
Congratulations to Josh and Jessica Brown Rutledge on the arrival of their daughter Ava Kinley Rutledge, who was born on July 23. The proud grandparents are Norman and Tina Brown, and Ralph Brown is the great grandfather.
A midsummer baby was born July 1 to Mary Kate and Kevin Myers. Her name is Amelia Kaitlin Myers. Proud grandmother is Pat Nabors. Congratulations all!!
So glad you liked Kari Kampakis’ piece shared last week. She has also written written another piece, as schools open, that seems quite apropos:
“Prayers for an Unusual School Year“
Going back to school in 2020 looks strange and massively different. Every school has a unique and new plan – – and every plan must be fluid and flexible. Parents are short fused and exhausted, kids just want to be with their friends, and teachers and school leaders are carrying loads that feel impossibly heavy some days.
Nothing is how it should be or used to be, and our only constant is God. He walks before us and with us. He promises the pain we feel today can’t compare to the joy that is coming. He is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. He’s the anchor of our soul—The ultimate source of peace, security and comfort.
Here are a few prayers to pray for a highly unusual school year.
1. HEALTH: Lord, heal our nation. Protect our children and communities from this virus. Give us wisdom for a successful vaccine, Keep us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy through all of this.
2. PATIENCE: Lord, grant us patience. Help us to be more tolerant of each other, and control any urge to point fingers, shame, blame, complain, yell, and judge. Help us see each other through YOUR eyes and show grace and love.
3. EDUCATE: Lord, use the trials of the school year to exponentially expand our hearts, minds, and souls. Include lessons in humanity that make us kinder, wiser, and more compassionate people.
4. PEACE: Lord, calm our hearts from the wide spread anxiety impacting children and adults. Quiet the distractions in our heads and help us block the negative noise of the world so we can sense your presence.
Reveal yourself and remind us how are you are the God of peace and order. Stay close during challenges and blessed us with supernatural peace.
5. WISDOM: Lord, we ask for the wisdom for families making hard decisions, for the medical community, for government and school leaders, and for our children. Fill us with your true and enough wisdom to know the next right thing to do. Help us trust you one step at a time
6. LIGHT AND VIRTUE: Light and virtue: Lord, cultivate strong character in our children and us. Help us be salt and light in a dark and hurting world. Empower us through the Holy Spirit to show love in our sphere of influence and open our eyes to those who may be lonely, sad, or quietly struggling.
7. STRONG RELATIONSHIPS: Lord, surround our children and us with positive influences and voices that bring out our best. Help us form warm, accepting, and intimate circles of community that buffer the pain we experience. Teach us to be the friend we hope to find.
8. PROTECTION: Lord, protect us from the evil one. Thwart his plans, especially against our children and communities, and give us the discernment to know what is and isn’t from You. Open our eyes to the division and discord he is fanning into flames, and help us defeat him through the power of Jesus.
9. FORTITUDE: Lord, give us the strength, grit, and perseverance to handle an unpredictable and frustrating school year. Build inner strength and resolve in our children and us that enables us to better serve you and prepares us for what the future holds.
10. GRATEFUL HEARTS: Lord, fix our eyes on what is good, right, real, honest, true, and genuine. Help us praise you and give thanks even through dark nights of the soul. Lord, Grant us the faith of a child and the mind of an adult. Open our hearts to see the transforming love of Jesus So that we can love others the way you love us.
In Jesus name we pray, amen.”
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