Are you tired? Worn out? … Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.

March 21 of 2019 I read a proclamation post that was sent to me from above. Staci James wrote a moving piece about the loss of her son, Hagen.

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. John 17:20 To hear that Jesus prays for you may perhaps feel like the sentiments of an overly spiritual dreamer.

Very common questions from people in re‑covery is; I'm sober now, so what next? Will my life always be like this? Will I always walk on egg‑shells? Is there any fun in being sober? Ok so, you have found sobriety. You may have managed to put a few weeks, months or even a year on your recovery status. You want to be social, you want to have a life, but drugs and alcohol can no longer play apart. I understand these questions more than I understand most questions about sobriety. I understand it because, I get exactly where it comes from and I understand exactly why people ask. I understand why it seems so incomprehensible. I understand it because they were my questions when I first got clean. How does one vacation at the beach without tequi‑la, dinner without wine, brunch without cham‑pagne, party without shots? How do you not get silly drunk with friends? How do you not smoke pot at a concerts? How do you have fun sober?

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:14 The Israelites were in an incredibly precarious position: in front of them was the impassible Red Sea and behind them was the incorrigible Egyptian army.

Like most of the parish, I have been concerned about the loss of ambulance service in Catahoula. The Catahoula News Booster has kept the topic on the front page throughout 2023.

I am struggling. That is hard for me to say because it shines a spotlight on a part of my life that I do not want the world to see. I do not want you to see anything but hope, encouragement, a smile, and a life being lived, but if I am not being one hundred percent transparent, I am not who I claim to be, right? I have contemplated writing about my struggles for months, but each time I sat down to share my thoughts and feelings, they seemed to run from me. I spend most days witnessing the effects of enormous loss and doing my best to help carry the pain of so many people that I honestly cannot fathom how so many can hurt so badly.

“A shepherd, or sheepherder, is a person who tends, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep.” In the Bible Jesus often referred to His people as sheep. He told Peter to ‘feed His sheep’ and once told a parable about a shepherd leaving his flock of 99 to find a lost sheep.

Searching through old newspapers, I found a reference to a local paper I had never heard of before. The Harrisonburg New Era. Digging a little deeper into the history of the newspapers, it seems it was first published in 1866. William Lego Ditto was the first editor, and the newspaper was published by Walker and Gibson. The New Era had a reported circulation of 150 issues and was published on Wednesdays on a weekly basis. Samuel Duke Stone Walker assumed the role of editor in 1869. It appears the paper was still in publication until around 1871. Mr. S. D. S. Walker would move to Caldwell Parish and would be the editor of the Caldwell Watchman newspaper for 12 years. I did find one reference to the Harrisonburg New Era dated 1908, but nothing else between the 1870s and that time.

I know as a child Halloween was one of my favorite days celebrated. Not because I loved dressing up or being scared. Just simply because of all the candy that was passed out! I am not sure about other people my age, but my parents very rarely allowed us to have massive amounts of candy.