When I was a kid, me and my sister, Kaye, were always getting into trouble about something. Momma would have us go out in the yard and get a hickory switch. What we would do was try it out on each other so we wouldn’t get one that stung too bad. Guess what? Momma caught on. Never thought about her being smarter than we were. Like a loving parent, God punishes us or corrects us for our own good. We should listen to Him because peace of mind and heart comes to us as we obey His word. When we disobey as a child r as an adult, it brings punishment and it threatens our piece of mind and also our heart we want so much. Isaiah 48:17-18; 22 says, “Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeath thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the seal There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.”

Christian love and sympathy is extended to the families of Jimmy Nesmith, Janice Johnson Newton, Barbara Martin Nichols Merle Burchell Roberts, Ann Spivey, Pam Fulmer Taylor, Zaydon Arnett and Theresa Oppewal. May God continue to comfort you during this time.

Happy anniversary wishes to Jeffery and Amy Parker on Sept. 28, Jimmy and Tina Lemmond on Sept. 28, Jeb and Rebecca Taylor on Sept. 29, Mike and Brittney May on Sept. 30, and David and Stacy Lacy on Sept. 30.

Happy birthday wishes to Holden Sharp, Tyler Stinson, and Steve Holsomback on Sept. 28, Elliana Baim, Jody Maples, Vanessa Nesmith and Alina Shaneyfelt on Sept. 29, Donna P. Terry, Kendall Sharp and Tyler Shaneyfelt on Sept. 30, Jordyn Grubbs, Anna Beth White and Mike Anderson on Oct. 1, Misty Montgomery on Oct. 2, Terry Thorton on Oct. 3 and Marie Bartlett on Oct. 4.