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Working behind the scenes
BY DAWN REED Early in the morning, while it was still dark, I could hear him coming. The whirl of his brushes and the low hum of his engine quietly announced his arrival. It was the street sweeper. No one cheered as he worked. There was no parade, no banners of appreciation. Most did not…
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Encouraged by God’s word
BY DAWN REED Last Wednesday night, I went to “big church” instead of helping with the kids in the back. My beloved was heading to the Southern Baptist Convention, so I wanted to be in his presence one more time before he left. The words he shared from Colossians were exactly what I needed to…
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Chase good things
BY DAWN REED Last weekend, my beloved and I watched in horror as rescue workers in Laos safely evacuated four men who had been trapped in a flooded cave for over a week. The video showed incredibly narrow openings where they had to turn sideways to squeeze through. It smothered us just watching. (One source…
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Part of the family
BY DAWN REED Last weekend, our kids came in from Lexington and Indiana to visit and cook out, but especially to go to the cemeteries back home. Our niece, Cassie, joined us. She recently moved from Florida to Virginia. Having always lived away, she hadn’t known where her father had lived, nor his parents, grandparents…
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Who is influencing you?
BY DAWN REED Searching the internet for the just right recipe for beef tips, I landed on a “Best Slow Cooker Beef Tips and Gravy” version on Pinterest. When I cook, I do want it to be the best, so I took a chance. It looked easy. I mixed together the ingredients – some I…
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What you cannot measure
BY DAWN REED Slaw makes me really nervous. Wait. That is not exactly right. Making slaw makes me really nervous. I do not have a set recipe. Oh, I know exactly what goes in it, but the ingredients are not exactly measured. When I make slaw, I add a scoop of mayo, a sprinkling of…
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Dealing with grief
BY DAWN REED If you are in our area this week, you will find us hugging a little more and holding hands a bit tighter. Our whole community was rocked a few days ago when a treasured 12-year-old boy named Diesel took his life just before his 13th birthday. His brother is in my Sunday…
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The Legos God puts together
BY DAWN REED My 8-year-old friend Emerson loves Legos. And not just the big chunky ones most kids his age tend to build with. This young guy just completed the Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle and Grounds, which has over 2,000 pieces and is recommended for ages 18 and up. I was blown away. Over 2,000…
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Too much phone time
BY DAWN REED It seemed like a genius idea, and I felt efficient, filling every spare moment with something. Having a small computer in my hand for several hours a day, I wanted to be productive, not wasting a minute. There were people to text, email or message, Instagram memes to chuckle over and share.…
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Celebrating the goodness of God
BY DAWN REED My beloved and I recently began celebrating special events with quesabirria tacos at our favorite Mexican restaurant. (Our friend Bubba Stewart got us hooked on them.) Quesabirria. We say it over and over, never getting it exactly right. It is a struggle to roll our “r’s.” Ignacio and Ariel patiently repeat the…
