Columns/Opinions

Yesterday, something pretty cool happened to me and there are only a few words that are suitable to describe it. Some would use miraculous, some maybe inspirational, and some may be even skeptical.

I prefer to keep it simple and just say…God.

Most people do not know the extent of the ordeal that my family and I have battled over the last seven years with the little troublesome monster that keeps growing back in my head. Two surgeries were unable to eradicate the pesky growth and a third surgery has been delayed, or should I use the term postponed, because of the stubbornness of the person it decided to call home. That surgery is now two years overdue, and likely will never happen now.

Because yesterday, a man that we had never met, at a random visit to a bookstore, decided to do as he was led to do and struck up a conversation with my wife that then led to him praying about the monster in my head.

by Pam Kumpe

Yesterday, there was a tragic multi-vehicle accident out on Interstate 30 between New Boston and Hooks. By now, most everyone has seen the multitude of pictures and videos from the scene and are aware that a local young mother lost her life in that accident. It is nothing less than a tragedy, and today, we all mourn the loss and pray for the families involved. There have been far too many accidents on our stretch of I-30 in Bowie County in recent days. Most of them could have been prevented with driver awareness and obeying the traffic laws.

Last night and this morning my phone and email have been inundated with requests for information about the wreck, and I have been asked repeatedly why we as a newspaper were not at the scene and why we were not posting pictures. So, I have decided to answer those questions here and explain those answers.

Hey, did ya hear? Did you hear about the living testimony, the walking miracle that came home this week from a hospital in Little Rock?
Yes, I am sure you probably did hear about Jett Osburn and his miraculous return back to Bowie County. I will spare you the long story and details because if you are from around here and not living in a cave, you know about Jett’s story and the triumphs and trials along the journey for him, his mama Morgan, his grandmother Elizabeth and the rest of the family.
It is a story nothing less than a miracle, and if you know the story and didn’t believe in miracles before, you pretty much have to now. This is a toddler that will forever hold the title of miracle, living testimony, and example of the power of prayer.

I am generally not a very emotional person. That’s not saying I don’t cry, but not often. This morning, I did.

Yesterday was my birthday and there were the usual greetings, a few cards and messages and a couple of gifts. I enjoyed each one and am very grateful to all of those that took the time to make the day a good one.

But, the big one came this morning.

During the night, my kids transformed my office into a shrine. Nope, there is not a Buddha in the corner, or a thousand candles burning, instead there are treasures on the wall. Treasures that mean more to me than gold, they are simply priceless.

This morning, the walls of my office are covered with my heart in the form of t-shirts and jerseys. One from every school that we cover, one from each of my grands, one from Oktoberfest, Little Rascals Daycare, and the jersey that my son wore when he played t-ball so many years ago.

Well, I hope everybody had a great 4th of July and celebrated the freedoms that some of us hold very dear. There were some great festivities around with plenty of opportunities to see fireworks, eat some food and spend time with the community, and hopefully you took advantage of the fun.
Ya know, we have been awfully serious here in this spot for the last several weeks, so maybe it is time to lighten up a little and have some fun of our own. They say laughter is the best medicine and most of us like to laugh as often as possible, and if you don’t, you are missing out.
So, here goes. Let’s scattershoot a little and maybe get a grin on our faces, and see if we all feel better when we are done.

By Allyson Pebsworth
Staff Reporter

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, there are so many social media outlets today that allow us to share our everyday lives with people around the world. Everything from eating a bowl of cereal to getting engaged is posted and viewed by our friends in hopes to see how many likes and shares we get, but at what point do we need to stop and think about what we are posting and who may be viewing it?

There are those people who post good hearted fun, silly memes, family pictures and so on, and then there are, what I like to call, the over sharers. These people do not leave anything to the imagination when it comes to any aspect of their lives. Every detail of their lives, good and bad are shared with the world several times per day with no thought of the recoil that could be a potential threat.

Holding tight to the fibers of freedom

Memorial Day weekend is approaching, and for many that means the first trip to the lake this year, pool parties, barbecues out in the backyard and probably an ice chest filled with cans. I myself am planning a little quiet time and some much needed quality time with my family.

And that, for me, is where the holiday gets its true meaning.

On battlefields, on the high seas, in remote jungles and all kinds of different places around the world, men and women have died so that we can have our family time this weekend. These men and women did not want to die, they wanted to come home to their families, but they also believed in something so deeply that they were willing to risk everything to protect it.

Last time in this space the subject was teachers and all that they do to make our world a better place. I thought then, and still do, that being a teacher has to be one of the toughest jobs on the planet. Another, and most likely tougher job, that I am glad someone else is doing besides myself, is being a law enforcement officer.
It takes a special kind of person to walk out the door of your home every night, fully aware that you will be putting your life in harm’s way with the possibility of not coming home after your shift a lot higher than your average joe.
I simply cannot imagine what it must feel like, both for the officer, and their family. It is probably very similar to the feelings that we had when the man that would marry our daughter was in Afghanistan. Those were days when our nerves would sometimes get the best of us, when watching the news was tough, and wondering where he was and what he was doing was even tougher.

It takes a lot most of the time to rile this old boy up, but let me tell ya friends, when you go to talkin’ trash about the town that I call home, and you spread inaccurate, uneducated and downright false information about my town and you disseminate that information in the form of an unmarked, unidentified flyer without folks being able to determine where it came from, you might just get on my bad side.

Whether this flyer is a political ploy, I don’t know. It is impossible to tell since there is no name on it claiming ownership or authorship. In fact, if I had knowledge that it was a political statement, or some political candidate’s platform, you would not see these words here, because I would be journalistically bound to keep my mouth shut on the subject, and let the voters decide.