The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 8, 1993 Page: 5 of 68
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The Old Jail Art Center.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Thursday, July 8,1993 The Albany News Page s
WORDS about the WORD
By Rev. James I. Edwards
First United Methodist
Church
Having Nothing *—
Possessing Everything
I told a story a few weeks back
that sort of went over like the
proverbial "lead balloon." I think
because my congregation didn'tsee
how it fit into the sermon, or maybe
because 1 dcin't tell stories well, it
didn't click with the.rn. So, I'm go-
ing to try it out on you.
.You' see, there was this fellow
trying to save some t ime by using
a short cut, through the country.
While driving on the country road
he hit a chug hole and blew his
right rear tire. Me was barely able
to get the car under control and
stop it. So, with shattered nerves
and a fear that he would be late to
an appointment in the next town,
he got out of the car and began to
change the tire.
i .As he began to work, he noticed
that he had stopped in front of a
fenced-in area that enclosed a two-
story building. The sign above the
door read "County Home for the
Insane."
Everything was going well as he
removed the tire and placed the
lug nuts in the hubcap. He was
even beginning to think that he
might have plenty of time to get
into town, clean up,- and relax a
few minutes when the inevitable
happened. As he rolled the spare
around to the side of the car, he hit
the hubcap, flipping it into the air.
In slow motion and with sinking
heart he watched the five lug nuts
sail through the air and land in the
ditch that was armpit deep in soft
mud.
Frantically, he searched in the
mud trying to find even one of the
lug n uts — to no avail whatsoever.
Finally, with arms dirty up to the
elbows, limply hangingby his sides,
he stood in front of the mud puddle
and literally cried — out loud!!
As his tears subsided, he noticed
REV. JAMES'I. EDWARDS
that he was being approached by a
man who was, by his dress and
demeanor, an inmate of the facil-
ity. "Fine," he thought. "Here I am
standing out here with mud up to
my elbows, stranded, and now some
lunatic is coming over here and
he's sure to want to talk."
Inevitably, the first thing that
the inmate did was ask, "What's
the matter?"
With anger welling up in him,
tears beginning to stream from his
eyes, and the words rising in cre-
scendo and pitch, the stranded man
started out and ended by scream-
ing, "As any fool should know by
looking, it hasn't been a really
grand day for me.. I'm standing
here covered with mud; I've got a
flat tire. I'm going to miss an ap-
pointment 'cause I've lost my lug
nuts in this loblolly, and I can't put
the spare back on. Now I'm
standing here yelling at a total
stranger, and I'm beginning to
wonder which of us is more insane!"
The inmate walked calmly over
to the fence, looked the car over
once or twice and said, "Why don't
you take one lug nut from each of
the other three wheels? Three will
hold until you get into town. Then
after your appointment you can
buy enough lugnutstofill out each
tire."
As the color drained from the
motorist's face, the wisdom of the
plan sank in. A sheepish grin en
veloped his face as elation took the
place of anger. "You can't be too
bad off and think that well," he
exclaimed. "You shouldn't even be
in that place." •
"Oh, yes, I should," the inmate
answered back. "Psychologically,
I'm a real wreck, but I'm not stu-
pid."
Some in my congregation may
have thought that I might be try-
ing to embarrass them because
they didn't think of the obvious.
. The real moral to the story is that
we should always in our churches
be looking for the things that we
can do, not bewailing the things
that we cannot do at this time in
our existence.
Sometimes we become so flus-
tered that we can't even receive
the benefits of the gifts of grace
that God gives us, because we are
too busy worrying about some other
church that seems to have more to
work with than our own church.
I think that we will find that the
Scriptures teach that if we will use
the "talents" that God gives us to
His glory, He will bless us with
more "talents." Surely the Scrip-
tures do not lie!
Read the 6th chapter of II
Corinthians and see if you agree
with me that this is what Paul is
asking us to do. Let us dedicate
ourselves to working with what we
' have —not what we think we have
to have.
Allow God's power to work
through the gifts that He sets out
for our use. Then give God the
glory for what is accomplished.
Christmas spirit starts this month
The Albany Ministerial Alliance
is getting a headstart on Ch ristmas
by collecting new and "like new"
toys this month during the annual
"Christmas in July" project.
The Alliance includes toys in the
food baskets its members and other
volunteers assemble each Christ-
mas season for needy families. Last
year, more than 100 children were
given toys and other gifts through
the basket program.
Tom Anthony of the First
Christian Church, who heads up
the toy committee along with Pat
Henrichson, reminded local resi-
dents that donations do not have to
be expensive.
All,types of gifts are welcome,
andpastcontributionshave ranged
from battery-operated toys and
large stuffed animals to crayolas,
coloring books and packages of
stickers.
Anthony added that older chil-
dren should not be forgotten. Sta-
tionery, inexpensive watches, toi-
letry items, and cassette tapes are
among the suggestions for this age
group.
Gifts do not have to be new, but
the committee emphasizes thatany
used toys should be in good shape.
"Many children have toys in their
closets that they played with only a
few times, or maybe never even
opened," said Anthony. "Of course
these are acceptable, as are other
toys that are in good shape, but we
don't want to pass on 'junk' to the
children on our list."
He continued that the "Christ-
mas in July" project was started
four years ago as a way to get a
headstart on the basket collection
process.
"We initiated this approach be-
cause most people just don't have
any extra money in December and
they may not be able to give as
much then as they would like to,"
said Anthony. "This summer
project gives people a chance to
think about those less fortunate at
a time of year when things aren't
quite as frantic."
Donations may be taken to any
church in Albany that participates
in the Christmas basket project.
Money gifts will also be accepted
and used to purchase new; toys.
The toys are stored until December
and then included in the baskets
for families with children.
Sunday, July 25 has been set as
the "target date" for local residents
to bring toys and gifts to the vari-
ous participatingchurchesin town.
Anyone who h as toys to give, but
cannot delivery them to a church is
asked to contact Henrichson at 762-
3539 for pickup.
For other information, contact
either Henrichson or Anthony at
762-3480 or 762-2740.
J.D. HOOKER
J.D. Hooker, 68,ofBreckenridge
died Tuesday, June 29, 1993 near
Durartgo, Colorado. Funeral ser-
vices were held at 10:30 a.m. Sat-
urday at Melton Funeral Home
Chapel of Memories, with the Rev.
Mike Clearman officiating. Burial
was in Baker Cemetery.
Born in Bradley,Oklahoma, Mr.
Hooker moved to Breckenridge in
1970 from Snyder. He owned and
operated BigSandy Bait & Grocery
and was a member of Lakeside
Baptist Association. He was a
Shackelford Water Supply Corp.
director.
Survivors include his wife, Lois
Hooker ofBreckenridge; a daugh-
ter, Renoka McCracken of Graham;
a son, Dea Hooker of Splendora;
three brothers, Carl Gene Hooker
of Wichita, Kansas, Lavoy Hooker
of Richardson, and Vanoy Hooker
of Piano; and three grandsons.
COUNTY NUTRITION MENU
TUESDAY, July 13: Ranch style
beans, turnip greens, potatoes au
gratin, cornbread, cake, milk. .
WEDNESDAY, July 14: Beef
stew, coleslaw, cornbread, pud-
ding, milk.
THURSDAY, July 15: Beef patty
with gravy, mashed potatoes,
broccoli with cheese, bread, ice
cream, milk.
First Baptist
Church
invites you to come
worship with us.
Lloyd Conner
Pastor
202 N. Main
762 2019
Sunday School: 9i45 am
Morning Worship: ll:OOam
Evening Worship: 7:00 pm
Wednesday Evening: 7:00 pm
£OJi <zA/[&moriLaC
<Lpti£±tj\jt&riLan dfiuxati ■
Sunday School..... 9:45 a.m.
Worship Service .. 11:00 a.m.
CHURCH 762-2038
MANSE 762-2638
The
ment
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firma-
showeth his handwork. Psalm 19:1
if?
'■ 'V
Bread of life...
One of the older classes (top
photo) at the combined five
church Vacation Bible School
earlier this week mixes up
unleavened bread duiin ,a
special study. Meanwhile
younger class (bottom photo
gets a hand-out of regular bread
and the Word to illustrate tht
"bread of life" during their
morning session, the special
VBS is being split between the
Methodist and Assembly of God
buildings, and will last through
Friday of this week.
[Staff Photos!
cSiIe.aUoni.ljij
{Ui±fia jBojjd
txidc. ctc.nl of
^Shannon
Ull
cSflOWLl — S, >993
^WuLLinc] - cjfucjuil 21, 7993
al
Albany News
Sam Snyder
is over
the hill!
7-9-93
At Least 50 of the55framers of the Constitution
were Christians'^.
$
<0
NgS
"I am the light of the world : he that fol- j
loweth Me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life" TheClwist ^m* 12 \
Researched by M E Bradford, PhD.' i '~ • '
Godfrey - Neese Funeral Home
229 Hill -762-2211
Albany Communication
Mr. & Mrs. Eddie Bartee
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 8, 1993, newspaper, July 8, 1993; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth413641/m1/5/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.