...a word from Kathy

S aturday night honored a young man for a year of accomplishment. Friends and family gathered. She came into the room looking disheveled and unkempt. She appeared older than the crowd gathered. She was easily in her 50’s but looked older. Something wasn’t quite right with her. It was obvious her journey had been difficult. She sat alone. As the meeting progressed, an invitation was given for those who would like to share their struggle. Silence lingered for a bit. Out of the entire crowd gathered, the young, the nice-looking, the nicely dressed...only one person spoke. The woman. She spoke of her recent struggle and the hope she now claimed. She spoke of her illness and the years of struggle. Then, she looked at the young man being honored that night and thanked him for accepting her and encouraging her. His welcome and acceptance of her had led her to a new hope. Why would such a young man go out of his way to welcome this woman? How and why would he have shown such...

O ne recent Sunday, we came in a bit late and chose seats quickly. Our daughter came in after us. She immediately, asked me, “Why are we sitting here? We don’t usually sit here. Can we move?” "No, we’re fine", I replied. A few minutes later, “Mom, really, this is not where we sit”. She was distracted and I was distracted. It took me the entire service to work through not being distracted. Clearly, the message that day was lost to me. We merely sat in a different place yet she and I were completely distracted. It’s reminded me of how easily distracted I can become… a phone call, a good book, Facebook , my favorite TV shows; they all call to me and distract my mind. I know general life issues distract me from the needs in our world because I’m so focused on the needs in my little 360° world. And recently, a bigger distraction has been revealed to me. My son and I recently visited Texas Tech University as a possibility for his enrollment this fall. This Unive...