The summer of 2024 is all but in the books. It has been another good one for us here at Highland Park. We have had several of our number get to go on mission trips and even more got to spend time at Maywood Christian Camp. It was followed by an amazing Vacation Bible School and soon after VBS we had people of all ages go and experience the Ark Encounter. Recently our college group went on a retreat and I heard good things from it.

Several weeks ago Travis and I had the opportunity to honor the life of our aunt Debbie who passed away suddenly. They were members at the River Road Church of Christ where her husband regularly led singing. When preparing for the funeral the family sent us a list of songs they found in her Bible. We aren't sure whether they were her favorites or they were the ones she loved for her husband to lead. Regardless they were some great gospel hymns. And so to honor her I took the list and turned it into a poem entitled Debbie's Song. We thought you might enjoy it:

There is a great song by the group Nickel Creek that tells a wonderful but sad story. The song opens with a young boy bringing his mother a gift: Her very own roses grown in her garden. What she immediately notices is that in his desire to give to her, he has been wounded by the thorns that buried themselves into his hands.

We tend to mark milestones in our community by years. If something happened 1

year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, we mark it as a big event. Anniversaries, birthdays, and

other events are things that tend to be made more important by the year.

That holds true to both good and bad things that have happened in your life.

Word to your mother!

You have likely heard something like “minutes matter” or “every second counts.” You often time hear that phrase when it comes to times of crisis. Whether it is the time it takes to respond to a fire, the time between a major medical event and you arriving at the hospital, or the time it takes to respond to a shooting at an office or school. Most of those scenarios we hope we are never in, but we are taught that every minute...maybe even every second counts.

Remember those New Year’s resolutions you made 113 days ago? I know I don’t, and I'm not really sure that they made it into my mind on January 2nd if I am being honest with you! With us about to close out April and enter into days of sunshine and with no school, let's revisit those resolutions and see what we can accomplish as we come into a new season! What if we take a more modest approach this time, setting the "resolutions" bar at a reasonable height? It just might make a difference. With the right attitude going in, the following five "just for today" resolutions can help us get back on track as we desire to make 2024 the best year yet. These are resolutions that most everyone has a good shot of accomplishing - something that you and your family can live with. As you succeed, you might even end up incorporating some of them into your life and identity.

Several years ago I heard Lonnie Jones ask a question that has a tendency to elicit several different responses: “What is the most important part of a car?” The answers, as you might imagine, range from the key to the engine to the driver to the headlights. All of those parts are significant. But the answer he usually gave was: “The part that you need to be working when it is not.”

Spring has sprung here in the south. With Spring, comes the March/April rains and of course the bugs. I have not done much research but I’ve heard rumors that hordes of cicadas are coming as well. Right now the newly hatched insects are an annoyance, maybe an inconvenience but some can be a problem, especially the blood sucking types. Regardless of size, we do not want them anywhere near our food or our mouths (The average of humans eating 8 spiders a year in their sleep is a myth by the way).

Years ago I heard the phrase, “it’s Friday but Sunday is coming.” You may be reading this article on a Friday or on Sunday morning. If this had been 2000 years ago during the Passover of Jesus’ death there would have been very different atmospheres between those two days.