By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer
Captain Yule B. Calm of the starship InnerPeace is about to embark on a four-week mission across the Adrenal Frontier.
It is Stress Trek - one man's attempt to teach the techniques of stress management with the Bible and the glamour and hilarity of photon torpedoes.
'I promise I'm not a Trekky,' said Captain Calm, err - Larry Hall, the family life counselor at Belton Church of Christ. 'People just started giving me this stuff.'
Hall's office could suffice as a prop closet for any version of the 'Star Trek' television shows.
His desk plays space dock for a couple of miniature starships. The filing cabinet makes a nice cloaking device for Dr. McCoy's tricorder and Captain Kirk's phaser. And the closet must be subject to a force field because three of Starfleet's highest officers are held captive. Kirk, Picard and Mr. Spock look comfortable enough, but their bodies have become the consistency of cardboard.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Dog's enthusiasm inspires sermon
By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer
The pup's name is Sadie - and her one true love takes the form of a yellow tennis ball.
'Whenever she sees one, her eye's on it,' said Mickey Blanks, lay pastor at Belton Church of Christ in Belton. 'It doesn't matter who has it or where they throw it, Sadie's going to get that ball.'
It's obvious the dog enjoys the chase. Her tail wags as fast as it can go, her ears are pointed in attention and her mouth does a dog grin.
The happy pup gave Blanks the idea for his July 20 sermon. Worship to us, he says, should be like the ball is for Sadie.
'The privilege to worship is the greatest gift after salvation,' Blanks said. 'Worship requires God's presence, so you should approach it as such.'
Telegram Staff Writer
The pup's name is Sadie - and her one true love takes the form of a yellow tennis ball.
'Whenever she sees one, her eye's on it,' said Mickey Blanks, lay pastor at Belton Church of Christ in Belton. 'It doesn't matter who has it or where they throw it, Sadie's going to get that ball.'
It's obvious the dog enjoys the chase. Her tail wags as fast as it can go, her ears are pointed in attention and her mouth does a dog grin.
The happy pup gave Blanks the idea for his July 20 sermon. Worship to us, he says, should be like the ball is for Sadie.
'The privilege to worship is the greatest gift after salvation,' Blanks said. 'Worship requires God's presence, so you should approach it as such.'
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Group needs help to get kids ready for school
By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer
More than 300 students from the Belton school district need your help. And the deadline is fast approaching.
'School supplies are needed, yes,' said Jeannette Kelley, founder of Project Appletree, a program that has worked for 10 years to make sure that the start of school is a happy time for children from low-income families. 'But we also need sponsors for these 300 kids who signed up for new outfits.'
Project Appletree students receive a pair of jeans, a shirt, undergarments, a pair of shoes and socks in addition to the things like crayons, scissors and notebook paper. All of the items are new.
'It's the older kids who are harder to get sponsors for,' Ms. Kelley said. 'It's because it's so expensive, with the sizes being bigger. But every year, we've had every child be sponsored, so I know it'll happen again.'
Telegram Staff Writer
More than 300 students from the Belton school district need your help. And the deadline is fast approaching.
'School supplies are needed, yes,' said Jeannette Kelley, founder of Project Appletree, a program that has worked for 10 years to make sure that the start of school is a happy time for children from low-income families. 'But we also need sponsors for these 300 kids who signed up for new outfits.'
Project Appletree students receive a pair of jeans, a shirt, undergarments, a pair of shoes and socks in addition to the things like crayons, scissors and notebook paper. All of the items are new.
'It's the older kids who are harder to get sponsors for,' Ms. Kelley said. 'It's because it's so expensive, with the sizes being bigger. But every year, we've had every child be sponsored, so I know it'll happen again.'
Teachers go to class in the garden
By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer
Don't let them fool you, kids.
Teachers get shushed too when it's time for them to pay attention.
It took some effort to refocus the 24 teachers after break time during the July 23 class at the Bell County Extension Office. Their excited chatter was focused on the morning's activities.
From 14 area schools, the teachers were there to learn from Bell County Master Gardeners. Covering topics from vermiculture to rain water harvesting, class sessions started July 22 and continued through July 25. It was the second annual Junior Master Gardener Teacher Training.
Telegram Staff Writer
Don't let them fool you, kids.
Teachers get shushed too when it's time for them to pay attention.
It took some effort to refocus the 24 teachers after break time during the July 23 class at the Bell County Extension Office. Their excited chatter was focused on the morning's activities.
From 14 area schools, the teachers were there to learn from Bell County Master Gardeners. Covering topics from vermiculture to rain water harvesting, class sessions started July 22 and continued through July 25. It was the second annual Junior Master Gardener Teacher Training.
Firefighters provide supplies for Temple school
By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer
Firemen show up when needed regardless of whether there's flames.
The Temple Professional Firefighter Association, Local 846 agreed to sponsor the 15 children who were without Backpack Buddies.
'Last week we were contacted by Jefferson Elementary and asked to help 15 more students from their school,' said Carol Lynch, coordinator of the Backpack Buddies, a ministry by Churches Touching Lives for Christ that works to provide low-income students with new school supplies and backpacks each year.
Another 15 needed to be added to the 1,100 students already on the list.
'It doesn't sound like a lot, but all our churches had already committed to helping all they could,' Ms. Lynch said.
Telegram Staff Writer
Firemen show up when needed regardless of whether there's flames.
The Temple Professional Firefighter Association, Local 846 agreed to sponsor the 15 children who were without Backpack Buddies.
'Last week we were contacted by Jefferson Elementary and asked to help 15 more students from their school,' said Carol Lynch, coordinator of the Backpack Buddies, a ministry by Churches Touching Lives for Christ that works to provide low-income students with new school supplies and backpacks each year.
Another 15 needed to be added to the 1,100 students already on the list.
'It doesn't sound like a lot, but all our churches had already committed to helping all they could,' Ms. Lynch said.
The King will rock forever in small Mississippi town
By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer
TUPELO, Miss. - Go up three brown steps.
A porch swing sways on your left. To the right, you can see a church across the sidewalk.
Straight ahead, the screen door of a white house hangs open.
It's not big or fancy, but that's the building Elvis never left. It's where the King was born.
The excursion to Tupelo was a spontaneous affair. It occurred on my second day of meeting the in-laws - err, my boyfriend's relatives.
We had just finished up an afternoon of fishing, a.k.a. feeding crickets to catfish, at a pond in nearby Pontotoc. The conversation focused on what to do next.
'I guess we could go to Tupelo,' said Ricky Parks, my boyfriend's dad. 'That's the place where Elvis Presley was born, you know.'
I squealed in response to the offer. I'd already been to Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn., and to several 'Heartbreak Hotels' - the one in Memphis and a couple of others in Las Vegas and South Dakota. So for consistency's sake, I had to go.
Telegram Staff Writer
TUPELO, Miss. - Go up three brown steps.
A porch swing sways on your left. To the right, you can see a church across the sidewalk.
Straight ahead, the screen door of a white house hangs open.
It's not big or fancy, but that's the building Elvis never left. It's where the King was born.
---
A treat for a road trip fiend, my time at the Birthplace of Elvis Presley wasn't planned. The excursion to Tupelo was a spontaneous affair. It occurred on my second day of meeting the in-laws - err, my boyfriend's relatives.
We had just finished up an afternoon of fishing, a.k.a. feeding crickets to catfish, at a pond in nearby Pontotoc. The conversation focused on what to do next.
'I guess we could go to Tupelo,' said Ricky Parks, my boyfriend's dad. 'That's the place where Elvis Presley was born, you know.'
I squealed in response to the offer. I'd already been to Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn., and to several 'Heartbreak Hotels' - the one in Memphis and a couple of others in Las Vegas and South Dakota. So for consistency's sake, I had to go.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Mom turns loss into help for others: Aquatics instructor wants to make sure another baby doesn't drown
By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer
There are two sides to the swimming hole.
It can be the quick fix to a long, hot summer day. But year after year, it has been a place that children and babies die.
Drowning can happen as easy as a stubbed toe. Anatasia Dewald knows that to be true in a way that no parent should ever have to experience.
In June 2005, the bodies of her 23 ½-month-old twins, Devin and Conner, were found face down in a pool.
'They were at a licensed daycare. I took them to daycare one day a week, so that I could work,' said Ms. Dewald of Copperas Cove. 'The person who was supposed to be watching them decided to take a nap.'
So Ms. Dewald's babies - who were conceived via the expensive, lengthy process of in vitro fertilization - went unwatched.
'It was an above-ground pool. It had a gate, but it wasn't latched,' Ms. Dewald said. 'The twins got outside. The gate was open. They drowned.'
Counseling has helped her manage her grief and anger. Her need to 'find a positive in the negative' inspired her to become what she is today - an aquatic skills instructor for infants.
'I had to do something,' Ms. Dewald said. 'There would never be any justice as I saw it.'
Telegram Staff Writer
There are two sides to the swimming hole.
It can be the quick fix to a long, hot summer day. But year after year, it has been a place that children and babies die.
Drowning can happen as easy as a stubbed toe. Anatasia Dewald knows that to be true in a way that no parent should ever have to experience.
In June 2005, the bodies of her 23 ½-month-old twins, Devin and Conner, were found face down in a pool.
'They were at a licensed daycare. I took them to daycare one day a week, so that I could work,' said Ms. Dewald of Copperas Cove. 'The person who was supposed to be watching them decided to take a nap.'
So Ms. Dewald's babies - who were conceived via the expensive, lengthy process of in vitro fertilization - went unwatched.
'It was an above-ground pool. It had a gate, but it wasn't latched,' Ms. Dewald said. 'The twins got outside. The gate was open. They drowned.'
Counseling has helped her manage her grief and anger. Her need to 'find a positive in the negative' inspired her to become what she is today - an aquatic skills instructor for infants.
'I had to do something,' Ms. Dewald said. 'There would never be any justice as I saw it.'
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