Couple reflects on mission trip

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

As soon as he got off the plane, he knew he was in the right place.
'I felt like I was coming home,' said Roger Russell, a career missionary with the Southern Baptist International Board. 'It's like I was being called there. I'm supposed to do this; we're supposed to do this.'
It was the June of 1998, and it was Russell's first mission trip to Bucharest, Romania. By February of 1999, his wife Melinda, also a career missionary, and their three sons had joined him.
Their first task was to build chapels for the area's evangelical Christians. It was manual labor, but it never grew tiring or bothersome.
'Each finished chapel was a success,' Russell said. 'People had a place to go worship when we finished. They didn't before. You could see the results, and that kept us going.'
Having returned home to Central Texas this summer, the Russells worked on chapels for about half of the 10 years they were in Bucharest.
'These last years have been about nurturing their individual relationships with Christ,' Russell said. 'We hosted Bible studies and tried to lead by example. We wanted to show that you could live a life of Christ.'
And that proved to be their biggest challenge.

A gift that gives back: Couple sends cow to orphans

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

This year's Christmas gift will not fit under a tree.
'But it's the best gift we could ever get for someone,' said Michael Fortson, pastor at Canyon Creek Church of Christ in Temple.
He and his wife, Doris, are purchasing a milk cow for an African orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Heritage of Faith and Hope Children's Home houses 90 children and educates an additional 50 in its school. But it can't give them their daily serving of milk.
'They have just one cow,' Fortson said. 'It produces 18 liters of milk a day, but that's only enough for each child to have a glass of milk once every three days.'
With their gift of a second cow, the Fortsons hope to double that amount.
'The theory is that there'll be milk every other day from here on out,' Fortson said.

Stained glass makes royal gift

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Six bridge players took a stab at making a piece of stained glass, and what they got was the Chucker of Spears.
'Actually, it's the Queen of Hearts,' said Paul Rothaus of Temple. 'But the scepter she's holding looks like a spear, so I had to make fun of it. I mean, come on, it looks like she's flinging the thing.'
His teasing was constant but good-natured. Everyone was laughing and smiling as they talked about their project.
They made the Queen of Hearts in honor of Ann Wallace, owner of the Temple Duplicate Bridge Studio on the corner of Third and Royal.
'She's done so much for area bridge players,' said Judy Dayton, one of the artists. 'The studio is a beautiful, warm place to come and play. We're very grateful to her.'
Having opened Sept. 26, the studio's a relatively new addition to Temple. Two bridge clubs, Golden Rule and Bluebonnet, play there now, but come January another two clubs will add their cards to the mix.
'So the Queen of Hearts is a housewarming gift, a gesture of appreciation,' Rothaus said. 'We presented it to her the Friday before Thanksgiving.'

Group makes pillows to soften patients' lives

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Here an oink, there an oink, everywhere an oink, oink.
The ladies of Soft Touch Ministry at Belton Church of Christ make pig pillows.
If you stand one on its feet, the pig looks like it's walking. The snout leads the way, and the tail wags behind.
'But when you lay it down, it becomes a neck pillow,' said Georgia Seals, the ministry coordinator. Its stomach becomes support for your head, and the two legs rest the shoulder.
This Tuesday the Belton seamstresses delivered 175 of them to Scott & White for distribution among cancer patients.
Chaplains from Lifeline Chaplaincy, the statewide parent group of the Soft Touch Ministry, will be making the deliveries.
'The pillows are great gift items,' said Tom Nuckels, director of spiritual care for Lifeline's Austin-area branch. 'No matter how old they are, people always smile when they get them. And they're useful too.'
Nuckels said he's received several thank-you cards for them.
'Those pillows never get left behind,' Nuckels said. 'People use them on the car ride home from the hospital.'

It's a Thanksgiving Feast! Enjoy the holiday without overeating

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Let's not kid ourselves. Thanksgiving is a weighty affair where the calories not only wait but beg to expand your waist line.
Think about it. The dinner won't be served until 3 p.m., but you're expected to arrive at noon.
That's three hours to graze on appetizers and sample your aunt's new brownie recipe. And then when you all gather at the table, it's time to eat some more. There's the turkey, the potatoes, the salads, casseroles and desserts.
And just when you've eaten that last bite of pie, it's time to do the dishes. Mom doesn't want to stand on the stool to get another piece of tupperware.
'There's just one bite of this left,' she says. 'Can somebody just go ahead and eat it, so I can wash the bowl?'
The calories keep coming, and before you know it, you're at home in a pair of sweatpants feeling groggy and bloated. But then morning comes, and it's time for breakfast - and in a month, it's Christmas, and you get to do the whole thing over again.
'Oh,' you say to the woe of all that food. But you don't have to dread it or fear it. The food is not in control, you are. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to eat it.
There are ways to get beyond the holiday temptation to overeat.

Brockett: It's never too late for dreams

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/dec/06/a-passion-for-fashion-model-never-gives-up-on/
This story was picked up by the Associated Press.

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By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Her dream was to be a model.
So having just graduated high school, Ima Jean Brockett wanted to learn the trade.
But she couldn't. Pete, the man she was engaged to marry, was more important to her.
'He gave me a choice: him or modeling school,' Mrs. Brockett said. 'It was no contest. I chose him. He meant more to me than anything.'
So without regret she lived the life of a farm wife in Munday, a small town outside Abilene. She and her husband raised two daughters and before they knew it, there were grandchildren in the picture.
'But the idea of modeling never left me,' Mrs. Brockett said. 'Every time I saw a magazine or catalogue, I'd study the pictures in it. I'd look at how the models were posed, how they smiled and I'd imagine myself doing the same thing.'
Her passion was kept secret and it would have remained so if it wasn't for the inspiration she found in her mother's nursing home.

Granger church opens food bank

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Granger First United Methodist Church has launched a Feed the Hungry Food Bank for area residents.
'With times so tough now for so many, we knew this could help the families who are struggling,' said the Rev. Judy Gotcher.
High gas prices and the economy's downfall inspired the idea for the food bank.
'But we knew we couldn't handle it alone,' Ms. Gotcher said, explaining that the church has a weekly attendance of just 13 people. 'So we worked to make it a community effort.'
It didn't take long for the Granger school district, some area businesses and neighboring churches to get involved.