Columns

The bliss of another birth

Our next-door neighbors built their house the fall and winter we built ours. And they moved into their home the same weekend in February 1989 that we occupied ours. Peggy carried a babe in arms, the third of three girls. About ten years Peggy’s senior, my two teenaged...

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The wallet photo family

Many people like their idea of Jesus Christ but don’t have a relationship with Him. They believe they do, and they are gambling eternity with cards they do not have. 1 John 3:6 (New Living Translation) says, “Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But...

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In the good old summertime

“See you in September,” a friend said as our Bible study group parted last week. “What? Only two months left of summer!” I replied. A hot, humid afternoon, I drove to Cook’s Farm Dairy in Ortonville. There, I filled two coolers with 25 containers of my “special order”...

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Lumber made him a millionaire

Henry Stephens was born April 14, 1823 in Dublin, Ireland to Robert L. Stephens and Emily O’Brien ( -1823). His mother probably died from the effects of giving birth to him. When and how he got to America is not known but he probably left Ireland because of the Irish...

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Thoughts on different Bible translations

“What’s the deal with all those different translations of the Bible? I don’t understand,” said a young lady during a Bible study. I am consumed with a lifelong passion for the reading and study of the Bible, but I’ve come to understand that people have questions and...

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Never fear, Underdog is here!

In mid-April 1953, the estate of the late Frank Leo Bishop Jr. was liquidating his assets. Frank’s 306-acre farm on Mill Street, just outside the village limits of Dryden, was sold to Wallace Maynard Cox. Mr. Cox was born on December 6, 1924 in Detroit, Michigan. He...

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The gift of foxglove

Our California daughter emailed at 1:47 a.m. this morning while my husband and I slept. “Just wanted to let you know we arrived safely in Uganda late last night. It’s the middle of the night there, so I will wait to call. I enjoyed some of the finest passion fruit...

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