Beech Tree News Network

Summer is the time of year when I try to get home maintenance projects completed. I always have a list, and every year the list is way too long. Although it’s late July, I haven’t come close to completing my list of projects. But, I’m not giving up. We still have several weeks of summer remaining!

“He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7).”

This is one of those passages that helps reinforce the validity and inspiration of the Bible. How were the ancients to know that the earth was suspended in space? How were they to know the earth was not resting upon some foundation, whether that foundation was the backs of elephants, turtles, or something else? Myths like these existed, but Job believed something that was not only different, but correct.

I saw a story on the news about a man who gave his wife a card every day for years—most he made himself.  She had boxes full.  They were filed under years then months of the year then individual weeks of the month.  It was an amazing collection.  I wondered if she had long ago grown tired of it all, but just didn’t know how to tell him.  She really needed a card that would explain it.

The controversy concerning when life begins continues today. Some justify killing their unborn children by saying that they were not actually alive before birth. Some do not argue the fact of whether or not their child is alive, but wonder whether or not it is HUMAN so early on in its developmental stages. With this in mind, I thought it would be good for us to consider what some medical doctors, professors, and others, have said about when life begins, and whether or not the mother is carrying a human in her womb.

Robert E. Lee was the leading general of the Confederate Army and has been recognized as one of the most brilliant strategist in the Civil War. Lee was born on January 19, 1807, in Stratford Hall, Virginia. His family was from the Virginia aristocracy. Lee’s extended family included a President, a chief justice of the U.S., and signers of the Declaration of Independence. His father was Colonel Henry Lee, known as “Light-Horse Harry,” served as a cavalry leader during the Revolutionary War, and won praise from General George Washington as one of the war’s greatest heroes.

Where did all these old phrases come from? All my life I’ve heard the phrase “cat got your tongue?” but what does it mean? The origin of the idiom 'cat got your tongue' is an intriguing one. Although many believe the “cat” in question is of the feline variety, it’s actually the cat o’ nine tails, a whip commonly used to flog sailors who misbehaved. On English sailing ships, anyone entrusted with a secret by a higher officer would be threatened with “the cat” for telling; thus, the saying 'has the cat got your tongue?' became slang for 'are you afraid to tell?

The remaining lazy summer days for children are numbered. The Butler County School calendar lists “First Day for Students” as August 6 – only three weeks away. Although I love summer, I realize – unlike some of my grandchildren – that it’s time to prepare for the coming school year.

Years ago—twenty, to be exact—our family set off for Key Largo, Florida.  Located on Key Largo, was an operation called Dolphins Plus.  It was an organization that allowed handicapped children and young adults an opportunity to interact with wild dolphins.  The Dolphins Plus grounds were equipped with gates between standing pools of water and the open ocean.  The dolphins could come and go as they pleased.  The programs offered to the handicapped guests were free.  The costs were covered by an additional program in which paying guests would have an opportunity to swim with the dolphins, as

Humans are quite forgetful! What once we thought would be forever etched in our memories has now faded away. I am sure we’re all familiar with the old joke which goes: “I was always told that when you get old, the first thing to go is your memory. And, the second thing to go is … is … is …”.

Dr. Benjamin Rush:Benjamin Rush was not only a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but he was a physician, writer, and educator. He was born on December 24, 1745, in Byberry, Pennsylvania. Rush’s father passed away when he was six, and his mother put him in the care of his uncle, Dr. Finley, who was Rush’s teacher and adviser for many years. In 1759, Benjamin Rush attended the College of Philadelphia, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He continued his education by crossing the Atlantic to get an M.D. from Edinburgh, Scotland. After graduating, Dr.