Beech Tree News Network

Like many of you, I love a good movie. I witnessed my youngest granddaughter watching a movie this week, and she was so involved in the story that she totally tuned everyone around her out, focusing only on the screen. Regardless of age, movies can be wonderfully entertaining.

In Jesus' day the movers and shakers were the Scribes and Pharisees, the Priests and the Levites (All Levites were not priests, but all priests were Levites), the tax collectors and the regional governors . . . the RULING CLASS. Today we would compare them to the bureaucracy of our federal and state governments. We have a democracy and a constitution, which if not guarded and monitored closely can be walked on (It has been in the past) and ignored. That's why Democracy is sort of like Faith, it must be tended to constantly. You can't put it on automatic pilot and forget it.

Jennifer is the name of the young woman who lives in Frankfort that sends me photographs of children waiting to be adopted.  Jennifer and I have never met but we do have a very important goal in common; we both want the children who are featured in weekly articles, to find their forever families.  One of the biggest needs right now is for families that are willing to adopt an older child and sibling groups.  It amazes me that some people consider children ages 7 and older as “too old to adopt”.  Older children, especially teens, are looked upon as trouble with a capital T, which is only one

One of the jobs I’ve always believed I would be good at is that of a personal assistant.  I’ve had a lot of training for a job like that right here on the farm with Garey.  I haven’t arranged his schedule for the day or picked up his shirts from the cleaners or canceled his appointments, but I have chopped, cut, hammered, centered, held, pushed and pulled my way through nearly thirty-seven years with him.

One of the most beautiful flowers of summer, I believe, are roses. This is one of my roses that I'm proud to claim. With the heat of summer, it's a wonder any flowers survived. Hopefully the heat is going to be giving us a break for a few days and I can take my camera and trot off into the woods for a while.

It's so wonderful to be so blessed with God's creations that are so often over looked in the hustle of the world.

I hope everyone had a fabulous week and received many blessings...I know I sure did!!!

I always find it interesting when I go to places or events to recruit foster and adoptive parents that it never fails that someone will say to me, “Oh you must be a really special person to be a foster/adoptive parent.  I could never foster a child; it would just hurt too much if I had to give them back”.  There are just a couple of things that bother me when people make that particular statement. 

As students return to school, we’ll see families with children adjusting their schedules and routines. In summer months, most parents allow children to have a later bedtime. After all, it’s hard to catch fireflies before dark. But with the opening of the school year, children are likely to see earlier bedtimes.

For sometime now I've wanted to tell you about Earl Rudder, a small-town boy from Brady, Texas---that's only two or three wagon-greasins' from San Angelo. I've never been to Brady; I've flown over it lots of times from an Air Force base near there---it had a large race track near the edge of town---the race track made Brady easily identifiable from the air.

C.S. Lewis said, "Too often when the most important things in life are happening to us, they get by us, we don't recognize them for what they are." I only met Earl Rudder briefly, very briefly. Hold that thought.

I have had a continuing saga with my car this summer.  It starts when it takes a mind to.  One mechanic had it in his shop for three weeks.  It started every time he tried to start it.  He could never trace the problem, because the car had no problem while it was living with him.  As soon as it was returned to my driveway, of course, the car once again only started when it wanted to.

My name is Stacy Hartley and my son will be starting Kindergarten on next Thursday at North Butler Elementary School.  We are facing a problem in that I work in Ohio County at the Hospital, and my husband works from 3am to 3pm in Bowling Green at an Automotive factory.  We are both hard working parents and have no family in this area.  I will be dropping my son off at school in the morning, but apparently there will be no where for him to go in the afternoon.  NBES has no after school program where he could stay at the school until my husband gets home from work fr