The Eastern New Mexico News - Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Are things always as they seem? My sister received an e-mail last month from a couple in her church. This email incident answers this question with a “No.” The email read: “We are writing this...

Have you ever had self-doubt? Sometimes I question my decisions. It may be something small like cooking spaghetti for supper and thinking I should have gone the roast route. Or it might be which...

My sister Susie and I have a friend who lives in the Midwest, and we lovingly call her the Queen of Canning. She expertly and efficiently cans food through all of summer and fall. By state fair time,...

Have you ever done something you thought you would never do? I am thinking about over the last 20 years of my life. I have done things I thought I would never do. Here is a partial list: • tried to...

Not long ago, we had the opportunity to make a trip to western Missouri. My goal was to locate a church where Daddy was pastor when I was a child. I didn't even know if it still existed, but thanks...

King David wrote a beautiful praise to God in Psalm 18. My favorite verse of that psalm is verse 16: “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.” Evidently...

Last week I was reading about Great Britain’s royal family. Through the years I have followed royal weddings, royal babies, royal funerals and all the pomp that comes with those events. It is...

Billy Sunday started out as an American athlete, playing outfield in the National League in the 1880’s. He went on to become the most well-known and leading American evangelist in the first two...

Corrie Ten Boom, the Holocaust survivor that proclaimed her profound faith in God, said: “If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God...

What happens when we lose our focus? If we lose our focus on our jobs, we become less productive. If we lose our focus on our family, we see relationships deteriorate. When we lose our focus on...

This last week I was reading an article in Psychology Today about giving. The name of the article was “Well Being and Giving” by Steve Taylor. This is what the writer wrote: “If anything, it...

At times I think I am so used to the phrase “mercy of God,” I don’t stop to think about the true scope, capacity and extension of that beautiful phrase. The mercy of God I still don’t...

Last week, a quote by D.L. Moody, the old preacher, popped up on daily quotes on my cell phone. Moody said: “The Lord gives his people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him.” Some...

During one of Billy Graham’s meetings in England many years ago, his wife Ruth Graham had joined him. On that particular day, the local dignitaries had arranged for a luncheon and many of the...

I have told this story before, but I think it warrants a rerun. I was in the grocery store one day several years ago and my heart was sad as I observed a mother and father shopping with their three ch...

It was over 35 years ago next week that I was terrified we had lost Buffy. She was only five years old at the time and I still can remember the horror and hopelessness I felt when we lost her at Six F...

One of the most beautiful portions of Scripture in the Bible is the sermon that Jesus delivered sitting on the side of a mountain near Capernaum. Thus it is called the Sermon on the Mount. That...

Years ago, people would visit for hours or write long letters to one another in order to fill in distant family members on family news. Family reunions were packed with much visiting time so all famil...

At times I am amused at the commercials on television, especially those advertising a new improved product. For instance, new washing machine soap has 30 percent more cleaning power. A new window...

My sweet mother is in heaven with her Savior, my daddy, our John Scott and my mother’s mother who died when my mother was just 6 years old. She is also with countless family members, friends and the...

King David wrote: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119: 105) I know that is true because my parents modeled that for me during my childhood. Church was a huge part of...

Memories of my childhood days and Sunday nights in the old church at 8th and Hinkle are still vivid in my mind. It could be a daunting place at night after Sunday night services and all were gone. On...

Collateral damage is a general term for deaths, injuries, or other damage inflicted on unintended targets. Sometimes we speak of civilian causalities of a military operation and those are viewed as...

Jesus, who knows us better than we even know ourselves, warned His hearers about obstructions or sin in one’s heart. He said: “What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. Out of your...

Anyone who has lived in eastern New Mexico and west Texas for any time knows that storms can appear in minutes from nowhere. Such was the case one January night many years ago when a snow storm of...