Opinion

Every year about this time my wife and I close out our books for the year. There are usually papers scattered all over and we are busy helping each other to get everything added up. I always hold my breath to see if we have given enough to the Lord. It is our goal, or we try to give at least a tenth of our income. (Psalm 76:11). Several years ago, we were really busy and I didn’t watch our giving and when we totaled our giving we found out we had given very little that year. I felt so ashamed, and I proposed in my heart I didn’t want that to happen again. God has been so good to us, and we want to thank Him and honor Him with our giving. It could even be a way of saying thanks.

To wrestle with faith in God assumes a desire for God exists but remains, at least in some measure, unfulfilled. But what are we to do when we feel no desire—when we no longer wrestle because the fire in our soul for God has been extinguished?

GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil: After reading your helpful advice for a long while I now fear I need some personally. I had a relatively minor limb cut from my pecan tree less than one year ago.

GUEST COLUMNIST Get this: Gen Z job applicants are bringing their parents to job interviews, reports the New York Post. As it goes, for several decades America’s children have been over-coddled by their “helicopter parents” — parents who zoom in to resolve any challenge their children may face, even as they become adults.

The U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing report late last week on the May 4, 2022, mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

What do our lives say about us? When people look at us, or talk with us, what do they take away? Are we a reflection of what the world expects to see, or are we a reflection of our faith? If we admit it to ourselves, those questions can make us uncomfortable. We do not want to admit that our relationship with God is not paramount in our lives. Even as we desire to present the light of our savior to the people around us, we often fall short.

One day it is hot and the next it is cold and it sure makes it difficult to know what clothes to wear. The changes in temperature have caused a lot of sickness. There are coughs and sinus infections going around and if you get it you may not get over it in several days.

GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil: I have a large Boston fern that we’ve been growing in a hanging basket for 10 years or longer. I have a small greenhouse, but the plant almost fills it now and its basket is nearly rusted through.

The Texas Railroad Commission has suspended nearly two dozen permits that allow oil and gas companies to inject saltwater into the ground, which regulators say has contributed to increased earthquakes of greater magnitude in West Texas.

Oh, for simpler times with fewer adult responsibilities and fewer high-tech distractions! Then I might manage to finish reading two excellent autobiographies (Henry Winkler’s “Being Henry: The Fonz – And Beyond” and the late Garry Marshall’s “My Happy Days in Hollywood”) before The Big Day. The Big Day? Yes, January 15 marked the 50th anniversary of the premiere of ABC’s nostalgic hit sitcom “Happy Days.” Back in the day, “Happy Days” and its two most successful spin-offs (“Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy”) were among my favorite programs.