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On the Brighter Side: So many questions

I read the other day an author announced that there was no God. Interesting as I looked out the window from my warm home and heard the wind blowing loudly and saw the snow coming down sideways, and I might add ferociously on a cold blustery middle of March day. How can that be? How…

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A Little Bit Like Home: The smell waiting at the bottom of the stairs

We didn’t call them potlucks. At our church, they were carry-in dinners. You could smell them before you ever reached the bottom of the basement stairs. The aroma would drift upward, meeting you halfway: baked ham, scalloped potatoes, vegetables in creamy sauces, and just enough sweetness from the dessert table to make a kid walk…

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My Turn: Be careful what comes first

I’ve been fortunate over the past couple of years to be part of a group of like-minded local men who care about their families, each other, and their community. We started out by “reading” via podcast the Bible in a Year, narrated by Father Mike Schmidt, a Catholic priest. I spent a great deal of…

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My Turn: The right team means everything

In my last column I told you to stay tuned for more news. I told you there would be good news and there would be sad news. By now, anyone who has been paying attention is aware of that news. On Monday, Feb. 16, Cobb Publishing reacquired The Forum and The Post from Garner Media.…

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Frueh Time: Strangers who became friends

One of my devotionals this week read, “I may send you strange visitors…Nobody must come and feel unwanted.” It made me think of a stranger, who became a co-worker, who became a dear friend many years ago. I didn’t like her from the minute I met her. She seemed a bit too pushy and bossy.…

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A Little Bit Like Home: Front of the line

Every once in a while, life hands you a moment that makes no sense at the time, but years later you can see the fingerprints of the people who made it possible. Twenty-three years ago, I was broadcasting from the Midland Empire Farm Show at the St. Joseph Civic Arena, where the hum of conversations…

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Jon’s Journal: Taking the ‘sports’ mindset to news

My “interview” for managing editor of the Maryville Forum was less of interview and more of a discussion of where publisher Phil Cobb and myself hope to take the Forum in the future. He knows my background pretty well already with nearly a decade of working for the Forum. So let’s go behind the curtain…

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A Little Bit Like Home: The story continues

March 4 marks eleven years since we lost our son, Alex—eleven years since the day everything changed. He was 18—sharp, kind, funny. Playing #1 doubles on the tennis team. Working at Chick-fil-A, with prospects of becoming a junior manager. Dreaming about his next mission trip to Arizona with the youth group. He was planning his…

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