Creekbank Blog

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is today. It’s a story worth retelling. His name is  John Stephen Akhwari and he had the dubious honor to finish last in the Marathon at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. John Stephen, a Tanzanian runner, finished more than one hour after the winner had …

The Sermon in the Hayfield   He was one of my heroes, and today would be his birthday. This is a story of what made him special.     Love is patient and kind. . .    I Corinthians 13:4 As far back as I can remember, I’ve been around Ed King.  He will always be one of my favorite people. …

  The following is Chapter 1 of As You Were, the sequel to our novel, A Spent Bullet. I’d appreciate your feedback on: What makes you want to pull for (and care about) Elizabeth and Harry? What emotions do you sense as Elizabeth stands in the Hotel Bentley lobby? Chapter 1              Difficulty is an excuse history doesn’t accept. …

    Earthshine   If you study the moon and its phases, you’ll come to realize there is a God in heaven. -Unknown The quote above is true in my life as I’ve never grown tired of observing the moon. One of the best things about rural living is the connection to nature. This includes studying the seasons, the night sky, …

Love and Discipline I once read a story about a father’s wise advice to his daughter, who was struggling with disciplining her young children. The father invited her to take a boat ride on a nearby lake.  The boat had two oars and the father told the daughter to take one oar and row. The boat went in a circle. …

The Wall from the Curt Iles short story collection,  Stories from the Creekbank.    …By my God have I leaped over a wall. -Psalms 18:29   As I stood in the shadow of the twelve-foot wall, sweat popped out on my forehead. In my ears rang the screaming chants of more than fifty teenagers:   “Curt!” “Curt!” “Curt!”  I knew …

  For the next six weeks I’m teaching science at Menard High School in Alexandria. I’m filling in for a teacher on maternity leave, teaching chemistry, biology, and environment science. It’s been a good experience so far and has kept me busy brushing up on my science. (I haven’t been in the classroom since 1985). I’ve never lost my love …

Immediately after Moses’ baptism, I jotted         the outline of this story in Journal #73 This week, I’m Camp Missionary at Pineywoods Baptist Camp in Texas. The following is a story I related to the boys at camp. I hope you enjoy it as they did.   BAPTIZED IN MUDDY WATER His name was Moses.   And I witnessed his …

The story below is one of my favorite ones. It’s a baseball story. But about much more than baseball. It’s about family and (attempting to) live the regret-free life.                   From the Curt Iles book, The Old House (2002) Sliding into Home . . . with no Regrets   Twenty years from …

Billboard Free “One call, that’s all.” I live one mile off Interstate 49. It runs north-south through Alexandria and cuts across Louisiana from Shreveport to Lafayette. There are two things I like about I-49: There’s a 75 mile per hour speed limit on most of the lightly traveled Interstate. There is a 60-mile stretch that is billboard free. Leaving Alexandria …

  Everyone has a memory of where they were for historic events. I was in second grade when JFK was shot, in a board meeting for 9/11… … and in the home of Ed and Kat King for the first landing on the moon. It was Sunday night, July 20, 1969. After the Sunday evening service at church, the Kings …

I recently read (and shared) a story on Christian cuss words. The author singled out the words “Luck” and “Fortune.”  He insisted that these words have no place in the life and vocabulary of a Christian. We followers of Christ believe that every step of our lives is directed by God and He is able to make good out of …

The Proverbs Plan Part of my daily Bible reading involves the Old Testament book of Proverbs. It’s a book of short wisdom sayings compiled by King Solomon and others. Because Proverbs contains 31 chapters, it is conducive to reading a daily chapter related to the day of the month.  i.e. on July 5th, I read Proverbs 5. When you start …

“The Door” is one of my favorite stories.  It blends humor with a poignant twist.   Coach Larry Greene   The Door A warning: Be careful with the doors at the Lake Charles Civic Center! I was there last week and as I entered the men’s room, I recalled Roy Greene’s story. The Lake Charles Civic Center opened thirty years …