Creekbank Blog

There is one cardinal sin of the Pineywoods:   “Forgetting where you come from.”   Or to state it as a maxim: “Always remember where you came from.” Many of my friends have stayed in Dry Creek their entire lives. That’s a good thing. Some leave the nest and fly on to bigger and better things, but they shouldn’t forget (or …

A Visit to Spring Ridge “Lord, help us to remember our past, so we know where to go in the future.” -Ken Terry Stay tuned to this blog post over the next several days. We’ll be traveling to a time and place that most don’t know exist. Journey with us to Spring Ridge Cemetery Day in the Aimwell Hills of …

  “Lord, don’t let me get too comfortable.”   I’m at the season of my life where it’d be easy to get comfortable.   Too comfortable.   To give in and coast to the finish line.   But I want to get out of my comfort zone.   And in this day and age, that’s difficult to do. It’s so …

  Loki and Roy   I stood on the sidewalk outside Tamp and Grind Coffee, waiting for our weekly homeless Bible study to begin. That’s when I saw Roy. His face was a mask of pain, and his puffy eyes were ample testimony that he’d been crying. Roy’s countenance and body language weren’t contortions of physical pain. It was pure …

  I can’ t get this poem off my mind. My life has been a succession of travel on the road less traveled. This New England poem takes me back to Africa. The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood …

This is a story from my first book, Stories from the Creekbank. It concerns a famous person from Galveston, Texas. The plaque mentioned is at sidewalk level atop the sea wall. A Good Epitaph to Have     Have you ever thought about what epitaph you’d like to have? Recently as I walked Galveston’s seawall, I read a plaque: In …

“Oh God of second chances, here I am again.” I’m glad God gives second chances (or more). We all need a mulligan at some time in our lives. And He is a God of forgiveness and restoration. A God of second chances.   Don’t believe me?   Take a trip with a world traveler named Jonah. He made the most …

Hope is Mandatory You can’t live without it. If you have hope, you can face anything. Without hope, life is difficult and tedious. Have hope. Keep hope . . . Because hope is mandatory.

How to tell a panhandler from a truly homeless person. Living in the city has been an education for me. Homelessness has always bothered me, but I’ve never been able to get my hands around the presence and problems of homelessness. This led me to become involved in the homeless ministry in downtown Alexandria, Louisiana. I’ve also learned to differentiate …

I looked up at the full moon as it rose last night. “Boy, you’ve had a busy April. First, you totally blacked our closest star, the Sun, during that Total Solar Eclipse on April 8th. You were in the new moon phase but helped put on a show for the ages. “Now, here you are as a full moon showing …

“Help Needed On Aisle Three”   “Son, there’s only one thing you need to know if you’re going to marry my daughter . . . ” My cousin Mark Roy died suddenly last week.  I am saddened by Mark’s death and am praying for Debbie, their three daughters, and Mark’s mom, Aunt Florence Roy. If there’s one word to describe …

    Bro. Hodges’ Best Sermon The preacher stood in the middle of the muddy red clay road, staring at the problem straight ahead.   It was a long way from his pulpit, so he had no idea he would preach “his best sermon” right here in a few minutes. This preacher standing in the middle of the road was Kenneth …

She smiled at me, and I was changed. Thursday, April 18, 2024    Atrium Oschner’s Hospital  New Orleans, Louisiana   I saw the lady as she passed my table in the busy atrium of Oschner’s Hospital. She was walking briskly, and I immediately saw she had no arms, only nubs that ended past her shoulders. Then I noticed something else. …

First Snake of the Year   Tuesday, April 16, 2024 It’s mid-April, and the snakes are crawling out of their winter homes.  The warmer nights are the impetus for them to stick their heads above ground. I’ve spent the winter months not worrying about where I walk or put my hands. But that is changing. I’m waiting to see my …