Faith

by Debbie Wallis

“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you,” Luke 17:6

To trust in God and believe that His commands are for your benefit requires faith some faith, not more faith When I was a little girl my grandmother gave me a necklace with a mustard seed enclosed in a glass jewel. I remember my Nanny telling me that God gave me the faith that was needed to believe in Jesus She told me that if I believed God with at least that tiny amount of faith that I would move mountains in my life I can see her face, I can hear her voice and I’ve treasured that memory for over 55 years When our house burnt I lost that necklace but not the lesson she taught me with it.

I still haven’t seen a mountain jump into the sea because I told it to do so, but my faith has only increased through the years There hasn’t been a mountain I’ve faced that God didn’t move in my best interest Nothing is impossible for me when I’m in His will My life verse is “I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength,” Philippians 4:13.

As I matured, I realized that my faith increased as I was obedient to the Lord’s commands The more I read my Bible, the more I want to know Him and I believed every word written “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ,” Romans 10:17 I keep it simple; God created in me the faith to believe in His Son as my Savior God loves me and I love Him The more I trust Him the easier it is for me to put His ways over my own I’ve made plenty of mistakes because I wanted my own way and acted on it in disobedience or simply by not praying and seeking God for the right decision before I made it My faith increased as I learned about the lives of people, just like you and I, in Bible history God was always faithful and true He never lies, He never manipulates, and not once has He ever been selfish God truly has my best interest as His priority He is a perfect Father when my earthly father was far from perfect What He does for me He will do for you He loves us equally, we are His children We each have different purposes and talents just as we have different eyes and physical structures but what we have in common is the love of God

God’s commandments are also called laws His law is not to be broken and its purpose is to show us how far from His ways we are We are told many times through out the Bible what is good and bad for us Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross is a testament of His love for us His mercy towards our imperfection is what draws us to Him God The Creator loves all but all do not love Him in return Jesus paid the sacrifice for everyone’s sin because He loved all, but all do not recognize or appreciate and love Him in return God’s Holy Spirit loves all and is available to all that choose Jesus as their Savior, but all do not make that choice “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him,” Hebrews 11:6 You will not obey God’s commandments if you don’t believe He is who He says He is When we truly believe God is who He says He we acquire a healthy and reverent fear of the Lord He is The Judge that sees all hidden things in the hearts of mankind There are no hidden thoughts, motives or actions from the Lord

Think about the speed limits that are put into law Signs are clearly available so we can read laws We believe it to be true; the law is the law When we read the speed sign, we look at ourselves to see if we are obeying the law If we see police are enforcing the speed laws we slow down If we see everyone else driving fast and not getting pulled over, our tendency is to break the law You don’t need more faith to believe that the speed limit sign is the law you need obedience to follow it Faith grows by hearing, believing and obeying the Word of God “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” John 14:15

If you don’t have a Bible please contact me at sfadebbie@yahoo com and it will be my blessing to provide y ith

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"He's very good academically as well so that's what helped him get the scholarship " said Jerry Matthews

The family will save approximately $11,000 per year by being able to live at home and commute to college

The Matthews family lost a young child when Triston was seven years old and Jerry Matthews says that the number one goal was to make sure to keep the other boys' heads in the game and not let them go south academically.

A very emotional mom, Alicia Matthews said that her son has always been pretty amazing "I'm very excited and very proud of him He amazes me " said mom in near tears

"It's one of those deals where he's a little undersized for some people in college." said Hudson. "We found a spot for him and the coaches were impressed enough to take a chance on an undersized kid because of his work ethic and the way he plays the game It's all on him He's done this for himself He plays with an all-out-effort and this is what happens when you do that "

No one likes to think about tax ramifications when we lose a loved one, but it is one of the realities of dealing with this difficult times The following is a shortened version of what is required by an executor or heirs to an estate containing personal property.

The value of the decedent’s property for estate tax purposes is the fair market value ** on the date of death, or an alternate valuation date that is six months after the date of death The alternate date election is allowed if it decreases the value of the gross estate and the net estate tax liability The purpose of this election is to provide tax relief for estates that experience a decline in value shortly after death

The executor of the estate must file a federal estate tax return if the value of gross estate at the date of death exceeds the allowed unified credit exception ($5,450,000 in 2016) The value of the estate is reported on Schedule F--Other

Miscellaneous Property on Form 706 (U S Estate and Generation

Skipping Transfer Tax Return ) If the value of the estate is less than the threshold, the estate may still file Form 706 to establish a new basis for the property and/or to state the clock on the three-year statute of limitations for the IRS to challenge the estate

Appraisers of personal property must follow certain guidelines when preparing an appraisal for estate taxes On IRS Form 706, Schedule F, the first question asked is “Did the decedent at the time of death own any articles of artistic or collectible value in excess of $3,000? If yes, submit full details on this schedule and attach appraisals ”

Treasury Regulation Section

20.2031-6 governs these appraisals The general rules stress:

• A room-by-room itemization of household and personal effects is desirable.

• All articles should be specifically named However, items in the same room, each of which is valued individually at $100 or less, may be grouped.

• If the decedent owned articles with artistic or intrinsic value (such as jewelry, furs, silverware, paintings, etchings, engravings, antiques, books, statuary, vases, oriental rugs, coin or stamp collections) with a total value in excess of $3,000, then a qualified appraisal is required Note: This conflicts with the instructions of Form 706 Schedule F The form requires an appraisal if one article is valued in excess of $3,000 and the Treasury Regulation required an appraisal if the total value of artistic or intrinsic articles exceeds $3,000

• Books, in sets by standard authors should be listed in separate groups

• For paintings having artistic value, list the size, subject, and artist’s name

• For oriental rugs, list the size, make and general condition Groups or individual pieces of silverware should be weighed and reported in Troy ounces In arriving at the value of silverware, the appraisers should take into consideration its antiquity, utility, desirability, condition, and obsolescence

**Fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts The fair market value of a particular item of property includible in the decedent’s gross estate is not to be determined by forced sale price Nor is the fair market value of an item to be determined by the sale price of the item in a market other than that in which such item is most commonly sold to the public, taking into account the location of the item wherever appropriate Thus, in the case of an item of property includible in the decedent’s gross estate, which is generally obtained by the public in the retail market, the fair market value of such an item of property is the price at which the item or a comparable item would be sold at retail

Section 3 of Revenue Procedure 65-19 addresses the issue of items commonly sold at auction or through classified ads:

Where there is a bona fide sale of tangible personal property as the result of an advertisement in the classified section of a newspaper and the property is of the type often sold by owners by such means, or there is a bona fide sale of an item of tangible personal property at a public auction, the price for which it sold will be presumed to be the retail sales price of the item at the time of the sale

For estate tax purposes, if the decedent’s property is sold at public auction or through classified ads, the resulting prices realized are acceptable as fair market values, providing the sale is completed within a reasonable time and assuming that no dramatic change in the market occurs between the effective date of the appraisal and the date of the sale

For additional information on estate tax appraisals, or appraisals for nontax charitable contributions, divorce, insurance coverage, damage claim settlement, division of an estate by the heirs, or confirmation of purchase price, contact your acountant or attorney before selling the decedent’s personal property

GREAT NEWS!! Howe Mercantile will be celebrating our one-year anniversary in business the weekend of April 21-23 with a special offer to Howe Chamber members We will donate 10% of every sale made by Chamber members to the Chamber fund We will also have a sidewalk sale (weather permitting) with much of the proceeds benefitting the Save the Church fund So come have refreshments with us and support two of our favorite Howe organizations

Dr Georgia Caraway, former director of the Denton County Museums for 14 years, and her friends opened the Howe Mercantile at 107 East Haning Store hours are Thursday through Saturday noon until 8 p m She has written four Denton history books and has finished a 5th history about the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo that will be published in August. She hopes her next book will be the history of Howe PLEASE SHOP LOCALLY We can show you Howe!