Faith

by Debbie Wallis

Founders Day

continued from page 7

“Peace I leave you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives to you Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,” John 14:27

Every morning while eating his cereal, my husband reads the internet news The world is filled with conflict I can’t imagine anyone who doesn’t want peace, but few really have it There can be moments that people find calmness, but a single circumstance can fill hearts with fear There is no peace this world can offer through companionship, education or financial security If you look for this universe to give you peace you will have more anxiety There is no bond with the values of this world that you can not loose People go away, jobs change and money can be lost in a moment We each will have circumstances that cause us stress and to loose our peace because our peace will not sustain

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” John 16:33 Sometimes no mater how much you try you still struggle with anxiety and fear The peace that Jesus is speaking of is not from knowledge of who He is It can only be found when you have an intimate relationship with Jesus, “that in Me you my have peace” Peace doesn’t happen instantly when you are saved; you choose it by an obedient life; “you may have peace ” His peace comes from you living out His Word through your obedience In this world you will face trials, sadness, fears and disappointments but your courage will come by knowing in your heart that Jesus has already overcome the world at Calvary Nothing will take you away from Him There is nothing that takes Him by surprise Nothing can undo His plan for you, no matter your past His plan for you remains the same

You were not given eternal life for your sake alone If you are living for your own pleasure you will not have peace, it will be impossible That is not the plan for your life In other words, if you wake up only to do what you want to do and when you want to do it you will never have true peace You will live in fear, anxiousness, depression and doubt of your own self worth Jesus was sent to this world to do the will of His Father and just as Jesus had a mission, you have one also All Christians are called to unite with other Christians to do the will of God on earth for as long as we live Yes, we have jobs and families to support and it’s perfectly fine with God for us to do things that are fun with no purpose other than to enjoy ourselves But you also have a unique calling by God to do for others as you represent Christ That’s the purpose of talents and skills; they are a gift from God to be given to His people It can be used as your livelihood and also your way to help others We bring glory to Him when we help each other

We have an opportunity to be a witness of the peace of God each and every day Our dispositions, our words and our actions can either draw others to Christ or push them away You have things to do that will point others to Christ This can’t be done without the peace of God working in your life His peace is the only way that you will maintain through adversity and hard times It’s only in His peace that you can accomplish what He has sit aside for you to do My Aunt Peggy is an example of good health She had a health food store in Lewisville for years and before that she read, researched and lived her knowledge of what to and not to do to stay healthy She is approaching 80 and hasn’t gone to the doctor in over forty years She is logical and brings it all back to God, still physically strong and I look to her wisdom when I need advice Her health is a testament that I can trust What she says works is working in her own life I’m not going to ask someone who is always sick how to stay well I’m not going to ask someone who is always anxious how to have peace As you remain in the peace of Christ, your love for others will amaze the world Jesus will shine bright through you and people will be drawn to the light of Christ in your life This is the peace that those who don’t know Jesus cannot relate to

“But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice,” Luke 11:28 If you don’t have a Bible please contact me at sfadebbie@yahoo com and I will provide you one

Howe Chamber of Commerce has moved the time of the event to 2pm -8pm for more of a festive atmosphere to go more in line with the highly successful Fall Festival The location will be in Downtown Howe and will feature bounce houses, bubble machines, pizza, kettle corn, sliders, fries, homemade ice cream, horseshoe tournament, 42 tournament, lawnmower race, shaved ice and much more There will be live music throughout the day as well as dance performances and cheer performances The chamber is also hosting a “Touch A Truck” event which will allow kids and adults (for a small fee) to be able to climb inside large machinery and have their pictures made Police cars, fire trucks, county machinery, farm machinery and new trucks will be in the event All of the money raised from the Touch A Truck will go to upgrade local parks Facebook event located here

In conjunction with the Founders Day celebration, the Howe Fire Department has completely reorganized the Classic Car Show with help from local classic car experts Over 40 cars have already entered the show Judges will be Rob Hunt from AAAA Automotive in Luella and Kevin Barnett from Star Auto Body in Howe Awards will be given on-site in the following divisions: Best Ford, Best Chevy, Best MoPAR, Best of the Rest, Best Original Car, Best Original Truck, Best Modified Car, Best Modified Truck, Mayor’s Choice, Best of Show Car, Best of Show Truck Entries are $15 preshow and $20 at the event Registrations are located at Howe City Hall or over phone at 903-5325571

The gear and accessories associated with cowboys and vaqueros, cattle trails and cow towns; old forts and ranches are desirable to collectors today Stirrups, bits and spurs are fascinating fragments of early Western days and ways and deserve more recognition than is given them Much has been written about trail driving, cowboys and western towns, but one important segment of the open range has been neglected the vaquero and the gear he used

A great many of the early southwestern cattle spreads were staffed with a larger complement of Mexican vaqueros than their white counterparts Vaqueros brought from across the border the traditional equipment of the Spanish horseman--some of the most ornate and stylized trappings in the entire realm of horse gear

The Chihuahua spur has a hefty solidness that we see in traditional Spanish furniture These spurs are highly decorated in their silver inlay and the large spur wheels (rowels) that can be a much as three inches in diameter They were designed to wrangle some degree of compliance from the half-wild mustangs that the vaqueros rode The same is true of ring and spade bits They are also of strong Spanish influence designed to control mounts not always compatible with their riders’ intention

Leading American spur makers were Crockett, Kelly Brothers, Garcia, Bass, Boone, Hunt, Branche, McChesney, Main & Winchester, and Parker Spurs were made of a variety of materials such as wrought and cast iron, stainless steel, monel steel, nickel silver, brass, copper, and combinations of these often with inlay in sterling silver and rowels cut from U S half-dollars Shanks might take the form of a woman’s leg (the popular “gal-leg type), a bird’s head, or a rattlesnake Popular engraved or embossed

Thank you

Words cannot express how thankful my family and I are for the help and support everyone showed us during the loss of “Our Hero” We want to thank everyone for the visits, special prayers, cards, flowers, the ladies who prepared the food and served our large family, all the delicious food delivered to my house, First Baptist Church for their support, the Police department and city employees who escorted M E to the cemetery, Scoggins funeral home for taking such good care of us images included horseheads, eagles, and the diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades from a deck of playing cards

The boxcar or box stirrup looks cumbersome in appearance, but they were particularly suitable to the vaquero’s riding style They are an adaptation of the older Spanish one-piece wooden stirrup called “doghouse” and the tread on some of these stirrups is quite wide six inches or so The vaqueros of the borderlands were tradition-bound and they clung to some old world principles in the handling of range ponies that were at great variance with the American cowboy Vaqueros favored boxcars long after cowboys had adopted stirrups of more practical size, shape, and weight Stirrups were purely functional and rarely decorated The oxbow stirrup is much narrower than the boxcar

The Chihuahua spur, spade and ring bits, and the boxcar stirrup were the earliest of the gear So, if collecting westerniana appeals to you, gitalong to your favorite western store or antique shop and rustle up some cowboy gear.

Special note: MANY MANY thanks to our friends in the Howe area who have supported our business this past year We are so happy to be a part of this wonderful community

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!

A special thanks to Kevin Bouse for conducting the service celebrating M E ’s life, TC Carroll for such comforting words, our beautiful niece LiAnn Armitage who sang “How Great

Thou Art” for M.E., and of course Jim Smith, Gene Needham, and Lynn Owens who shared memories of M E , and Joshua Brewington for the picture and song presentation M E loved life, his family, and the Howe community and I will always be grateful to people that shared their love and fun things about M E that made their lives better And to Monte Walker for kind words about M E and making the Hardware Store a nice place and fulfilling one of his bucket list

We are so thankful God gave us 3 years more than the doctors estimated.

Thank you all so very much, Marie, Paris, Allison and the family