I wish to take a point of personal privilege in this article. On July 4, our nation celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

There is another important anniversary in my life that is celebrated on July 4. On July 4, 1948, Robert Cole and Mary Earline Ross stood before witnesses and made a vow to each other to enter into Holy Matrimony.

The vows went something like this:

“I, Robert, take thee Earline, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better – for worse, for richer – for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

My mother repeated the same vow to my father. The minister then declared that the two were husband and wife.

The event was so important that they obtained a license from the local courthouse and filed the document. They were a legal entitity with certain rights, privileges, and responsibilities to each other and to their community.

The most basic of social institutions, a family, came into existence with a simple declaration. Their income tax status changed. She took his name. They combined their belongings and moved in together.

A few years later, Robert took a job at Robins Air Force Base and purchased land in Bonaire. Robert, Earline, and their new baby boy moved to Bonaire and lived in a tiny trailer while Robert built a house for his family. Three years after their first child, they had a daughter.

They not only built a house, they built a home. They invested their lives in their community and their family. They still live in the same house that my father built.

Just last month Robert celebrated his 92nd birthday. It won’t be long before my mother turns 90.

They do not have the disposable income that they once had. They are not as healthy as they were when they said their vows to each other.

When they said to each other, “from this day forward.. for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health” they meant it.

They still love and cherish each other. Death has not yet parted the two and death will be the only thing that parts them.

On July 4, I wish Robert and Mary Earline Ross Cole a happy 70th anniversary.

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Shannon Penny Nipper, Joyce Williams Mitchell, Lavater Hall-Bass

What does it mean to be persistent? In the book of Luke, chapter 18, Jesus tells a parable of a woman who sought justice before a judge who “did not fear God”. The judge did not want to waste time with her. She kept coming back.

Over and over and over she brought her case before him. Finally,the judge came to the realization that he would spend less time dealing with her if he just heard her case and gave her justice.

The purpose of the parable was to encourage His followers to pray and not lose heart. In other words, persist in prayer.

Last January, I attended a prayer service at the Cordele Community Center. The letter that I received called for the community to come together.

I did not know what to expect as I went. I wrote about the positive and powerful time together. The event organizers said that they wanted to do it again.

Last Saturday morning at 10:00 am, a small group gathered again at the Cordele Community Club House. Under cloudy skies with impending rain, the group shared Scripture, words of encouragement, and they prayed.

As it was last January, the prayers were not focused on a race of people or a part of town. The prayers were for the community. The prayers were for the schools, teachers, law enforcement officers, social workers, pastors, Sunday school teachers, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and children.

Some came who no longer live in Cordele but made it clear that Cordele was home. Joyce Mitchell recalled how in her younger days if she walked down the street and there was someone sitting out on the porch as she passed, she had better greet that person. If not, when she got home, her mother would have already received a call. It was a matter of common courtesy and respect to greet each other.

The group that gathered that day was a little smaller than the first gathering six months earlier. Perhaps it was the impending rain. Perhaps it was the beginning of summer.

What struck me was that there was no grumbling, fault-finding, or finger-pointing. There was just a time of positive, uplifting, prayer for the community.

Alisha Appling

One participant, Alisha Appling, performed a praise dance to a song asking God to fill this place. Praise dance is not part of a normal worship service for me.

As I watched her, it was evident by the smile on her face as she looked to the heavens that she was pouring out her creativity before God. I thought of King David writing in Psalm 103:1, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.”

Joyce Mitchell, Lavater Hall-Bass, and Shannon Penny Nipper organized and promoted the event. They did not let anything stop them. They will be doing it again. They are not weary in well-doing. They are persisting and it will pay off.

When you hear about the next one, come and join. You will be glad that you invested the time and our community will be better off because you joined others who are persisting in prayer.

Read my editorial about the first gathering. 

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Fernando and Margarita Mendez

Fernando Mendez was born in Cuba during the Communist regime of Fidel Castro. Before Castro, Fernando’s father owned a small farm and grocery store. The store was attached to their home. There was an entrance to the store from Fernando’s room.

In the days before Castro, that door served as the interior entrance to the store were the community came to shop, visit, talk about family, and solve the problems of the world. Castro seized the store, the farm and everything in it and made it a place for Communist activity in their home quarters.

In close eye view from the farm, the Cuban government built barracks to house Russian soldiers. Fernando remembered that his father would hide him when the soldiers were outside. “They were lawless and could do whatever they wanted,” Fernando said.

Fernando’s father was devastated with the the theft of the farm, the store that he worked so hard to build, and having Communists operating in his own home. He made the decision that he had to get out of Cuba before something worse happened.

Until 1971, there were freedom flights from Cuba to the United States. If a family in the United States agreed to sponsor a family from Cuba, they were allowed to emigrate to the United States.

Fortunately for Fernando, his father had a brother in the United States. Cuba was willing to let his father leave immediately if he went unaccompanied.

Fernando’s father was not going to leave Cuba without his family. In order for family units to leave Cuba, the Cuban government demanded that the head of the family work for free in a labor camp for a year.

Fernando’s father did his year in the labor camp, keeping his heart focused on gaining freedom in America for his loved ones. In 1968 when his year was done, he got on a plane with his family, and left his home and all belongings in Cuba for an uncharted journey to America guided by the confidence of liberty and the American dream.

Fernando’s father went into the construction business and built a home on 1.25 acres of land. It was in this humble home that Fernando began his agricultural journey as a young boy raising chickens, horses, turkeys, guineas, cows, and dogs.

Fernando married, Margarita, his high school sweetheart and started a roofing and construction business. He was making a living in construction but his dream was to own a farm. They were blessed with three daughters. As their family grew, so did his business.

At the age of 28, Fernando received shocking news. Doctors discovered a cancerous sarcoma in his left thigh. He had surgery and treatments to fight the cancer into remission.

Instead of throwing him into a pit of despair and defeat, the cancer created a drive in him to learn more about how foods are produced. This added a new dimension to his dream of farming.

Fernando wanted to go into farming because he loved animals. Now he also wanted to farm in order to grow food based on the natural way that God designed.

At the age of 47, Fernando turned his construction business over to one of his children to run and poured his life savings into his life-long dream to become a farmer. He and his wife prayed for guidance and he said that God led them to buy a farm in Crisp County, Georgia. The name of the farm is Marview, from his wife’s name, Margarita, and the beautiful view they see every day.

On his 900 acre farm, Fernando raises Devon, grass finished beef, pastured pork, pastured lamb, pastured goat, pastured chickens, and pastured eggs. Over the years he has trained his animals to move from section to section of his farm to graze. Fernando says that his animals do the work.

He sells his meats from the animals that are organically born and raised on his farm. He is at the International City Farmer’s Market in Warner Robins every Thursday. He also has a route that goes across Southeast Georgia all the way down to Miami, Florida. His customers place their orders on line and meet him at designated times for him to deliver.

At the recent Farmer’s Appreciation Banquet in Crisp County, Marview Farms received the Innovator of the Year Award. Fernando’s goal is that Marview Farms be as self-reliant as possible and maintain his unique approach to farming.

Marview Farms holds several certifications including American Grassfed Association (Certified), and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner, Gary Black’s highly successful Georgia Grown certification.

Fernando’s life was shaped and molded through the challenges that both he and his family faced. He has a deep appreciation for freedom and the American Dream.

Fernando and Margarita work hard and serve their customers with the highest commitment to quality and service. Marview Farms is a glowing example that the American Dream still lives today.

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Megan’s House is a place to offer rest for those who never get it. Let me tell you about it.

The birth of a child is a miracle that the word “awesome” does not begin to describe. A mother and father hold this new member of the world community and dream of the future for their precious child.

They dream of Little League, dance recitals, schooling, college, romance, career, and a host of other life events. Parents wonder what this little baby is going to be like. They imagine how their own parents may have felt when they came into the world and dream ahead for the one they now hold in their arms.

Then, they learn that this wonderful little person has a disability. Perhaps they get the news at birth or before. For some it may be months later. Whenever they learn it, their world changes and it changes radically.

At first there may be a shock of disbelief. They pray that there must be a mistake. Maybe the records got mixed up. Then there is a grasp of hope for a cure, a medical breakthrough that will bring everything back to “normal.”

Every newborn requires a lot of care. The average family with a healthy child knows that there will be sleepless nights. Feeding, changing diapers, and walking the floor with baby in arms in the midnight hours is tiresome and weary. The schedule is tiring but as the baby grows, parents know that things will get back to “normal.”

Parents of a child with a disability adjust to a new “normal.” That new normal carries with it a new perspective on life itself.

Parents of a child with a developmental disability will follow a new path in life. In many ways that new path will bring with it joy that they never could have imagined. That path brings a greater empathy and compassion for others.

That new path also brings with it a constant and overwhelming demand on resources – physical and emotional. A community cannot have enough bake sales, pork chop dinners, car washes, love offerings, and fund raisers to meet the costly needs.

The demand never ends. Don’t let that slip by you. It never ends – ever.

This is where Megan’s House steps in. Megan’s House is a program of Easter Seals of Southern Georgia that provides respite care for families with a child with developmental disabilities or who may be considered medically fragile.

The first home was in Albany and now there is a Megan’s House in Valdosta and Waycross. Easter Seals of Southern Georgia just opened their new Megan’s House that will accommodate up to four children at one time.

This linked video is two minutes. This will be a worthwhile investment of your time.

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