I sat down the other evening with a good friend and got lost in my feelings for a bit. It was unintentional but it was so close to my husband’s death anniversary I guess I should have expected it. The...

“There! That should do it.” Sigh. Word-smithing a half-decent mission statement can be a daunting venture. While, in our case it surely was, we felt gratified in the outcome. The Lord’s fingerprint se...

DEAR ABBY: I have one sister I love. Our parents passed away 12 years ago. We don’t have a good relationship, although I try. Recently, we have been texting again. Her son is being married in a few mo...

After I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I wanted to be honest about it. I didn’t want to be one of those who say they are a Christian and then act or live in ways that make people doubt that. I wa...

DEAR ABBY: For nearly three years, I have been seeing a man who later asked me to move in with him. He abruptly stopped emailing me four months ago. I waited several weeks and then emailed him, tellin...

Last week, I toured Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility led by my former legislative colleague Kris Steele, now the director of The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM) in Oklahoma City. TEEM is a...

DEAR ABBY: I’ve always been close to my children, but now that they are adults, it seems I’m losing my connection with one of them. He married a girl of a different race, and while that doesn’t bother...

I once heard the story of how the great preacher and author Charles Swindoll once showed up to one of his church’s board meetings looking all disheveled and downtrodden. As his church leaders looked a...

Resident shares thoughts on trash left at lake area Dear Editor, To all the folks that love and enjoy the lake and want to keep it beautiful - greetings. I live out here by the water on some land my G...

DEAR ABBY: Our wonderful daughter has her doctorate. She’s a hardworking professor, a job she loves. Her husband, “Phil,” has three master’s degrees and also his doctorate. In their 20 years of marria...

Over the past week, Oklahoma lost two individuals who did much for our state’s children in their own ways. Most people are aware of the passing of Toby Keith, the Oklahoma country music performer with...

The Okmulgee Country Club & Golf Course held a karaoke contest every Friday during the month of February. OSUIT Chef Aaron Ware was the recipient of the 2013 Roueche Excellence Award. Ware was the onl...

Who comes up with street names beginning with the letter ‘X’? Turning onto Xanthus Ave. that Thursday evening, I glanced at my watch. “How will this go? Who will show up? Will I be on my game ... what...

DEARABBY: I have been involved with a married man for the last five years. He lied to me about his status. He told me that a woman he’d had a 15-year relationship with had left him. I recently learned...

Sam was a good dog. My Dad’s boss gave him to us. My Dad did extra work in construction on weekends. For some reason, Dad’s boss couldn’t keep Sam, so we inherited him. Sam was a black cocker spaniel,...

Okmulgee High School held a ribbon cutting for their new state-of-the-art science labs. Gayla Ledbetter of Okmulgee won first place in the A Non-Irrigated Division of the 2013 National Corn Growers’ A...

DEAR ABBY: I am a mature, divorced woman living with my boyfriend for the past two years. We have a good life in general. We live in a nice home in a great community. My problem is, he isn’t capable o...

Julie’s School of Dance is now teaching classes at Morris First Baptist Church. “We are so fortunate that Rev. Bowen and staff have allowed us to use this fabulous building to educate our dance childr...

Words: the foundation of language, simple letters strung together to form a word. Then words are used to create sentences, then paragraphs, and eventually complete stories shared between human beings....

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I decided to go with smaller meals this week. I often get requests for something that’s not designed to feed four people anyway. You could easily use thes...