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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL People who promise, don't deliver My father and grand father always taught me to honor my obli gations and commitments. They emphasized that a man’s word is his bond. If I make a commitment, it is seared into my memory until fulfilled. Likewise, my sons, Bill and Tim, follow through on their commit ments. I always admired U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, because, if he told you something, you could put it in the bank. Some people can look you squarely in the eye, utter a promise, walk away, and conveniently forget it. Untrustworthiness is a negative reflection on one’s upbringing and value sys tem. A friend had a new roof installed by an out-of-town roofing contractor. His crew came late and left early. One evening at quitting time, they left a section of roof unfinished. That night it rained heav ily and damaged the living room ceiling. The roofing contractor promised to fix the damaged room once the roofing job Rev. Joyce Payne leading local retreat submitted Andrew United Methodist Women will hold their annu al “Spiritual Day Apart,” for all women Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. with a meet-and-greet time with coffee an doughnuts in the church’s new community building. This has become an annu al event at the church. The program, starting at 9:30 a.m. will be led by Raising healthy, loving kids is a father’s greatest challenge Question: What has been your greatest chal lenge as a father? What did you learn from it? DR. DOBSON: Raising healthy, well-educated, self disciplined children who love God and their fellow human beings is, I believe, the most challenging responsibility in life. Not even rocket science can approach it for complexi ty and unpredictability. And, of course, the job is even more difficult today when our culture undermines and contradicts everything par ents are trying to accom plish at home. Fortunately, we are not asked to do every thing perfectly as moms and dads. Our kids usually man age to survive our mistakes and turn out better than we have any right to boast about. I certainly made my share of mistakes as a father. Like millions of other men of my era, I often had a tough time THESE SERVICE PROVIDERS ! , , •HAVE SPONSORED THIS ~ C D §o 5 Sperry florist 734 Main Street Perry, Georgia 31069 987-1656 800-516-1004 00035121 Perry Antiques Mall 631 Courtney Hodges Blvd. Perry, GA 31069 OKXt to Por\ Animal. Hospital 478-987-8775 &NGC perryantiques@alltel.net AjA "WEFj Billy Powell K j ■l was complete. A year later, after repeated calls and letters, the con tractor has not returned to repair the damage caused by his negligence. To my dismay, this same contractor re-roofed my house. His crew failed to leak proof the chimney, so when it rained, my den ceiling was covered with unsightly water spots. His crew also dropped a section of plywood that knocked a hole in my living room ceiling. Add to that the failure to install proper guttering. Although I was saddled with a $1,300 repair bill to correct his mistakes, the contractor the Rev. Joyce Payne, an ordained Methodist minis ter from Bonaire, as well as a wife, mother and grand mother. The church is at 2430 Ga. Hwy. 124, Kathleen, between Houston Lake Country Club and Moody Road. For more information, call Shelby Arnold, 987-1397 or Sharon Stokes, 987-4776. balancing the pressures of my profession with the needs of my family. Not that I ever became an “absentee father,” but I did struggle at times to be as accessible as I should have been. As it hap pened, my first book, “Dare to Discipline,” was published the same week that our sec ond child, Ryan, arrived. A baby always turns a house upside down, but the reaction to my book added to the turmoil. I was a full time professor at a medical school, and yet I was inun dated by thousands of letters and requests of every sort. There was no mechanism to handle this sudden notoriety. I remember flying to New York one Thursday night, where I did 17 television shows and press interviews in three days, returning to work on Monday morning. It was nothing short of over whelming. My father, who always StHiwielcitf • '7K&*M<yuutt#uHq • s4UruUi9*4 478-988-2448 740 Main Street Perry GA 31069 7>te Online www.sewingbees.com Goßrh clothing ar Jewelry co. 00035 11 9 478-988-9944 •Christian T-Shirts •Handcarved Artwork from 3rd World countries never offered to make resti tution. A plumber installed sev eral faucets in my home. I was having trouble with the faucets, so I called the plumber to request that he remedy the problem. He promised to drop by my house the next day and fix the faucets. A year later, he is yet to show up at my door. Soon after I began dat ing Beverly, I experienced a major disappointment. One evening I didn’t have a car and wanted so badly to go to Fort Valley to see her. A friend promised to pick me up and take me. I waited and waited, yet he never showed up, so I Identity should be no problem “Cute.” That was my first impres sion of the shirt worn by the little toddler. Then it struck me how unnecessary the lettering, “T-Shirt, T-Shirt, T-Shirt,” stretched across the front of the shirt was. Anybody could look at the garment and recognize it as a t-shirt. Of course, the lettering was not intended for iden tification. I was meant to be cute, and cute it was. But, the cute T-shirt gave me something to think about. I thought about the — Dr. lames Dobson served as a beacon in dark times, saw what was hap pening to me and wrote a letter that was to change my life. First, he congratulated me on my success, but then warned that all the success in the world would not com pensate if I failed at home. He reminded me that the spiritual welfare of our chil dren was my most impor tant responsibility, and that the only way to build their faith was to model it per "From The Old To The New" tf~\ ff' 1812 U.S. 41 N.l Perry, GA 987-1112 O*&{F3US FlooringANSHCA 902 Carroll St. Perry, GA 00035115 CHURCH ft RELIGION 1203 Sunset Avenue • Perry, Plaza (478)218-2115 Locally Owned and Operated By Pat Kincaid Tuesday-Friday 8:30-5:30 Saturday 8:30-12:30 headed out walking to Fort Valley. I had gotten two miles out side the Perry city limits when Mel Tolleson, travel ing to Fort Valley to see his girlfriend, offered me a ride. The scriptures are replete with godly persons whose lives exemplified the dis cipline of dependability— Moses, Joseph, Joshua, Samuel, Ester, Paul and John the Baptist to name a few. There are also those whose unreliability and unfaithful ness disappointed God. Among them was King Saul, who was self-centered, selfish and lacked depend ability. The prophet Samuel informed Saul that he had failed God, saying, “Your kingdom shall not continue.” Another incident of untrust worthiness was Jesus’ dis ciples. Jesus asked them to stand watch in Gethsemane while He prayed. Jesus returned to find the disciples sound asleep. Failure to honor commit menlis is not only a serious disservice to one’s neighbor, but an affront to God. Wmm number of times we have heard someone ask, “Is he a Christian?” or “Are you a Christian? And I thought about the sonally and then to stay on my knees in prayer. That couldn’t be done if I invested every resource in my profes sion. I have never forgotten that profound advice. It eventually led to my resignation from the univer sity and to the development of a ministry that permitted me to stay at home. I quit accepting speaking requests, started a radio program that required no travel, and refused to do “book tours” or LONGHORN BUTCHER SHOP your Hometown butcher Since 1976 1207 Sunset Ave. • Perry Plaza Perry. GA 31069 100035122 Lee Lasseter 478-987-5711 Greer Lassetcr Serving Houston County Perry • Warner Robins Member FIEIC CBST Bank of Middle Georgia Ten Commandments f.a ’. v iffjl ■ lu B Jouraal/Chariotte Perkins Tuesday, Marie Lewis, standing, and Pauline Lewis, seated, presented the Houston County Board of Education with a number of plaques containing the Ten Commandments, requesting that they be placed in the public schools. number of times we have heard the declarations: “He is a fine Christian man,” “She is a wonderful Christian woman,” or “I am proud to accept other lengthy respon sibilities that would take me away from my family. As I look back on that era today, I am so grateful that I chose to preserve my rela tionship with my children. The closeness that we enjoy today can be traced to that decision to make time for them when they needed me most. I could easily have made the greatest mistake of my life at that time. I’m sure many fathers will read this response and find themselves today where I was back then. If you are one of them, I urge you to give priority to your fam ily. Those kids around your feet will be grown and gone before you know it. Don’t let the opportunities of these days slip away from you. No professional accomplish ment or success is worth that cost. When you stand where I am today, the rela tionship with those you love Perry Drug^Comnany Friendly. Professional Service Ben Bartlett & Hubert Bennett, REGISTERED PHARMACISTS Most fasvmtt Mins Acctpttd 00035 11~Il~ 1036 MACON RD. • PERRY, GA I 988-1144 TjK THE BANK jjR OF PERRY Please worship at the church of your choice 1006 Main St. • Perrv 987-2552 Member FDIC 10Q035113 FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2006 be a Christian.” It is natural for Christians to be concerned over the spiritual welfare of others, and Christians have every reason to be proud of their heritage. But just as the garment could be identi fied without the lettering, “T-Shirt, T-Shirt, T-Shirt,” there should be no ques tion about the identity of a Christian. “If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or we die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:8, Amplified Bible) will outweigh every other good thing in your life. ** ** ** QUESTION: Would you say that most marital problems are caused by sexual difficulties? DR. DOBSON: No, the opposite is more accurate. Most sexual problems are caused by marital difficul ties. Or stated another way, couples that have problems in bed often have bigger problems during the other 23 1/2 hours of the day. ** ** ** Dr. Dobson is founder and chairman of the board of the nonprofit organization Focus on the Family, PO. Box 444, Colorado Springs, CO. 80903; or www.family. org. Questions and answers are excerpted from “The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide” and “Bringing Up Boys,” both published by Tyndale House. 'Tteu* T^en'iy u ! .■ JSii iMm ifpi jjgp 736 Main Street Perry, Georgia 31069 Jackie & Terry Mullis 987-1965 000351181 |00035120 Arnold’s Auto Servic 1202 Main St. Perry, Ga. 31069 Complete Car Maintenance Pick-up & Delivery "Road Servi I 00035111 Call Thomas 987-9439 3B Call (