The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

I happened to drive past the Jenkins County Courthouse Sunday morning on my way to church and observed "hundreds" of Robins playing of the lawn. Naturally, I had to stop and attempt to get a photo of the gathering. And, of course, the photo does not do the scene justice.

The sight of the red-breasted birds playing on the lawn reminded me that spring is just around the corner and only several blocks away, summer lurks. Just underneath the soil, all things green and glorious are preparing to emerge, and beneath the bark of naked trees, sap is flowing and young leaves are preparing to burst forth from their buds. Science explains the changing of the seasons as the tilting of the earth on its axis toward and away from the sun. Were it not so, areas of our planet would be locked into perpetual winter or summer.

There are those who credit this phenomenon to "chance", "evolution" or the physics of a "big bang" that occurred light years ago. Were that assumption true, it would mean that the existence of life on our planet is nothing more than an accident of science.

I believe we're here as a deliberate creation orchestrated by the One who holds all the secrets of science in His hands. Life is just too great an accomplishment to be a mere accident!

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As promised, here is the address for Arthur Milton Jr. who was recently wounded while serving in Iraq. You may write to him at: Arthur Milton, HHC-1-36 IN BN, CMR 453 Box 463, APO - AE 09074.

His mother, Alice, provided the address. She said that Arthur was still recovering from his injuries in Germany but was able to read the news article in The Millen News about himself online. Isn't technology wonderful?

Hopefully, Arthur will soon be back in the United States and at home with his family and friends.

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Don't forget to set your clocks "ahead" one hour before you retire Saturday night. Daylight Savings Time is arriving early this year.

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Happy birthday this week to: Farris Markovcic, Danny J. Clayton, Charles Brannen, Rudolph Hydrick, Edward Wilson, J.D. Cain, Pat Miller, Eric Williams, Dina Keller, Rick Pickett, Ralph Chance, Gloria Hawes, Jacob Oglesby, Waine Skinner, Tori Becton, Mary Alice Becton, Johnny Oglesby Jr., Kellie Holton, George Hall and Rose Small.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and Mrs. Sidney London, Mr. and Mrs. Normal Clifton and Mr. and Mrs. Darrel Clifton.

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Military Active Duty List: Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; SPC Grade E4 Arthur Lamont Milton Jr., HHC 1-36 Infantry Support, Friedberg, Germany; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Ft. Stewart; Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Maryland; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; LCPL Dwain "Cade" Lee, 1st Marine Division Combat Service Support Group II Security Element, ArRamadi, Iraq; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion- Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, 2nd Marine Division, F.A.S.T. Company, Yorktown, VA; Sgt. 1st Class Steven Yager, 362nd Sig. Company, Korea; MM3 Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E- 3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; SFC Ronnie Perryman, E-7, Georgia Army National Guard, Battery A, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas.