The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

Once again the holiday season is upon us. Next week is Thanksgiving, and Christmas is looming on the horizon. Where did the year go? January is still a vivid memory, and yet here it is December again.

Time, it seems, is no longer standing still but racing forward at a velocity that is a little bit scary. I now have more years behind me than I do ahead of me. What a thought! Gone are the youthful dreams, replaced by life's realities. I am now the adult that I once could not even envision myself becoming.

"For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." The words of James 4:14 confirm that none of us have been put on this earth to stay. Time will continue pushing us forward until the day it finally runs out.

I have decided to stop thinking about how quickly time is passing and concentrate instead on enjoying the time I have and using it wisely. This will not slow its passing or lessen the effects upon me.

I am sure to get a few more wrinkles. But a few wrinkles from "smiling" are much better than only ones from "frowning." And another year older is okay - if it also finds me another year wiser.

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Happy birthday this week to: Heather Waters, Whitley Clark, Mason Davis, Debbie Williams, Seth Benson, Imari Jackson, Vanessa Gordon, Ashley Godbee, Rebekah Daniel and Danny Troisi.

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Military Active Duty List: PV2 Ashley Clifton, U.S. Army, Yongsan, Korea; Airman First Class Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, 2nd Marine Division, F.A.S.T. Company, Bahrain, Persian Gulf; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Ali Al Salem AFB, Kuwait; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, Camp Taji, Iraq; 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, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; 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; 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; 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.