Looking Homeward

Becky-N-Dad

Columns for The Herald-Dispatch Sunday Op-Ed: inspired and co-authored with Becky’s father, the late Rev.Dr. R. F. Smith Jr, pastor emeritus, Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, Huntington, West Virginia. Please join us for current conversations on Facebook.

 


For city's welfare, we must do more than bloom

For city’s welfare, we must do more than bloom

One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my mother was, “Bloom where you are planted.” Mom enjoyed her role as a pastor’s wife and found ways to join and actively participate in every community where we lived. “We need to plug in, kids,” I can hear her saying after each one of our […]

Springtime reminds us to trust, wait and be confident

Springtime reminds us to trust, wait and be confident

Every year I can count on it. By the time Easter Sunday is here, the sun is in just the right place in the sky to awaken me each morning. Its bright sliver of light pierces through my bedroom window and beams right into my eyes. I don’t need an alarm clock. It used to […]

Grandchild's unspoken words are a golden opportunity

Grandchild’s unspoken words are a golden opportunity

It’s a favorite story my father once told. During World War II, a kindhearted English couple adopted a six-month-old Polish baby girl. Shortly thereafter, they enrolled in a course to study the Polish language. When asked why they were taking a class, they replied, “Little Sonya will soon be starting to talk, and we want […]