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Shiver Brains, a local children's music group, played in Havre Saturday night with members Henry and Dorothea Merrill, Levon Myers, Liam Simpson, and their mentor, Christ Myers. So yes, I love watching the kids play, but so much more ran through my mind. Saturday was special because every song played had to be ordinary songs written by the musicians themselves. Nathan, my son, has always loved music. On Saturday, he played a song he wrote, and for the first time, his son Henry played the drums...
Hello Pioneers! My name is Shon Tester and I’m one of the many leading you along the roads of our towns past, present, and future. There was an immense sense of pioneer pride when the homecoming committee asked me to be in charge of the homecoming program. It came with some laughter and of course, a cathartic bittersweet. I realize I now fill the shoes of the late Rusty Danreuther (1973), one of the great directors of our past homecoming programs. So the question that now begs to be asked: what type of program will Shon Tester (2004) do? W...
3 years ago, while attending a cousin’s wedding in Chicago, I broke my foot playing basketball with the guys in the wedding party. The doctor who treated me pointed to my two broken toes, said that was the problem, put a cast on me, and sent me on my way. 6 weeks later, the doctors at the military hospital in Northern Virginia took one look at the X-rays the Chicago doctor took and blew a gasket. After a series of meetings and a ton of additional X-rays, they let me know that the previous doctor had missed the crushed joint as well as n...
Medicaid renewal: Thanks for vote to protect rural hospitals HB 245 was passed recently by the Montana Legislature. This important legislation preserves Montana’s Medicaid program and ensures continued access to vital healthcare for thousands of Montanans. I want to thank Sen. Josh Kassmier, Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, Rep. Russ Miner, and Rep. Mike Fox for their support of HB 245. Not only does it help protect healthcare coverage for close to 80,000 low-income Montana adults, but it is also very important to protecting access to local h...
Black and White Psalm 139:23 says, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” The Lord knows I struggle with negative people and people who judge other people, which simply means I’m guilty of both. In our times, people can say whatever they are thinking and criticize anyone who is different from them. They use offensive words that are meant to be! They want their words to be damaging. I struggle to love even my friends who write...
A man and a woman are walking down the street towards each other. When they get close to each other, both turn to walk into the same building. The man, realizing they share the same destination, runs ahead and holds the door for the woman. Somewhat offended by the gesture, she asks him: “Are you doing that because I am a woman?” Without missing a beat, he replies simply: “No. I am doing it because I am a gentleman.” The story is simple, but the point is important. The fellow did not choose to act based on who others are, but rather who he is....
Dear Editor, Some months ago, I had the honor of meeting Ruth Merrill at the Big Sandy Methodist Church. I had driven to Big Sandy from Havre, as I wanted to attend services where Marty Demarest was leading the service. I have since come back, numerous times to hear Marty’s services and visit with Ruth. She was such a delight, with her joyful smile, and beautiful fluffy white hair. It was overwhelming to see Ruth’s faith, strength, and energy when she spoke, or took part in several of the events of the services. One could definitely sense the...
My brother-in-law is a marine, and he served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He once told me that they would sometimes face an odd challenge when they would experience their first time in firefights. Some soldiers would collect their spent brass in the middle of combat. It seems weird, until you recognize that, in the intensity of those situations, fight-or-flight kicks in and folks replay what they did in training. This includes collecting their spent brass after they finished shooting. It’s a crazy reality that however we train is a strong i...
I have been dealing with intense headaches for years and have experimented with all sorts of cures and solutions for dealing with the strange ailment. While Christmas shopping with my wife last December, she noticed that the florescent lights in stores like Sam’s Club or Walmart seem to trigger my headache symptoms. I researched the phenomena and found that it isn’t uncommon for light to cause headaches, particularly florescent lights. I quickly picked up various types of filtering glasses, including blue light and florescent light fil...
This is a correction to the Letter to the Editor. Well, the talking heads on MSNBC and FOX have given me a few chuckles. The former says the Democrats have a mandate to change because they didn’t win the popular vote and the latter says the Republicans have an overwhelming mandate to-do whatever they want. The numbers don’t support either claim. The 2024 elections had almost 245 million eligible voters. Of these Harris got 30.46 %, Trump got 31.47%. There were nearly 4 million voters that didn’t vote for either of these candidates. Natio...
Over the weekend, I was talking with a friend of mine who has an upper management job in a large international organization. He was telling me about a documentary he watched on happiness that featured the story of a Vietnamese rickshaw cab operator. In the interviews, the man talked about his life and was surprisingly positive given the level of poverty he experienced. He spoke of how much he enjoyed his job because he got to work outside and be active. At the end of the day, he had enough money to eat a good meal with his son, who he was...
A new congress assembled today (Jan 3, 2024) and it’s the first time since 2007 my schoolmate of yesteryear and dear friend of today won’t be there. It’s a new era. I’m referring, of course, to Big Sandy’s own Jon Tester, former teacher and school board member, former President of the Montana Senate, former senior US Montana Senator , and current farmer and neighbor to Big Sandy residents. He’s gone from Congress, and Montana lost a powerful ally and advocate; it’s the nature of our political system. Tenure brings with it more influence--po...
A 2019 study looking at the work habits of 1000 employees found that nearly half of all employees believe that they could perform better at work if they were not worried about making mistakes. The study found that employees were hampered as much as 40% of the time by fear of failure. As a pastor and counselor, I have spent no small amount of time talking through past mistakes with those who lament their errors in judgement, missteps, wrong moves, and outright mistakes. It seems like the easiest thing to do in life sometimes is to carry our...
Well, the talking heads on MSNBC and FOX have given me a few chuckles. The former says the Democrats have a mandate to change because they didn’t win the popular vote and the latter says the Republicans have an overwhelming mandate to-do whatever they want. The numbers don’t support either claim. The 2024 elections had almost 245 million eligible voters. Of these Harris got 30.46 %, Trump got 31.47%. There were nearly 4 million voters that didn’t vote for either of these candidates. Nation wide 36% of eligible voters --- didn’t vote! Neither...
The second week of advent is peace. When Jesus was born in Luke, it says. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” So peace was mentioned immediately after He was born! Isaiah 9:6 says Jesus is the Prince of Peace. This is 700 years before Jesus was born. Perfect peace is possible through Jesus. This Christmas lean into Jesus. Cut out, tape to refrigerator, and read daily. December 11---Romans 12:18: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” December 12--Romans 14:19: “Let us t...
Advent means the arrival of Christ. As most of us know, the Advent Calendar opens each day to help us prepare for the celebration of Christ’s first arrival. For the next four weeks, I’ll offer you scripture to read. Cut it out of the newspaper and tape it to the refrigerator. This first week of Advent, we will be looking at Hope. There were 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments, but that didn’t mean God wasn’t working. Alexander the Great had conquered the world, there was a new way of learning, which encouraged people...
With Thanksgiving weekend upon us, Big Sandy prepares for a short week followed by visits with family, sleepy afternoons after eating turkey, pumpkin pie, and ideally a day of grateful hearts for the gifts and blessings God has provided to us in the past year. Growing up, I remember learning about the Puritans, though they were always called Pilgrims, having their first harvest meal with the natives in the new world while making “hand turkey” crafts for my mom to hang on the fridge. When I got older, I heard all manner of other tales, myt...
Is Thanksgiving even still a holiday? There’s so much controversy around it. There’s a genuine concern, lately, that Thanksgiving perpetuates racism, colonization, and oppression. And then there’s the superficial aspect that no one celebrates because they love Christmas. And why wouldn’t they? Every store known to man has Christmas stuff up before Halloween! So again…is Thanksgiving still a holiday? I will be honest: I was one of those people who had to wait until Thanksgiving was over before we decorated for Christmas. But I have a daughter...
God's creation inspires me, but the creativeness of humans also inspires me. I am reminded that I am made in His image, and I believe, to my core, that if we aren't doing something creative, we aren't satisfied with life; there's something missing. Genesis 1:27 SO GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGINE. I'm not talking about just creating art, sculpture, or painting with oils or watercolor. I'm not talking about what we would see in art. You can be an artist by making an engine purr. You can be an artist when you work outside in your yard and make...
For those driving by my place they may notice a preponderance of German vehicles: Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volkswagens, and even the Mercury Capri. I’ve always admired German engineering, physicists, and metallurgy. So I was always in a quandary as to how Hitler came to power. If the Germans were so smart and accomplished, how could they allow a fascist dictator to rule? Pushing ultra-nationalism and xenophobia, creating unfounded fears, and blaming others for problems, whether they existed or not, were all tools of this dictator. Hitler a...
Theodore Roosevelt was once praised by another man for his prowess as a marksman. The man had heard stories of several spectacular shots the president had pulled off while hunting and gushed over the level of skill required, including hitting a pair of pronghorn at long range from the back of a moving horse. Laughing, Teddy responded that he was actually a poor shot. He explained that he had poor eyesight, a fact that was exasperated by a detached retina he suffered in a boxing match at the Whitehouse that rendered him partially blind. Rather,...
There's something truly magical about Fall. The world transforms into a canvas of vibrant colors, each leaf a masterpiece in its own right. It's a season that fills me with joy and awe at the beauty of nature. God gave us so many colors if you stop to think about it. The trees, when green, have so many different shades of green. Why did God do that? Then there's dirt. Where I live, the dirt is that brownish gray. In Oklahoma, the dirt is red, and the dirt smells different in both places. It may...
"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" Proverbs 15:1 What is my response to abrasive people? It's a constant struggle. I can usually keep my mouth shut, but not always! If harsh words stir me up to be harsh back, I'm no better than the person who offended me. It's a battle of self-control and understanding. Walking in the cool September weather after the nice rain, I found myself taking pictures of odd things, like always. But the picture of the thistle growing by a...
When I was in Junior High, I watched the movie Glory. The 1989 war epic tells the story of the Massachusetts 54th Infantry regiment, one of the first black regiments to fight for the Union army in the Civil War. The story follows Col. Robert Gould Shaw, played by Matthew Broderick, as he raises and leads the regiment. It is one of my favorite films. I’ve lost count of how many times I have watched it. I’ve also worn out several cassette copies of the soundtrack. The closing credits of the movie run over photos of a bas relief sculpture dep...
In the age of wooden sailing ships, navigation was a matter of life and death. A small navigational error that put a ship off by a fraction of a degree would compound over the miles, days, weeks, and months, resulting in a vessel missing its target altogether. The problem with ocean travel is that the ocean is big and flat with no landmarks to use for directions. Early sailors used the stars, in particular the North Star. In fact, sailors from cultures all over the world throughout history have used the North Star as an anchor point for navigat...
