Lifestyle

I’ve been thinking about our fair lately. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because it’s such a big deal. It’s got a stock show, carnival, BBQ cook off, rodeo, quilts, jars of jelly and music. I remember several years a go Jerry Jeff Walker was the headliner and who doesn’t like Jerry Jeff Walker. And wow, who can forget when George Strait paid us a visit?!

Some 600 years before Jesus, Judeans began returning from Babylon to the ruins of Jerusalem. They had been in exile for 70 years and many Jewish men had taken foreign wives. The Bible books of Ezra and Nehemiah reveal how the prophets demanded that these foreign wives be divorced and sent back to Babylon so that the culture might remain pure. In response to these demands, a divinely inspired author wrote the Book of Ruth. By tracing David’s ancestry back to a foreign woman, the narrator casts serious doubt on the wisdom of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Rockdale Christian Services operates a food pantry at 224 West Cameron Avenue, open the second and fourth Thursday and Friday of the each month from 10 a.m. to noon. Donations of non-perishable food items are welcome, especially onepound bags of rice, pinto beans, macaroni and cheese, canned soups and peanut butter. Donations may also be taken to 11 RCS-member churches: First Baptist, First Christian, First Presbyterian, Full Gospel Chapel, Grace Lutheran, Peace Lutheran, Meadowbrook Baptist, Primera Iglesia Bautista, St. Joseph’s Catholic, St. Thomas Episcopal and St. John’s Methodist.