“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

The thought for today, as written in the “Upper Room” devotional book that the Eads Community Church shared with our Bible study group by Gail Voss was “Today I will look for opportunities to serve God by serving those around me.” I could really relate to the writer of this day because she, Kris Gunderson of Iowa, was a retired teacher. She wondered, as I did after many years as a teacher, how can I serve others? Will I be lonely for all those school-related activities? Yes. But life must roll on. Yes, even though I am 87 - nearly 88 - I still think, “Oh, I would like to packing today to go to the state wrestling tournament.” Even with the worries of sponsoring teen boys and girls who like to try to “get together,” I am wiser now, I say with a smile, remembering the young blonde boy who told me he bought a baby alligator that was in his pocket, and that girl who bought a parrot! It was in a bird cage that the girls hid under a big coat. Oh, my, I did thank the Lord that their parents to welcome them in their homes. And that they didn’t cause a scene during the state finals in Greeley.

Ms. Gunderson wrote about “serving” that caused me to think of people in my life who have been so gracious to serve me. Like those who are more likely to help me or others; some dear souls in my life presently who I and others are more likely to ask to do something for us or ask a question of. They are Sarah Seibl, Liz Hulteen, Areta Laird, Gail Voss, Robin Musgrave, Betsy Evans, Tom Barton, Bob Northrup, and John Negley.

On this bright, sunny, snowy day, I thought it was supposed to snow all day, but the sky is clear blue, and some snow is falling off the roof and windows of the hospital side of our facility. A nurse told me that it may be four degrees below zero tonight! Well, we do need moisture from the snow.

The Super Bowl football game Sunday night caused a lot of wonderment and partying and guessing around the community and state. Most of us here were for the Kansas City Chiefs, except our night nurse!

In the office hallway, there are 10 or more creatively decorated Valentine boxes designed by staff members. They are so pretty! We can vote on our choice.

Down the resident hallway are 14 other pretty white boxes decorated by Marla Darnell and Trista Wood, who made them to help Linda Hopkins out because she often helps them when the truck comes in.

The high school Knowledge Bowl season is winding down. The Eads teams did well this season. The first team was senior, Colin Nelson; Junior, Eric Murdock; sophomore; Emilie Guryman; and Tucker Wallace. The B-team members were Addison Courkamp, Mia Crow, and Landon Zimmerman. Thank you to Dawn James for her years of dedicated service and coaching to the Knowledge Bowl teams. We are thankful that her daughter, Alicia James, has taken responsibility to be the Junior High Knowledge Bowl coach.

Wednesday morning there was a pep rally to send off the wrestlers from Eads with those from the co-op team from Wiley, the County Line Rivals. Our senior, Spenser Uhland, will wrestle in heavyweight. Eads’ sophomore Giana Gibbs will wrestle in the girls sessions, as well as Dixie Bitner of Wiley. Former Eads student Aaron Musgrave will travel with them, too.

I read in the Kiowa County Press that 25 years ago, Spenser’s cousin, Dustin Uhland, wrestled at the state meet. “February 18, 2000, Dustin Uhland, Ryan Phillips, and J. J. Stolzenberger, all of Eads, and Ross Woolert of Wiley, traveled together to the state tournament.”

Congratulations to the Plainview School staff who have encouraged their students to complete their projects. They had a good fair of exhibits and a community meal. Thank you also to Ruth Fees, who has been such a great photographer of events, students, and activities around Plainview, and has been published in the Press.

Patriots Pen is an essay contest sponsored through the VFW. Congratulations to the teachers who encouraged students to compete. I know it is a good experience for the years when the students may apply for scholarships and to colleges.

We, who are fans of Porter Spady, were pleased to see his smiling face on the top of a newspaper page one, and the story inside. Porter is getting to travel and play with the basketball team.

The Eads girls’ basketball team is playing very well this year. Following strong wins over Stratton and Idalia, they were ranked third in state at this time. Although the boys’ team lost to Stratton, they had a strong win over Idalia. Coach Meardon commended Case Nelson, Stockton Mitchek, and Kaidan Dunlap on their outstanding playing. All the young men are seniors. We do thank and commend the parents and fans who submit photos of sports actions and those club and class experience that the area students are having.

Please join me in thanking and congratulating Mary Adamson Vasquez on her interesting writing in her “Grace and Grit” column.