“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your ways,” Proverbs 3: 5-6 (NRSVUE)

The thought for the day with this devotion is, “When the way seems in clear, I will trust God to lead me. However, although I would trust God to lead me, I think it is important to pray to God for guidance.”

Our little town in Eads, America, is so blessed to have two very good weekly newspapers in our town. For years, my parents bought the Pueblo Chieftain, which came daily, and also the Lamar Daily News. But they do not exist anymore, as well as the Cheyenne Wells weekly paper. Last week we had word that the Limon Leader had closed. I used to purchase the Ordway New Era, but it also closed some years ago. I don’t think other towns around have newspapers as in the past, so we feel very blessed to have these two newspapers come to our mailboxes Wednesday or Thursday each week. In fact, where I live, we have a “coffee hour” to read them. Marla Darnell and her dietary crew bake some delectable pastry, or the activity ladies serve us Daylight Doughnuts that a nice man, Rick Olvera, who works for Roger Saffer’s Spray Service and brings them up to the Hometown Café. The co-editors of the Kiowa County Press are Chris and Jeanne Sorensen. I like Chris’ input to the content because there are a number of government related articles and other local news. The Kiowa County Press also prints a lot of legal items because the laws require that the people be informed but their county doesn’t have a public newspaper. The Independent serves many readers who are interested in high school sports. They appreciate the sports photos and articles compiled by Besty Barnett and Raina Lucero about all these southeast Colorado schools. Some that quickly come to mind are Holly, Granada. Lamar. Eads, Plainview, Kit Cason. Cheyenne Wells, Stratton, Springfield, Kim, Walsh, McClave, Springfield, and other communities. We also get news from Lamar Community College and La Junta Community College, plus sometimes we get to read about our former student athletes who compete on those college teams.

I was pleased to read the last week’s paper photos of even Junior High Level football champions of two Eads boys teams and two photos of McClave girls championship teams.

The names of the fourth to sixth grade girls Lamar League Championship Team are: Quincie Cone, Kinlee Sexson, Kaylee Howe, Livia Shalberg, Rylee Kliesen, Briana Gallegos, Coach Jaylynn Oquist, Joanna Havenstien. Hope Shalberg. Claire Havenstein, Maci Jackson, MacKenzie Jackson, and Areli Almanza, and coach, Bethany Shalberg.

The McClave Junior High girls won the league high volleyball championship in Cheyenne Wells October 18. These girls were: Ella Steinbrunn, Maci Jackson, Haxel Hemphill, Blaine Howe, Presley Vallejos, Claire Havenstein, Areli Almanza, Kylee Kliesen, Kate Howe, Roxi Klisen, Everli Homm, Jaeda Sicklebower, Liva Shalberg. These girls were coach by Bethany Shalberg. As you read those names of those girls, doesn’t your mind question, “I wonder if her father is _____?”

Now here are the names of the Eads Junior High Eagles who finished the year undefeated! The eighth-grade students are Jaxon Bohlander, Chael Cordova, Garret Hainer, and Mason Sierra. The sixth- and seventh-grade students are Braxton Ferris, Canyon Brown, Madyx Hough, Will Barnett, Jax Cordova, Quinn Britten, Gage Gibbs, Liam Eder, Brantly McCracken, William Ramos, Luke Barnett, and Taivyn Kraft. The Eads Junior High was coached by Chad Rouse, Dustin Uhland, and A.J. Vasquez.

The next list of the Eads team has won the Lamar Youth League four years straight! Thank you to these men who have dedicated many hours do coaching our young boys growing into young men: they range from fourth to sixth grade. They are Waylon Eikenberg, Grayson Weber, Nash Galloway, Peyton Mattuski, Jace Rouse, Waylon Bolin, Lincoln Sierra, Brody Eikenberg, Isaiah Rouse, William Ramos, Brantly McCracken, Gage Gibbs, Easton Buzzard, Luke Barnett, Brock Yates, and Jett Dienes. The coaches are Chad Rouse and Casey Gibbs. Volunteer coaches were A.J. Vasquez and Kaiden Dunlap. I realize that those are a lot of names to read, but our youth are so very important. Aren’t we thankful to men who take the time to coach them? And to parents who fund their children for additional training?

The Eads senior citizens’ Thanksgiving dinner last Wednesday was a real hit with the many guests who came. Our director, Gail Voss, worked many days planning, roasting three turkeys and cooking more food. She was grateful to have extra help from Brenda Fickenscher, Nancy Walker, Mary Englehardt, and Konda Howard, who helped her before and after the dinner. We were happy that President Sylvia Weeks was well enough to return to chair the meeting. It was agreed that the current officers will continue in their offices for another year.

Pastor “Appreciation Day” was in October. We didn’t celebrate it as usual, but last Sunday, we did at Trinity Lutheran in Kit Carson by grilling beef steaks outside and having a delicious dinner inside with a cake with candles also. We do appreciate our pastors who serve in Kiowa County. Those who come on Sundays to Weisbrod are Lane and Deborah Gooden from the Praise Community Church, the Baptists come when they can, or a layman from Lamar comes. We enjoy Gail Voss and her music from Praise Community Church, and we enjoy Pastor Mark Imel of the First Christian Church in Eads.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!