Faith Archive

Garret, a friendly and precocious boy, was in the fourth grade, but could not read or write at a first-grade level. He was severely dyslexic. Carol Hale, the author of a series of books on reading techniques for teachers, was asked to help.

“I didn’t know a thing about dyslexia,” says Hale, “so I learned everything I could through books and seminars.”

An essential industry tool back when I worked as an animator was the character sheet. The character sheet displayed sketches of the cartoon character we were animating.

The character designer produced it to show the animator what the character should look from different angles, in different poses and emotions.

A bizarre year that all would love to forget, but none ever will, is behind us. It was a year when two alphabet’s worth of tropical systems assaulted the Gulf states, persistent wildfires scorched the western states, and massive tornadoes ripped through the Midwest.

Seamy political ads and noisy debates assailed our sensibilities and culminated in a hotly contested election.

On the last Sunday of November, many Christian churches worldwide observed the first of the four Sundays of Advent.

The name comes from the Latin “adventus,” translated, “coming, or arrival,” and this observance looks to two “comings.”

It’s 9 a.m. on a Tuesday and the doors of Waterfront Thrift Store in Gulf Breeze are open for business. George and Sylvia Fleetwood of Navarre tuck their car into a parking spot as other locals arrive to shop for bargains while helping a worthy cause.

But the Fleetwoods are not there to shop; they have come to serve as volunteers.

The second annual “Grace’s Place Family Dinner” was held outdoors the afternoon of Nov. 1 on the grounds of Covenant Community Church in Navarre.

A crowd of about 50 attended, with several participating in the featured event, a chili and soup cookoff. The winners were Wendy Justice for the best soup and Alex Ramirez for the best chili, each of whom took home a large gift basket.

There is a dog food commercial that makes me laugh. It begins with slow-motion footage of a sleek wolf bounding through the woods. The wolf leaps effortlessly over a log but then mid-leap, is transformed into a golden retriever that nails the landing and bounds off.

A voiceover explains that inside every dog there is the spirit of a wolf, so buy this company’s dog food. What makes me laugh is that, nearby, our “wolf,” a 15-year-old, 20-pound snaggle of fur, is laying on the floor snoring loudly and sporting a “male wrap,” which is kind of a doggie diaper.