I continue with a brief look at one way you can get the matters in your life into proper perspective through brief reflections on Psalm 23.

Verse 2 states, "He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams." 

It is very important that time be taken to rest your body and mind. When this is forgotten, people rush around frantically seeking fulfillment.

People rush from one thing to another, almost like they are trying to avoid something. It’s like, if they remain busy enough, they won’t have to look at ghosts from the past. Or they won’t have to deal with pressures, real or imagined. Or they won’t have to pay attention to comments people made about them — real or imagined — telling them how pitiful or inadequate they might be.

It is quite easy to get caught up in life’s frustrations and frenzies. Matters demand your attention. Fears and uncertainties gnaw away at you. Demands seem to pull you in many different directions. There are times you may wonder about your ability to maintain your sanity.

The thing is, our Lord invites us to stop this madness, this rushing around, and to rest in his presence. He longs for us to hear how precious we are to him, that we are not the lies that are told about or to us. He longs for us to hear that we don’t need to rush from one thing to another, or to run from our pasts.

God continuously offers you comfort and peace, which will come to you if you would just let him lead you, as a shepherd leads his flock to rich, green pastures and cool refreshing water.

What our Lord offers – his refreshment, his nourishment, his peace – is there for us to receive as a gift. We have the ability to accept or reject that offer.

My recommendation? Receive the gift.

Utilize it.

Rest in his amazing grace, and in his peaceful presence.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Find rest in amazing grace

Halloween is almost upon us. Of course, on Halloween night, you may see a parade of monsters, demons, Transformers and other frightening individuals stopping by your house, exercising their right to demand candy.

Fortunately, their appearance will be unlikely to cause you unpleasant dreams. But some people seem to have real fears about other things — such as what may happen in the financial markets.

One way to keep those fears at bay is to avoid certain impulsive moves, such as the following:

•Avoid ducking out of the market — Consider this: In March 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at about 12,275 points. Exactly two years later, in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis, the Dow had fallen to about 6,500 — a drop of 47 percent and the Dow's lowest point in 12 years. By that time, a lot of people had gone to the investment sidelines.

So, what did they miss? Depending on how long they stayed out of the market, they may have missed some, or perhaps most, of one of the longest and strongest bull markets in history, because, just eight years later, the Dow had soared to almost 21,000, a gain of 223 percent. Of course, investing does involve the risk of losing principal, and there is no guarantee the market will perform as it has in the past. However, it's fair to say that if you duck out of the market during its lower points, you might not benefit from the gains that may follow.

•Avoid chasing "hot" stocks — By the time you hear about a supposedly "hot" stock, it may already be cooling off. Also, how trustworthy is the source? Does this tip come from an unbiased, knowledgeable individual? If not, you need to ask if the hot stock is appropriate for your needs, goals and risk tolerance. If not, it's not so hot.

•Avoid taking on too much — or too little — risk. If you feel the need to push your portfolio toward the maximum possible returns, you might invest too aggressively and take on too much risk.

Conversely, if you are determined to avoid any amount of loss, at any time, you might invest so conservatively that your portfolio won't grow enough to help you achieve your long-term goals. You need to strike a balance between risk and reward that is appropriate for you, and you need to make investment choices suitable for your individual risk tolerance.

•Avoid owning too many of the same investments — If you own a lot of one particular financial asset and a market downturn affects that asset class strongly, your portfolio could suffer. But if you spread your investment dollars among domestic and international stocks, bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, certificates of deposit (CDs) and so on, you may not be as susceptible to a downturn, because different types of investments often perform differently at any given time. (Keep in mind, though, that while diversification can help reduce the effects of market volatility, it can't guarantee profits or protect against all losses.)

No matter what you do, you can't take all the uncertainty out of investing. But by understanding market volatility and the composition of your portfolio, you can invest with more confidence.

This article was written by Edward Jones on behalf of your Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Does market volatility scare you?

Okaloosa County 4-H has been very busy the last couple of weeks. Many events happened all at once and will continue to occur over the next month or two.

We are officially in fair season for our area. Local 4-H members participated in the Northwest Florida Fair held Sept. 25-30 at the Northwest Florida fairgrounds in Fort Walton Beach.

Nightly shows and hosting at our 4-H building keep our 4-Hers busy. We even had youths from Walton and Santa Rosa counties join in the both our goat and beef shows.

Our youths offered over 175 project exhibits and over 40 chickens, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, and even cavy for the public to come and check out. They also displayed their showmanship skills in poultry, dairy goat, meat goat, beef, rabbit, and dog shows.

These youths competed for ribbons and trophies, but also took home lessons that will last a lifetime. Many of our senior level youths took time to assist our Cloverbud (5-7 year old) participants, proving that 4-H is not always just about animals, but also about developing teamwork and leadership skills.

Okaloosa County 4-H has partnered with a county in southern Florida that was recently affected by Hurricane Irma. Many of the youths in that county lost feed and supplies for their show animals. This fair was a perfect place for our 4Hers to reach out for community help. They set up a donation jar in our 4-H barn to help buy new feed and supplies for our sister county and they were pretty successful. They were able to raise over $30 toward this effort, and in doing so realized that community does not just consist of your own neighborhood, but can reach far beyond it. They learned that even the smallest contributions can make a difference.

So what’s next for our youths? Many of them plan to participate in the Walton County Fair and may even travel to the North Florida Fair in Tallahassee in November.

Also look for Okaloosa County 4-H outside Tractor Supply in Crestview this month, where they will support the Paper Clover Event. Part of the proceeds of every paper clover purchased helps support local 4-H programs.

Veronica Graham is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Recognizing outstanding youths in our community

One of the most enjoyable events that takes place in Crestview is when several of the local churches get together for a Community Hymn Sing at one of the participating churches. 

This quarter's hymn sing is 6 p.m. Oct. 22 at Mount Zion A.M.E. Church, 502 McDonald St., Crestview. The entire community is invited to come and sing praises to the Lord.

Previous hymn sings featured special music provided by the various churches participating. The congregation gets to choose the hymns they love to sing out of the hymnal. I have attended several of these enjoyable times of fellowship with members from other churches and look forward to attending this fabulous, musical event! Please join in the fun.

I had the pleasure of attending Winn-Dixie's grand opening last Thursday. The Big Red Machine from Crestview High School was there to play for this event and the company provided a $6,153 check to the band.

The Ricky Reeves management team, the people in white shirts, are always available and willing to help customers, whatever the need. Jimmy McEachern, customer service manager, told me, "Winn-Dixie is proud to be part of the community of Crestview and looks forward to continuing to giving back."

Many Crestview residents attended the grand opening. There were 500 $5 gift cards passed out beginning at 8 a.m. and they were gone by 8:30 a.m. As well there were 1,000 tote bags.

Many things have been moved around in the store to provide a better shopping flow. There are paper store directories at each check stand to help shoppers find their groceries, or any of the staff will be happy to help.

The re-vamped produce department features locally sourced produce and much of it is now on ice. In the produce department there are products from Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

The most interesting part of the store are the additional items available in the deli department. There are now hot pizzas and hot sandwiches to order, a soup bar, and hot meal offerings, chicken wings, and fried and rotisserie chickens. Additionally, there are tables and chairs with free Wi-Fi so one can buy their meal and catch up on emails or Facebook. It is a very nice addition to the store. I have tried the soup and chili, and they are delicious.

I wish Winn-Dixie continued success!

Janice Lynn Crose, a former accountant, lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Thoughts on Community Hymn Sing, Winn-Dixie's improvements

People do a lot of rushing around in life pursuing the quest for things like recognition, high dollars and fancy possessions. They kill themselves, literally and figuratively, in these pursuits.

These pursuits can have a very detrimental effect on life. They can cause people to never be truly satisfied with what they have or who they are. They are always on the hunt for the next treasure that can be pursued or won.

As this happens, focus gets skewed and misaligned. What is important gets lost in the shuffle. What is truly needed is missed completely — even by the best of persons.

Because we often let ourselves wander from what God wants from our lives, it is good for us to remember where our focus needs to be in order to find true life.

For the next several weeks, I will share some thoughts on the 23rd Psalm. This is a very short psalm, only six verses long. But it is very powerful and packed with meaning that helps put, and keep, things in proper perspective.

David starts this psalm with a very telling statement: Because the Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. Notice he doesn’t say “If I let the Lord be my shepherd,” or “When I remember he is my shepherd.” He makes a declaration that the Lord is his shepherd.

It’s not like David is weighing the pros and cons of such an arrangement with God, and working out a deal to acquire something he wants. It’s not like he is saying when he pays attention to God that he has everything he needs.

No, he is saying because God is his shepherd. He is saying that God is central in his life and he lives for God. And because he has made God central in his life, he is satisfied.

There is nothing more he needs. There may be more he wants, but he has everything he needs, everything that is important, everything that provides true meaning in life.

God is sufficient for the needs in your life. God provides. If you should ever feel a restlessness settling in that causes you to want more and more, it would be good to make sure the Lord is your shepherd. He provides for you.

He provides everything you need to truly be fulfilled in this life.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Like David, recognize God as your shepherd

To raise public awareness about the importance of saving for retirement, Congress has designated the third week of October as National Save for Retirement Week. What lessons can you learn from this event?

First of all, save early — and save often. Too many people put off saving for retirement until they are in their late 40s — and even their 50s. If you wait until you are in this age group, you can still do quite a bit to help build the resources you will need for retirement — but it will be more challenging than if you had begun saving and investing while you were in your 20s or early 30s.

For one thing, if you delay saving for retirement, you may have to put away large sums of money each year to accumulate enough to support a comfortable retirement lifestyle. Plus, to achieve the growth you need, you might have to invest more aggressively than you'd like, which means taking on more risk. And even then, there are no guarantees of getting the returns you require.

On the other hand, if you start saving and investing when you are still in the early stages of your career, you can make smaller monthly contributions to your retirement accounts. And by putting time on your side, you'll be able to take advantage of compounding — the ability to earn money on your principal and your earnings.

Here's another lesson to be taken from National Save for Retirement Week: Maximize your opportunities to invest in the tax-advantaged retirement accounts available to you, such as an IRA and a 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plan.

If you have a 401(k)-type plan at work, contribute as much as you can afford every year, and increase your contributions whenever your salary goes up. At a minimum, put in enough to earn your employer's matching contribution, if one is offered.

Apart from saving and investing early and contributing to your tax-advantaged retirement accounts, how else can you honor the spirit of National Save for Retirement Week?

A key step you can take is to reduce the barriers to building your retirement savings. One such obstacle is debt. The larger your monthly debt payments, the less you will be able to invest each month. It's not easy, of course, to keep your debt under control, but do the best you can.

One other barrier to accumulating retirement resources is the occasional large expense resulting from a major car repair, sizable medical bills or other things of that nature. If you constantly have to dip into your long-term investments to meet these costs, you'll slow your progress toward your retirement goals.

To help prevent this from happening, try to build an emergency fund big enough to cover three to six months' worth of living expenses. Since you'll need instant access to this money, you'll want to keep it in a liquid, low-risk account.

So, there you have them: some suggestions on taking the lessons of National Save for Retirement Week to heart. By following these steps, you can go a long way toward turning your retirement dreams into reality.

This article was written by Edward Jones on behalf of your Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Put lessons from 'Retirement Week' to work