It's the end of another school year. Both students and teachers are excited. They can now sleep in each morning and not get up at the crack of dawn to be at school. Some students will use their time for sports; others will find a job to earn money, and some will go on vacation with their families.

As a former teacher, the last day of school was always bittersweet. It was sad to tell the students goodbye and reflect on the wonderful teaching moments we had throughout the year, but also I was happy to have more time at home with the family. It always saddened me to pack up my room, put the posters and bulletin board materials away for the summer, yet the knowledge that I'd have new students in the fall brightened my thoughts.

Have you set some summer goals for yourself? Do you have plans to enrich your life by taking an online course, perhaps learning a new skill such as gourmet cooking? The Internet has opened up new horizons. Maybe you are helping your church with this summer's Vacation Bible School program. There are numerous activities to fill our time.

Living here on the beautiful Emerald Coast, we have many outdoor activities available. Crestview has many lovely parks, and the beach is about 35 minutes away. There are also several campgrounds within about an hour's drive. Perhaps you are planning a vacation to another state to see family, or perhaps you have family coming to visit since we live in such a beautiful area. It is always fabulous to see friends and family and get to catch up.

When we lived in California, we pretty much spent our summers at Disneyland while my poor husband worked; he would sometimes join us in the evenings and we went as a family after church on Sunday. We also had the beach about an hour away, but the beaches in Southern California are not gorgeous with soft, white sand as we have here in Northwest Florida.

If you happen to run into your children's teachers over the summer, thank them for all their hard work and know that they will be back in August teaching a new group of students. 

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: Summer fun options abound in Northwest Florida

I send out a daily devotional five days a week to people who have requested it. These devotionals are also listed on my church’s Facebook page.

I have noticed that the most read ones are on the topic of forgiveness. I have pondered some of the reasons behind that phenomenon.

In part it may be that we live in such a litigious society; people are afraid that no matter what mistakes they make, large or small, someone may take them to court. Many fear retribution for a slight, or a word or action given in the heat of a moment.

Take a look at the amount of road rage that gets perpetrated on a daily basis. Look at how many disputes are settled with fists or weapons. Anger and furor flare up.

The thing is, we all make mistakes — every single one of us. And, whether we want to believe it or not, we all have a desire to be forgiven for our dumb mistakes, to have the burden they create lifted from us.

Have you ever stopped to realize that when someone comes to you seeking forgiveness they have given you great power? They have placed their potential freedom from the burden they carry into your hands. You have the ability to forgive or to not forgive, to lift their burden or let it continue to weigh them down.

That’s a great deal of power. It is also a great responsibility.

A part of the Bible states, "Peter went up and said to him, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.'"

Forgiveness is part of the daily activity of being in relationship with others. Sometimes we are the ones called upon to forgive. That seems to be where Peter’s question comes from. He wants to know if there is a limit to how many times he should forgive someone.

Jesus’ answer goes right to the heart of the matter – forgiveness has no limit, no boundary. We can forgive without condoning another’s action. We can forgive and grow from the experience.

Something that should help with your ability to forgive is to remember this: You have been forgiven everything by God, and you are called to do the same for others.

Is it easy? No.

Is it rewarding? Eternally.

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: Forgiveness is a daily activity

We are all busy these days, and while those of us here in Crestview live a slower-paced life than those in New York City or Los Angeles, we still face traffic congestion, work and school deadlines as well as numerous other responsibilities.

I have noticed in this fast-paced society that people read headlines, but not the accompanying article, and make comments based upon the headline rather than the article's content. 

Many times a headline is somewhat sensational to pique interest, but on Facebook and other social media, comments are often made without actually knowing what the article said.

It is sad that one cannot take the time to read a three- to five-paragraph article and see what is really being said, rather than just the headline.

It reminds me of the adage, never judge a book by its cover. How many books have looked wonderful from the cover illustration, yet been dry as dust and others look boring and yet are fabulous thrillers?

Then there is the halfway group that begins the article but doesn’t read it in its entirety, so facts get construed incorrectly, and misinformation is relayed due to not reading the entire article.

We live in a microwave society; we don't want to wait, we want everything, including our news or other information, to be given in 10-second sound bites, but many times that isn't possible. 

According to http://www.statisticbrain.com/attention-span-statistics/, "the average attention span in 2015 was 8.25 seconds" and "the average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds."

We, as American adults, need to work on this. Only 28 percent of the words are read from an article of about 600 words.

I find this happens even in articles the Crestview News Bulletin posts on Facebook. People post comments without reading the article. We need to read the article in its entirety and see what terrific information it may contain. Some pieces contain great tips and information at the end of the article.

We need to be proactive readers and see what the writer really has to say. Let's be good readers this summer!

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: Let's be good readers this summer

Maxine, the church gossip and self-appointed authority of the church’s morals, kept sticking her nose in the other members’ private lives. Church members couldn’t stand her activities, but feared her enough to keep their silence.

She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member of the church, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked in front of the town’s only bar one afternoon.

She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.

George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just walked away. He didn’t explain, defend or deny; he said nothing.

Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Maxine’s house — and left it there all night!

Have you noticed there are those who believe themselves to be morally superior to those around them? They tend to look down their noses at others who are not as “perfect” as they are themselves.

Behind this sense of moral superiority is often a deep-seated anger that is the result of being hurt deeply. At some point, such a person was belittled in such a painful way that, in an unconscious attempt to regain a sense of confidence and acceptance, they have a need to put down others to build up themselves.

That is quite a shame. It is an example of how a harsh, impulsive comment can injure a person for life. And such a hurt can continuously perpetuate itself.

In the book of James, we are cautioned about the language we use. In chapter three we read, “The tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.”

Be careful with the words you use. Think before you speak. There is great wisdom in the adage of counting to 10 before saying something in anger, because once the words are out, they cannot be taken back and the damage is already done.

Remember what Solomon said: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

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: Think before you speak

We just celebrated Mother's Day and, in a few weeks, we shall be celebrating Father's Day.

How have your parents shaped your life? Parents shape our lives in many ways: they help us become the adults we are today. No parent is perfect, but I have found that the overwhelming majority of parents do their best to bring up moral, upright and productive children.

In today's world, one doesn't have to give birth to a child to be a loving mother. We have various types of mothers: birth mothers, adoptive mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, spiritual mothers, those we adopt as our mother, mothers in heaven, pet mothers and so on.

How has your mother shaped your life?

Did she encourage you to follow your dreams and help you achieve them?

Did she help you with your school projects?

Were you perhaps adopted by a wonderful family?

Perhaps your mother is in heaven and you have adopted a lady from your neighborhood or church to be your "mother?" 

Grandmothers are now rearing their grandchildren; one's mother doesn't necessarily look like someone else's mother.

Did your mother, or grandmother, teach you to garden, bake, cook, sew, scrapbook, iron and other skills?

The poem by William Ross Wallace written in 1865 reflects upon the importance of our mothers. Here is the first stanza:

"Blessings on the hand of women!          

Angels guard its strength and grace,

In the palace, cottage, hovel,

Oh, no matter where the place;

Would that never storms assailed it,

Rainbows ever gently curled;

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world."

In the Ten Commandments, the Lord commands us to "Honor thy father and thy mother," so it is obvious that God gives great importance to our parents. 

Perhaps you are one who has the pleasure of having your mother living here in Crestview and get to spend time with her; treasure this time.

How did you make Mother's Day special?

Did you take her to her favorite restaurant?

Did you make her favorite meal at home?

Did you go to church with her?

Did you give her a special card, flowers or a plant? 

Most importantly, did you tell your Mother that you love her, as we never know what tomorrow may bring.

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: Celebrating our mothers

If you're a certain age, or getting close to it, you might hear something like this: "Now that you're older, you need to invest more conservatively." But what exactly does this mean?

For starters, it's useful to understand that your investment preferences and needs will indeed change over time. When you're first starting out in your career, and even for a long time afterward, you can afford to invest somewhat aggressively, in stocks and stock-based investments; because you have time to overcome the inevitable short-term market drops. At this stage of your life, your primary concern is growth – you want your portfolio to grow enough to provide you with the resources you'll need to meet your long-term goals, such as a comfortable retirement.

But when you finally do retire, and perhaps for a few years before that, your investment focus likely will have shifted from accumulation to preservation.

And this certainly makes some sense. Even though you may spend two, or even three, decades in retirement, you actually have many shorter time frames for withdrawing money – that is, selling investments – from your retirement accounts, such as your 401(k) and IRA.

In fact, you may be taking withdrawals every month – and you don't want to be forced to sell investments when their price is down. Consequently, you'll want a portfolio that's less susceptible to market downturns. This means that you may need to reduce the percentage of stocks in your investment mix and increase your holdings in investments that have less growth potential but offer greater stability of principal, such as bonds.

If you follow this formula, you will have become a more conservative investor. But this evolution – from aggressive to conservative – isn't that simple, or at least it shouldn't be. If, as mentioned above, you are retired for two or three decades, you will have to deal with inflation. And even at a relatively mild 3 percent annual inflation rate, your purchasing power will decline by about half in just 25 years. This is a real threat to retirees, who, unlike active employees, can't count on increases in earned income to overcome increasing costs of living.

Given this reality, you will have to find your sources of rising income in your investment portfolio. One possibility: Dividend-paying stocks, some of which have increased their dividends for many years in a row. Still, like all stocks, these dividend payers can lose value from year to year, and they can also reduce, or even eliminate, dividends at any time. In other words, they aren't risk-free – which brings us back to the question of how "conservative" of an investor you can really afford to be when you're retired.

In the final analysis, there's no simple answer. On one hand, you probably shouldn't be as aggressive an investor as you were when you were much younger and still working. On the other hand, if you were to primarily own certificates of deposit and U.S. Treasury securities, you might face the prospect of outliving your money. Ultimately, you'll need to maintain a balanced portfolio that helps you control risk today while providing you with growth opportunities for tomorrow.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: What conservative investing means to older investors

During World War 2, a military governor met with General George Patton in Sicily. When he praised Patton highly for his courage and bravery, the general is believed to have said, "Sir, I am not a brave man – the truth is, I am an utter craven coward. I have never been within the sound of gunshot or in sight of battle in my whole life that I wasn't so scared that I had sweat in the palms of my hands."

Years later, when Patton's autobiography was published, it contained this significant statement by the general: "I learned very early in my life never to take counsel of my fears."