For years, my favorite comic strip was "Calvin and Hobbes." In one strip, Calvin is doing a crossword puzzle as his best friend, Hobbes, watches.

"I'm doing a crossword puzzle. Number three across says 'bird.' I've got it! Yellow-bellied sapsucker!" Calvin said.

"But there are only five boxes," Hobbes said.

"I know. These idiots make you write real small," Calvin said.

My wife is a cruciverbalist. It sounds scary, doesn't it? That is just a fancy word that means she is one who enjoys doing crossword puzzles. She does one each day as she exercises her brain and expands her vocabulary.

Some puzzles are more challenging than others. The clues and answers are quite obscure. When this happens, what does one do? Unlike Calvin, you don't simply make up an answer and force it to fit. That will throw off answers to many other clues.

Instead, you turn to the appropriate tool to find the correct answer that fits the puzzle — you open a crossword puzzle dictionary, search for the appropriate response, solve the clue and move on.

What do you do when life throws difficult circumstances your way? What do you do when answers don't seem to be forthcoming?

Do you try to follow your own intuition by forcing a solution that doesn't really fit?

Let me offer you three suggestions that will serve as appropriate tools to help you find the proper solution to your puzzlement:

•Pray. Ask God for guidance to work through the situation, to give you comfort and peace so your heart and mind can work calmly and clearly.

•Read the scriptures. The Bible carries many solutions to life's puzzlements. The scriptures will speak to your mind and heart when you read slowly, carefully and reflectively.

•Talk with a trusted friend. Don't seek someone who will tell you what you want to hear. Seek someone who will tell you what you need to hear. Listen for God's voice speaking through that person.

Don't force your own solutions, because very often they will throw off other areas of your life. When you trust God, his written word, his words spoken through a friend, you will find the appropriate answer.

And the solution will give you 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: 3 spiritual ways to solve everyday problems

CRESTVIEW — Members of the Crestview Historic Preservation Board and the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church joined Feb. 20 to unveil a historical marker commemorating 108 years of the church’s history.

Many of those in attendance represented the founding families that helped organize the church during its early days on west Griffith Street. Bay McDonald presented a history of Macedonia, beginning in 1909 with its founding pastor, the Rev. Ed Hill. McDonald is a lifelong member; her christening took place in 1941.

One of the church’s oldest members, Nellie McDonald Smith, shared memories of growing up in the Macedonia congregation, where her parents, Willie and Sarah McDonald, were very active.

"I lived in the church," Smith said.

She has been a member for 74 years, since the age of 15. She recalled doing secretarial work for the church at age 11 and using an oil lamp for light.

Smith showed the audience a pair of flat irons that her mother used to make communion bread for many years. A mixture of plain flour and water was placed on the hot iron, about a teaspoon, explained Smith. Then the other hot iron was placed on top to form a flat piece of bread about the size of a fifty-cent piece.

The mothers of the church made the communion bread, a tradition that lasted until 1987 with the passing of Mother Hattie S. Howard.

Macedonia's pastor, the Rev. Dwight Baggett, and senior church members unveiled the historical marker, located in front of the church following the ceremony. The church is located at 603 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Crestview.

The group enjoyed fellowship and refreshments in the church’s annex after the marker unveiling. The ladies of Macedonia prepared food and cake.

The Crestview Historic Preservation Board erected the historical marker in conjunction with the board’s continuing efforts to document historical sites within the city of Crestview.

The marker project is funded entirely from fundraising events conducted by volunteer board members.

The board currently has copies of "Crestview, The Forkland" on sale. The book documents the history of Crestview and includes many old maps and photographs.

Copies are available for $65 each from any board member or at the Baker Block Museum. Call 537-5714 for more information.

The Rev. Ed Hill founded the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in 1909. The first small wooden church was on West Griffith Street, where lamps and lanterns were used during the days before electricity. It is said that the church developed from a brush arbor meeting at the same site.

A potbellied stove was used to heat the church, and baptisms were in a nearby spring; at Bob Sikes’ pond; and in later years, at Turkey Hen Creek, until a pool was built in the church in 1952.

Macedonia moved to its present location during the 1920’s. The church has received at least four facelifts during its 108 years of existence.

Rev. A.D. Bell Sr., Deacons W.D. Hill, Tillis Mathis and C.P. Randolph and church mother, Sarah McDonald led the reconstruction and rededication of Macedonia in 1953. Members of the J.R.L. Conyers Masonic Lodge No. 364 laid its cornerstone.

When Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church was destroyed by fire, Macedonia's congregation opened its doors and swapped Sundays with the Mt. Zion congregation, forming a close spiritual relationship between the two churches. Members sang in both choirs, attended meetings together and, taught by Brother A.G. Conyers of Mount Zion,sang seven shape notes. "There was no problem with denominations, everybody worshipped as one," the church history states.

Additions were made at Macedonia in June 2010 with Rev. Dwight D. Baggett as pastor.

Macedonia's history

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church gets historical marker

Some people say the Bible is irrelevant today, and its writings only apply to people from centuries ago.

Not so!

For example, the book of Proverbs is a collection of sayings and reflections by the wisest man the Bible says has ever lived. These sayings are mostly one-liners packed full of meaning.

For example, chapter three, verse 3 states: "Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart."

Why would you want to do this? Because by remaining steadfast you will remain a person of integrity. No one will question where you stand on an issue. No one will be able to dissuade you from the stand you know to be proper and true.

Another example in the same chapter, verse five, is, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight."

Your own insights can lead you astray simply because of pride. It can also be because of a lack of fuller knowledge or experience. To rely on God, to trust God, means you understand you do not have a lock on everything or how to do everything. Let God do the leading.

"Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce" is verse nine.

When you stop to realize it, everything you own is from God. So, when you honor God with what you have, God honors you in return. Your motivation is to honor God for who he is, not for what you will receive in return. This helps develop a sense of gratitude for who God is and for what he provides.

Verses 11 and 12 say, "My child, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves."

Just as a loving parent, God disciplines his wayward children. He does it in love to correct harmful behavior. It may not be pleasant, but it is necessary and it is instructive.

Some of the best lessons are the most painful. And if God did not love, he would not discipline. We would be left to our own devices and wind up in deeper trouble.

Take time to read the scriptures, not for quantity, but for quality. Do it slowly. Ponder what God is saying to you personally.

You will then see the Bible continues to be a living document, God's word alive today.

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: Biblical teachings still apply

CRESTVIEW —  First United Methodist Church will have a seminar based on the book "How to Ruin Your Child in 7 Easy Steps," by Patrick Quinn and Ken Roach.

The event starts with registration and refreshments at 7:30 a.m. March 25 at the church, 599 Eighth Ave. Registration is required due to limited space. 

Quinn, a Crestview High School alumnus, is the teaching pastor and director of Multi-Site Ministries at Frazier United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala.

Attendees may contact FUMC's Family Ministries Director April Hight, 682-2018, extension 102 or fumc.aprilhight@gmail.com, to preregister. 

Free care for children ages 6 months to pre-k is available with preregistration.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Church sets parenting seminar