First Time Voting I registered to vote on my eighteenth birthday this summer. It wasn’t hard. All I had to do was drive to County Square, follow the signs to Voter Registration, and fill out a form. There was no line on that Wednesday afternoon. It was quiet. The employee who helped me was polite, but not terribly enthusiastic. I, however, struggled to contain my enthusiasm like a legal adult should. Smiling like a fool, I whizzed through the paperwork and forgot to put my signature at the bottom of the form, which the rational employee had to politely remind me to do. After ten minutes in that unexciting gray office, it was done. Waiting until my voter registration card showed up in the mailbox was all I had left to do. Roughly a week and a half later (not that I was… read more

The Body of Christ at Work Few of us expected Hurricane Helene to be as destructive as it turned out to be when it hit on Friday, September 27. In rural upstate South Carolina, many homes and businesses are still without power. There was a serious rush for gasoline for the next three days immediately following the storm. Trees lay across the roofs of some houses, and I’ve seen one house completely split down the middle by fallen timber. Those who weren’t prepared found themselves in long, wending lines for fast food at the few restaurants open. People need help. And in this unforeseen situation, it has been an unexpected joy to watch my community pull together. Perhaps you’ve heard about how rude, selfish, and sometimes violent people have been at grocery stores and gas pumps. After … read more