Author: Jeff Hampton

For Wilshire Baptist Church

There’s been a lot of activity across the street in recent weeks and I’ve not liked it. It’s been noisy and distracting and I prefer the neighborhood to be calm and quiet.

It started after the folks living across the street sold their house and moved away. A new owner came in and began getting it ready as a rental, and that brought a steady stream of work crews ranging from a handyman outfit sprucing up the interior and exterior to a paving company putting in a new driveway and sidewalks. There’s been lots of noise and traffic across the street but also at our curb with men in trucks and trailers sorting through tools and material and mixing paint in front of our house.

Continue reading “Sights and Sounds of Progress”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Well finally, most of the collegiate athletic conferences have decided whether or not they’ll play football this fall, given the uncertainties of COVID-19. Meanwhile, all the major pro sports leagues except football have returned to live action but without fans, and the NFL plans to kick off in September. But when the history of their bubble-wrapped seasons is written, there likely will be an asterisk next to the year 2020*. What’s more, for every team and individual player, there will be additional asterisks indicating that hits and runs, touchdowns and tackles, field goals and free throws were fewer than usual due to the shortened season and perhaps even the absence of fans and all the energy and motivation they contribute.

Continue reading “2020*”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

With nothing happening on-site at church lately, we’ve been trying to patch some things together that look and feel like church. That has included Zoom Sunday school and committee meetings, YouTube worship, virtual Wilshire Winds performances, preparing meals for a shelter that our class supports, other things like that. I’ve missed our quarterly church blood drives, so I made an appointment at our local Carter BloodCare donation center and gave a unit of the red stuff.

Continue reading “Give a Little”