Jeff Hampton – Page 30 – Jeff Hampton, Writer

July 6, 2023

Sweet Freedom

For Wilshire Baptist Church

How was your Fourth of July celebration? We had a great lunch with our mothers at our house — hot dogs and all the fixins — and then we opted to stay home and watch the annual “Capitol Fourth” concert on PBS. But then we did go out and sit on the porch for a while to watch our neighborhood fireworks. “Ah, Sweet Freedom!” is what we might say at a moment like that, but instead we were marveling at how people deliberately ignore the rules, because the fireworks we saw and heard were totally illegal.

June 29, 2023

The Gift of Curiosity

For Wilshire Baptist Church

“I’ve spent a lot of time in your head this week.”

That’s what my radiation oncologist said last Friday in a surprise phone call. After seven weeks of chemo to shrink the tumor in my sinus, the radiologist said he was making adjustments in his plan to zap what has become a smaller target. That was great news, but more than that I appreciate a commitment to my case that had him spending long hours studying scans of the inside of my noggin.

June 26, 2023

Getting in Sync

For Wilshire Baptist Church

My first job out of college was at the Waco Tribune-Herald as a general assignment and late-night police reporter. No surprises there; that’s where newspaper newbies started out. But, my work days were 4 p.m. to midnight, and my weekends were Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I was out of sync with the world, so when I was offered a regular daytime beat, I jumped at the opportunity.