I Promise
December 19th, 2008
Got problems? Got promises!
Life can be hard.
You get picked on. You get into fights with your siblings. You lose basketball games. You have more homework than you can get done. You try something new and fall down in front of everyone. You do badly on a quiz or test. You have chores you don’t like. You’re working to save toward a car, but it’s taking forever. You get a cavity and have to visit the dentist. Your pet dies. Life is full of struggles. For some, that’s putting it mildly. Some may have lost a family member. Some are experiencing a broken family. Some are going through really tough times financially.
Many of these things can wear on you even when you’re in bed trying to get some rest. It’s hard to stop thinking about problems sometimes. We’ve all had that pit of frustration and worry in our stomachs at one time or another. Things can seem so uncertain—so unreliable. It’d be nice to just get something solid to get grounded on.
Is there relief anywhere? Is there anything—anyone—you can count on?
Mind Your Manners
December 18th, 2008
By Joel Hilliker
Table etiquette is a lost art among our generation. We’re all about fast food on the go and dinner in front of the TV. Regular meals with the family are practically unheard of. But did you know that by choosing to neglect this daily exercise you could be robbing yourself of some vital lessons that you might not get elsewhere?Apparently in our world, such a scene is becoming like a fairy tale. Not only are families increasingly scattered and tiny, but regular family meals are becoming a rarity.
In his book Our Culture, What’s Left of It, Theodore Dalrymple describes a growing epidemic within Britain of family meals being replaced by uncivilized hunter-gatherer activity. He laments “the breakdown of the family structure—a breakdown so complete that mothers do not consider it a part of their duty to feed their own children once they have reached the age at which they can forage for themselves in a refrigerator—that promotes modern malnutrition in Britain.”
The Sweetest Sound
December 17th, 2008
By Deepika Azariah
Have you ever walked into a classroom full of students and not known a single person’s name? I have. It was my first day at Herbert W. Armstrong College.
My first day as a freshman at college was more than just a jet-lagged experience from nearly 24 hours of travel the day before. On top of that, I was having a really hard time remembering the names of all those who were so anxiously introducing themselves to me. I remember asking myself, Are all the girls named Sarah and all the guys named David around here? This really felt like one of those terrible history tests where none of the multiple-choice options rang a bell!
So I spent the rest of the day not addressing anyone by name.
Water for Weight Loss?
December 17th, 2008
From the Spring 2001 True Education
Are you drinking enough water? Too little water can take its toll in many ways. Studies show that lack of water is the number-one trigger of daytime fatigue. A mere 2 percent drop in body water can even trigger fuzzy, short-term memory, trouble with basic math and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
Your Most Powerful Weapon
December 15th, 2008
From the archives: True Education Winter 2000
By Ryan Malone
Did you know that there is an invisible struggle going on right now for control of your mind? Right now, you are under attack! You are facing what you may call “peer pressure,” or society-pressure—perhaps the greatest pressure on any teen trying to live a good, wholesome lifestyle.
Teens need help battling the pressures of those around them. But consider the fact that most parents these days are getting caught up in their busy, career-driven lifestyles, leaving their teens to fend for themselves morally. In a Frontline television report about “The Lost Children of Rockdale County,” a father shamefully stated, “I just feel … helpless. I don’t believe I could put enough pressure on my family and my daughters to overcome … the social pressure that they have out there. There’s just no way to do it.” Not only are teens facing tremendous pressure from every place in society, they are essentially facing it alone.
You don’t have to face these pressures or fight this war alone!
Not Signed, Not Sent
December 12th, 2008
By Ron Fraser
How often have we been riled by something someone said to or about us that offended us? Maybe we have been upset on occasion by something someone else said that someone said or by some outright provocation by another person. In such situations, the natural human tendency is to lash out in defense, too often in a spontaneously angry, even vengeful manner, in a spiteful reaction to the one guilty of offending us.
When feelings get hurt, too often the blood boils and spills over into rancor. Then again, too often, a root of bitterness sets in against the one we perceive as creating the offense against us. In such a situation, we can all too readily fall out with people with whom we were once well acquainted or even friends. Sadly, one of the most immature responses in these situations is one of the most often adopted. We simply stop communicating with each other, often for years, sometimes for the rest of our lives.
Laying Down the Tracks for the Young Ambassadors
December 12th, 2008
The Young Ambassadors in a promotional picture for the "All Aboard" winter choir concert.
By Deepika Azariah
Herbert W. Armstrong College welcomed the local community to its winter choir concert in the John Amos Field House last night. The concert featured the Armstrong concert choir, the Young Ambassadors, Imperial Academy’s Choraliers, and Herbert W. Armstrong College voice faculty. The Church advertised the concert in the December 9 Oklahoman newspaper. Like previous winter choir concerts, the doors were open to the community for everyone who would like to come. A few from the community attended, and said they enjoyed the concert thoroughly.
But did you know that our show last night—comprised of over 100 singers—had its humble origins 62 years ago?
IA Literature: Poetry le Ratatouille
December 11th, 2008
Here’s a bit of poetry served up from Mrs. and Ms. Leap’s eighth-grade English Literature class at Imperial Academy. Today’s subject of inquiry: scurrying rodents!
Scrit-scrat goes the mouse
in the attic dark and dusty.
All around the old, old house
the smell of pie, warm and crusty.
He plops his way down the stairs
as the fire pops and squeals,
the stairs crack here and there.
He wobbles over to the stove
and into the pie, there he goes.
—Brandi Davis
Introducing the TE Newsletter!
December 10th, 2008
Preparation: It Can Save Your Life!
December 8th, 2008
From the archives: True Education, Summer 2000
By Wilbur Malone
Group of USS ships during World War II
At the beginning of the Second World War, Germany ruled the seas with its submarines—called U-boats. It dared the Allies to attempt crossing the Atlantic. Many British and American ships were sunk as a result of German torpedoes ripping the hulls of their ships wide open, sending them to the bottom of the ocean.
As the war raged on, America inevitably entered the war, and the might of its naval power began to swing the tide of the battle of the seas.
At this time, I was assigned to a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, the USS Nemesis. We were one of 12 ships making up a task force known mainly as “sub chasers.” Our task force was assigned to patrol the Atlantic and North Atlantic oceans.
In early January 1945, we received a report that a German sub had landed spies somewhere in Canada. Since our task force was already in the North Atlantic, we had orders to get that sub! All 12 ships swung into action.