If you watch the news, you saw it.

A public relation’s nightmare unfolded in the White House.

Barak Obama, the U.S. President from two terms previous to Joe Biden, was invited to speak to a group of selected Democrats applauding the 10^th anniversary of Obama Care, a universal health care program unearthed under Obama’s tutelage.

Following the charismatic Obama’s talk, those in attendance encircled him, fawning over this opportunity to be near their political hero.

The cameras caught a rejection tragedy live, for President Joe Biden looked like a lost soul, struggling to find someone to pay attention to him.  Biden meandered on the outskirts of the celebratory Obama swarm, reminding me of middle schoolers sitting alone at a cafeteria table, desperate to be noticed.

The airways played that tape ad nauseum.

One doesn’t have to be a Biden fan (but everyone should respect the position of President) to imagine what those few moments of feeling like a “nobody” had to be like. I mean, I’ve known rejection, but never in view of the entire world.  Here he was, the president of the most powerful nation in the world, and no one cared.

A week later, someone sent out a musical version of President Biden first trying to get Obama’s attention, only to finally give up, wander aimlessly in the background and ultimately reach for the hand of some woman in the audience. The song “All By Myself” played in the background, and I thought, this scene by itself is tragic enough; adding a musical score truly compounds the humiliation.   

 But then I realized something.  If Jesus—whose humanity was a picture of rejection– wasn’t above such shaming, why should any human, no matter how powerful, be different?  And yes, I know that Jesus had no music accompanying his tortuous death, but he did have celebratory Roman guards competing for his clothing and mocking his pain.  More tragically, on the cross he endured the ultimate rejection. Matthew 27:45 tells us that at the ninth hour Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”  God Himself had turned His back on His son, the one representing the sins of the world—us! —for which he willingly gave up his life.                                                                                                                                                     Rejection hurts, so if we felt sorry for President Biden when Obama turned his back on him, I get it.  But maybe it needs only to point us to the rejection we deserved but never endured.

Keys to the Kingdom

“I could tell you stuff about her that would make your hair curl!“ (Please don’t.) “You won’t believe what I just heard about him!” (No, I won’t.) Sometimes we find ourselves in conversations against our will. It starts innocently enough, but quickly heads south and turns into gossip. I hate gossip as much as I love chocolate. Hearing “juicy tidbits” about others makes me want to dig a hole and crawl in. I know of a godly man that wouldn’t listen to gossip. He would simply walk away without saying anything. I think his silent response and gentle actions spoke louder than any words.

Mom used to wisely advise me, “You don’t have to tell everything you know.” I often think of the New Testament scripture about Jesus’ mother: “All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often” (Luke 2:18,19 NLT). Mary pondered things in her heart; she mulled it over, meditated on it, carefully thought about it. She kept it to herself because the things she had witnessed were too personal and treasured to share. Occasionally, some experiences are so amazing that we are left speechless.

Gossip can be defined as undisciplined or idle talk about an individual’s private affairs involving details that are not confirmed as being true. However, even if the intriguing details are true, if you truly love your neighbor as yourself, you should choose not to share the hurtful newsflash. The Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” would apply here. “If you are sensible you will control your temper. When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it” (Proverbs 19:11 GNT). God’s way is to overlook a wrong and not blab it (which could possibly destroy the person‘s reputation).

Instead of setting our radar for gossip, let’s challenge ourselves to see how many people we can build up, encourage, and compliment every day through our words. Reach out in love and concern to help alleviate tough situations for others. “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT).

A gossip (intentionally or unintentionally) creates mischief in society. “A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence” (Proverbs 11:13 NLT). I want to be a confidential friend who can be trusted with someone’s heartache. I don’t want to be guilty of James 1:26 NLT: “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” The way we treat and speak about others reveals the true condition of our heart.

On the flip side of gossip, let’s use our words to build up those that have been flattened by life’s steamroller. “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (Hebrews 10:23 NLT). We can use our tongues to spur one another on. Positive reinforcement is all some people need in order to believe they can do the seemingly impossible. Words of encouragement can change everything. Let’s go for it!

The Key: When someone says, “I’m not supposed to tell this, but…,” it’s time to dig a hole or put on your walking shoes.

Community College

James Fallows, a freelance writer, became curious about the demise of small towns; so, in 2013, he and his wife, Deborah, traveled over 100,000 miles around America to find out the common factors of communities that are succeeding despite the trends.  They wrote about it in a book entitled, Our Towns (thank you to Rick Mayhew for sending me a copy), which was turned into a documentary by HBO, and summarized in an article published by Atlantic Monthly magazine.

Number seven on their list of 11 common attributes of thriving small towns is their support of a community college.  These resources are efficient, effective, and extremely accessible to our children and grandchildren in rural America; it certainly gives us a better chance to keep them here and slow the “brain drain” crippling many small towns.  Beyond the positive influence on our youth (and some adults), what is the economic impact of Fort Scott Community College (“FSCC”) on Bourbon County?  Here are some numbers:

• Total revenue for all sources in fiscal year 2021 was $13.2 million, expected to increase to $14.4 million in 2022.
• Total student income was $5.2 million in 2021; that budgeted number is $6.1 million for 2022.
• FSCC employs 170 individuals, 119 of which live in Bourbon County; annual net wages for our county residents total $3.2 million.
• FSCC does business locally whenever possible, patronizing 82 Bourbon County businesses with close to $1 million in spending in 2021.
• Tuition waivers totaling $76,668 were awarded to 127 Bourbon County residents in 2021.
• FSCC students volunteer about 6,000 hours of community service to Bourbon County over the course of a school year. I know dozens of them showed up for the recent downtown Fort Scott cleanup.

These are significant contributions to our community, all accomplished while avoiding a mill levy increase since 2012.  In 2013, the levy was 29.519, and was budgeted at 29.299 in 2022.  Given the steady increase in costs to run any organization over that same time period, one can only conclude that FSCC is run on a financially sound basis.

As with all political entities, there is going to be significant disagreement over how they are run and how the money is spent, but no one can deny that we much better off with FSCC.  Having lived in a rural Kansas county that tried and failed to attract a community college, I can tell you that we are envied.  Four of my 11 grandchildren live in or around Bourbon County and may attend FSCC, but either way, I am happy to pay a little higher taxes in exchange for the all-around economic impact to our community.  It is a must for site selectors who are considering locating a new business in rural counties.

You may be focused on the imperfections of FSCC, but I encourage you to consider the economic and academic treasure it is for Bourbon County.  We would be a much poorer place without it.

On the left is the advertisement for what the chicken nuggets were supposed to look like.  On the right is what my daughter-in-law received.

Cutting into the nuggets when she got home showed little actual chicken, but if you’re into skin and gristle, this goodie is for you.

I called the fast-food restaurant and lodged a complaint.  While I was on the phone with their rep, my son called his wife who told him what I was doing.

She put him on the speaker-phone. “Mom, hang up.  I can’t believe you’re doing this.”  I, of course, reminded him that last year I called the 1-800 floral company when he paid $90.00 for an Easter bouquet for his wife and infant daughter, a “bouquet” that looked like a wilted, miniature version of the flowers being advertised.  Had he paid $9.00, I would have said nothing.

If people don’t complain when they are not given what is promised, the company will continue to take advantage, right?

No one wants to be ripped off.

Just ask the 37,000 investors who lost a total of $65 billion when they trusted Bernie Madoff.

Well, guess what!  There is one who, in spite of being accused otherwise, never rips off anyone.  Still, the accusations don’t stop.  My friend’s adult child lives in another state but has decided not to believe in God because He doesn’t answer prayers to satisfy this individual (not an uncommon argument). So, I guess, God is ripping off this poor guy? The problem is that God is God, and this person isn’t.  He’s a narcissist, but he isn’t God.

We must read Scripture to learn who God is so we don’t grow up with unrealistic, selfish expectations.  He’s not Santa Claus or the Easter bunny or the tooth fairy or a genie in a bottle.

He loves us enough to become the only perfect human ever to save us from ourselves, including ideas that we deserve something from Him.

Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21:  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We can’t do anything to make ourselves right with God.

Trust me, I spent a long time trying.

Such a waste!  God has done all the work.  We have no right to pat ourselves on our backs when we try to out-smart our creator.  But even when we do, He doesn’t give up on us. Because that’s what unconditional Love does.

And that’s about as far from a rip-off artist as I can imagine.

Keys to the Kingdom

Have you ever searched high and low for something and still couldn’t find it? I live by the adage, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Nonetheless, I occasionally decide that the place where I’ve kept an item for the past 41 years isn’t the most logical. So then I move it and, the next time I need it, I don’t know where it is. I’ve pretty-much decided that it’s better to leave it in the original “wrong” place than to change it. I don’t enjoy looking from top to bottom as if I’m playing “hide the thimble“ all by myself. When I’m the hider and the seeker, I feel like a ding-dong when I can‘t find it!

At the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, there were two curtains (veils) inside the temple — one at the entrance to the Holy Place and one at the entrance to the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest was allowed to pass through the second curtain once a year. This curtain was 60 feet high, 30 feet wide, and 4 inches thick. From Golgotha’s cross, Jesus shouted, “It is finished!” and then He released His spirit. “At that moment the curtain [veil] in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened….“ (Matthew 27:51,52 NLT). It was humanly impossible to tear this thick curtain. But when God Himself ripped it in half from top to bottom, He was declaring that everyone could freely come directly to Him through the blood of Jesus!

“So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven…. With His own blood — not the blood of goats and calves — He entered the Most Holy Place [Holy of Holies] once for all time and secured our redemption forever. …He is the One who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them” (Hebrews 9:11,12,15 NLT). Christ’s sacrifice was perfect because it was completely effective and didn’t need to be repeated. He alone, as our Redeemer, paid the ransom forever with His precious blood. Jesus is the One who enacted the new covenant with a new relationship with God. The unveiling of Jesus Christ occurred when the veil was torn in two at the entrance of the Holy of Holies.

Christ Jesus abolished the requirement for the curtain at the entrance to the Holy of Holies. “When God speaks of a ‘new’ covenant, it means He has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:13 NLT). The installation of the new covenant proved that the one already in existence was temporary. To return to the old system would be to return to what is no longer valid or effective. “But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for He is the One who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6 NLT).

I used to think that planned obsolescence only pertained to appliances, but I just realized that God planned for old-covenant obsolescence. I’ll take the new superior over the old inferior any day. Years ago I tried to drink a can of Coke that was out of date — to say it was ineffective would be an understatement. From A to Z, from The Word to Lord, from El Shaddai to the Bread of Life, from a baby to a King, Jesus is everything.

The Key: We have a new covenant with God, signed, sealed, and delivered in the blood of Jesus.

In 2008, the housing bubble burst, which took our whole economy into the “Great Recession,” the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which began in 1929.  In the current decade, the process could be reversed, with an economic downtown slowing the latest run-up of housing prices.  Is a recession eminent?  No one knows for sure, and unique factors both globally and locally will play as yet an unknown role in in determining the answer to that question.

As an economics major (who still makes a practice of studying the discipline), a former Federal Reserve Bank employee and a life-long banker, I have long believed that the interest rate yield curve shape has been the most reliable indicator of an impending recession over the last 65 years.  The interest rate yield curve is said to be inverted when the interest paid on a one-year US Treasury security exceeds the rate paid on a 10-year instrument; normally, the curve slants up, not down.  Every measurable recession since I was born (there have been 9 since 1956) has been predicted by the inversion of the yield curve.  Only once during that time period did an inversion occur without an ensuing recession.  We are close to another yield curve inversion; in fact, it has occurred momentarily several times in the last few weeks.

How does the inverted yield curve impact housing?  Eventually, the rise in short-term interest rates pushes up longer term rates, including home mortgages.  A rise in unemployment usually follows the rate increase.  When mortgage rates and unemployment increase significantly, the housing market slows down.  This will be particularly hard on rural America as we have not experienced the building boom seen in metropolitan areas, and our crying need for additional housing will go unmet awhile longer.

Making it even more difficult for Bourbon County to generate new housing is the hangover from the 2008 housing bust.  Previously, we had several builders who were eminently qualified and resourced to build a quality home here, but no longer.  Yes, we still have qualified builders, but they no longer have subcontracting crews on which they can rely to construct a quality home on time and on budget; those tradesmen are not sitting around waiting for the next opportunity.  Assembling the expertise to build a new home in the future will be a challenge.

Bourbon County REDI and the board of the new Land Bank are aware of these factors, and are committed to searching for creative solutions.  It will not be easy, but we need to stay alert for opportunities to solve the housing needs in all of Bourbon County.

During the Los Angeles riots in the 1990’s, a reporter encountered three looters leaving a store. He asked them what they took, and the first two told him off with profanity. But the third
man said, “I got some gospel music. I love Jesus!”

I just don’t get it.

Currently, I am in a Zoom Bible study, and this week we are covering the book of Judges…one of the most depressing, frustrating books in the Old Testament. Perhaps the entire Bible. Which is probably why that book ends with these solemn words: In those days there
was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
In a nutshell, the Israelites, God’s chosen people, messed up. Not once. Not twice.

Dozens, if not hundreds of times.

Then they repented, begged for God’s help avenging
whomever they had unrightfully attacked, and acted holy…until, that is, they didn’t.

We are left scratching our heads, wondering what is wrong with these guys, but the truth is, they aren’t totally unholy. I mean, they ask for a priest’s intervention, talk openly about their
love for Yahweh, cling to vows they have taken and even attack clans that should have been destroyed when the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land.

But then they act out of fleshly lust or ignore the difficult part of God’s commands or make stupid pledges that cost them lives…theirs and others (like 25,000 at a time). A “little” holy, perhaps?

Of course, God never calls us to be a little holy (which is sort of like a being a little alive). There are no portion controls in Kingdom living. We Christians just live as if there are.

While researching the back-story of Judges, I ran across an article from David Guzik’s “Study Guide to Judges 18” where he gives an example of people caught between holy and
unholy living.

“In Europe in the 14 th century, unemployed soldiers often became small armies of bandits and robbed and burned and killed and raped in towns and villages all over Europe. These
brutal criminals often negotiated with a town before attacking it.

“If the town agreed to give the brutes a large amount of money, the army left the city alone. If the town refused to give the money or could not give the money, they attacked. These were done with formal negotiations and contracts. They have discovered that when these horrible men came to a monastery, they insisted on money as well – but they also demanded that the priests of the monastery give them a written document saying that all their sins were forgiven.”

I just don’t get it.

Look again at Judges 21:25: In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. I wonder if those words can be tweaked a little.

In present days there is little Lord in America; everyone does what is right in his/her own eyes.

This Sunday, we will celebrate Easter. My son’s church in Florida requires online registration to attend. Multiple services are added because Easter is, for many, the only time they tend to come.

They will hear how Jesus died for their sins, but Hallelujah…He lives! He lives to give us new life, to make us into new creations, to enable us to spend eternity in Heaven.

There is no more powerful message

Keys to the Kingdom

My brother (retired senior pastor) kept a jar of marbles on his church office desk just for a witty conversation piece. The thing that brought grins and chuckles from his parishioners was the sign posted beside it: “Lost your marbles? Take a few.” Randy’s container had Pee Wees, Shooters, and Boulders; the most-popular marble that people chose was the  cat’s eye Shooter. Although I’ve never played the game, I have a few marbles of my own. “Losing your marbles” is a familiar colloquialism. If you’ve said or done something goofy, you may have even had a good friend  ask, “Have you lost your marbles?!”

We all have days when we do ridiculously-stupid stuff and an eyewitness would probably think we’ve lost our marbles. I can use myself to illustrate this point. Many years ago, I was preparing to go somewhere and I placed my camera on top of the car as I loaded everything. Silly story short, I later found the smashed-to-smithereens camera on the road a half mile from my house. Needless to say, I didn’t take any pictures that day. I can recall  two different times when I attempted to make sweet tea using salt. That didn’t turn out well at all. Now for the most-recent scatterbrained example: After I had written, proofed, tweaked, and saved this column for publishing, I opened it up several days later and  accidentally deleted it. Poof! The document was gone like a ‘57 Chevy — so I had to rebuild it from scratch. I sure could’ve used one of my brother‘s marbles that day!

Sometimes it’s quite a challenge to get all your marbles in a row and keep ‘em there. Once they get loose, they’re liable to roll anywhere. The Bible speaks plainly about the mind of believers. “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV). If our thoughts are causing anxiety, we’re probably not rejecting the lies, fears, and doubts that Satan throws at us. God gives believers the power to have a sound mind which enables us to be at peace in troubling situations.

Christians have to actively control what we allow into our minds. Understanding the following scripture may dissuade us from watching the news 24-7: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8 NLT). Fixing our minds on good news (what God says in His Word) is crucial. Not focusing on bad news is also crucial if we want God’s peace in our life. Jesus said that He was leaving His own peace with us,  which is the real thing and not an imitation peace that the devil offers. “I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27 NLT).

The biblical and common-sense approach to life is found in this scripture: “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding” (Proverbs 3:5 AMP). Believers are to entrust their lives and everything in life to their all-wise and loving heavenly Father. We can rest easy knowing we can rely on Him to take care of our every need.

The Key: God knows how to keep your marbles from scattering and getting lost.

In our economic system, nothing drives the economy more than capital investment.  It is the fuel for the engine of business and our country’s fiscal wellbeing.  Very little constructive happens apart from men and women with funds to invest deciding to take risks for an attractive return on their money.

Several megatrends that have impacted our nation since the beginning of World War II have served to shift capital investments away from small communities into urban areas.  Government tax policy, the explosion of business regulation at all levels, and cultural sentiments that have moved us away from capitalism to socialism are a few of the factors that have decreased the amount of capital investment in rural American and our economy as a whole.  More recently, our government has made it less attractive to produce energy by traditional means which discourages capital investments and disproportionately impacts rural America.  One does not see oil wells in the urban core of our cities.

As evidence, consider that between 1980 and 1989, business investment in equipment, software and structures grew by 2.7% per year on average and 5.7% in the decade of the ‘90’s; between 2000 and 2011, that number was a paltry 0.5% per year, less than one-tenth the amount of the previous decade.  Moreover, as a share of Gross Domestic Product, business investment has declined by more than 3% since 1980.  If we had the numbers divided between rural America and urban areas, I am sure that they would show that we have borne much more of the decline on a percentage basis.

The most obvious example of this in Bourbon County is the dearth of new construction over recent decades.  One simply cannot create value by building something new, as evidenced by the gap between an appraisal and construction costs.  This is also true of new houses.  Nothing puts a damper on capital investment more than the potential of an immediate double-digit percentage loss on that investment.  Naturally, an entrepreneur will build their building and their business in a location where value is created.

As an alternative, many Bourbon County men and women have stepped up and purchased struggling buildings and converted them to productive use, opening the doors to a new business in the process.  These people love Bourbon County and are willing to risk the negative return on investment to see us move forward.  Next time you drive by a newly remodeled business location, stop in and thank them by buying something.

Bourbon County REDI has this capital investment gap in our crosshairs, looking for ways to close the value gap and help facilitate growth in our business community; sometimes this involves grants, creative financing or angel investments.  If you love Bourbon County, be a part of the solution by helping us reduce barriers to successful entrepreneurship and supporting the men and women who have invested their

I am beyond excited!  For not a few years, I have been writing a book.

Call it my “Rejection Collection” if you will, but the actual title is A Little Faith Lift…Erasing the Lines of the Enemy.  And yes, it was difficult to narrow down my personal anecdotes into 25 chapters, but I’ve tried to choose the best of the best.  Or should I say, the worst of the worst?

At any rate, once my book was finished, I started worrying.

What if no one sees merit in it?

Who am I to try and enter the world of authorship when there are hundreds struggling to do the same?

Will I survive if it receives bad reviews?

Would it be tacky to pay my friends to write good ones?

Could it be that I’m the only one who has enough stories of rejection/embarrassment to fill an entire book, so no one will relate…and I’ll be alone, sitting on an island somewhere, yes, alone, reading one of my many…well, books…because I had to pre-order 5,000 of them which, of course, didn’t work out so well for me?

(Did I mention that I will be alone?)

Do you see a problem here?  I wrote a book on overcoming rejection, yet clearly, I have a tad bit of work to do to take my own advice.

A month ago, John, a respected agent, read my first four chapters and wanted to represent me to the Christian publishing world.  For days, I walked around in a stupor, not knowing if I should share the unbelievable news with my friends or not.  I certainly never expected an agent with his reputation to take on someone who had never authored a book, but when his wife read my chapters on an airplane and “laughed at loud in several places” and told her husband so, the deal was sealed.

The next step was for me to write a book proposal.  Twenty-seven pages later, I sent my 1800^th revision to John.

It lacked one thing: I didn’t have a huge social media following. Publishers insist on it.  In other words, people have to know me before they want to really know me.

For starters, I had to get an Instagram account.  And yes, I know Instagram has been around for a decade, but I was intimidated by it…which is nuts because one of my chapter titles is this: “The Worse Failure?  Failing to Try.”

In that same chapter, I mention Jael, Abigail, Rahab, Ruth, the hemorrhaging woman and Mary Magdalene, all Biblical characters who took enormous risks.  A page later, I even wrote, “I fear too many people will end up with a life of Regret instead of Adventure.”  So, I took the plunge and between my son, my granddaughter, and my daughter-in-law, I find myself experimenting and now am a member (is that the right word?) of Instagram! You can follow me (please!) at patty_laroche.

This might be the gutsiest thing I’ve ever done in my life (writing the book, not joining Instagram).

What I do know is that I don’t want to look back, years from now, and wonder what might have happened if I didn’t take the risk.

Perhaps you can relate.  Someone/something has convinced you that you aren’t capable, yet you have a passion to press forward. Perhaps you want to design clothes.  Or have a yard sale.  Or sing in the praise and worship band.  Or learn to golf.  Or start a Bible study.  Or perfect a pecan pie.  Or…(you fill in the blank).

Whatever it is, let’s do this together.  Let’s take the risk like the Biblical heroines did so that we never regret not trying.

Keys to the Kingdom

“I Forgot to Remember to Forget” is a rockabilly/country song written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers and was first recorded by Elvis in 1955. I especially like songs with a  great hook — a phrase that catches my ear and makes me think. The first time I heard this song, it made an unforgettable impression on me. Certain experiences in life are better forgotten than remembered. For example, if someone says or does something that hurts you, it’s best to just drop it, leave it, forget it, and move on.

Good memories are a source of comfort and joy that we can cherish forever. And bad memories aren’t to be wallowed in, but forsaken and left in the past. Jesus makes it quite clear that believers are to live our lives forward. “Jesus said to him, ’No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things behind] is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:62 AMP). Forget any negative circumstances that lie behind you and plow ahead toward God’s excellent master plan. Looking and living in reverse will severely hinder your ability to live the abundant life that Jesus died and arose to give you.

Most everyone has a tendency to revisit painful memories, but it should just be a flash of remembrance for believers. God doesn’t want us to dwell on (or live in) the past. You’re no good to yourself or your loved ones if you’ve been “out to lunch” since 1987. Make the decision to let go of past sorrows and disappointments. God’s grace is bounteously given to help us overcome all of our hurts, as Paul plainly instructs us. “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are [our inner being is] being renewed every day” (2 Corinthians 4:16 NLT). He restores my soul — this is a “now” healing. God is an ever-present help and He needs us to keep heading toward our destiny.

In the Old Testament we find an amazing declaration spoken by Joseph in Genesis 41:51 ESV: “God has made me forget all my hardship.“ Obviously, God didn’t give Joseph amnesia, but He enabled him to live abundantly blessed in the present. His hurtful past was simply a fleeting memory because Joseph chose to focus on the goodness of God.

I taught piano for 25 years and, occasionally, it was necessary to instruct a student on the proper technique for correcting mistakes. If a student messed up in the middle of the piece, sometimes he/she would stop and start all over from the beginning. I would ask, “If you were on your way to Pittsburg and had a flat, after you changed the tire, would you drive back to Fort Scott and start the trip all over?” A straightforward explanation about moving on was all the student needed in order to correct a bad habit and faulty mindset.

Believers cannot successfully accomplish anything without fully depending on Christ Jesus. Since we are in Christ, we have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to hold onto our hope. “So these are two things that don’t change, because it’s impossible for God to lie. He did this so that we, who have taken refuge in Him, can be encouraged to grasp the hope that is lying in front of us” (Hebrews 6:18 CEB). Don’t look backward, because hope is in front of you. My retired Navy pilot friend has often stated, “The runway behind you ain’t no good.”

The Key: Don’t forget to remember that God’s power equips you to forget an ugly past.

Selected Data

As with most rural communities, Bourbon County is a mixed bag of advantages and disadvantages that at once move us forward and hold us back.  I have spent the last year writing about what we need to do to strengthen our weaknesses and leverage what we do well.  To round out year one, let’s take a look at some selected data from the 2020 Kansas Statistical Abstract to give us a general sense of how we are doing.

Per capita personal income in Bourbon County is $46,149, which ranks us 71^st out of the 105 counties in Kansas.  Greeley County is number one, with almost $100,000 in per capita income, more than double our number.  Of the SEK counties, we rank first.  The worst SEK County? Montgomery at $39,041, placing them at 104^th; Crawford is only slightly better, ranking 103^rd.  Interesting side note, two Kansas counties have consolidated the county government with that of the largest cities within the county: Greeley and Wyandotte; ironically, Greeley ranks number one in personal income, Wyandotte dead last at 105.

Bourbon County does better when considering what percentage of our residents 25 years and older have a high school diploma; that number is 91.3%, which ranks us 57th in the state.  In this category, Allen and Crawford bested us at 91.9% and 92.1%, respectively.  These three SEK counties have respectable rankings near or above the top half of Kansas counties.  These are important numbers for future workforce development.

Our shining statistic is median age, in which we rank 28^th at 38.2 years; not bad for small town America.  As you might expect, Crawford County is much younger than we are with the median age at 32.6 years, ranking them in the top 10.  The balance of the SEK counties rank behind us, with Linn County as the oldest of the bunch at 44.8 years.  The youngest county in Kansas?  The home of the Wildcats: Riley County at 24.3 years.  Only four Kansas counties have a median age below age 30; the other three are Geary, Douglas and Seward.  Jewell County ranks as having the oldest residents in the state with a median age of 52.5.

Lastly, we have two challenges in this list of general statistics: unemployment rate and food stamp participation.  While we rank better than our neighbors on unemployment, our year-end 2020 number of 5.6% ranked us 88^th in the State.  Hamilton County is number one at 1.7%, while our most populous county, Sedgwick is dead last at 8.7%.  Food stamp participation is our Achilles Heel: we rank 104^th at 12.2% of residents.  Only Wyandotte County is worse at 12.8%.  As you might expect, the most food independent county in Kansas is Johnson at 2.1%.  Obviously, we are the bottom of the “food chain” in SEK.

These are not terrible numbers considering the challenges we have faced in the last 40+ years.  There is much upon which to build, and problems to solve.  Our economic development team has these important statistics in view, along with many others, as we invest our resources in Bourbon County.