“I will instruct you…I will counsel you with my loving eye.” Psalm 32:8

That is such a reassuring verse for this day, or any day! Since this is the beginning of the new year in 2026, many of us may be thinking about resolutions, financial plans, or money investment plans for our family. A young man said to me yesterday, “I never thought I would live this long because of my health.” While rubbing his head in wonderment, he said, “I have three kids and I am thinking seriously about the future. Like, will I make enough money to educate them, feed them, what about investments?” I am glad he is thinking of their future. More parents need to do this. It is comforting to me to know that he and his wife are practicing Christians who will pray to the Lord Jesus for guidance for the next years to come because, we learn, the years seem to go by too quickly.

January 8, it began to snow, and by Friday morning, there was a lot of fluffy snow here in Eads. It piled up higher than what we had seen in quite some time. By afternoon, the basketball games were called off here in Eads and other schools. People around me guessed that there was about six or more inches of snow. However, I was so surprised Sunday as we drove to Kit Carson for church to see there was not much snow at all about four or five miles north of Eads. Soon, we saw no accumulation at all. At Lamar there was snow with a lot of moisture that fell.

January 9, after practicing all day long in Bennett High School, eight Kit Carson students performed in the Honor Band Concert. The students from junior high were Katrina Arnold, Bella Madrid, Jolie Oswald, and Easton Buzzard. From the senior high were Tressie Golding, Shae Rady, Elizabeth Kent, and Braylyn Jackson. The Kit Carson School is one of the few schools that has a band in southeast Colorado. Their school is so blessed to have a band. I often hear people of grandparents’ age and parents comment how much they wished and wanted their children or grandchildren to be able to be a part of a school band. They often add, “I wish they taught Home Economics classes again so they could learn basic sewing and food preparation.”

Saturday afternoon and evening, we watched the Eads teams play basketball on the streaming television channel. It wasn’t ideal because there was no verbal description of the game, but we are thankful that we at least can know some facts about our teams. We have grandmothers who live here and have grandchildren who play for Wiley, McClave, and Eads, so they are even more interested in many ball games.

The wrestling matches scheduled for last Saturday were cancelled. When I asked wrestling coach Brenden Reifenschider how his girls wrestling team did, he told me that Giana Gibbs of Eads won fourth place after being off for some time because of an injury.

The best part of Friday morning was when Curtis Canopin came up to Weisbrod to give me a massage! Tuesdays he will be offering massages for an hour at a time in his home in Eads, and the other weekdays in Lamar on Main Street at Sean Oquist’s chiropractic office.

Congratulations to Trey and Hadlie (Ritggers) McDowell of Wiley on the birth of their first child, a girl. The young couple named their baby Huntleigh. Both parents are graduates of Eads High School and Adams State College. Hadley is an educator at the Wiley school, and Trey works with the State Wildlife Department.

I had such a good phone conversation with Linly Stum of Towner. He had given me his last copy of his autobiography. I thought it was too precious for me to have here in Eads at Weisbrod, but he said he would return it to me. He is so pleased that Plainview School has a big new multifunction printer with inline hole puncher. He was able to print 40 more copies of his story and place them into binders. Linly has had many interesting experiences in his 88 years. He is dealing with a lot of body pain, especially in his feet and legs. Linly and his wife are seriously considering selling their gas filling station and store in Sheridan Lake.

Over the past two years, my sister has gifted several boxes to friends here in Eads with Amaryllis bulbs. The ladies have planted the bulbs now, and they are growing I the ruddy pot, and now in January they are blooming so beautifully. We enjoy asking each other, “what color is your Amaryllis?”

There was a free matinee January 17 in the Plains Theatre on Maine Street in Eads. The poster had drawings of a lion, “Narnia,” castles, and men in armor from the 14^th or 15^th century.

This weekend, fans watched the Eads Eagles play basketball in Wiley .

Many area schools competed at the big Knowledge Bowl in Eads January 16. That same day was the high school make-up basketball game with McClave at Eads High School. The McClave girls are rated number one and Eads number two in the state. McClave boys are rated number two in the state. Both Eads girls and boys were defeated. January 17, Eads staff and volunteers hosted the annual wrestling tournament.

Do support your local school activities and students wherever you live.