Photo Fun
The Prince of Peace high school youth group and the Knights of Columbus joined forces to raise more than $11,000 for the youth group at a recent garage sale. From left to right: Â Mandy Burmester, Lauren Atchison, Tony Phillips, Debra Spuhler, Jeff Murai, Deborah Buford, Adam Jusino, Ashley Seger, Bradley Murai, Anna Sewell, Ben Chambless, Gerald Buford, Brian Cuevas and Jeff Allen.
Photo Fun
The Prince of Peace Knights of Columbus Council #11537 recently recognized Anna Claire Grondin as the recipient of a $1,000 memorial scholarship to John Carroll, awarded based upon scholarship, service and extra-curricular activities as well as an essay contest.  This year’s essay question was, “Why Does God Love Us So Much”?
Photo Fun
Moody, Ala. native and Seaman Jared Held is one of more than 1,000 sailors who recently returned to Naval Station Mayport/Jacksonville, Fla. after a six-month deployment to the Middle East and Mediterranean areas of operation. Held is serving aboard the New York, an amphibious transport dock ship, which takes Marines to the locations they need to support U.S. interests around the world.
Parenting Points
Brought to you by: White Plume Technologies www.whiteplume.com
All parents make mistakes, but we can learn from them and help protect our kids from the dangers of addiction.
Parents want to raise their kids the right way. But many are hampered by some prevalent misconceptions of modern-day moms and dads. By correcting these mistakes, parents can help their kids develop more positive behaviors which will protect them from substance abuse problems and help them live a happier life. This month, we conclude the series of “10 Mistakes Parents Make.” You can find the other 7 mistakes in the August and September editions of this magazine and at this link: https://lifeimprovementsteps.com/10-mistakes-parents-make/
Mistake: I need to teach my kids to control every situation.
Mistake: I can protect them by taking care of consequences of their bad choices.
Mistake: It’s not my job to talk about God to them.
Getting Help. STEPS Proactive Parenting provides training, coaching, and materials for parents to become intentional about protecting their kids from addictions. We can learn to raise our kids to be balanced emotionally, spiritually, and personally and, if we do, we can help prevent addiction. Churches and organizations can visit www.StepsProactiveParenting.com to get information on what types of training and coaching are available for parents and how to get started setting up a program that fits their needs, or they can simply contact Steve Ward. Parents can visit www.StepsProactiveParenting.com to receive the free weekly STEPS Ministries blog, learn about personal coaching options, and get information on seminars your church or organization can sponsor.
-Steve C. WardÂ
Executive Director, STEPS Ministries
Author of STEPS: A Daily Journey to a Better Life
Music Notes
When you find yourself staring death in the face, something special happens. I shifted in my chair as I felt the tired and calloused hands from years behind a piano. I turned around to see CDs filled with hymns and gospel music stacked next to the CD player in my grandmother’s room. Ironically, those CDs were more of her line holding to life than the oxygen tubes strapped around her nose.
My grandmother, Ella, was the textbook definition of joy. She loved music, she loved singing, and she always had some tune she was humming. She was a church musician and led the choir. She also had four sons she wrangled together to create a traveling quartet, singing in churches around their hometown of Detroit, Michigan. It’s no shock that all her sons and their families are now in ministry. Extended family gatherings for us always have some type of song sung together. Singing is a way of life for our family, and singing hymns is purely essential to our family DNA.
Ella loved hymns and knew every alto line to any hymn in her hymnal. When she was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago and her mind started failing, music remained her only constant. She would forget who her family was, but she remembered her hymns. in her last days when Ella was lethargic from her medicine, someone would play a hymn to redirect her mind. She straightened up in her chair, sang her alto line, and did not miss a word. Being with her in those moments, are moments I will never forget. What peace she must have felt in those moments.
As a worship leader, the more I lead worship the more I am convinced that the songs I sing matter. Maybe one day too, those songs will be the only thing that wakes my mind up. As a result, I’ve found myself entranced by the hymns that Ella sang. In a way, I feel a connection with her and the saints before me when I sing them. The songs we sing and the words we recite together in corporate worship are important because they will indeed carry us to our last day. They give us a language that goes further than the body can control, and they will continue to carry our voices to future generations of Christians as an encouragement and exhortation to keep pressing on in faith. In an attempt to preserve the past, I created a hymns project called Pillars. It intentionally keeps the same melodies, structure, and form of the hymns while updating the music programmatically in modern musical forms. They are an expansion of what is currently on a hymnal page without losing their original intent and penmanship. I hope these hymns sink their roots deeper into my heart and into the hearts of those who listen. Most importantly, I hope these melodies and words wake our hearts up now until our final breath.
-Jeremy MooreÂ
Singer/Songwriter
Worship Leader, Mountain Brook Community Church and Beeson Divinity School
Money Matters
presented by: Vision Financial
In the news from time to time we see a report that states that Social Security is “going broke.”  However, these reports are often based on projections by the Trustees of these programs. And projections are just that, projections… like pre-season football or election polls, they are trying to predict what will happen in the future. Each year, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds release lengthy annual reports to Congress that assess the health of these important programs. The newest reports, released on June 5, 2018, discuss the current financial condition and ongoing financial challenges that both programs face.
Each program has a financial account (a trust fund) that holds the Social Security payroll taxes that are collected to pay Social Security benefits. Money that is not needed in the current year to pay benefits and administrative costs is invested (by law) in special Treasury bonds that are guaranteed by the U.S. government and earn interest. As a result, the Social Security Trust Funds have built up reserves that can be used to cover benefit obligations if payroll tax income is insufficient to pay full benefits.
Highlights of the 2018 Social Security Trustees ReportÂ
Why are Social Security and Medicare facing financial challenges? Social Security and Medicare are funded primarily through the collection of payroll taxes. Because of demographic and economic factors including higher retirement rates and lower birth rates, there will be fewer workers per beneficiary over the long term, worsening the strain on the trust funds.
What is being done to address these challenges? Both reports urge Congress to address the financial challenges facing these programs soon, so that solutions will be less drastic and may be implemented gradually, lessening the impact on the public. Combining some of these solutions may also lessen the impact of any one solution.
There are no current projections that call for a complete end to these benefits. However, the situation is a sober one and should cause all of us to think about how we are saving and preparing for the security of our own financial future. View a combined summary of the 2018 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports and a full copy of the Social Security Report at ssa.gov.Â
R. Heath Morris, CFP®Â
Vision Financial Group
4505 Pine Tree Circle, Birmingham, AL 35243
205-970-4909, www.vision-financialgroup.com
Investment Advisory services offered through Investment Advisors, a division of ProEquities, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Securities offered through ProEquities, Inc., a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA & SIPC. Vision Financial Group, Inc. and West Alabama Bank are independent of ProEquities, Inc. Securities and insurance products offered are not bank deposits, have no bank guarantee, are not FDIC insured, and may lose value.
Legal Matters
Presented by: Bradford & Holliman, Estate Planning, www.bradfordholliman.com
Parents often prepare Wills leaving assets equally to their children and then make mistakes with their accounts that favor one child over the others.
By Mistake: Sally Denton’s Will leaves her assets equally to her three children. To help pay bills, Sally made the mistake of adding her son, Ralph, as a joint owner on her checking account, savings account, and certificates of deposit instead of setting up a Power of Attorney. When Sally dies, Ralph has full ownership of those accounts and is not obligated to divide those accounts with his siblings. Why? The joint ownership titles void the terms of her Will. Â
On Purpose: Wilma Parker and her son, Carl, rarely speak, and Wilma has not seen her granddaughter for years. Her daughter, Annette, is very close to her mother and handles shopping, cooking meals, and taking Wilma to appointments, and cooking meals. Wilma’s Will leaves her assets to her two children equally, but Wilma also has a life insurance policy for $300,000 that names Annette as the sole beneficiary. Wilma intends for Carl to inherit some assets, but she purposely intends to leave Annette much more. Â
A probate estate consists of all the assets owned at the time of death. If no beneficiary is named on an account, the bank or insurance company will pay the proceeds of the account into the probate estate, and the assets will be distributed under the terms of the Will unless joint owner or beneficiary designations override the Will.
It is fine to knowingly plan for assets to pass to certain people outside of probate. Just make sure you realize when you are deviating from your Last Will and Testament to do it on purpose, not by mistake.
-Melanie Bradford HollimanÂ
Partner, Bradford & Holliman, LLC
Practice focuses on estate planning, elder law and special needs trust.
2491 Pelham Parkway, Pelham, Ala. 35124
205-663-0281, www.bradfordholliman.com
This article is for educational purposes and is not intended for specific legal advice.
No representation is made that the quality of legal service to be performed is greater than the quality of service performed by other lawyers.Â
Encouraging Word
The term “Christian Walk” refers to living out your faith. It involves one’s daily lifestyle and includes your personal belief system, behavior and conversation. The hymn “Trust and Obey” says it best; “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word what a glory He sheds on our way. When we do His good will, He abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey.” Â
I want to mention three ways we can strengthen our Christian Walk:
How we live is important. Our lifestyle reflects what we believe. Make sure your Christian Walk is strengthened by submission to God’s will; sensitivity to God’s leading; and remaining serious about serving God!
-Tony CooperÂ
Celebrating 28 Years of Service as Exec. Director, Jimmie Hale Mission
Healthy Living
Birmingham based Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center (Forge) and The Deep South Cancer Foundation (DSCF) recently partnered to help meet a very important need among metastatic breast cancer survivors in our community. Forge and DSCF hosted “A Journey of Courage and Hope,” the first retreat for metastatic breast cancer survivors in our region. “These retreats are incredibly meaningful in meeting the needs of women who are approaching the end of life and want to connect with others, discuss their fears, make plans for the future, and come away feeling more prepared for what lies ahead. Together participants discover new strength. These women are survivors, even though they will never know the joy and relief of being disease-free. It is an opportunity to support women with metastatic breast cancer in a unique and meaningful way” said Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, a two-time breast cancer survivor and an expert in the field of metastatic breast cancer from Johns Hopkins Hospital.
The free retreat was an opportunity for women and the women who support them to retreat from the routines of treatment and daily life to experience a program of individual and mutual healing and renewal. Within the safe environment, attendees had the opportunity to address and confront fears. Activities included a letter writing session in which each survivor/co-survivor pair wrote positive things that came out of their relationship that most likely would not have if there had not been a cancer diagnosis. Nancy, a caregiver, wrote “My dear companion Sharon, I am deeply grateful to be traveling this road with you along with huge realities that present themselves.  All of life and living and all of death and dying.” The retreat was held at the Benedictine Sisters Retreat Center in Cullman, Ala. where attendees enjoyed large porches, grounds including a lake, outdoor labyrinth, spiritual center and chapel as well as community spaces for group sessions.
Learn more about opportunities like this as well as other resources available to survivors and co-survivors of breast cancer visit www.forgeon.org. Forge will host volunteer training for individuals who would like to offer support to breast cancer survivors and their loved ones November 9-10. Details at www.birminghamchristian.com/events. â€
Healthy Living
Late fall marks the beginning of the peak season for accidental falls, especially for older people. Falls and fall-related injuries are the leading cause of death in people 65 years and older—more than 15,800 deaths per year. For people 85 and older, one in five falls results in death. Contrary to the myth that falls are unavoidable accidents, most falls are the result of manageable or preventable risks.
Physical changes that come with aging make seniors more prone to falling. Changes in muscles and joints make movement more difficult and make it harder to correct for a sudden loss of balance. Vision changes make it tough for older eyes to adjust to varying levels of light or perceive depth and distance. Many medications, depression, stress or lack of sleep can also affect judgment, balance and coordination.
What You Can Do.
Home Care Assistance of Birmingham offers a free Fall Prevention Assessment of your home, with recommendations for ensuring safety. Just call us to schedule with no obligation. You can also call to request a free booklet, “Preventing Slips and Falls in the Home” or stop by our office on Valleydale Road and pick one up.
-Debra Beadles
Owner, Home Care Assistance of BirminghamÂ
5291 Valleydale Rd., Ste. 123, Birmingham, AL 35242
205-438-6925
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