thumb is a drought under which my plants strug-gle to survive, but every year I take a step of faithand plant the crops. Even though to others itdoesn't make sense. Even though they ask mewhy I waste my money.

I don't listen to the naysayers though. Icould look at my past experiences and all of theempty pots littering my garage that once held vi-brant, very much alive, plants and talk myselfout of it, but instead, I choose not to get discour-aged and just keep planting.

There are a lot of us that have been sowingseeds and haven't seen the harvest. The fruits ofour labor have yet to be enjoyed, but there ishope in pressing on. Yes, if we keep planting

there is a chance that we will reap nothing, butif we give up, it becomes certain that that is allwe will get. Isaac understood that the power wasnot in the seed, but in the obedience. We have topress on, keep obeying and then, we will seemiracles happen.

The conditions do not have to be perfect.You don't have to have the best job, or the bestaccounts, live in the best neighborhoods, or evenhave the greenest thumb. All the odds can beagainst you, but God steps in and sees your per-severance and your obedience and He blessesour harvest 100 fold.

When we have an attitude of obedience, wewill see harvests in the middle of famine. So thisweek, let's sow radical seeds of faith and walkin faith that we will reap radical harvests. Happyplanting everyone!

Such was the case lastTuesday when my midnightmeltdown happened yetagain. I thought I might getsome solace by putting thatsoft little doggy in my bedand snuggling up to him likea teddy bear.

It didn’t work. I tossedand turned, got up and down,sat up, stood up, lit a candle,watched TV, read the paper,surfed the web, and pro-ceeded into my usual Tues-day night wanderings.

Apparently, Rocket did-n’t approve.

At about 3:15 a.m. heleft that bed with an obvioussnort, and made his way intomy bathroom, stretched outin the laundry basket, andthere he stayed until afterdaylight. When I found him,he was lying on his back, legsstretched straight up in theair, as if he had found a littlepiece of heaven in thatclothes basket.

It was my turn to snortand leave the room.

For some reason, when Isat in my desk later thatmorning, he followed me inthere, took one look at mychair, considered his optionsfor just a minute, snortedagain, and turned around andleft the room

Apparently, the soft robein the laundry basket wasmuch more appealing that an-other hours-long stint at mydesk. Can’t blame him.

My little furry friend fi-nally went back to his familyon Saturday evening, back tohis north Alabama home, andback to his own kingdom. Hewas, no doubt, quite ready fora better night’s sleep.

That night after he left, Ithought about my week ofgranddog-sitting and I deter-mined that little Rocket mayhave taught me a valuablelesson through it all.

When I find myself toss-ing and turning and ‘Sleep-less in Gilbertown’, I’mgoing to get out of my bed,pull out that laundry basket,offer a snort of disdain to theworld of anxiety – and justcrawl in.

earthly life on March 1, 2019. She was pre-ceded in death by a son, Charlie Ed Grant, Jr.;three siblings: brothers, Quincy Jones, TommieJones and sister, Martha Ann Johnson; and twograndsons, Willie Ed Grant, Jr. and Brian Lev-elle Grant.

She confessed Christ at an early age andjoined Shiloh C.M.E. Church. Mother L.G.served on the Usher Board as President for sev-eral years. She was a Missionary and a memberof the Eastern Star Ezell Chapter #380. She wasunited in Holy Matrimony to the late Charlie EdGrant, Sr. for 68 years.

She leaves to cherish her memory: five chil-dren, Geneva (Thomas) Crowell, Yantley, AL,Willie (Bessie) Grant, Chicago, IL, RuthieGrant, Lisman, AL, Earnest (Irena) Grant, Birm-ingham, AL, Mary Ann Grant, Lisman, AL,twelve grandchildren; thirty-four great grand-children; eleven great- great grandchildren; onedaughter-in-law, Mary Merrida Grant, Lisman,AL; and a host of nieces, nephews, other rela-tives and friends.

The Celebration of Life service was ren-dered by

Weatherly-Studdard Memorial FuneralHome of Butler.

John W. BrownYORK - Funeral services for John Walter

Brown, 85, of York, were held Saturday, March23, 2019, at 10:00 A.M. at Chestnut GroveChurch in Siloam with Rev.

Robert Pearce and Rev. Brad Campbell of-ficiating. Burial followed in the Chestnut GroveCemetery. Visitation was held Friday, March 22,2019, from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. at BumpersFuneral Home of York.

Mr. Brown passedaway Tuesday, March19th at his residence inYork. He was a carpen-ter by trade. Johnserved as a NavySeabees for over 20years. He was a mem-ber of Siloam BaptistChurch. John loved tolaugh and to be withhis family.

Survivors includehis sons John Walter“Walt” Brown, Jr. andwife Beth; daughterDebbie Mayfieldand husband Ken;daughter Jan Mooreand husband Roy;son Kevin Hagerand wife Donna;grandchildren TerryBarrett and wife Paige, Shawn Hall and wifeAmanda, Jennifer Sharp & Husband Adam,Dawn Curtis and husband Bill, Alana Moore,

Lee Moore, and Kenny Mayfield and wife Lind-sey; 16 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great-grandchildren; brother David C. Brown; andspecial friends and caregivers Berlinda Hood,Diane Green, Donald Ray Jones.

He was preceded in death by his wifePelleree "BeBe" Brown; father Thomas EdgarBrown; mother Alma Gladys Clark Brown; sonSteve Brown; grandson Allen Moore; and 11brothers and sisters.

Visit bumpersfuneralhome.com to sign theonline register and post condolences to the fam-ily.

Arrangements by Bumpers Funeral Homeof York.

Dessie B. ThompsonFuneral services for Dessie Barnwell

Thompson were held Saturday, March 23, 2019at 1:00 p.m. at Christian Fellowship BaptistChurch, 12379 County Road 32, Lisman, Ala-bama, 36912. Interment was in Pleasant HillCemetery with Dr. Robert Webb, Sr., Officiat-ing.

Dessie Barnwell Thompson was born onMarch 4, 1935 to the late Quincy Barnwell andMae-Bell Harbin Barnwell Ruffin. She de-parted this life on March 15, 2019 at the age of84 at Jeff Anderson Hospital in Meridian, MS.

Dessie confessed her life to Christ at anearly age at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church inYantley, Alabama. She later joined ChristianFellowship Church in 2008 where she attendeduntil her health started to fail.

She was united in holy matrimony to thelate Marshall Thompson, Sr.

Dessie was preceded in death by GeorgeBarnwell, Roy Lee Barnwell, Levell Barnwell,Michael Thompson, Marshall Thompson, Jr.;sisters, Bertha Barnwell, Quincy Mae Willis;brothers, Beaury Barnwell; and husband, Mar-shall Thompson, Sr.

She leaves to cherishher memories: two de-voted daughters, PatricanGorman of Butler, AL,Deborah Thompson ofLisman, AL; two devotedsons, Roosevelt Barnwell(Gloria), Herman Thomp-son; two sisters, Fannie E.Kennedy of Laurynburg,NC and Mary Bishop Ruf-fin of Sandflat, MS; threeadopted siblings, PatriciaHarbin, Levorn Harbin,Belove Harbin; a daughter-in-law, Georgia(Ann) Thompson; two devoted friends, CrystalJames, Rosa Jones; special friend DeborahMarsh; 22 grandchildren; 54 great grandchil-dren; 2 great-great grandchildren; and a host ofother relatives and friends.

Final arrangements were entrusted to Hay-den & Butler Funeral Home, Inc., 10031 Crow-ell Drive, P. O. Box 128, Lisman, AL 36912.Condolences may be posted at haydenandbut-ler.com.

The Choctaw Sun-Advocate • Wednesday, March 27, 2019 • page 5

nObituariesfrom page 2

MORE VIEWPOINTS

Dessie Thompson

nBlondefrom page 4 BUSINESS COLUMN

$15 minimum wage is a powerful political toolAs mentioned

previously In this col-umn, the minimumwage is a prime exam-ple of the law of unin-tended consequences.Unintended conse-quences occur whenthe actions of people— especially govern-ment — have effectsthat are unanticipatedor unintended.

Most economistshave argued that rais-ing the minimumwage will harm thoseit was intended to ben-efit. But despite the warnings,cities and states have plowedahead and unrealistically hikedthe minimum hourly compen-sation, citing the need for a“living wage.”

Examples abound of thedamage created by the imposi-tion of minimum wages that

exceed the pre-vailing wagerates. Illinois re-cently enacted a$15 minimumwage to bephased in overseveral years.The reaction onthe part of busi-nesses has beenswift. The in-crease, coupledwith Illinois’ in-ordinately highproperty taxes,has createdhavoc among

businesses. Many have an-nounced plans to close theirdoors, move out of state, or re-duce planned expansions.

Many will follow the ex-ample of New York. As previ-ously noted, since New YorkCity first introduced the $15minimum wage, restaurants

have taken it on the chin. Thesharpest decline in restaurantemployment since 9/11 has oc-curred. Restaurants typicallyoperate on thin profit margins,ranging from two percent tosix percent.

Rising labor costs causedthe slim margins to shrink.And the reaction of the restau-rants involved was to raiseprices and reduced employeehours.

Some time ago, Apple-bee’s CEO described the detri-mental effects of the wage hikeon his restaurants in New York.He stated he was forced to fireat least 1,000 minimum-wageemployees because of the $15rate. He pointed out that com-petition from other restaurantskept Applebee’s from furtherraising prices to its customers.

Other states and citieshave phased in the $15 mini-mum wage. New Jersey re-

cently did so, joining Califor-nia, Illinois, Massachusetts,and New York. In addition,Washington, D.C, Minneapo-lis, and Seattle have the $15minimum.

We must remember thatthe $15 minimum, the livingwage, is a powerful politicaltool. But such policies makeno sense economically.

Then-Governor JerryBrown underscored this whensigning the $15 minimum inCalifornia: “Economically,minimum wages may notmake sense…politically theymake every sense.”

Policymakers should re-member that the minimumwage is intended as a starterwage. Its purpose is to enablethose with limited skills or lit-tle experience to gain the nec-essary skills and experienceeventually to advance to higherlevels of compensation.

Dr. WayneCurtisBusinesscolumnist

John W. Brown

nHeartfrom page 4

nSoundofffrom page 4

there have to travel everyday. Theroad from hwy 17 to Mccarty'sferry has been resurfaced at lest 3

times since the road from Mc-carty's ferry to the womack hillroad has. WHY IS THIS SO?

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