Dear Editor,
I never make it a habit of making a New Year’s promise, because when I do I always break it.
Now I just pray and ask the Lord to to give me the strength, knowledge and wisdom to live a full life and treat others as I would like to be treated. This has worked out pretty well for me. Spiritual warfare is about standing your ground against the enemy and taking new ground for the kingdom.
We will never be happy until we make God the source of our fulfillment and the answer to our longings. He is the only one who should have power over our souls. Lord, I invite Your Holy Spirit to fill me afresh right now. Just as a spring is constantly being renewed with fresh water so that it stays pure, I ask You to renew in me the same today. Prayer is the most powerful tool any one of us can possess. It must be pure and honest with good intentions – if so God will hear and eventually answer in his time.
You must show patience and watch Him work. If you're like me you don't want to live the kind of life for yourself or your children where you are barely hanging on. You don't want to merely eke out an existence, find a way to cope with your misery, or just get by. You want to have the abundant life Jesus spoke of when He said" I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly"(John 10:10)
The time has come for this community to rise up to the potential of the future and put the past behind us.
We cannot continue to have failing schools because we refuse to give up the past.
Much of the white community may no longer live in the city, but all of you must realize that you are still an important part of the future. Sitting on the sideline and not getting involved is a recipe for disaster for the community that all of us love.
Our next election will tell a great deal about who we are as a town full of history that the nation once said that all hell will break out in a small town in the deep south when they integrate the schools. They picked us, but they were wrong.
I have said it once, and I will say it again proudly Yazoo City/County has the best race relations of any place in the United States. In a future presentation I will prove my point. Our next election should be about who has the best track record, concerns and accomplishments to move this county forward. No one should hold the office because he or she is black nor should anyone hold office because they are white.
The future of this community is at a point where blacks and whites working together as one will make this community a place our children will be proud to call home. In a survey I conducted I found that the only concern the black and white community has is someone who has the best interest at heart for the entire community. Our public schools, both city and county, need the powers that be to take a more positive view about educating our children and meeting their needs instead of their own.
I am personally asking the future politicians who intend to ask for my vote, “What are your plans for Education and Recreation for our youth and seniors?” When people come to a community these are the first two things they ask about, education and recreation. I am asking the community to join me, what do you have to lose?
If not now, when?
Coach Johnny Staples
