2A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 31, 2018
G
od has a good plan for your life, and He
doesn’t want you to be tormented by
fear or let it hold you back from your
destiny. His will is for you to walk forward, confi -
dent in His love, trusting Him to take care of you
all along the way.
We also have an enemy, Satan, who will do ev-
erything he can to stop us from walking in God’s
good plan. Anytime we are making progress and
moving forward in God’s will for our lives, the
devil will try to come against us with fear to drive
us backward.
This is one of the enemy’s greatest tactics—to
bring fear and try to prevent us from making prog-
ress. He wants us to fear our circumstances and
what other people will think. He wants us to focus
on the “what ifs”:
What if I fail? What if I make
a fool of myself? What if I didn’t
hear from God? What if others
disapprove? What if my reputation
suffers? And on and on.
All of us will periodically come
to these crossroads in our lives—
places where we must move for-
ward despite our fears. Because if
we wait for the feelings of fear to
subside, we will never step out.
However, if we will trust God, step-by-step, we
can learn to face our fears and enjoy new levels
of freedom.
It was a great revelation when I realized that
although I couldn’t control the feeling of fear,
I could keep it from controlling me. Honestly,
I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today if I
hadn’t learned this lesson.
During life’s moments when there are no an-
swers—or when unexpected changes occur—I’ve
learned to not live by my feelings. Instead, with
God’s help, I do my best to face fear head-on...
even when I’m “shaking in my boots.”
When fear strikes, our fi rst inclination is to run
away and go back. But that’s when God is saying,
“Don’t stop now! Keep moving forward!”
The Israelites are a great example of people
who had to face their fears. In the Old Testament,
God brought them out of a terrible life of slavery
in Egypt to take them to their Promised Land. But
they were soon confronted with a different situa-
tion that was terrifying.
They ended up facing the Red Sea in front of
them and Pharaoh’s army behind them. When
the Israelites saw their dilemma, they actually
thought it would be better to go back to their life
of slavery instead of confronting the unknown.
They preferred going back to their former life...
even though it was miserable! Why? Because
they were afraid to keep going forward.
I absolutely love what the Lord spoke through
Moses as the Israelites stood there, seemingly
stuck between two obstacles.
Moses said, “Do not be afraid! Take your stand
[be fi rm and confi dent and undismayed] and see
the salvation of the Lord which He will accom-
plish for you today; for those Egyptians whom
you have seen today, you will never see again”
(Exodus 14:13 AMP).
The word fear means “to run or to take fl ight.”
So when we give in to fear, we always run away
from something that we should be confronting.
God wanted the Israelites to go forward into the
unknown. He wanted them to be so fed up with
bondage, they would be willing to trust Him and
do what He told them to do—no matter what the
situation looked like.
Notice how the Lord said “Take your stand [be
fi rm and confi dent and undismayed].” That’s in-
teresting, because when the emotion of fear gets a
hold of us—and our minds are thinking one cra-
zy thing after another—we really just want to run
away, don’t we?
But the fi rst thing we need to do is get still.
We need to set our emotions aside, get out of our
head, and see what’s in our heart. We need to ask
ourselves, What is God saying in this situation?
Maybe you are in this position right now—you
feel like you’re between a rock and a hard place.
It’s like you’re between the Egyptian army and
the Red Sea and all of your emotions are going
haywire.
If so, don’t run away! Run to God. Receive wis-
dom and direction from God and His Word, and
then do what you believe He is telling you to do.
Ask the Lord for courage. As you do—as you
trust Him—you will see Him make a way for you
to push past your fear and reach the promised land
He has ready for you.
IN MEMORIAM
Larry Bryant 1938-2018
S.W. McDonald
1932-2018
Norma Jean Simons
1952-2018
Harry Krull 1931-2018
Larry L. Bryant of Cottage Grove died on January 20 of heart and
kidney failure. He was 79.
He was born on July 7, 1938 in Columbus Grove, Ohio, to parents
George and Florence (Johnson)
Bryant. He graduated from high school, and served in the U.S.
Army from 1955-1957. He was a
Roofer, and then worked for Bohemia Lumber Inc.. Larry enjoyed
farming and all kinds of animals. He was an excellent whittler. He
especially enjoyed being with his family. He married Charlotte “Sue”
Palmer on February 20, 1962 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Larry is sur-
vived by his wife, Sue Bryant of Cottage Grove, OR; daughter, Debra
J. Maddess of Cottage Grove; son, Benjamin R. Bryant of Eugene,
OR; son, Skip A. Bryant of Creswell, OR; 10 grandchildren and 4
great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Larry G.
Bryant. No service is planned. Arrangements are in the care of Smith-
Lund-Mills Funeral Chapel in Cottage Grove.
S. W. (Mac) McDonald of Cottage Grove, OR
died on January 22 at the age of 85. He was born
in Barling, Arkansas to parents Serene and Grace
(Smith) McDonald. Mac graduated from North
Eastern College in Tahlequah, OK with a Bache-
lor’s Degree. He spent his career working as an
elementary school teacher and coach, fi rst in Bur-
dett, KS, where he met his wife, Carolyn Roth.
They were married on May 28, 1960 in Sterling,
KS. They moved to Cottage Grove where he
took a teaching and coaching position at London
Elementary School until his health forced his re-
tirement. Mac loved hunting, sports and coach-
ing. He enjoyed going to Cottage Bowl until his
health wouldn’t let him bowl, and then he would
go watch and visit with his friends. He especial-
Patricia Swart
1925-2018
Partricia “Pat” Swart died on
January 4, 2018 in Springfi eld,
Oregon. She was 92. She was
born November 11, 1925 to
Joseph and Nellie (Stramock)
Bramowski in New York, New
York. She married Edward
Spillmann in October 1944 in
Queens, New York and then
married William Swart in June
1971 in Riverhead, New York.
Patricia worked in custom
re-upholstery at Macy’s for
BIRTHS
many years, and she worked
as a receptionist for Pepsi Cola
Bottling Company on Long Is-
land where she met Bill. She
also worked as a secretary
for the City of Engineering,
in Phoenix, Arizona. Patricia
loved food, shopping, and eat-
ing in restaurants. She enjoyed
keeping up with humane orga-
nizations, donating often. She
was devoted to her border col-
lie “Chex.” They were insepa-
rable. She had gotten him as a
puppy in Cottage Grove. Chex
passed in December at the age
Harry Krull passed away January 13, 2018 of natural causes. He was
born in New York, New York to Frank and Mary Krull. He left home
in his 17th year to join the Marine Corp. After discharge, he headed
for California. He is survived by wife Diana Krull, Sister Rosemary
Horak, Daughter Karen Labbe, Sons Frank Krull and Thomas Krull.
Eight grandchildren and fi ve great grandchildren. He worked for West-
ern Electric which became AT&T. He retired in 1986 after 34 years. He
then headed for Oregon.
Memorial Service to be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 3160
Hillside Dr., Cottage Grove, Oregon. February 10, 2018 at 11 a.m.
ly loved spending time with his family. He was a
member of the Cottage Grove Bible Church. Mac
is survived by his wife of 57-1/2 years, Carolyn;
son, Ron (Jolynn) McDonald of Lodi, CA; daugh-
ter, Sondra (Matt) Brown of Cottage Grove; sisters,
Alta Applebury, Hazel Wright, Eva Wortham, and
Janell Capehart; brothers, Earl McDonald, Bill Mc-
Donald, and Bob McDonald; 4 grandchildren and 2
great-grandchildren. A Celebration of Life will be
held at 1:00 PM on Friday, January 26, 2018 at the
Cottage Grove Bible Church. A reception will be
held at The Cottage Bowl immediately following
services. Memorial contributions may be made in
his name to the Cottage Grove Bible Church. Ar-
rangements are in the care of Smith-Lund-Mills Fu-
neral Chapel in Cottage Grove.
Norma “Jeanie” Jean Simons was born on the 20th of September,
1952 to Tony & Norma Schmidt in Elma, Washington. She married
James Simons on the 28th of January, 1969. She was a homemaker
raising 3+ active boys. She enjoyed football, hunting, shooting and
spending time with her family. She passed away on January 20th,
2018. She is survived by her husband James, sons Tony Simons, Eric
Simons, Joe & Tiffanie Simons, 8 grandchildren and 1 great grand-
child.
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of 15, he would have been 16 in
February. She is survived by her
daughter Patricia Dean of Cot-
tage Grove, OR. Patricia was
preceded in death by her hus-
band William Swart, and son
Alexander Turret. No services
are planned at this time. Please
make memorial contributions
to Humane Society of Cottage
Grove, 33 N. 8th Street, Cottage
Grove, Oregon. Arrangements
in the care of Smith-Lund-Mills
Funeral Chapel 123 S. 7th Street
Cottage Grove, OR.
25
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Grant Gording, BC-HIS
Board Certifi ed in
Hearing Instrument Sciences
Jenna Buetow
Hearing Consultant
Too Many Silent Nights?
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www.grantshearing.com
1498 E. Main St., CG
541-942-8444
Brandi and Dylan Hamilton
of Cottage Grove welcomed a
baby girl on Jan. 17 at Peace-
Health Sacred Heart Medical
Center-RiverBend.
Heyde and Nicholas of Cot-
tage Grove Buell welcomed a
baby girl on Jan. 18 at Peace-
Health Sacred Heart Medical
Center-RiverBend.
Nicole and Matthew Bangle
of Cottage Grove welcomed a
baby girl on Jan. 19 at Peace-
Health Sacred Heart Medical
Center-RiverBend.
2/8/18
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