I’d like to begin this article by simply thanking Becky for giving me this opportunity. She gave me an incredible introduction, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts with her audience.
In that introduction she mentioned my COVID experience. What an experience it was. After all is said and done, it has turned out to be a very positive thing. Not only did it physically give me a new lease on life, but it also renewed my energy, thoughts, and determination to live a life worthy of the Christian name.
Within a year of recovering from COVID, I decided to partially retire. I left my job as technology director of the school system. I still do real estate appraisals, but that is more on my schedule rather than someone else’s. What it has given me is time to write.
Writing has given me an outlet to share my spiritual thoughts, and it also lets me use AI to format and submit my books for publication.
I’ve been teaching Sunday school for about 25 years and realized I had a wealth of lessons. I began refining and expanding those lessons, and compiling them into several different books.
My goal in this column is simply to share thoughts, ideas, and suggestions drawn from my life experiences. I don’t claim to have all the answers or know more than anyone else, but I believe each of us has lessons worth sharing. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share mine.
The topics I plan to write about are:
- My COVID experience, because that was certainly a defining moment in my life.
- My work with real estate appraisals, which has given me a perspective that may be unique on the real estate market.
- AI and technology. I spend a lot of time with technology and AI, and I’m an early adopter who enjoys learning, so I will share my experiences as well.
- As a city commissioner in Hawkinsville for over two decades, I’ll share topics and experiences from local government.
- Occasional spiritual reflections.
Becky also asked me to include some “Shellyisms.”
Let me explain “Shellyisms.”
About 20 years ago I posted a silly little saying on Facebook that I found funny. My children were young then, and they both went ballistic: “Daddy, no, you’re embarrassing us. Don’t you dare post on Facebook.”
I decided to show them! So I began posting something silly every day. What started as a way to bug my kids turned into a daily habit and an expectation among my Facebook friends. Eventually, if I missed a day, I’d get phone calls asking, “Where’s my funny for the day?” One day someone asked, “Where’s my Shellyism for today?” and the phrase stuck.
I plan to end each article with a Shellyism.
To conclude, I want to thank Becky for this opportunity. I look forward to sharing with you and hearing your comments. Please share your thoughts and ideas. Be kind, don’t hurt my feelings. Remember what your mama used to say: “If you can’t say something kind…” And I look forward to our visit, right here, every Tuesday.
Shellyism:
I will never — ever again — take a sleeping pill and a laxative at the same time!
— Shelly J. Berryhill
If you can’t get enough, I also send out a small weekly newsletter on Mondays with some of these same thoughts.
Subscribe: things-im-thinking-about.beehiiv.com
Shelly J. Berryhill is an honor graduate of Georgia Tech and the founder of Georgia Appraisal Services in Hawkinsville, Ga. He has served as a city commissioner for more than 20 years, teaches Sunday School at Broad Street Baptist Church, and chairs the Pulaski Archway Executive Board. He and his wife Vonnie raised two children, Kristen and Kyle.
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