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The first haircut Kenny Talbott gave his wife, Freda, was so awful she hid it behind a scarf.

Thankfully, Freda's hair grew back and Talbott's skill with the scissors improved.

But despite those rough beginnings, becoming a barber was a given for the 70-year-old Talbott.

His grandfather, Mahlon Grooms, was Marquette's barber back in 1888, when the shop was in the basement of one of the town's banks.

In 1908, Grooms opened the current shop on Main Street, where Kenny still clips and buzzes men's and women's hair.

A suburban Kansas City school is the first to launch a national program warning students about prescription drug abuse.

Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park is one of three schools chosen to be pilot sites for the "Smart Moves, Smart Choices" program. But by having its kickoff assembly Wednesday ahead of the other sites, it became the first school in the nation with the program.

"Parents in general worry about illegal drugs, and they don't think about what's in their own medicine cabinets," said Shawnee Mission South nurse Kara Erickson.

"Smart Moves, Smart Choices" is a free program sponsored by the National Association of School Nurses in Silver Spring, Md., and PriCara, which is part of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Raritan, N.J.

Erickson said the program will include curriculum for teachers to use in their classrooms. She and others are working on creating a virtual library of program materials that teachers can easily access for their classes.

President Bush warmed to the possibility of reduced greenhouse gas emissions Wednesday, fueling the ongoing debate over a Kansas coal power plant.

Bush proposed that by 2025, the country halt the growth of carbon dioxide emissions, which many scientists link to global warming.

He offered few specifics on how to attain that goal, but singled out power plants as needing attention.

"To reach our 2025 goal, we'll need to more rapidly slow the growth of power sector greenhouse gas emissions so they peak within 10 to 15 years, and decline thereafter," he said, according to a transcript of his speech.

"By doing so, we'll reduce emission levels in the power sector well below where they were projected to be when we first announced our climate strategy in 2002."

Low global wheat stocks, coupled with the emergence of a virulent crop disease, are threatening the world's food supply, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer told food aid groups Wednesday.

"We have never been less secure about the near-term future of wheat," he said. "Here in the United States it is our most basic crop, with a farm gate value of $16 billion. Global wheat stocks are at an unprecedented historic 30-year low, and U.S. wheat stocks are at unprecedented 60-year low."

Schafer told the International Food Aid Conference meeting that against this background the highly virulent African stem rust is quickly spreading to places such as Uganda, Ethiopia, Yemen, India, Pakistan and Iran.

Wheat stocks have dwindled in the wake of crop failures in some of the world's major growing regions, even as global population growth has created increasing demand. Drought, floods and late freezes have all had an impact.

African stem rust, which is carried by wind spores, would be devastating to global food supplies if it affects the U.S. wheat crop.

Please let this be the last presidential primary debate. Not for the candidates' sakes, but for mine. I can't take it anymore.

I'm getting bitter -- so are many Americans -- at the "gotcha" flaps that pass for debate in this Democratic primary silly season.

I've watched most of the debates. Some were better than others, but most moderators have tried to highlight issues of substance.

They didn't even try in the ABC News debate this week.

Are Americans really as dumb and superficial as debate hosts Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos treated them?

Bombardier Inc. hired Guy Hachey from auto-parts supplier Delphi Corp. to lead its aerospace unit, company officials said Friday.

He replaces Pierre Beaudoin, who takes over as head of the company in June.

Hachey becomes president and chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace on May 12, the company said Friday in a statement. Beaudoin replaces his father, Laurent Beaudoin, as Bombardier chief executive on June 4.

Hachey takes over as Chinese and Russian manufacturers join Brazil's Embraer to challenge Bombardier in the midsize-jet market. Aerospace accounted for $9.71 billion, or 55 percent, of Montreal-based Bombardier's $17.5 billion in sales for its fiscal year that ended in January.

The new leader of the aerospace unit had been president of Delphi's powertrain-systems division. He began his career 30 years ago with General Motors Corp. and joined Delphi when the automaker spun off the parts company in 1999, Bombardier said.

The U.S. Air Force is asking the Government Accountability Office to deny Boeing's protest of the Air Force's decision to buy refueling tankers from Northrop Grumman.

The Air Force submitted its more than 1,000-page response to the GAO on Thursday.

The response is subject to a protective order from the GAO and won't be made public until it is "appropriately redacted," said Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Karen Platt. All of it must be screened for redactions by all parties, she said, including Northrop Grumman and Boeing.

The GAO will issue a decision on Boeing's protest by June 19.

On Feb. 29, the Air Force awarded a contract worth $35 billion to a team of Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. --parent of Airbus -- for KC-45A aerial refueling tankers. Boeing later filed a protest saying the decision was flawed.

The head of Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc., which is reorganizing under bankruptcy protection, said Thursday that credit-card processing companies are visiting other airlines, too, worried by the industry's financial struggles.

Chief executive Sean Menke said the processors are concerned because the industry is coping with persistently high fuel prices, a credit market crunch and the slowing economy.

The card processors don't want to be on the hook for ticket refunds if airlines stop flying.

"I do know that airlines are being visited, and they're being visited for all the same reasons that we were visited," Menke said. He declined to name which airlines were involved.

Menke's comments came a week after the Denver-based parent of Frontier Airlines, which operates flights between Wichita and Denver through its Lynx Aviation subsidiary, filed a Chapter 11 petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to gain protection as it restructures debt.

Cessna Aircraft's revenue, profit and order backlog rose in the first quarter as business jet deliveries increased and demand remained strong, company officials said Thursday.

Despite a slowing U.S. economy, Cessna took orders for 235 business jets in the first three months of the year, including its 500th Citation Mustang. Eighty of those orders were from U.S. companies.

And international demand is "surprisingly and finally strong," said Lewis Campbell, chief executive of Textron Inc. --Cessna's parent company -- during a conference call about the company's performance. "I think it's going to get stronger."

About half of Cessna's business jet orders are traditionally from outside the U.S., he said.

The first-quarter orders also included 36 for the Citation Columbus, Cessna's new $27 million, eight-seat business jet. The company expects to take 70 orders for the Columbus this year, meaning orders are running ahead of projections.

It's not every day that Wichita has shocking retail news, but today -- at least for some shoppers -- is that day.

A Coach store will open in Wichita on June 27.

Here's the next shocker:

The store known for its upscale handbags, not to mention prices, won't be in anyplace like Bradley Fair or the Waterfront.

It will be in Towne East Square.

Athletics 13, Royals 2 -- Bobby Crosby homered and drove in five runs, Chad Gaudin had his strongest outing of the season and the Oakland Athletics snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Kansas City on Friday night

Emil Brown and Ryan Sweeney added three hits apiece for the A's, who broke out of a weeklong offensive slump with their highest run total of the season, including a four-run sixth inning against Kansas City starter Brian Bannister (3-1).

The A's scored only seven runs in their previous seven games before tagging Bannister and four relievers for 15 hits, matching their season-high set in a 9-7 win over Cleveland on April 11.

Jon Garland pitched a great game, using his sinker to induce grounder after grounder.

Yet after inducing 11 ground balls over 6 1-3 solid innings in the Los Angeles Angels' 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night, the lanky right-hander was still upset about walking leadoff batters in back-to-back innings.

"The two leadoff walks killed me. I'm a better pitcher than that. I shouldn't let that happen," Garland said. "But for the most part, coming out and getting strike one was big tonight. If you can go deep into a game with this team, you're going to have a chance to win with our offense."

Garland (2-2) allowed seven hits with three walks and a strikeout. The nine-year veteran has beaten Kansas City more often than any other club, going 17-6 against the Royals and 11-1 at home _ including a three-hit shutout the last time he faced them on Sept. 26 at Chicago. This was the first time he faced them in anything but a White Sox uniform.

"He did his thing. He got ground balls and got outs," Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. "He's a pretty consistent pitcher, and if you're not on your game he's going to eat you up a little bit. We made some good swings at him, but he pretty much kept us off-balance on both sides of the plate."

Gil Meche hopes he's finished being his own harshest critic.

"I needed this win. I've been pitching with a lot of anger for some reason, which is totally not me," Meche said after getting his first win of the year in the Kansas City Royals' 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.

"I've been getting really upset at little mistakes I've been making, like not making the put-away pitches when I need to. I just need to relax. I haven't been myself on the mound out there so far."

He got positive results against Los Angeles, going six innings and holding its powerful lineup to two runs and six hits.

"Hopefully, I can relax now and enjoy pitching like I did last year and not worry about all the little things I do that might be mistakes," Meche said after running his career record against the Angels to 7-2.

Friends batting: Bailey 0-3, Stading 0-3, Enyart 0-2, White 1-2, Thibault 1-3, Moser 1-3, McCart 0-2,Torres 1-2, Shaw 1-1, Zuniga 2-3.

Friends pitching: Coffman 5 2/3-2, Defoor 1/3-0, Nordstrom 1-0.

Friends 13, Hillsdale 12

Emporia St. 17, Pitt. St. 5

Emporia State 12, Pitts. St. 2

Junior college

Bershawn "Batman" Jackson is on a mission today at the Kansas Relays.

That might seem a little odd, considering he ranks fifth in the world in the 400-meter hurdles. Usually stars at that level don't come to the Relays to prove anything, particularly during an Olympic year.

But after crashing into the final hurdle at the 2004 Olympic Trials and again at the 2007 World Championships, Jackson said, "I need to make a statement. I need to let everyone know I'm back."

This will be the first outdoor meet of the season for Jackson, who will compete in the 400 hurdles at Memorial Stadium at about 4:30 this afternoon. He is a three-time Relays champion and holds the meet mark at 48.34 seconds.

"I'm going to try for a world best," the 24-year-old Jackson said, well aware that the top mark in the world this year is 48.8. "But mostly I just want a good performance, to get off to a good start in preparing for the Olympic Trials. If I perform well, my time will be good enough."

There's no turning back now for Brandon Rush, but Darrell Arthur is keeping his options open.

The worst kept secret of Kansas' national-championship basketball season became official Thursday when Rush and Arthur announced they have declared for the NBA Draft.

"We all knew this day was coming," said KU coach Bill Self, who may need to replace up to eight players next season. "I'm excited for the opportunities that present themselves for each of these two."

Those opportunities just look a little different right now.

Rush is at the point of no return from a college standpoint, because the 6-foot-6 junior entered last year's draft before pulling out because of a knee injury. The NCAA allows a player to declare for the draft and withdraw only once in his career.

As recently as a year ago, Kansas sprinter Nickesha Anderson was training on a rented high-school track and doing indoor workouts on a basketball court.

Today, she is one of the world's fastest sprinters.

But then, she's Jamaican. And just about every Jamaican girl or boy who likes to run at all knows about the country's Queen of Track, Merlene Ottey.

"You look at Merlene and you know anything is possible," Anderson said.

Ottey is a 14-time world champion, seven-time Olympian. She's still competing at age 47, though it's now for her adopted country of Slovenia.

Steak for the winners, bologna for the losers.

Dinner is at stake today in Kansas State's Purple-White Game, which is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. In the long term, however, it's an opportunity, as star quarterback Josh Freeman said Thursday, to see how the newcomers adjust and find out what can be expected.

Nevertheless, it's an event, the first time these Wildcats will be unveiled to the public and competing under the bright lights at Snyder Family Stadium.

Ron Prince can't wait.

"I know we've had a productive spring," he said.

Kansas State 7, Iowa State 0

Singles -- 1. Yrureta, KSU, def. Karonis 6-3, 6-1; 2. Huljev, KSU, def. Hickey 6-2, 4-6 1-0 (10-7); 3. Kudlackova, KSU, def. Loprinzi 7-5, 6-2; 4. Cottin, KSU, def. Palen 6-2, 6-2; 5. Vieira, KSU, def. Wischer 6-4, 6-2; 6. Guemas, KSU, def. Keleman 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles -- 1. Kudlackova-Klimova, KSU, def. Hickey-Derouin 8-5; 2. Huljev-Cottin, KSU, def. Palen-Loprinzi 8-4; 3. Yrureta-Vieira, KSU, def. Wischer-Keleman 8-3.

The question was whether this, the present state of Kansas State football, is where Ron Prince anticipated his program being at the start of his third season.

He cut the question short.

"Yes," he said Thursday. "Exactly.... I expected us to be where we are, right as planned. We'd like to have won more games -- obviously -- and we expect to win them all this fall."

Think that's pressure, especially for a group of Wildcats that limped through a winless November to finish with a 5-7 record? That's nothing.

Try being a Wildcat this spring.

It only took 376 days, but Frank Martin finally signed his Kansas State basketball coaching contract Wednesday.

Martin, who just completed his first season as the Wildcats' coach, has a five-year deal worth $760,000 per year, including a base salary of $180,000. With the first season complete, the contract ends after the 2011-12 season.

"Frank and his staff have done a tremendous job of elevating our men's basketball program into one of the best in both the Big 12 and in the nation," K-State athletic director Bob Krause said in a statement.

The contract is similar to the pact inked by his predecessor at K-State, Bob Huggins. But there is one paragraph that is vastly different, under the heading "termination."

It states K-State can fire Martin at any time -- without cause -- as long as the university pays him $1,000,000 if the termination happens before April 30, 2009. The sum drops each succeeding year -- $750,000 by 2010, $500,000 by 2011 and $250,000 by 2012.

Saturday's Kansas State spring game will be broadcast live on 12 radio stations across Kansas. There will be a Purple-White pregame show at 6:15 p.m. The start of the game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game can be heard locally on KGSO, 1410-AM.

Like the previous two spring games under coach Ron Prince, the Purple and White teams were drafted by and will be coached by K-State's offensive and defensive coordinators.

First-year offensive coordinator Dave Brock, who will guide the White team, picked defensive end Ian Campbell with the first overall pick. Defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar selected cornerback Josh Moore with his first pick.

Quarterback Josh Freeman will guide the White team, while back-up Carson Coffman will take snaps for the Purple team.

Local

Butler SFL: Bluegill fair on the north side of the lake close to cover using small baits under a bobber. Channel catfish fair using cut shad or shad guts. Largemouth bass fair using jig-n-pig and stickbaits along the north and east shorelines.

Chase SFL: Slow for all species.

Cowley SFL: Bluegill fair using small baits under a float. Channel catfish fair using shad sides or guts on the bottom. Largemouth bass fair on spinnerbaits 3 to 5 feet deep.

I spend good chunks of my day trying to keep little girls from crying. Well -- one particular little girl, who located her inner drama queen just in time for her third birthday. Yay for me!!!

But I really do not relish the idea of making little girls I don't even know cry.

Alas, that was the situation I found myself in on Saturday, when I served as a judge in a Hannah Montana look-alike contest at the annual Fun Fair for Kids at Century II.

What was I thinking?

Actually, it was kind of fun, though completely mind-boggling. Can anyone explain to me the spell that Miss Montana has cast over our youth? And is there any chance the spell will be broken before my little drama queen is old enough to fall prey to its power?

Twenty-year-old Aaron Cleveland, from Quinlan, Texas, told an inappropriate joke and it bombed. Ryan Medler, 18, from St. Louis, Mo., was in the middle of a make-out session when the girl's father walked in. And Jenny Kim, 20, from Commack, N.Y., was gossiping with her friends when their conversation's subject wandered within earshot.

Such cringe-worthy gaffes -- those moments when you ache to sink into the floor or slink from the room -- are every teen's worst nightmare.

Tense silence and uncomfortable, or deriding, laughter are sure to follow, or so one would think.

Not for these three young adults who, in the midst of their embarrassment, invoked a new mascot. They placed one hand on top of the other (palms down, fingers together, thumbs stuck out) and wiggled their thumbs in a synchronized circle. They did the "awkward turtle."

"It's lighthearted," explained Kim. "You are calling out the awkward situation and, at the same time, you can kind of laugh about it."

If a child develops a bit of a runny nose but seems otherwise healthy, it doesn't make a lot of sense to make a visit to the doctor, much less rush to the emergency room.

If, however, the child develops a cough, then a fever, an appointment with the doctor would be prudent. Even absent additional symptoms, if the runny nose requires the consumption of box after box of tissues over several weeks' time, it's a good idea to at least check in with the doc.

This came to mind upon receiving a letter from a child and adolescent psychiatrist scolding me for not recommending a psychiatric evaluation for a 10-year-old boy who used a school writing assignment -- a poem, actually -- to express sadness at the state of the world.

The boy wrote that he was afraid of death, afraid of life, had scary dreams sometimes, wanted to die, and wonders how life will turn out. The rest of the poem was about things he loved and looked forward to like eating macaroni and cheese and reading imaginative books.

When his mother asked him about the poem, he broke down crying, saying that life is made up of good and bad and the bad dominates. In general, his mom said, he's bright, articulate, and "cautiously happy."

Maintaining a long-distance relationship has become increasingly common in this age where laborers, academics, servicemen and entrepreneurs flock to regions where opportunity thrives, whether it's to develop an asthma inhaler for a biotech firm or to pick lettuce as a migrant farm worker.

The scenario can work for many couples, but it's not ideal for everyone, says Gregory Guldner, director of the Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships in Corona, Calif.

Guldner should know. Along with heading the center, the psychologist and physician, who graduated from Stanford University, leaves his wife annually to serve four months a year with the Army reserve.

Long-distance marriages are quite doable, Guldner says.

Like any solid relationship, communication and honesty are fundamental components. A couple must trust one another to fulfill an agreement.

Juanita Baumann said it was God's hand that brought her out of the wheelchair she had used for two years. The night before her healing more than two years ago, she said, she had felt as though her body -- weakened by a constant shake and neurological problems -- was wrapped in a "consuming fire."

But on that day in January 2006, she stood on her own inside her home.

"I just remember when I got up that morning," she said. "I felt like I was dancing with the Lord."

Baumann is among the millions of people worldwide who believe that faith can affect a person's mental and physical health.

Some believe that prayer and a strong faith give them the strength to cope with health- or stress-related issues.

DEAR REV. GRAHAM: My aunt and uncle are very devout people and go to church every time the doors are open, yet they're very judgmental about members of our family who don't live the way they do. No one likes them, and yet they're constantly telling us we are lost and need Jesus. I thought Christians were supposed to be kind and loving. --L.T.

DEAR L.T.: I don't doubt the sincerity of your aunt and uncle's faith, nor do I doubt their sincere concern for those in their family who don't know Christ. They don't want you to spend eternity separated from God (and from them); they want you to know God's peace.

But I'm sorry they don't know how to express their concern for you in the way they should. When Jesus walked this earth, people were attracted to Him and were delighted to be in His presence. Shouldn't this be true of His followers also? Of course (read John 13:35).

Even little children flocked around Jesus -- so much so that His disciples tried to keep them away (read Mark 10:14). Sometimes, I'm afraid, we are like those disciples, and we end up keeping people away from Jesus. But He welcomes them -- and He wants to welcome you.

Don't let your aunt and uncle's imperfections keep you from Christ. God loves you, and you need His forgiveness and hope. By faith ask Christ to come into your life today -- and He will.

In "Voices of Faith," religious leaders answer readers' questions.

MAY PRAYERS FOR OFFENDERS COME TRUE

The Rev. Pat Rush, pastor, Visitation Catholic Church, Kansas City, Mo.: Learning to forgive is an important and extensive lifelong project. Certainly we have to learn to forgive others who injure us, but we also have to learn to forgive ourselves for the damage we cause. What is more, most of us have to forgive life for the hard knocks it brings our way or for the good things it withholds from us.

Forgiveness is an intentional act. That is, it is a decision. We decide not to hold a grudge. Our moral compass leads us to make that decision. Then, however, we have to recover emotionally from the hurt. That's reconciliation, whether with another, with myself or with life. Reconciliation can take longer and is usually a far more complex process than forgiveness.

Jesus' counsel on forgiveness and reconciliation is found most clearly in the Sermon on the Mount. First, never retaliate for an offense. Second, initiate and maintain an open and respectful dialogue with the offender about the offense. Third, pray for the offender.

Tonight, as Sandy Diel observes the first night of Passover in her Wichita home, she will do so with her husband and her brother.

But in addition to her own family, Diel will share the beginning of the major Jewish holiday with two other families from the Jewish community.

For Diel, the effort is part good deed, part tradition and part outreach.

"Even if it's not my very own family," she said, "it's my Jewish community family."

Passover is an eight-day observance that begins with Seder.

• Lazarus Saturday (Orthodox Christian): Celebration of the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus.

• Pesach, Passover (Jewish): Start of a major eight-day holiday commemorating the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Begins at sunset.

Sunday, April 20

• Hanuman Jayanti (Hindu): Commemoration of the birth of Hanuman, the monkey god widely venerated throughout India.

• Palm Sunday (Orthodox Christian): The sixth Sunday in Lent and the beginning of the Christian Holy Week before Easter. It marks Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.

"God of This City" by Passion (sixsteps/Sparrow)

Every year or so, the Passion movement offers up a new CD of impeccably produced live music that demonstrates exactly how exciting contemporary praise can be.

The recipe rarely varies: Gather a crowd of college students, bring in a half-dozen top praise leaders and then hit the "record" button. The results are almost always superb, and "God of This City," the latest incarnation, is no different. Recorded at Passion conferences in Atlanta, Boston and Chicago, the collection features Chris Tomlin, the David Crowder Band, Matt Redman and other Passion veterans leading vibrant shout-and-response anthems that yank you from your seat.

The title track, borrowed from the Belfast rockers Bluetree and performed by Tomlin, is one of the most infectious songs to appear in the Passion series. The Crowder Band offers "The Glory of It All" and its contemporary take on "O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing," both powerfully rousing. Texas praise leader Charlie Hall lowers the volume a bit with the thoughtful "Walk This World."

Mostly, though, Passion music is all about dancing-in-the-aisles praise, and "God of This City" doesn't disappoint.

Is it art -- or is it blasphemy? Austrians are locked in a nationwide debate touched off by the brief display in a prestigious Roman Catholic museum of an etching that depicts Jesus Christ and his disciples having an orgy during the biblical Last Supper.

A chastened and chagrined Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the top churchman in this largely conservative and overwhelmingly Catholic country, has ordered the offending artwork removed.

But the controversy rages on, with the Austrian media comparing it to the furor triggered by the Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

In some ways, it is proving as emotional as the political firestorm that occurred in New York in 1999, when then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was so offended by a portrait of the Virgin Mary adorned with elephant dung that he temporarily cut off funding to the Brooklyn Museum.

"I've even seen Web postings from extremists who have threatened to come to Vienna and blow up its museums with Molotov cocktails," exhibition curator Michael Kaufmann.

Westlink Christian Church is sponsoring an event next week that features illusionists, skateboarders and BMX bikers as a way to teach young people about Jesus.

"Freedom Experience" features several high-energy acts, including an illusionist's escape from a water coffin.

The purpose is to "help young people realize that a relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to experience true freedom from bondage," according to Freedom Experience.

The church is sponsoring two events, both free and open to the public.

They begin at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Both will be held at the gymnasium at Northwest High School, 1220 N. Tyler Road.

Pope Benedict XVI told leaders of America's Roman Catholic colleges and universities Thursday that academic freedom has "great value" for the schools, but it does not justify promoting positions that violate the Catholic faith.

Benedict, a former academic, said that church teaching should shape all aspects of campus life and that Catholic educators have a "profound responsibility to lead the young to truth."

"I wish to reaffirm the great value of academic freedom," Benedict told hundreds of educators gathered at Catholic University of America.

"Yet it is also the case that any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission," he said.

Benedict's talk contained no explicit directive to the school presidents, but emphasized a core theme of his pontificate: that faith is compatible with reason.

DEAR REV. GRAHAM: Who or what is the Holy Spirit? I'm a new Christian, and I hope you won't think I'm stupid for asking this. There are a lot of things I don't understand, but I really do want to learn what the Bible says. --N.M.

DEAR N.M: I'm thankful you have recently given your life to Jesus, and I'm thankful also for your desire to understand God's Word. Nothing is more important than your spiritual growth (read 2 Peter 3:18).

The Holy Spirit is God Himself (which is why we should never refer to Him as a thing or as "it"). When God works in the world, He does so by His Spirit. In other words, the Holy Spirit is God in action! In the very beginning, for example, the Bible says that "the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Genesis 1:2).