Serve by Design

We have been needing some extra prayers and support during the last two weeks. Monique recently took a fall as we entered a church where I was preaching and lightly sprained her left ankle. Four days later, she fell going down into our garage and badly twisted that same ankle, as well as sustaining a concussion. We are all “doctored up” now with a boot and a walker to help her get around, but every day she is still feeling the effects of that second fall! We keep telling ourselves, “These are the Golden Years!” But the gold may have recently tarnished a bit! Home Hair Care! We are blessed to have a daughter, Michelle, who lives just minutes away. She has been available to lend her help and support throughout the years. She cuts my hair, helps me with yard work and lavishes us with her verbal encouragement. After a haircut, she’ll brag, “Daddy, you look amazing!” Monique claims that I don’t have enough hair to merit all her heaping praises! This week, it was Monique who was blessed by h...

There was a time in my life when I was flattered to have a target on my back! Now that I am one of the seventy-million or so aging Baby Boomers (born: April 7, 1951, and a card-carrying AARP member!), I am no longer on the radar of businesses who are targeting a much younger generation of consumers. There was a lot of consumer power focused on my generation back in the day. We were part of what fueled the post-World War II economy! That was then and this is now! I should have known that what was going around would be coming around. My beloved mother was lamenting in her seventies and early eighties after a shopping spree at the local clothing department stores (JCP, Kohl’s and the like), “Mike, they just don’t make clothes for someone my age anymore!” I know what she means every time I pick up a piece of men’s sportswear with stretchy-fabric, I find myself declaring, “These are for young, slim guys. Not me!” This brings me to my current lament. After shopping my neighborhood grocery ...

Last Sunday, Monique and I were guests in another church. I preached at a pastor friend’s retirement celebration service. We also attended a small group study for seniors before worship. It was a blessing to look around the table during that Sunday School class and see so many open Bibles and even a few digital tablets placed in front of those participants. While they used a denominational booklet as the curriculum, the Bible was still their primary focus during the lesson. "By your words I can see where I'm going." Clip Art: stock.adobe.com The Message: Psalm 119:105a I have heard two good sermons lately where the subject of the Bible has come up. One was at our church recently during the Iron Sharpens Iron conference. It looked to me that the crowd was at full capacity on the ground floor and balcony that accommodates well over a thousand people not counting the platform musicians. There were ninety churches represented, and forty-eight of those churches brought ten ...

Have you ever been “gifted” with a very ripe banana? I used to wilt (another related pun idea!) when during my college days, my pastor and future father-in-law, would reach up to the top of his refrigerator and offer me an undesirable banana that had been languishing for days. I wanted him to like me for several reasons. So, when he’d say, “Here Mike, take this home with you!” What was I to say? I’d tuck the little booger in my pocket and say with an insincere mumble, “Sure. Thanks.” Ripening Bananas! freepikcom I’m a little cautious about eating anything labeled as a “genetically modified organism” or GMO for short. But a recent article about what some British scientists are doing with bananas has caught my attention. Now I’m thinking, “Maybe?!” I love bananas on my breakfast cereal, but like many of us, I have trouble managing the basket of bananas before they become so ripe that the only alternative is to make banana bread or pancakes. And I’d rather not add more carbs to my diet! ...

Did you hear about the little boy who comforted his mother? She was having an emotional day as her twin boys headed off for their first day of school. Their four-year-old brother, Andrew, along with the mother, had walked them from the house to the corner where the bus would stop. When it arrived, the twins jumped up the steps into the bus and waved goodbye through the window. It was then that the mom broke out in tears! The younger brother comforted her with these words, “Mommy, don’t cry! Maybe one day you’ll get to ride the bus, too!” 😊 This funny story caught my attention for two reasons. One is that we have twin daughters, and the other reason is because of the subject of tears. I can remember what it was like to send those little red-haired charmers off to their first day of school. I couldn’t fight back my tears while they charged off hand in hand down the sidewalk and into Houston’s Ed White Elementary! They were ready for kindergarten, but I was not ready to let them go! Te...

Have you heard the story about the stubborn little guy who wouldn’t stay in his seat in the family SUV? As soon the dad backed out of the driveway, he looked up in his rearview mirror and saw that his three-year-old son was unbuckled and standing in the back seat. “Sit down and get back in that seat! Now!” his dad scolded. And the boy argued. “I can’t see!” The dad threatened him, “Don’t make me stop and get out of this car!” All at once, the dad could see that the boy had complied and said, “Thank you. Now stay seated!” Immediately, he heard this defiant mumbling from the boy, “But … In my head ,  I’m still standing !!” Pray and Look for God's Redirect! I hate to admit this, but there are times when there is a stubborn little boy wandering around in my head! Our small group at church had a vigorous discussion about prayer last Sunday. We were asked to consider some pretty probing questions about our own prayer life like “What kinds of prayer do you tend to neglect? Do you find you...