Serve by Design

Since my teenage years, I have loved to get up early to see the morning sunrise! It started with those 3:30 am wake up calls by my squirrel hunting neighbor, Jim. He was around my dad’s age and served as a mentoring influence to teach me everything about hunting and gun safety. Jim would lightly tap on my window on Saturday mornings to rouse me. I was a light sleeper and would usually be anticipating the prompt. I would quickly get dressed, grab my rifle, and report to the truck. A Sherman Sunrise! We would go to a nearby 24-hour day restaurant for a bowl of cereal and then get into the timber in time to be set and in place when the squirrels began their early cutting of hickory and walnuts. It was always a treat for me to look out on the horizon and see the daylight peeping through the treelined woods. As the moments of sunrise progressed, the light would form into beautiful and brighter layers of purples, blues, oranges, and yellows until the rays were so brilliant I could not look d...