Serve by Design

As I write this piece, a dome of extreme temperatures is producing suffocating heat indices over much of the country. National meteorologists are starting their daily weather forecasts with predictions of temps in the low to mid-nineties all the way up to the triple digits in several cities. The scope of this heat wave is record-setting, and the impact is coast to coast! Hardly anyone is being spared from north to south! Subsequently, our area in the Midwest has been suffering from draught conditions for weeks. This is serious and unprecedented! It feels like a “climate exile” of sorts! Image credit: ejgn pixabay.com The word exile suggests that a person is in a place he or she does not wish to be and with people they do not wish to be around. I was engaged in a recent Bible study from the time of Jeremiah, one of God’s prophets. He served during a time in Israel’s history when God’s people were captives and exiled by the Babylonian Empire. Israel found themselves held against their wi...

Mimi has upgraded her iPhone and is slowly adjusting to it. Lately, she has been visiting her setting's app more times than she would care to count! I have gotten in on some of the resets. I was pulling the comforter on my bed back recently and heard what I thought was her signature phone ringtone sounding very loudly from one of the extra bedrooms. Upon investigation, I discovered it was a back-up iPad ringing FaceTime instead. When I opened the device to power it down, I was surprised to see our five-year-old granddaughter in all of her beauty. I immediately said, “Hello, sweet girl, what are you doing back here in Mimi’s work room?” Without responding to my funny question, she simply greeted me, “Hi Poppi!” That kid melts my heart every time she calls! Even though she and her family just returned home to New Mexico from a two-week visit here in Illinois, she still loves to talk with us face to face! It’s a connection we can’t resist! Face-to-Face Connection Image Credit: clipa...