Serve by Design

I have had some unexpected blessings this week! It’s had me thinking, “I wonder if these people have been listening to my pastor’s messages?” Just this past Sunday, Pastor Roger was encouraging the congregation to identify a person or group that we could bless this week. Then, he asked us to get specific with a plan of how to bless them with our time, expressions of comfort or encouragement, or in some monetary way. A Welcoming Spirit! image credit: vecteezy.com My blessings started when a young adult lady insisted that she hold the door open for me to enter the coffee shop. I am usually accustomed to holding doors for others! I was delighted later when this same young lady helped me interpret what the barista was saying about my order. A day later, a second blessing involved Ms. Lori, the lady in charge of the laundromat. She grabbed my comforter and large blanket from the oversized dryers and insisted that she do the folding! And a final blessing was given by Bob, a casual friend, ...

We were there! Well, not really, but we excitedly followed the news source coverage of the Artemis 1 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this week! This launch represents a major step in NASA’s return to the Moon. The Artemis 1 Mission occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning and was launched toward lunar orbit with the expansive Orion capsule as its payload. This twenty-six-day test run (without astronauts) was propelled to its destination by the most powerful rocket in NASA’s arsenal to-date! The launch exploded from the pad with a whopping force of 9 million pounds of thrust! A look back to the future! The Keppler’s made a return visit (our third!) to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, August 2016, when the idea of a Mars mission was beginning to gain traction. During that occasion, we had our picture taken next to a prototype of the bulbous, gum-drop shaped Orion spacecraft. This four-passenger spaceship is being designed to transport astronauts to the Moon and later, to...

It’s a fact that a lot of what we do with family in the summer months involves food! If you were to track our gatherings, you would see that outdoor grills of every shape and size abound. It is a rite of passage that everyone from the youngest to the oldest become proficient in using these auxiliary cooking devices, especially, but not exclusively, the guys. It’s one way that the ladies get the guys out of the kitchen to make a mess they have to clean up! From H-E-B to the Grill! The outdoor grilling experience begins with a good product. When in Texas, our go-to store is the home grown and independently owned, H-E-B, founded in 1905 by the Howard E. Butt family. You can do the research on this grocery chain if you wish, but if you have lived in the Lone Star State any length of time, you know about the prolific H-E-B! ( The H-E-B Story ) While staying at Marc and Leslie's, we are conveniently in proximity to one of the companies’ flagship stores out in the Leander area. This 103,...

I have made an observation based upon a study of the spiritual gifts and the related areas of the spiritual disciplines in the Bible. Simply stated: caring people care, teachers and preachers teach and preach, prayer "warriors" pray, the merciful show mercy, encouragers encourage, and so on down the list of possible categories for service. My conclusion in the matter is that you can identify a believer's spiritual gift mix and the spiritual disciplines that define development in the faith by observing the actions and outcomes of their life in Christ.  When this is applied to giving and generosity, I can declare with sincerity that "givers have to give!" Recently, it was reported in the news that two individuals I do not know personally gave large monetary gifts away. It's what they do! Scott Kolbrenner donated all of his $145,000 winnings as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune to two local charities in Los Angeles. Verda Tetteh, a high school senior with a full...