Serve by Design

Karter Andrew, our seventh grade and handsome second-born grandson, lives with his parents, an older brother, and a little sister in beautiful New Mexico. He loves sports, pestering his siblings, and enjoys chasing around all five of the household dogs! Karter recently made an interesting observation. He asked his dad, “Have you noticed that when you call Sophie (the family’s six-year-old Golden Doodle), the other dogs follow her?” His dad, Reece, replied, “That’s FOMO.,” and you know what that means! Karter admitted, “I actually don’t!” (I also agreed!) Reece explained, “FOMO is an acronym for the “Fear Of Missing Out!” Follow the Leader! This abbreviation is short for a mental and emotional state that arises from being anxious about what might be going on around a person due to non-involvement. I cannot tell you how often this simple question, “What are you doing?” has come up in day-to-day family life. You will hear this inquiry coming from a curious, and in many instances, a younge...

I am not a gardener, but I do enjoy putting out a few plants in a raised box each season. On the day after Mother’s Day, I set out three tomato plants, a Chile and a jalapeno pepper, along with a small watermelon and squash plant. I wasn’t expecting much, but I love to see things grow. Looking back over these past three months of uneven precipitation, I have been surprised with the fruit that has been harvested from six of the seven of these humble little plants! While the zucchini did not fare so well, the others have produced beyond my expectation! Tomatoes and Peppers Agriculture metaphors are often used in the writings of Scripture. Jesus regularly drew out teaching points from the everyday work of those who tilled the soil in His first century setting. Can you imagine how engaging and easy the style of the Lord was as He communicated with the common people of His day? He would begin a parabolic truth with the attention getting phrase, “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed…...