Serve by Design

During these days of Advent, I have been thinking about heaven. It’s funny how the mind works. It surprises me in strange ways. I popped into a local eatery on North Grand, Springfield recently. Our daughter and her family think this place has the best burgers in central Illinois. I must admit that their smash burgers and custard are something special. I do savor those crispy fried edges on the double cheese! Don’t tell Monique! Image: Krekel's Custard & Hamburgers I looked up on the tabletop and noticed a catchy advertisement on the napkin holder. It said, “Heaven is a Brown Paper Sack!” And appropriately so, this restaurant does a lot of take-out orders where you will see patrons clutching their brown paper bags filled with burgers and fries. While this isn’t the best food for your health, you can cherish “heavenly thoughts” of delicious greasiness in each bite! There is another notable brown bag establishment that I like on South Grand that stuffs its delicious fried fish ...

Those of us in the Midwest have had some unusually beautiful late fall days! Although it is still a day away from the official beginning of the winter solstice at 9:27pm on December 21 st , even the local tv weather person has coined a phrase, “fall-winter,” to describe the dry conditions and above average temperatures we have been enjoying for several weeks now. My fall leaf mulching detail has been extended to a few more weeks as a result! Surprise! Not just another sunrise! Photo credit: Granddaughter Eloise I’m not sure if it is directly connected to the weather, but I have personally seen some awe-inspiring sunrises during this period of above average temperatures. One of our artistic granddaughters, Eloise, captured such a gorgeous sunrise just a few days ago on her Friday car ride to school. She has an eye for beauty and found God’s handiwork that morning to be an excellent palette for her photo! She would be surprised to hear the following Sunday morning how her pastor had gott...

It is estimated that between sixty and a hundred million homeless cats live in the U.S. (peta.org). Many of them have been abandoned. Some will be sheltered for a time. A few will be fortunate enough to be rescued. A male cat named Trauma is one of the lucky ones! A cat DNA would be required (and yes, there is such a thing!) to definitively identify his breed. He is thought to be a smaller version of the Maine Coon which is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America. Trauma: Healthy and Happy! Trauma’s rescue story began with a woman who worked as a Trail Crew guide for the United States Forest  Service. Marty (not her real name) made a career of planning hiking trips for adventurous individuals. This put her in peak physical condition as she was often required to carry heavy gear as a part of her job. Fifteen years ago, Marty was out in the great outdoors when she happened upon a mangy cat that was obviously homeless and in great physical and probable psychological distre...