Serve by Design

On this past Father’s Day weekend, I treated myself to a new St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap. While celebrating with our son and his family, we went over to the nearby West County Mall. At Matt’s suggestion we dropped into the Rally House store to check out the gear. He was looking for a trendy t-shirt with the City Connect script-style logo. I was looking for a black cap with a red visor and traditional StL logo in contrasting red stitching. We were both happy with our purchases! After getting back to the house, Monique reminded me that I haven’t worn my other Card caps much this season. I reminded her that the Redbirds have been in the basement of  their division standings much of the time. She drove home her point with a concluding dig as I tried on the new cap, “I thought you were mad at them!” It’s true that I am tired of their underperforming! While I haven’t completely given up on them, I am weary with making excuses and complaining! I've got fan fatigue! I shouldn’t have t...

I recently had another scheduled procedure where they have to put you out and into a twilight sleep condition. I have been in similar states throughout the years for an appendectomy and joint replacement surgery as well as during treatments for cancer. There is always a risk in putting you in such a condition, but I have learned that I must trust my doctor, anesthesiologist, and others who assist them if I am to receive the necessary health procedures. Image Credit: unsplash.com I learned years ago as an eleven-year-old boy how to trust God for salvation and to deal with my sin condition. Trust is one of the most essential exercises of a believer. In the Bible, faith is spoken of repeatedly as the key in our relationship with the Lord, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him, must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6 NIV ). We are living in a day of skepticism, doubt and fear. We are s...