Serve by Design

A recent long day of travel home from Albuquerque involved a connecting flight to Chicago. As we landed at Midway, we were tired, hungry and ready to be at our final destination in St. Louis. Little did I know that "a chance encounter" would make the day a lot more enjoyable! We had drawn a good boarding number in the A section and the six of us were standing in the area where lines form before heading down the jetway into the aircraft. Matt and I looked at an athletically built young man and thought we recognized him but couldn’t say how or where. Number 21's Autograph! Go Noooooot!! I happened to be standing next to him in line and immediately noticed he was watching the Friday night Cardinal’s game on his cell phone. That gave me a clue. I boldly asked, “Sir, are you with the organization?” He answered, "Yes. I'm a player." I then pressed, “May I ask, who?” And he readily responded, “Lars Nootbaar.” No sooner had the name come out of his mouth, Matt hande...

Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher, manager, is known for his clever and nonsensical sayings like, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” I think that if Yogi found himself in these Covid-19 Pandemic times we find ourselves in, he would have remarked, “If you can get a vaccine, take it!” Monique and I have been fortunate enough to join the 92 million (at the time of this writing) who have already been vaccinated. She received the Pfizer doses through her heart doctor. I took two doses of the Moderna vaccine through state law enforcement. I serve them as a chaplain. Neither of us had any side effects other than a slight stiffness on the day after in the upper arm at the site of the shot. Image Credit: Daniel Schuldi www.unspash.com What does all of this mean for us? We want  to get back into our normal life once again! After a year of coronavirus sabbaticals, we want to return to in-person work assignments, church attendance at the building, and visits with family near ...