Serve by Design

Recently, I have read three religious articles using the same phrase, “The Posture of Life.” This immediately caught my attention because I am not accustomed to using the word, “posture” in this way! My physical posture has never been good. Over the years, my mother often said to me, “Mike, pull your shoulders back and stand up straight!” I hear something similar at the doctor’s office these days in those pre-visit weight and height checks! I try, but my back just doesn’t align with the wall the nurse expects me to stand up against as straight as I can! 😊 Getty image: 33 vertebrae A chiropractor defined the value of good posture this way, “Posture is about the arrangement of your spine, shoulders, and hips and how they interact to distribute the body’s weight efficiently… in a way that supports optimal balance and efficiency. Posture isn’t just about sitting up straight; it’s a fundamental key to overall health.” I see several “key words” in this discussion: arrangement (like spinal v...

In a recent article, I mentioned buying a bread cutting guide for my daughter. It was inexpensive, but much appreciated. She immediately texted back her gratitude with this exclamation, “Best gift ever!” That may seem to be a little over the top until you try your hand in processing several loaves of crusty sourdough bread with just a cutting board and bread knife! If you desire uniformity and you want the slices to be even, you need a guide to accomplish the task! A guide for perfect bread slicing! I confess to being a perfectionist and so does my bread-making daughter. She cares enough about what her loaves look like to put a heart at the top of the loaf as a sign of pride and affection. Since her married name, Hartman, has the sound of “heart” in it, this final decorative touch becomes the perfect seal of approval! As human beings, we can speak of perfection only in relative terms. Only God is perfect in every way! That’s why He gives us His Word, the Bible, to be our guidebook. W...

We recently had a special ministry event at the church. Members prepared and delivered a quick lunch to some of our community’s first responders. After I had gone throughout the building scoping out the preparations and chatting up some of the servers, I headed home. As I reached the entrance and exit drive just off the parking lot, I saw an unusual sight. The job's not done yet! 😒 Image: png.com I thought at first that one of our pastors was trying to move a very large rock that was in the median all by himself. I stopped, rolled down my window, held up my phone and said, “Now that’s a pic for my next blog!” I had misunderstood the situation! The pastor laughed and explained that he was pulling weeds, while stationed at the church entrance to direct visitors toward the event serving area. I set my four-way flashers and got out of the car to chat with him for a little while about those pesky weeds. We commiserated together about the copious amounts and different kinds of weeds t...