Serve by Design

One of our granddaughter’s friends at Pathfinder Church, serves once a month, like many of her peers, on Sunday mornings in a first-second grade Bible class as an assistant. Recently, Matt, who volunteers as a helper with attendance in Eloise’s department, saw this pre-teen rushing down a long hallway to catch up to the others before worship. She was out of breath from covering half a football field distance. Matt inquired about her hurried pace and the girl answered, “I’m running late because an older person wanted to talk to me!” And Matt surmised that she meant someone closer to his late-forties age range! We laugh because we say that age is relative, until it isn’t, and becomes personal!😉 Credit: shutterstock.com Common themes that arise all too often in my visits to seniors residing in independent and assisted living facilities are the matters of loneliness and isolation. Many middle-aged adult caregivers are stressed by their busy lives and hectic schedules. They are trying to m...

I have been using all methods of persuasion throughout my years as a church leader. It involves verbal and nonverbal communication in formal and informal settings. I have presented ministry ideas on paper, through email, texts and over the telephone. There have been numerous one-on-one meetings with key individuals, and there have been even more meetings with committees, teams and multiple groups covering tasks with diverse responsibilities. Credit: vectorstock.com The goal behind all this activity has been to facilitate collaboration and hopefully gain “buy-in” to ideas, action plans, implementation strategies, and the advancement of the organization’s mission. I have found this process both exhilarating and exasperating. It requires patience, support, and openness to divergent ideas. The latter has always been a particular challenge to me and to my impatience! But I have found all of this to be a necessary process for getting things done! I have been a student of communication all ...

We are vacationing in Texas with family and friends and have had recent opportunities to use Google Translate. One was at the Walmart in the Austin area and another was at the Holiday Inn in Granbury. This free translation service is so handy to access through a smart phone and it immediately enhances communication! When we checked into our Granbury motel, I mentioned to management at the front desk that we would not be needing full room service during our brief two-night stay. We customarily, in such cases, just change out our washcloths and towels. Later in the day, I saw the housekeeping lady at the end of the hall. When I tried to speak to her about our preferences, she immediately replied in broken language, “No Habla Inglés!” Credit: Mohamed Hassan Image: pixabay.com The woman held her index finger up to signify that she needed one moment. She then opened an app on her cell phone and handed it to me. The English-Spanish translator was ready to use. I spoke into the microphone, ...

  Monique read me the riot act recently over another misunderstanding! She had to make a quick trip into the school to retrieve some papers for one of the grandsons. I told her that I would remain in the semi-circular driveway. However, when I saw some parents coming behind me to pick up their children. I decided to pull forward a little so they could easily get the children into their cars. When she came out the door, she didn’t see me in the growing line of cars. She assumed that I had moved to the adjacent parking area and walked to it.  Waiting and fuming with each passing minute, she finally called my cell. I held the phone away from my ear when her voice became louder, “Where are you? I have been waiting here and looking all over for you! You told me you'd be right outside the door!" I tried responding in a playful, but sensitive way, “I’m in the driveway just outside the door in front of the line. It’s the white Buick with our initials on the license plate!" "...

While I was in active ministry, I received numerous "pink slips" each day. Thankfully, these were not the kind of slips you received when you were being fired from your job! This was a small sheet from a pad of notes used by my administrative assistant to record information from an office visitor or a telephone call. Back in the day, this was a standard way to convey messages! Today, we have digital means like texting and voice recording technology on our smart phones that make communication more accessible and immediate. I know that office supply companies continue to sell a number of these "While You Were Out" note pads! Adams Message Pad officedepot.com You hear a lot about "messaging" today! The dictionary defines a message as "a verbal, written or recorded communication sent to a recipient who cannot be contacted directly." As with a lot of words, we have conveniently turned them into verbs through our use and practice. (One of my favorite n...

I saw a neighbor lady’s disappointment recently. As I was driving by, she had just reached into her roadside box to retrieve the daily mail. Her expression was displeasure, if not disgust. She evidently hadn’t received what she had been anticipating. I could identify with her feelings and fallen countenance. I miss first-class “snail mail!” I admit to being old-fashioned. It comes with getting old! “Back in the day,” has become my mantra. It bores my grandchildren and some of my peers as well to hear me start off a conversation with those four words. I can remember getting real mail. I long for those hand-written notes and even letters that used to come to my post office box. Hey, I would be glad to even get some of the type-written varieties today! It’s not that I lack for communication pieces. Like many in this digital age, I do get copious amounts of text messages, emails, push notifications and social media postings each day and sometimes every few minutes! As one of my pr...