Serve by Design

Many stories have been told about the importance of relational connecting during the Pandemic days of social distancing and isolation. However, there are other levels of connecting that link us to each other. Symbols can also be a tangible way we connect with the memory of loved ones and friends. Recently, our daughter, Michelle, wanted to "connect with her grandmother" by making a blackberry cobbler from her grandma's recipe book. Since my mother passed away nearly three years ago, Chel sought the help of some beloved family members in obtaining a copy of the cobbler recipe. Image credit: sarabakesgfree.com Calls were made to aunts about this need, but there was some misunderstanding. We think now that the request was not all that clear after analyzing the suggestions that were offered, "Can't you just buy the box of tapioca and follow the directions? Why don't you come and visit soon? You can watch me make one!" Even grandpa tried to get in on the acti...

Keeping up with family and friends during the Pandemic is going way better than expected. We are still wearing our masks, social distancing and not meeting together in traditional ways these days, but we are connecting. We have learned different ways to check in on family and friends, celebrate special occasions, and participate throughout the week in worship and small group studies both near and far. The key has been through digital connections using our smart phone, laptop computer and other such devices. Thanks to technology, we are staying current with those who are near and dear to us! Eloise's Refrigerator Art Matt, Brady, Eloise, Mimi and Poppi We use these virtual connections for casual conversations, serious discussions and on occasions, for sharing recipes. Just this week, Klayton Michael, our fifth-grade grandson, "popped in" from New Mexico to talk to his Mimi by way of a video chat.  Klay called to review the recipe for a Jell-O cake that is one of his mom...

Every day we are hearing various suggestions related to how we may cope with the necessary restrictions that have been put in place due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. These are confining days of unprecedented and mandated social isolation. It has been hard on all of us, yet predictably we are helping each other to find ways to make this temporary "new normal" manageable and even instructional. The Keppler's have been maintaining our schedule. Those of you who know me well know that I love my routine! I can hear Monique shouting out, "Amen to that!" We have been getting up fairly early to get our day going and then getting to bed just after the conclusion of the early version of the late night news. The day for me starts while viewing the broadcast news with a forty-minute workout regimen downstairs involving the recumbent bicycle (1 mile at 13 mph), 31 minutes of walking (mostly 3 mph) on the treadmill with light weights ("wimpy" 5 pounders) and concludin...

I have a humorous reminder of the need for true friends. It is a cartoon depicting the sad occasion of a funeral visitation. It pictures two men standing before the casket of a deceased friend and contemplating their loss. One man laments, “I don’t understand why we are the only mourners here. He had more than 500 friends on his social media account!” Now, this is not a bashing of various online connections, but it is more a celebration of the face-to-face, tried and true variety of relating that we all need. There is no substitute for this blessing! We recently returned from our annual Texas vacation where we have a network of sweet friends. It has been our practice when possible to reconnect with them each summer while visiting our son and his family. Having lived in the Lone Star State for nearly 15 years, we put down some relational roots that have been enduring. Of course, we have cultivated just as many friends living back in Illinois these past 26 years as well. The old hy...