Serve by Design

I wore my favorite baseball cap at the state fair yesterday! Nothing new. It’s comfortable and protects my thin-haired head from too much sun! What is interesting is how a logo on a hat can prompt such reactions especially since this team is barely playing .500 ball. I do confess that I’ve been a little hyped by how my team has just grinded out a series win with one of our historic rivals. We’ve even found a way to piece together a meager, but welcomed two-game winning streak! Image: istockphoto.com One reaction came as we walked past some rowdy musicians playing on a nearby stage. They were belting out an engaging rock song when I looked up and saw one of the band members gesture while singing. Then he surprised me with a shout-out “Hey, I like your hat!” I gave him the thumbs up with delight. Another fairgoer cryptically questioned as he strolled by, “Do you have a license to wear that hat?” Monique quickly replied, “Well, we won last night!” I’m still trying to figure out what all t...

Recently, I had a special visit with a senior adult in his home. Paul (not his real name) is in his seventies. He surprised me with this question, “Do you have time to listen to my conversion story?” How could I pass up this opportunity? I love to hear stories about how believers have come into the faith. Conversational Witness Image Credit: pixabay.com Paul grew up in an atheist family. His mother and grandmother had been atheists. He had never gone to any church and had spent his younger years vigorously defending the belief that there was no God. Retired now, Paul had spent his career working in journalism, and writing business articles for a major news organization in his hometown of Chicago. As fate would have it, a female friend of Paul, had been invited by her parish priest to bring a reading at the local Catholic church Mass. She had invited Paul to lunch with another coworker and persuaded Paul to go with her to the church with a promise that, “The service will only take a f...

Last Sunday, I attended the Unity Church in Vandalia on the occasion of its 125th Anniversary. Unity came about when First Baptist and Temple Baptist Churches merged in 2015. It was a reuniting of two churches that had originally been the same congregation in 1894! Temple (previously, Edwards Street in 1940 and later Second Baptist) have once again become one... Unity Baptist! Their pastor, Robert Weaver, stated the obvious, "You don't hear too much about this kind of thing in Baptist life where there is a merger and it is successful!" This one seems to be working just fine! During the anniversary celebration, I was able to connect with several older adults who had been instrumental in nurturing my faith as an adolescent and young adult. I was able to write about this in the book of memories that was distributed at the event. In that piece I told how blessed I was to call First Baptist, Vandalia, my home church during those years between 1963 and 1977. I was baptized ...