Serve by Design

Our beautiful, aware, and precocious fourth-grade granddaughter, Eloise, can be quite direct at times. The other day on the ride home, during an afterschool conversation in the car with her dad, she let loose a volley of words that our son wasn’t expecting. He had just told her that he was going to call Poppi because he (Moi!) had a window of time to visit before an out-of-town meeting that night. It was the word “meeting” that unsettled her and triggered the comment, “I have never once heard him mention the word meeting!”😲  Image Credit: www.pexels.com Matt surmised that this sounded a lot like what she often hears from both of her parents who work remotely from home much of the time. They will often comment to Eloise and her siblings, “You’re going to have to entertain yourself for a little while this afternoon. I have a meeting for about an hour, and I cannot be disturbed!”   Now, she is hearing for the first time that her beloved Poppi is also a “meetings-type person!” An...

Monique’s sixty-something first cousin, Sylvain, is an avid and experienced skydiver. He loves the sport and sometimes sends us a photograph of one of his more spectacular dives. These pics make us shudder with fear and amazement! He is handsome, still single, and ever the beloved son of his French mother. We have asked many times, why do you do this? And he usually just laughs with delight! I think he would answer if he chose to, “I just love the daring and freedom of it all!” 10,000 feet and descending! Occasionally, I like to watch Indy Grand Prix car races where the drivers skillfully maneuver around tight turns and down straightaways of street or road courses at speeds exceeding 200 mph! I admit that there is something intriguing about speed. I am often tempted during vacation time  to “put the pedal to the metal” in the wide-open spaces of Texas or New Mexico where the official speed limits are quite generous! Just so you know, while growing up in my dad's auto repair shop, I...

I fondly remember an old friend who disliked computers. Although he was the CEO of a moderately-sized farm supply company, he vowed to never own a computer or use one! He was of my dad’s generation. There are even a few of my peers that have little interest in computers! While our family purchased its first personal, tower-type computer in 1988, it would not be until 2000, 12 years later, that I would start using a similar pc as an exclusive ministry tool to process sermons, meeting agendas, correspondence, and other documents. I had depended on my wife and ministry assistants too long to do my typing and filing! But, when I “jumped into” the computer age, I did so with enthusiasm! Computer Frustration! Image credit: depositphotos.com That was then, and this is today! My enthusiasm has waned, but I cannot go back. Everything we do today seems tied to some computer application! I work from my desk with a laptop, utilize my phone as a device to answer emails, send texts, check the weathe...

Can you imagine siting in your car for 30 to 45 minutes behind a line of 50 cars stretching several blocks and winding around streets? Add in another 30 pedestrians who had parked nearby and were now lined up outside of this business where a competition has obviously emerged between foot and motorized traffic during peak hours. What was this all about? This was a typical weekend exercise in patience as patrons waited for their World Famous Round Rock Donuts! Our son and daughter-in-law were on the “donut run” this particular Sunday morning at 8:00am all in an effort to retrieve a special treat for the “visiting old folks” and themselves. The treat was none other than a dozen of the quintessential fresh-hot, absolutely delectable and of course, well-storied (This is Texas!) and carefully packaged glazed donuts! Round Rock, Texas I had a lesson in patience years ago at a DQ in Calvert, Texas! I had just attended a denominational meeting in Fort Worth and was on my way back home to Southw...

We have an after-meal practice of slathering our favorite jam or jelly on a slice of French or Italian bread as an easy dessert. Since bread has some serious carbs and jellies have those tasty sugars, we have to guard against the excess of these kinds of habits that over time can wreck a fitness diet! It has also become a regular occurrence for Monique's imagination to run wild after the first bite. I guess this is a gift of sorts, but she holds and usually rotates the bread as she points out to me what she sees from the tooth marks left behind. Delicious Jelly Bread! Image Credit: unsplash.com  I can honestly say that I never get it! I think I am too linear or literal. If there is a figure left from the bite of bread and jelly, I don't see it like she does. Sometimes I want to play along as she describes the figure. She will ask, "Don't you see the head, the floppy ears, and the big eyes?" I'll answer, "Uhhh... no, I don't! Can't we just eat our ...

I was pretty unruly the last weeks leading up to my retirement. In dealing with the loose ends and trying to find an acceptable closure to over 26 years of ministry, I was stressed and disagreeable at times. I was getting into trouble by saying some harsh things to family and friends and finding myself needing to ask for forgiveness. When have you recently asked, “Please, forgive me?” Over the years, I have had to “walk back” several comments that were hurtful. Sometimes I tried unsuccessfully to make excuses by what I had meant, but when something mean comes out of the mouth, something mean must be in the heart. No amount of excuse-making will work toward healing in these situations. Rather, it’s time to admit wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness. You would think that as time goes on a maturing Christian should be growing past some of these careless words and actions, but it seems that the devil never gives up working to trip us up! While patience may be one of the more important of...

I have always been a little hesitant to pray for patience even though I need to grow into this fruit of the Spirit more fully. My hesitancy is because God knows my shortcomings and daily engineers circumstances that give me multiple opportunities to exercise patience. I have even cautioned my peers, “Be careful what you ask for in terms of patience. God may just set up a situation this day to put the virtue into practice.” Someone or something may challenge you. There are unpleasant confrontations with people and there are frustrating things to be fixed that are woven into each day’s agenda. These encounters have us praying, “Lord, give me patience!” Paul counseled the Ephesians to live up to their calling in Christ and “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of peace” (4:2-3). These beautiful instructions give pastor and people guidance for relating within the church. The idea of “bearing with” means showin...