Serve by Design

As you faithful readers have certainly noted, I have been at “low power mode” for the past two weeks since the blog anniversary article. I needed to take a break from writing due to a preaching opportunity, a graveside service, two training events, and two fellowship events to support other ministries in our busy church life. It has given me a welcome opportunity to recharge spiritually and reset for the fall! "Hard to look more relaxed!" - FB Comment by Marc K. One of the training events was our annual staff retreat where we spent the day off campus in a beautiful and nearby setting at the denominational conference center. It was my third opportunity to retreat with fellow staff members and receive training and instruction in “building a volunteer culture that thrives.” The leaders were in-house, but I thought several times, “This subject is so relevant that these leaders should ‘take this on the road’ and do conferences for other churches!” The day-long training included ...

When our grown children “talk shop” about their jobs and careers, I often hear reoccurring themes of office politics and “one-upmanship” in the workplace. Experts will say that such bravado is a mixture of competitiveness and personal insecurities. But, the goal is usually to make another’s accomplishments seem small if not inconsequential! I recently heard a retired family member lament about this subject, “That’s why I’m glad to be retired!”  Follow Sophie, the Leader! That's Better!😊 The metaphor. “Stay in your lane,” has been around a while and may have had its origin in driving and sports (swimming and track) applications where a lane is involved to prevent accidents or interference. In professional settings, the phrase is usually used as a cautionary warning for coworkers to mind their own business and avoid overstepping into another’s responsibilities. The ultimate putdown is to harshly question a coworker, “Why don’t you stay in your lane?” Strongly telling someone to “b...

A popular idiom in our day is for an individual to be so focused on his or her sport, creative endeavor, or work engagement, that it is observed by others that they are “in the zone!” In these early days of the baseball season, my favorite team has some exciting young players named Church, Wetherholt, Winn, and Jordan who are achieving this seemingly effortless state of hitting and fielding at such a competitive level that these guys are certainly performing “in the zone!” Focused! In the Zone! Image: stock.adobe.com Athletes aren’t the only ones who “get in the zone” of accomplishment. Our church has recently been celebrating a dozen or so young people who have just completed sixteen weeks of instruction in their confirmation class. The Sunday Bible study class, Monique and I attend, got to partner in their efforts the other evening by serving their pre-instruction pizza and salad meal. These students were in their next to last session and the topic of the evening was spiritual gift...

I am back to mowing my lawn all on my own! My team has left town for the beautiful high desert of Albuquerque, New Mexico! I was so gratified this spring to enlist my thirteen-year-old grandson, Danny, (and his very capable lawn specialist mother, too!) to help with the weekly chore of mowing .55 acres of Keppler real estate. Danny’s departure this week has left me with a little uncertainty about whether I am still up to the job. I’m happy to report that I was able to edge, mow, weed wack, and blow all the debris away as always! A "One-Man Show" This Week! 😀 But, I do miss my “Number One!” Especially because his partnership allowed me to catch up on other chores, like keeping on top of the stick detailing, flower bed weeding, and shrub trimming touch-up. It was fun to see Danny at work. Even his mother was amazed at the skill he showed in leaving straight mow lines as if he were grooming a professional baseball outfield! He took to the task (and the humble remuneration!) l...

It’s not always easy to find what you are good at and what you enjoy doing, too! Our two oldest grandsons, Brady and Ben, have had the initial experience of declaring a major now that they have completed their application processes to enter college in the fall. Brady has chosen business and Ben is thinking he will do a double major in biology and art. I think it is predictable that they will likely refine their choices. It’s been my observation that many young college students change their majors within the first couple of years of college! Image credit: picsgag.com I am watching with prayers and great interest, as the middle-aged guys of our family (the dads of those same new college students) have already moved through a few chapters of change in their own professional careers. Advancements often feel like two or three slow steps forward and sometimes… one or two steps backwards! The increased responsibility and pay are rewarding, but the adjustments to change in the workplace can th...

Monique has just completed a two-and-a-half-day stint with a fourth-grade class. She likes the continuity of substituting in the same class consecutively! This assignment was a bit more challenging though. She was required to teach a math-measuring, specifically geometry, exercise using a protractor. During her twenty-two years in the classroom before retirement, she taught her second graders mathematical concepts on many occasions. However, the math that fourth graders are doing these days looks a lot more like what was done in high school back in the day! Image credit: pixabay.com It's a good thing we have a family math expert in one of our daughters who majored in the subject and taught high school math for 14 years. Michelle usually gets a call for assistance when mother is faced with questions about obtuse and acute angles, tangents along with various geometric shapes. As you can imagine, this is quite “above her pay grade” as an elementary school substitute. This time the dau...

Our daughter, Melissa, graduated from SIU-E in 2004 with a degree in Kinesiology. She could have taken that preparation into several related careers: coaching, professional trainer, sports therapy, nutrition/ health education, or other related professions. Melissa chose to focus on being an elementary physical education teacher. Today, she finds it very fulfilling to build “fitness with fun” value into her students. This is her seventeenth year of teaching! Our Coach! Recently, Melissa has taken on the responsibility of coaching her fifth-grade son’s youth league basketball team She would prefer to sit on the sidelines and enjoy the games, but the team could not enlist a volunteer coach and was at the point of canceling the season due to a staffing shortage. So, Melissa reluctantly stepped up. I think her especially athletic son, Karter, had put considerable effort into persuading his mother to step into the vacancy! Even Melissa had to admit, “I think I am probably the most qualified ...

  Dr. Kevin B. Gibson March 20, 1965 to April 25, 2022   I am mourning the loss of my close friend, Kevin Gibson, who passed away suddenly while recovering from a recent heart procedure. I was privileged to be his pastor more than thirty years ago as we served the same church together. We became instant friends. Kevin was a valued colleague. While shocked and dealing with my own grief, I was humbled to be asked by Christy, his beloved wife, to share the message at his funeral on April 30. I had been the officiant at their wedding nearly twenty-eight years ago. I wrote these next few paragraphs of remembrance for the service and excerpt them so that you can feel a little of the grief and loss we all feel at Kevin's untimely passing...   "Kevin Brent Gibson grew up in a pastor’s home. Ed and Ida likely introduced him to the faith early on and it stuck! He answered the call to ministry and prepared well. Kevin and Christy met in January 1992. I wrote these reflections...

I have made an observation based upon a study of the spiritual gifts and the related areas of the spiritual disciplines in the Bible. Simply stated: caring people care, teachers and preachers teach and preach, prayer "warriors" pray, the merciful show mercy, encouragers encourage, and so on down the list of possible categories for service. My conclusion in the matter is that you can identify a believer's spiritual gift mix and the spiritual disciplines that define development in the faith by observing the actions and outcomes of their life in Christ.  When this is applied to giving and generosity, I can declare with sincerity that "givers have to give!" Recently, it was reported in the news that two individuals I do not know personally gave large monetary gifts away. It's what they do! Scott Kolbrenner donated all of his $145,000 winnings as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune to two local charities in Los Angeles. Verda Tetteh, a high school senior with a full...

Ingenuity inspires, entertains, and lifts our spirits! I was recently blessed by the creative expressions of my own family in wishing me a "Happy Birthday!" Because of the shelter-in-place initiatives due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, it was not possible for us to have a traditional family gathering to celebrate my 69th birthday this week. I cannot ever remember not having multiple family members present during any birthday celebration over the years.  I had one friend express the obvious in his greeting, "Happy Birthday! At least this is one you will not forget!" My response was predictable, "You got that right!" Thanks to the imagination of some of our very creative children and grandchildren, I received a very unique birthday greeting on my special day. It came by way of a video collection of well-wishes that were segmented together and attached to a text message. The contributors represented locations far and near including cities named Chatham, Georgeto...

Recently, Brady assembled a bedroom dresser for his sister's clothing. It was purchased at the big box international furniture store (hint: the one with the Swedish meatballs!) and came in two boxes to Matt's front door. Of course, it required assembly. Matt put the boxes aside for the week knowing that his number one son would be the "go-to-guy" for the project. Brady is a high school freshman and has had the patience and know-how for several years now to put things together following the directions and using only the minimal tools. Not everyone has the tenacity (and did I mention, the patience?) to accomplish such tasks, but Brady, our "number one" and oldest Keppler grandson does! I can't remember when we determined that he had this gift, but since it became evident, we have depended on him to assist in various projects and now, to take the lead in fixing and assembling several things around the house. He has been a great help to me with both insi...

Studio 22 (Used with Permission) During summer vacation visits to our grandsons in Texas, our tradition is to watch a series of movies. Last year, these featured a selection of films by Robin Williams. This year, we thought we would do all Pixar films, but ended up mixing in a variety of others. Now, it might be good to note that the boys have already seen all of these films, but they are re-watching them to enjoy this time with their Poppi who doesn’t get to the “movie house” very often! The surprising film in our near nightly gathering at the home theatre was an older one (2007) by Disney, Ratatouille. I had seen parts of this, but had never viewed it entirely. This animated adventure is about a Parisian rat named Remy who is, ironically and comically, an excellent restaurant chef! When the boys suggested this one to watch they noted that it was their dad’s favorite. Marc would later explain that it was the final review by the villainous newspaper food critic named Ego...