Serve by Design

We are blessed to have good neighbors! It is extra special to have professional firefighters on both sides of us and a retired fire chief across the street! A few years ago, one of them had to “rescue” me from the roof where I had been blowing leaves out of the gutters. It was a blustery day and I had not tied off the ladder on the back side of the house. As I finished, I was surprised to find that my aluminum ladder had been blown down to the ground by a strong gust of wind. This left me hopelessly stranded on the rooftop without a cell phone or a way down! "Mom, does anybody see me?"😇 In my despair, I happened to look across the street and saw one of my neighboring firefighters who had briefly stepped outside. I immediately shouted, “Hey, neighbor! I could use some help!” He waved and was on the way. I will not forget his counsel as he put the ladder up against the house that day, “Neighbor, you might want to take some rope and tie it off on the gutter next time!” He winke...

During our Texas vacation, I walked in the neighborhood each morning before sunrise. My usual workout at home involves the treadmill and recumbent bicycle. Since summers in the Lone Star State can be brutal, I prefer a somewhat “cooler” walk at 5:30am when the temperature is 80 degrees instead of 107 degrees after lunchtime! Every morning I enjoy meeting several residents walking along with their dogs on a leash. These various sized canines are eager to be outside, sniffing the smells and wagging their tails. Image credit: stock.adobe.com This week,   while driving home from the grocery store, we encountered a different approach to an afternoon stroll. It was something spectacular!   A young preteen was riding his bike uphill through the busy neighborhood intersection. What made this so unusual was that this young guy was also holding the left handlebar grip while gripping a remote control with the same hand. I don’t know how he did it, but he reached across the bars with his ...

I recently had another scheduled procedure where they have to put you out and into a twilight sleep condition. I have been in similar states throughout the years for an appendectomy and joint replacement surgery as well as during treatments for cancer. There is always a risk in putting you in such a condition, but I have learned that I must trust my doctor, anesthesiologist, and others who assist them if I am to receive the necessary health procedures. Image Credit: unsplash.com I learned years ago as an eleven-year-old boy how to trust God for salvation and to deal with my sin condition. Trust is one of the most essential exercises of a believer. In the Bible, faith is spoken of repeatedly as the key in our relationship with the Lord, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him, must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6 NIV ). We are living in a day of skepticism, doubt and fear. We are s...