Serve by Design

Recently, I had an experience that previously I had only heard about. One morning, I awoke with a “fly-like something” in my right eye! To make it even more fascinating and annoying, it also had a tail stringing from its center. It comes and goes from my field of vision. If I concentrate on it, it can be pretty distracting! Eye Floaters! Image credit: imgbin.com I have consulted an in-house expert regarding the matter. Monique recommends that I get an appointment with the eye specialist soon, but her diagnosis is that I have a “floater” in that eye. She has been dealing with such visual issues in both of her eyes for around ten years now! I guess I should be thankful that I haven’t had any such surprises until this time. I am creeping closer to my one-year anniversary of the “three-score and ten!” Isn’t it curious that they call these things, “floaters?” I have spent lazy hot Texas summers floating and tubing in the cool back waters of the Comal River in New Braunfels. That is an ent...

I recently attended a regional equipping conference for men, titled "Iron Sharpens Iron". Ministers and laity were present. During the opening session, Dan Hyun, a church planter specialist and founding pastor of the Village Church in Baltimore, Maryland spoke about success. Hyun believes that success is measured by what comes behind us, our legacy. Therefore, he made this compelling appeal to join in the endeavor of mentoring the next generation of Christian leaders by simply saying, “Be who you needed when you were young!” Teaching and Mentoring Image credit: depositphotos.com Hyun’s comment about the lasting legacy of mentoring the next generation resonates with me. I have been committed to mentoring relationships for more than 20 years now. I didn’t plan on being a mentor when I was younger, but in my maturing, middle adult years, some of my younger peers started introducing me as their mentor. It sounded surreal at first and certainly made me feel older, but I could see ...

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...

“If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all!" Have you ever tried to console yourself with this saying? My misfortune is that if there is a small nail in the roadway, it will find one of my new tires! If I wash my car, it will rain later in the day, even if it was not forecast. And that leads to another example of bad luck at the wheel. If there is a specimen of “road kill,” anywhere, my car will steer toward it like a heat-seeking missile! Bad luck! Image Credit: istockphoto.com The latest instance of roadway rotten luck happened again today, (I will explain the “again” later.) It was five-thirty in the morning, and I was heading to Vandalia to eat breakfast with my 92-year-old Dad and his oldest grandson (my son, Matt!) at the local eatery. I had just pulled onto the interstate and was momentarily distracted while setting a favorite news-talk station on the radio. As I looked up in the darkness, I thought I saw some raw and bloody roadkill flesh in the headlights. Next t...

Our beloved granddaughter, Eloise, has a growing collection of various-sized Squishmallows. She has given a name and voice to each one. This is “Eloise being Eloise” who delights to use her creativity and imagination to entertain family, friends and of course, herself. These soft, plush stuffed animals, food items and other cute things in her menagerie surround her at home and some even travel with her to school, church, restaurants and playdates with friends. When Eloise can’t be in certain places at times because of her busy schedule, she requests that her daddy, Matt, take her stuffed friends on road trips to greet family in her place. So, sometimes you will see an extra passenger belted in the rear seat of his car! We enjoy how Matt relishes these opportunities to introduce Eloise’s “squishy friends” to us and as a result, we know by experience how charming and comforting each of them are to embrace! Of course, we are "required" to document these occasions with a pictur...

I have been a Christian for nearly 60 years and I still struggle with the implementation of “unceasing prayer” in my daily life. The Apostle Paul instructed the Thessalonian Christians about the quality of continual praying, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), How do we pray throughout the day to such an extent that it rises to the level of “unceasing?” "In the moment" praying throughout the day seems so different from most prevailing practices of petition and intercession. I have tended to see traditional praying as scheduled, structured and formal like during a daily quiet time, a visit with a friend in need, before meal time, or at small group and worship times. These have seemed like the opportune times for praying. "He walks with me" Image credit: unsplash.com I'm discovering, however, that prayerfulness can also be exercised while driving a car, cooking a meal, playing kickball with the grandkids, or when taking a nature walk at the neighborh...

During the Olympics this week in Beijing, I have been intrigued to watch the women compete in a new addition to the sledding competition. The “monobob” is a women-only event so far and it debuted in 2016 during the Youth Olympics. But. this year it has been mainstreamed into the official Olympic program as an exciting new venue! Kaillie Humphries, a Canadian-American slider, has become the first to win a Gold Medal in the monobobbing event. The Thrill of Sledding! Image credit: istockphoto.com When I was a kid, we lived up a pretty steep elevation just at the western edge of Vandalia. The actual street is Randolph, but back in the day, it was referred to by the locals as “the old shoe factory hill." My dad’s house, our old home place, is at the peak of that “hill” today! During the years of my childhood, I spent hours sliding down the sidewalk along that snowy and slippery slope during some pretty ferocious Illinois winters. Watching the Olympic bobsledding reminded me of how I fa...