Serve by Design

During these days of Advent, I have been thinking about heaven. It’s funny how the mind works. It surprises me in strange ways. I popped into a local eatery on North Grand, Springfield recently. Our daughter and her family think this place has the best burgers in central Illinois. I must admit that their smash burgers and custard are something special. I do savor those crispy fried edges on the double cheese! Don’t tell Monique! Image: Krekel's Custard & Hamburgers I looked up on the tabletop and noticed a catchy advertisement on the napkin holder. It said, “Heaven is a Brown Paper Sack!” And appropriately so, this restaurant does a lot of take-out orders where you will see patrons clutching their brown paper bags filled with burgers and fries. While this isn’t the best food for your health, you can cherish “heavenly thoughts” of delicious greasiness in each bite! There is another notable brown bag establishment that I like on South Grand that stuffs its delicious fried fish ...

It was a day or two before Thanksgiving that our oldest granddaughter, Chloe, popped the question, "Poppi, when are you decorating your Christmas tree?" This grand is always jazzed about Christmas! Each year, since she was a little girl, Chloe Michelle has helped her Mimi and me with Christmas decorating. If you knew that she already had her room decorations up on November 1st, you can imagine that she was more than a little anxious to help her grandparents "catch up" to the Christmas Season! Inspecting Charlie's Gingerbread House! I am a stickler about not putting up our decorations until Thanksgiving Day is over. Although I enjoy the ambience of a well-decorated family room with a beautifully lighted tree adorned with keepsake ornaments, garlands and red bows above the entry ways, and greenery threaded with red stringed beads on the mantle, I don't like to hurry into Christmas! So, Friday or Saturday after "Turkey Day" is soon enough for me! It w...

This past weekend, we have been dealing with our first snowfall of the season. It has been a heavy, wet snow that has steadily blanketed our village with an impressive eight and a half inches of accumulated snow. The day before, on Friday, our granddaughter, Chloe, helped us put the ornaments on the tree and then we did some last-minute grocery shopping. It was the calm before the storm, and we were getting prepared should we be snowed in for the weekend! Image credit: www.freepik.com On Saturday, as the snow began falling, Monique and I sat comfortably in the family room admiring our Christmas decorations. The lights on the tree and mantle were having their usual seasonal effect. It was just after one o’clock as I was entering a hypnotic state and was almost asleep when the first of two back-to-back thunderous claps jolted me fully awake. Monique was startled as well and exclaimed, “WHAT…WAS… THAT?” While still processing what I had heard, I tentatively replied, “That was thunder! But...

I have had some unexpected blessings this week! It’s had me thinking, “I wonder if these people have been listening to my pastor’s messages?” Just this past Sunday, Pastor Roger was encouraging the congregation to identify a person or group that we could bless this week. Then, he asked us to get specific with a plan of how to bless them with our time, expressions of comfort or encouragement, or in some monetary way. A Welcoming Spirit! image credit: vecteezy.com My blessings started when a young adult lady insisted that she hold the door open for me to enter the coffee shop. I am usually accustomed to holding doors for others! I was delighted later when this same young lady helped me interpret what the barista was saying about my order. A day later, a second blessing involved Ms. Lori, the lady in charge of the laundromat. She grabbed my comforter and large blanket from the oversized dryers and insisted that she do the folding! And a final blessing was given by Bob, a casual friend, ...

We are celebrating our family role-model, hero, and teaching superstar! Yesterday, the Sherman-Williamsville cusd#15 formally expressed their appreciation to Monique. She has officially retired for the second time! The first was in 2013 after devoting 21 years to teaching at Sherman Elementary School. The second retirement occurred this fall as she wrapped up 12 years of substituting at the same school! Superintendent Tip Reedy assisted by Jenny Brennan, Taylor Payne, and others from the office staff formally recognized Monique’s years of service with a special thank-you note and gift bag at the district office in Williamsville. It was an opportunity to express appreciation and to take a picture of the event that was later posted on the school’s Facebook page. Monique was blessed by all the attention and especially all those who “liked” the post and/or made a comment! Teachers are a combination of natural aptitude and training. Monique has felt her calling to teach since the early ch...

A rolling stop is not a stop at all! Did you hear about the man who was driving home and was stopped by a county deputy police officer? It was a rural community with little traffic. The officer informed him that he had not come to a complete stop and then gave him a ticket for the violation. The man asked, “Don’t I get a warning?” The officer curtly replied, “Sure, here’s your warning: If you don’t come to a complete stop the next time, I will give you another ticket!” Image credit: istock.com Years ago, as a teenage driver, I had the embarrassing experience of being pulled over for a rolling violation. I was heading out to the local A&W Root Beer restaurant with a carload of church friends on a Wednesday night. We had just had a youth Bible study when a county deputy sheriff stopped me. I am from a small town where traffic on the main street is always light. The way it was configured, the stop sign was located about twenty feet back from the intersection. You were supposed to st...