Serve by Design

This is our first and hopefully, last "Pandemic Thanksgiving!" It is different and disappointing. Yet, in many ways it is also surprisingly delightful! We have some extremely gifted and creative grandchildren in our family! Remember, my weekly signature postscript declares that I am proud to be known as "a doting grandparent?!!" This suggests by definition that I am "extremely and uncritically fond and adoring" of all twelve of our grands! 😁 I have been wanting to get a writer out of this crop of kids for years now. I just may get more than one! We have a couple of teenagers who are showing some promise. I'll brag on them sometime later. However, it is the littlest of the lot that I am bragging on today. Eloise our adoring 8-year-old granddaughter from Saint Louis recently wrote a precious note to Mimi and Poppi that has our buttons popping with pride. This was a school assignment for her second grade class. Her Daddy remarked that this micro literary...

Most of us would concur that hornets and other insects with stingers are not our favorites, and we usually can avoid and ignore them. Except perhaps when there is a new "Super Stinger" that poses an imminent threat to us and our food supply. Last fall. a menacing variety of the Asian Hornet was discovered in the Pacific Northwest. Swift action was taken by the Washington State Department of Agriculture in October to address this problem.  A group of scientists was dispatched to Blaine, Washington, to deal with a nest inhabited by 500 live specimens of the world's largest hornet growing to 2 inches long and nicknamed, the "murder hornet!" Its toxic venom can cause organ failure and death. These highly trained specialists also found 200 queens in the nest who were capable of mating and multiplying this threat and quickly it spreading to additional areas. This threatening species was first detected in the United States in December of 2019 and since then, scientists...

While I was in active ministry, I received numerous "pink slips" each day. Thankfully, these were not the kind of slips you received when you were being fired from your job! This was a small sheet from a pad of notes used by my administrative assistant to record information from an office visitor or a telephone call. Back in the day, this was a standard way to convey messages! Today, we have digital means like texting and voice recording technology on our smart phones that make communication more accessible and immediate. I know that office supply companies continue to sell a number of these "While You Were Out" note pads! Adams Message Pad officedepot.com You hear a lot about "messaging" today! The dictionary defines a message as "a verbal, written or recorded communication sent to a recipient who cannot be contacted directly." As with a lot of words, we have conveniently turned them into verbs through our use and practice. (One of my favorite n...

Recently, I set out on a "mail run" by way of bicycle! It was an overcast day with a slight breeze. I had tucked a plastic bag under my belt and was ready to retrieve the bulk of what is usually categorized as "junk mail." This was to be an easy mile up to the post office and another mile back to the house. Easy-peasy, I thought. After all, every morning I ride a recumbent bike as a part of my fitness workout! That workout ride has a resistance component to it to make it more challenging! I do enjoy an occasional traditional bike ride outdoors, however! This would be another occasion to let the wind part the little hair I have and push me on my way!  "Resistance and Negligence!" At first, I was breezing along without too much difficulty, but within a quarter of a mile, I felt my heart rate increasing and noticed a surprising onset of fatigue. My legs were tiring, my breathing was labored, and for a moment I thought of the obvious, even though I had none of...