Serve by Design

  It is interesting how you are treated when you enter your senior years. Some donut shops want to give you a discount. Passerby’s sometimes look at you and your spouse with that look like they are thinking, “God bless that sweet couple! They are still holding hands and are ambulatory enough to shop at a big box store together!” Then, there is the annual wellness appointment with the nurse practitioner. At check-in, you are handed several sheets of health survey questions along with a clipboard and pen as you are told to sit and work on “your homework!” The first thing I noted was that the heading stated this survey was for those 70-79 years old! Image Credit: istockphoto.com After completion, I was then called back for my evaluation by the doctor/nurse practitioner. Please understand that I like our lady healthcare professional. She is friendly, competent and efficient. She has served both my wife and me very well over these last few years. We trust her judgments on our behalf and...

My beloved wife has many gifts, but one that is little known is her ability to capture (and sometimes release to the outdoors) pesky flies that follow us into the house each summer season! With a fluid motion and sweeping hand, she is nearly flawless in grasping her prey. The Venus Flytrap can close its hinged blades in a half-second of movement! I believe Monique is even quicker! When I compare her to the super hero of my childhood, she is almost “faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive,” but she’s not “able to leap tall buildings at a single bound” like she used to though! Image credit: istockphoto.com I marveled today as she captured two of our evasive and airborne pests! One was creeping up and down the window sill and the other was resting on the curved side of the lavatory basin. The latter catch was nothing short of miraculous in technique! I suggested after this deftly feat of cupped hand dexterity that the International Olympic Committee should co...

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...

The MJK's are celebrating another wedding anniversary, June 10th!  This celebration is just shy of the big one! Next year it will be "Golden!" I don't think it occurred to me when I met Monique Jeanne during our early college days that should we ever marry, we would have the same initials! Now, I can be pretty sure that Monique was doing all kinds of calculations without my awareness because after our fourth child some years later, she would acknowledge, "I really had planned on five children!" "Uh boy!" I sighed and said, "I didn't know that!" And I meant it! Our firstborn would be another MJK and so were the other three that followed! Six MJK's in total! Therefore, we learned to be clear when signing MJK as to which specific one of us it represented! I have tried to pull rank by referring to myself as "THE MJK!" The other members of our household have not be amused! Every once and a while, I will be surprised by how ot...

The following is a guest article by my good friend, Bill McGee. Bill is a Christian businessman in Springfield, IL. He is a leader in the community and periodically writes information pieces on race relations in our local paper. His desire is to both challenge our perceptions and promote constructive dialog through knowledge and understanding of racial inequality. Greenwood Massacre of 1921 Bill was the inspiration behind one of my most read blogs concerning the 1921 massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma 100 years ago this month. This tragic and calculated attack destroyed a vibrant business district and residential community. It resulted in the death of over 300 black citizens, and left over 10,000 homeless victims in its destructive wake.  This terrible incident has become the worst instance of racial violence in U.S. history! Having been largely covered up for a century now, the Tulsa massacre is only of late being given greater attention in the media.  Please click on the link at th...