Serving Matters

by   March 31, 2025 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Serving Matters

In some ways, I believe serving students in the college cafeteria while attending Gardner Webb AND serving customers at the Pizza Inn while attending UNC Charlotte, seem to have been almost as educational as the college courses I was taking at the time.

While serving my peers in the college cafeteria, I said things like, “Pizza or taco?” Yes, I was on the serving line with my hair net on, saying the choice of food over and over to people who mostly never looked at me, because they were studying the food choices in front of them. I did not mind feeling invisible. Food is something I understood.“Potatoes? Beans?” I would continue. It was my daily dinner routine as I worked my way through college. I was there to serve! Serving mattered!

When it came to my other job at Pizza Inn, the entire scenario changed. Three days out of seven, I would work from 4pm until 4am, drive back to my dorm and sleep until time for class. Other than the tired feet, I thought it was remarkable being a waitress! I think I would have loved making a living at it! I got to be super nice to people who were there to enjoy pizza. The nicer and more competent I was, the happier the customers were! The happier the customers were, the more money I made. That pretty much summed it up! Serving mattered!

Then, there was the job at McDonalds, where I could get off work around 2am. I loved nothing more than using a cash register and counting back change to customers. As the night ended, the managers checked our registers and mine always returned monetarily perfect! I was quite proud of that since this was in the days before the register told you how much change to give back to the customer. Maybe that is a reason I became a math teacher?

Mostly though, I liked to serve. Adding the perfect scoop of potatoes to the tray in the cafeteria, handing over the perfectly cooked slice of pizza at the Pizza Inn, or making sure the Big Mac handed to a customer was wrapped properly, bagged beautifully, and not smushed – was my mission.

I must admit – I enjoyed it!

I liked interacting with people to get something they wanted to them – and for it to be just right!

My favorite times were the busy times, when there were four lines of customers across the front of the store at McDonalds.Working as hard as I could, I would move quickly and and efficiently to make sure every customer was happy.

However, no job beat working in Cannon Mills where I worked 8 hours a night during the summer on a very loud Twister machine in Number 7 Spin. It was non-stop, but during those hours, my dreams for my life were formed, while the rest of Kannapolis was sleeping. It was so loud that I could talk, sing, and pray at the top of my lungs and no one could hear me. I talked to Jesus. I sang to Jesus. I memorized the words of Jesus and carried prayer requests and Bible verses in my pockets as I walked around the twister machines all night long, while wearing my required ear plugs. What seemed redundant to my coworkers was life-changing for me – because I spent those nights walking around my three huge, loud machines while seeking God. What a great education I received staying up all night with Jesus!

Not long after that, I finished college and became a teacher. One day, as I was walking around my classroom helping students, I realized that I was still carrying Bible verses on a post-it in my pocket every day. If I did not have a pocket, I would put them on my desk.

Those experiences are a huge part of how I became me. Those years were formative, which means they served to form me, which means they had a profound and lasting influence on my development.

It actually made me smile to type this:

I believe I was a great McDonald’s worker.

I believe I was a great Cannon Mills worker.

I believe I was a great teacher.

I loved it all!

NO! Of course I was not paid enough at any of those jobs.

But – I was there to serve.

Serving matters.

Guilt-Free Leisure

by   March 30, 2025 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

If someone asked you the difference between idle time and leisure time, could you clearly articulate that? I recently read that idle time is stolen time. We should be doing other things during our productive times, but we allow temptations, even shallow, meaningless ones, to captivate our minds and bodies. You are often left feeling guilty as a result of wasting time. On the other hand, leisure time is earned, often after hard work. No guilt needed! Yet, how often do we struggle to fully enjoy leisure?

While we may know the differences and struggle to avoid idleness, we can also be guilty of enjoying leisure time. Productivity and efficiency are the monarchs ruling our time, most often. Accomplishing a task can consume the best of caregivers, and allowing children to enjoy discoveries frequently turns into an organized time of study and lessons. I can be as guilty as the next, especially as a homeschooling mother. 

In our quest to find our purpose and higher meaning (which oftentimes only means getting our never-ending task list done), we often miss the simplicity of basking in the daily delights we rush past to be more productive. Gardening becomes a chore of necessity rather than something to enjoy. Instead of choosing fiction to read, we feel our reading time must be an investment to master doing something.

Rather than further elaborate, I offer a few stanzas from a poem that served as a good reminder in the midst of teaching my children:

“Leisure”                                                                                                                          by W. H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
 We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to see, in broad daylight,
 Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
 And watch her feet, how they can dance:

A poor life this if, full of care,
 We have no time to stand and stare.

I hope you get to enjoy some well-earned leisure time. Did you work hard all week, even if something is unfinished and will still be there next week? Then, make time to enjoy a guilt-free walk after dinner. Do you feel bad for time misspent? Tighten up the reigns on the time you steal this week. Lock yourself out of that app that is a thief to your productivity. Work hard and enjoy guilt-free leisure next weekend. 

Ashlie Miller is preaching to herself on this one. You can send her your own admonishments on how to enjoy guilt-free leisure to mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.

Teamwork

by   March 29, 2025 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Teamwork

            We are in the heart of March Madness. I can’t tell you much about it because I don’t really follow sports. However, if I see a game on TV I will watch it. If it is on at a restaurant, I will pay attention. A game was on the other day when I visited my Mom and I watched it while we were talking. It’s not that I don’t like sports, I just don’t follow them.

            One year for my birthday a neighbor gave me tickets to see the Charlotte Hornets play the Chicago Bulls. I had a great time at the game and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is so much to watch when you go to see a professional game in person. I have been to a variety of sporting events and I have always had a great time.

            When a team pulls together and everyone is playing their best, it can be very exciting to watch the team play. For teams to be successful each player has to give their best. It’s not about an individual member shining like a star. Each member has to pull their weight and do their assigned job for the team to win.

            A coach once explained it to me best by sharing something he overheard one night on a bus. The boys’ and girls’ teams from the school were returning home after their games. The boys lost their game but each of the guys was bragging about what they had done on the court. “I got ten points and six rebounds.” “I made eight points.” Then the boys looked at the girls and asked, “What did you do?” One of the girls looked up and said, “We won!” It’s not about individual performance; it’s about team effort.

            Teams come with a variety of skills and abilities, but each member has to learn how to work with the other members to make the team successful. I’ve seen teams with incredible talent that could not win a game, and other teams with fair talent grow to become undefeated.

            I believe we can look at churches and see the same results. I have seen churches with great talent, good worship, and a welcoming children’s department that closed their doors. But a church that recognizes that they are a team can achieve a level of success that others can’t touch.

            I wonder if there are people in churches who feel undervalued so they find it difficult to contribute to the success of a church. The Bible makes it clear that every member of a church has a vital role in the health and success of that church body. We each contribute in our own unique way. Some people do highly visible things that may garner more attention, while others work quietly behind the scenes…both are very important to make that church work. Neither is more important than the other.

            When Jesus sent the disciples out two-by-two He probably paired some of the guys together who wouldn’t seem like a great match. The disciples, like us, had to learn how to work together, to build unity and trust in each other. When we can form bonds with each other through common goals there is a deeper respect and a greater love that can develop.

            The disciples also had to learn to step out and take risks in sharing God’s love with others. This requires faith. God always requires us to have faith. God’s work is far beyond our ability to be able to perform it. We have to depend upon Him to work through us. He is the one who can save a soul. He is the healer. He is the one who can set the captives free. But God chooses to work through people like you and me in and through our churches.

            I want to encourage you to look at your church and its members in a new light. Consider the idea that God looks at you as a team. Teams have to set aside differences and focus on the goals at hand. Is the color of the choir robes or the carpet more important than maintaining unity and reaching the lost? God has given each church an assignment, and that is to be a light in the darkness in their community. To bring His hope and forgiveness to those who are far from God. To help people find healing for their broken lives. To let people know that God loves them in spite of the crazy world we live in. Let’s set aside our differences, join the team, and fulfill God’s purposes in our communities for His glory. 

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Acting on His Word

by   March 28, 2025 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Matthew 14:19  And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

  • Jesus initiated the miracle, but –
  • It was the disciples that actually distributed the food and acted out the miracle.
  • Often times it is just us acting on His word to see the miraculous in working.

Prayer:  Lord I surrender to You today that You guide me and instruct me that I can do whatever You say that I can see the miraculous power of God working.  Help me to step out always in faith.  Amen.


Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

Catawba Athlete & Insurance Ruling on my Back

by   March 27, 2025 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Catawba Athletes at Nationals and An Insurance Ruling on My Back

     Two Catawba College athletes have reached the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. Miles Stephens and Winfred Porter will both compete in the 60-meter dash prelims on Thursday at 4:30pm.

      Miles, a junior from Bradenton, Florida, and Winfred, from Loxahatchee, Florida, are ranked 4th and 8th going into the prelims with times of 6.65 and 6.67 seconds.  In a race that can be decided by milliseconds, both are hoping to make the final and bring home Catawba’s first NCAA Championship in school history.

    If one or the other, or better yet both finish in the top eight on Thursday, they will make that final Saturday afternoon at 2:55pm.  The event will be streamed on Thursday live on NCAA.com. Look for Dll Indoor Track and Field Day One and then on Saturday, look for Day Three. DII Indoor Track & Field: Day One – DII Men’s Track & Field (I) –

      Also in Indianapolis this week, Catawba Swimming is at the 2025 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Both events are a part of the NCAA Winter Championships Festival that includes Swimming and Diving, Wrestling and Indoor Track and Field. The swim team is represented by 16 men and women in various relay and individual events.  

    My back accident happened on May 15th in a hay field at about 5pm. I was admitted to the Trauma Unit at Atrium Health in Concord shortly after 6pm. I was told just before midnight that I would have rods and pins surgically inserted in and around my spine at 7am the next morning. At about 6:30am, I declined the surgery. What began at that time was one of the most important sagas of my life. What also began was a long battle with Aetna Medicare Insurance.

      I was fitted with a back brace that same morning and had physical therapy twice that afternoon. I could barely walk, and my body was beat up, but that day began what now amounts to a 10-month recovery period through Saturday.

      The battle with insurance started about three months later in late August when Novant sports medicine back specialist Dr. Eugene Eline requested approval for the Kyphoplasty that would rebuild my two most damaged vertebrae. We were denied insurance coverage with Aetna’s scattergun (listing multiple reasons) approach and then two more separate appeals with plenty of documentation supporting Dr. Eline’s recommendation were all denied. Never by a person who could be talked to, but by mail and once by telephone message.

      In the meantime, with all the denials and days passing, I decided to pay for the surgery myself, all the while in hopes that we would eventually win the appeal, and then my down payment would be reimbursed. Novant Health was great and didn’t press me during this appeal and denial process. Dr. Eline and his assistant Erica Martin R.N. repeatedly helped with answering questions and copies of testing.

      Eventually it came down to a final appeal to Federal Health and Human Services. We had an initial court hearing by phone scheduled in January that was continued until February 20th because Aetna didn’t call in. We did have the February hearing even though Aetna still didn’t call, but otherwise it was well done by the judge. Her ruling arrived by fax on March 7th. The ruling—Kyphoplasty costs do not have to reimbursed by Aetna because my reasons for needing the procedure had not been addressed in Medicare rules.

      A long-time running friend and ultramarathoner who just happens to teach math and statistics at Catawba College once sent me his breakdown of the costs per mile of multiple brands of running shoes. I thought it was funny at the time.

        Today, I added up all the costs for my lifestyle saving Kyphoplasty and took a similar approach. I’ve had just over 570 miles of running since the procedure, so I added up the costs paid to Novant Health today. Some simple division says each mile has a cost of $27.72 at this point. Another 180 miles gets me to my goal of 100,000 lifetime running miles. At that time, the cost per mile decreases to $21.07. Better yet, after 20,750 post surgery miles over probably the next 15 years, we’re down to 76 cents. I’ll be super happy about that. Another reason to keep running!

     Our next race is the Mt. Hope Run for Missions 5K on March 29th at Salisbury Community Park. Look for this and other events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Gotta’ Run: Catawba athletes at nationals and an insurance ruling on my back
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