Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Since 1854 — News from Montcalm County and Ionia County, Michigan
Are you working “remotely” these days?
There are many a number of people in our community who are doing so, and it is becoming quite a trend. Many companies are seeing great advantages of having their employees work remotely, and many employees in turn are jumping at the opportunity to be able to stay at home to work.
It is deer hunting season, and social media is flourishing with pictures and stories of trophies taken and days spent in the field.
While the taking of these magnificent animals is often the focus of the experience, what is often most interesting is the story behind it.
These summer days are fascinating ones for me as a youth pastor. After many years of ministry with teens, I find myself walking in their shoes. I get a little depressed thinking about school starting in the fall. During the school year, I root for snow days. I do that happy dance when school is out for the summer, and I find myself intrigued watching young people do the tough balancing act of adding to their lives a summer job (or a year-round job for that matter). Invariably, I get called several times in the early spring to be a reference for a teen seeking a summer job. I find it to be a great opportunity with enough challenges that make it a worthwhile venture for every teen.
The town of Grayling in Michigan had always sounded to me like it was named after some famous person in Michigan’s history. Somewhere along the line, I learned that “grayling” is actually a species of fish — one that has a long and storied history in Michigan.
The beauty of spring was not the renewing of life for all things.
It had been determined by the landowner that two trees in the backyard were becoming less of nature’s beauty and more of a maintenance issue, and so the landowner called me to come cut down the trees and take them away. I heat my house with wood, but it was the fact that these two specimens of God’s creation were classified in the walnut family of trees that drew my attention and desire. The trees came down in their ponderous yet honorable way in which such beautiful things go, and the work of dissecting them down into manageable pieces became the task at hand.
