Merry Christmas!

One week left until we celebrate the birth of our Savior! I know I still have shopping and wrapping to do, dinner to plan and of course rehearse for the Nativity Play on Christmas Eve. This year, without any of my 'biological' kids around (Ian and Hannah) has felt different at our house. It was more difficult for me to 'get into the Christmas Spirit' with just my husband and I at home. 

It just didn't feel "Christmas-y" until my whole family was together. Sure, I'd put up decorations and started listening to Christmas songs, but it just didn't feel right. Yesterday, I was reflecting on this. I realized how important it is for me to be able to share the joy of the Christmas holiday and the love of Christ with my family. 

Then I got to thinking about all the people who DON't have family to share Christmas with. There are a lot of people who are alone for any number of reasons this holiday season. Maybe their loved ones are far away, maybe they've passed away or maybe they are just alienated from them. I feel very blessed to have my family here to give love to and receive love from this year. 

You might know someone who might be hurting or sad or lonely this Christmas. I hope you can  remember those people who might be struggling through loneliness, poverty, illness or grief. Show them the love of Christ with a smile, a warm touch, a telephone call or a visit. Ask God to give you eyes so you can see these people whom you can love. 

Blessings for a joyous Christmas,

Nancy 

Holiday Rush

Here it is not even Thanksgiving and we're already thinking about Christmas. Christmas music has been on the radio since Halloween, I've seen Christmas decorations up at the stores for weeks, and the Salvation Army Bell Ringers are already out in full swing! It seems like everyone is starting earlier and earlier to think about and plan for December 25.

As the director of youth ministries, I have to start thinking about preparing for Christmas kind of early as well. I've got to set dates for service activities, decorating the church, Christmas parties and planning the Christmas Eve drama for the 4:00 service.  There's a hustle and bustle in the air already!

Throughout all this planning though, I am constantly reminding myself what it's really all about. Celebrating the birth of Christ! I try hard to keep focused on that thought as I sing songs, buy and wrap gifts, and do that usual "Christmas stuff."

There are a lot of youth activities coming up in these weeks to help us prepare for the "big day."

We begin by helping to 'deck the halls' and the sanctuary and gathering space at church on Saturday, November 20 at 11:00 AM. The more people we have help, the faster and easier it will be. I'll bring some Christmas music to help us get in the mood. Bring your friends! Bring your Families!

For three weeks on Wednesday nights beginning November 30 we will have a special Advent program for youth from 6:30 to 7:30 following dinner served at 6:00.

We will have a senior high Christmas party on Sunday, December 18 at 5:30-7:30. Lots of food, fun and laughter is in store as we celebrate and enjoy each other's fellowship.

All youth are encouraged to participate in the Christmas Eve drama for the 4:00 kid-friendly service. Let me know if you'd like to be a part of that program.

I love how we continue thinking about Christmas, God's blessings to us and how we can bless others with our annual Boxing Night tradition. This year will be no different as we spend the night outside in the parking lot on December 26 as we raise awareness, clothing and blankets for the homeless of Detroit.

Feeding Breakfast to the Hungry

It’s that time of year again when we get up really early on a Sunday and spread God’s love and compassion to the guests at the First United Methodist Church in Plymouth. FUMC hosts a rotating homeless shelter through the Cass Community Social Services.  This will be our 4^th  year of serving in this valuable ministry. Our high school youth group is scheduled to prepare and serve breakfast on Sunday, November 13 to about 50 homeless people who stay at this rotating shelter. This would mean getting up pretty darn early in the morning, but it is a great opportunity for service. Let me know ASAP if you’d be willing to do this. Please let me know in person, text or email me.

We meet at the church in Plymouth at 5:30 AM and prepare and serve breakfast at 6:00. We also eat with them and fellowship with them, showing them Christ’s love over breakfast and conversation. Sometimes we play games like chess, or cards before they leave about 7:00 AM. Once breakfast is over, we clean up and head back to our homes (usually by 8:00.) We will still have Food for Thought that morning at 9:45. There IS a high school fellowship activity for that afternoon; we'll be having lunch, watching a movie, relaxing  and getting comfortable in the youth room during our regular fellowship time after the 11:00 service. 

Instead of our traditional egg casseroles, this year I thought we’d try to cook pancakes and scrambled eggs. I need some extra electric griddles to cook the pancakes that morning. Let me know if you have a griddle we can use. We will pre-make as many pancakes as we can and keep them warm.  We will also be preparing fruit, juice and sausage to go with our meal that morning.

If you have volunteered for this ministry in the past you know how much joy you can bring to others less fortunate and you know how much joy you also receive from serving. I encourage you to sign up, you won’t regret it! Adults are more than welcome to stay, help prepare, and fellowship with the guests.

Looking forward to serving alongside of you,

Nancy

MIssion Trip!

We've scheduled our summer 2012 senior high mission trip! This summer we'll be heading to Washington, DC with Youthworks to serve. We will be leaving Sunday morning June 24 (that's a week aft PCEP gets out of school) and returning Friday, June 29 (Amanda's birthday!) The cost of the trip is $400 with a deposit of $50 due on Sunday, December 4 along with a signed mission trip covenant. (See me for one.) Fundraising opportunities will be selling our Super Bowl subs and our dinner/auction in March. I hope you consider serving with me this summer.

 You might be asking yourself, "why should I go on a mission trip? I'm too busy over the summer." Here are some reasons:
It builds compassion
It can change your perspective
It helps you grow closer to God as well as your friends in the youth group
It blesses others It build's God's Kingdom
It's fun!

Let me know if you have any questions about the trip!

Love Wins

Here is the book summary on Amazon.com for the book Love Wins, by Rob Bell. Millions of Christians have struggled with how to reconcile God's love and God's judgment: Has God created billions of people over thousands of years only to select a few to go to heaven and everyone else to suffer forever in hell? Is this acceptable to God? How is this "good news?" Troubling questions--so troubling that many have lost their faith because of them. Others only whisper the questions to themselves, fearing or being taught that they might lose their faith and their church if they ask them out loud. But what if these questions trouble us for good reason? What if the story of heaven and hell we have been taught is not, in fact, what the Bible teaches? What if what Jesus meant by "heaven," "hell," and salvation" are very different from how we have come to understand them? What if it is God who wants us to face these questions? Author, pastor, and innovative teacher Rob Bell presents a deeply biblical vision for rediscovering a richer, grander, truer, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and repentance. The result is the discovery that the "good news" is much, much better than we ever imagined. I hope you will join me in discussing this book on Sunday nights @6:00 beginning September 25. Read the first chapter before you come the first night. I can't wait to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Let's Keep it up

I don't know about you, but I had a great time on our mission trip to Grand Rapids. I really enjoyed getting to know more about you, about God and about myself during our church group times and devotions at lunch. I loved the ministry site I was at and really felt that I was serving God. I loved getting that chance to give of myself and not think about 'what's in it for me' for a while. I appreciated that everyone I was hanging around with were all on that same schedule of prayers in the morning, service during the day, devotions at lunch, and praise and worship each evening. It sure made it easy to devote myself to God that week.

It's been difficult though to keep that kind of devotion going once I came home. I got out of that routine; I started thinking about other things; my priorities changed as other things took over my life. TV, movies, bills, the Internet, family responsibilities, other jobs all started weaseling their way back into my day. I want to try to keep that feeling, that service, that routine that I had on my mission trip but it's hard!

I am guessing that you are feeling the same way. I know I grew closer to God that week, and I think many of you did as well. Let's not step back. Let's work together and hold each other accountable for the promises we made to God to continue to get to know Him better, to rely on Him and to try to be more like His Son.

One way to do this would be to continue to make time for devotions during the day. If you don't have time at lunch like we did on the trip, just devote SOME time each day to learn more about God's word and what it means to YOU. Reflecting on Scripture helps internalize God's purpose for you.

Don't forget to praise God for the wonderful way He's working in your life. When you are praying, don't just ask for things to happen, but take the time to see what God has done for you and thank Him for that.

Also, remember to continue to talk about your experience with others. Share the way God moved you and used you during your mission trip. Continue to question and challenge your faith. God wants us to come to him with an open mind and because we want to, not just because someone told us we should.

And finally, when you find yourself forgetting to do these things, or needing help to remember, use each other for support! Call a friend, or me or another adult who can encourage you to keep it up even when it's hard. If you find yourself discouraged, talk to other people about it! Don't give up.

Thursday

Our last workday today!

Steven and Beki continued to take computers apart. They estimate that their crews took apart more than 200 computers this week! Steven said there was something therapeutic about taking apart computers. Beki said it was oddly interesting. Allie didn’t have to do landscaping today. Instead her crew worked at a thrift store an sorted clothes. In between times they tried on clothes and put on a fashion show. Ask her about the video she found. Madelyn sorted more things at the food pantry. They also put together personal care packs. Breana didn’t paint today (she says ‘yay!’) Instead she sorted donations and and brought home a little reminder from the thrift shop. You can see it Sunday. Beth almost threw up today! There was a box with spoiled salsa that had gotten all over anything that had been there since Christmas. It smelled really bad (her descriptions were much more vivid…..) Dan had to discard his shoes after dealing with it, it was THAT bad! After cleaning up that disgusting mess, they did get to help people in line who were there to get food. Amanda vacuumed and washed carpets using those fancy carpet machines. At the nursing home she listened to a woman’s sad life story. While watching a video about Scotland , some of the residents quoted the entire Psalm 23. She thought that was pretty cool. Hannah went to a nursing home and rode with them on a bus to Lake Michigan. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too good and they didn’t spend much time there. She enjoyed interacting with the elderly patients. Marilyn finished up painting at the Rest Haven and then her crew (along with Nancy!) finally got to interact with some of the residents during an ice cream social. We sang a few songs with them and had them singing along to Amazing Grace.

Everyone we’ve encountered or worked with has been so appreciated and said we were blessed to be helping them. We all feel blessed to have been a part of the ministries going on here in Grand Rapids. Tonight at our program, Mary, the program director, shared some numbers with us. In this 4 days youth groups from 6 churches, representing 5 states visited 12 sites with 18 crews who worked together to contribute 2,568 service hours! Yay God indeed!

Everyone says they really enjoyed working with youth from different churches instead of our own youth groups. It was great interacting with other kids from other towns, big and small. Tonight during our devotional time with each other we shared some “Yeah God” moments we had today. Unfortunately we didn’t even get to say all the ones we saw, because it was time for the Thursday Night Variety Show!

During the variety show, Beth read a poem that she wrote; Hannah, Allie, Steven and Beki performed an improvisational skit; and Hannah sang her Wonders of His Love song. It was lots of fun.

We’re all very tired, and we’re looking forward to coming home tomorrow night.

On Sunday we’ll have 8 missionaries sharing about the trip. It should be an amazing celebration of the power of God.

Thanks again for all your support. Have I mentioned that this week was amazing?

Wednesday...

It was a little cooler today, which made our work a little easier. Many of us were rained on at lunch. It rained several times today - down pours - but they didn’t last long.

Beki demolished more computers and they got rained on during lunch. Beki’s discovered that she really likes the crew she’s working with now that she’s gotten to know them. Steven spent the entire day taking apart computers. While it was interesting on Monday, it’s getting a little mundane. He says it’s not hard, so he really can’t complain. Beth says today was kinda boring. They were at a food pantry sorting and moving boxes of food. There was a bit of excitement though. There were some mice in one of the boxes and they let them go. As they were scurrying to freedom, The supervisor at the food pantry wanted them killed so Dan tried to help out by stomped on one. Dan is looking forward to tomorrow when people come in and get the food from the pantry. He says the Mel Trotter ministry is amazing, you can look forward to hearing him talk more about it on Sunday. Madelyn says sorted more cans put donated Panera breads, bagels and pastries into bags to hand out. She also sorted donated Godiva chocolates to be shipped somewhere. She doesn’t know where. Breana says she painted, yet again. She painted more walls at the thrift store. She thinks they are almost finished but the paint dried funny so they have to go over what they did. Marilyn painted most of the day as well. She worked with some girls from Illinois and painted a long hallway. When they were finished, they were going to wash windows but it started raining so they spent some time with the residents, particularly with a man named Bob who had dementia. Michelle says she sorted books all day. Hannah says she weeded, the same as yesterday. When it rained in the afternoon she was treated to some ice cream! Nancy continued moving things out of and sorting things from the maintenance building at Rest Haven. The maintenance building is being converted into a woodworking shop for the residents to be able to use. Amanda says first off she weeds and the weeds were taller than the tall kind of flowers. After lunch they tore up glued down carpet. The glue was so thick at times they pulled up the tile underneath. Allie says she pulled weeds, removed bushes and trimmed trees – lots of landscaping!

This morning and this evening Hannah and Dan were the song worship leaders for our program times. This evening, their rendition of “Trading My Sorrows” got the kids so joyful they actually started a mosh pit! This evenings program included a reminder of the crucifixion, it was a vivid reminder of how we are connected to him~ we are the vine and we are the branches.

I’ve been really loving our evening church group devotional times. In the evenings the kids are really opening up, not afraid to share their true feelings with each other. We’ve had some eye opening and amazing discussions.


Thanks again for all your support!

Tuesday Night

Hey everybody, we’re still here! No one’s gotten hurt and everyone is having a great time. We are working hard each day at our sites. Today’s work was much the same as yesterday’s work. Today, though was a little warmer and a little sunnier. So those of us working outside were a little bit warmer (OK, a lot!) Nancy and Marilyn’s crew continued to pull weeds, clean out the maintenance barn, and paint hallways at Rest Haven. Beth made a new best friend while she was weeding. She and Dan did landscaping at a new house today. Allie cut down a tree, weeded , moved plants, made a fountain, cut bushes, and ate mulberries off the tree in the backyard of the house she was working at. Allie was happy that they trusted her with clippers again and she’s the ‘clipper queen.” Hannah did more landscaping and pulled weeds at the same house as she was yesterday. Beki and Steven’s crew’s took apart more computers. Amanda pulled up lots of carpet in lots of rooms and she got her shoes stuck in the sticky carpet afterwards. She also got to play uno and have an ice cream social with the residents of the nursing home she was working at. Breana got to paint walls today instead of the floor at the thrift store. Unfortunately, they had also painted them yesterday, but they realized today it was the wrong color so they had to redo them today. Michelle sorted movies and spoke with a woman who said she thought what the youth was doing was good. Madelyn sorted more can, (AGAIN!), but then sorted banana peppers and filled bags with cereal at the food pantry.

I haven’t mentioned this but we’re really grateful for the showers. We shower at the YMCA, which is within walking distance of the church where we are staying. It’s a really nice facility. Some of the kids are especially excited that it’s attached to Mars Hill Church. This is the church where Rob Bell preaches. The kids had been watching his Nooma videos all year on Wednesday evenings. We’re still hoping for a Rob Bell sighting!

The organization that we’re working with does something a little during the week. On Tuesday nights they give you the entire evening off. Once our workday was finished, we showered and headed towards the city of Grand Rapids. After driving around a bit, we stopped for dinner. As we were eating, the weather started looking pretty bad, so we changed our plans to walk around and decided to go to a movie. Just as we had to leave the restaurant, it started POURING rain. We had to run to the car, which wasn’t really that far but we got totally soaked!

We all enjoyed seeing Pirates of the Caribbean before heading back to the church to get ready for bed. We had a great day today!

Monday Night

We had our first day of work today! For me, it was a unique experience working with in a team/crew of youth other than youth from Geneva. I think this experience helps the kids become awesome Christian leaders and servants.


Madelyn says she sorted food at a food pantry today. Beki says she demolished computers today. Steven says he broke down computers into their specific parts and it was fun tinkering. He also said the youth had to work together sometimes when a part was particularly difficult to get out. Breana painted walls today and sorted books. Beth weeded and planted in the hot sun and she thinks she got a rash or something from some sort of plant. It’s ok though. Dan was excited to find that his job today consisted of landscaping, something he knew just a little about. Nancy and Marilyn helped clean out a maintenance barn and then Nancy weeded the rest of the day while Marilyn painted a hallway. Amanda says she washed wheelchairs, and you wouldn’t believe how disgusting they are! Michelle (yes she IS here on this trip, I’m sorry I left her out yesterday) sorted clothes all day and met a woman named Eileen who is a Tigers fan. Hannah and Allie worked at the same site as Beth ~ they raked and pulled weeds and gardened and other stuff.

Our devotional this morning was about being judgemental. It made a lot of sense to us and led into an evening program about labels. Labels we give ourselves and well as labels others give us. We had an amazing youth group devotional afterwards where we really opened up to each other. God’s light shined through all of us as we encouraged each other and supported each other.


Thanks for your continued prayers! God is most definitely here with us!

Grand Rapids Sunday night

We’re here! We’re staying at Zion Reformed Church in Grandville with about 108 other missionaries. It’s a little warm right now, but we’re hoping it will cool down as we try to sleep.

After we arrived and settled in, the adults met to hear about how the week was going to go. We also have a student leader, Allie, who will be helping Dan and Nancy keep everyone together and focused. After dinner and some free time, we met for “program” time. The youth helped to lead us singing some awesome praise songs. Hannah helped lead with her guitar. We met our work crews and found out our work assignments for the week.

We’ve all been placed into work crews. Dan and Beth are together with another adult and 3 other kids doing home repair, cleaning and landscaping this week. Nancy and Marilyn are in a crew with 4 other kids and will be working at a nursing home doing some clean-up, painting, gardening and spending time with the residents. Beki and Steven are in separate crews but will be working at a place dismantling computers and maybe landscaping and gardening. Hannah’s crew will be working at some people’s home painting and doing yard work and then ending her week visiting a nursing home. Breana’s crew will be working at a thrift store and painting the basement. Madelyn’s crew will be working at a food pantry all week. Allie’s crew will be visiting various homes for painting and yardwork. Amanda’s crew will be working in a thrift shop this week.

Within each crew, each person also has a role to play. We picked our roles tonight, more about that later.

So far they have already made new friends with people from other churches. Some girls even ate dinner at another church table. I’m always amazed at how friendly and warm and welcoming our youth are at these mission trips. They are usually the first ones to approach different church groups and include them in their activities. They certainly are showing Christian hospitality with everyone they’ve encountered today.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this week. We’ll have some challenges and be out of our comfort zones in some situations. I’m sure the Holy Spirit will be with us the whole way, helping to guide us and working through us to serve Him. We ask you to pray for us that we may grow together in Christ this week, and also that we are able to sleep…..

Blessings, and thanks again for your support.

Nancy and Dan

PS. Internet connection is very sketchy. Not sure if we'll be able to post pictures. Dan can probably send them to Cindy to put on the Geneva Web Page.

Ouch

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I had a humbling experience yesterday. While walking a dog I slipped on the ice and fell, face first, into some crunchy-icy-snowy-hard-sharp stuff.

My first thought was, “Is anything broken?” After all, I’d fallen pretty hard and I’m getting kind of old. Although parts of me hurt a lot (knees, wrist, nose, face) I didn’t think there were any major damages. I was also concerned that my glasses might have broken – they were covered with snow and ice.

My next thought was, “Did anyone see me do that?” I mean, come-on. I must have looked absolutely ridiculous falling on my face like that. How do you fall on your FACE anyway? Weren’t my arms strong enough to hold my head up? I really have no idea. It all happened so fast. But I was hoping that no one was around to have laughed at me.

So I pulled myself together and started slowly walking back home, my knees and face throbbing the whole way. When I got to the door, it was locked and I had to ring the doorbell for Hannah to answer. She took one look at me and thought I needed to go to the hospital! My nose, unbeknownst to me, was all bloody (on the top); I’d smashed it up a bit and scraped it pretty badly. I hadn’t cleaned off my glasses yet. They were a bit askew with ice and snow still sticking to them.

Well, after a few minutes of cleaning up and rechecking injured areas, I knew I was OK. I put some ointment on my nose to help stop the bleeding and took some aspirin for the aches I was sure to get from the fall.

I was bruised. Not just physically, but my ego as well. No one likes to fall. After all, I’ve been walking for a long time - probably 46+ years. (I’m not really sure exactly when I started walking as a child.) I felt stupid for losing my footing. I thought I should have known better.

With some time to think about the whole experience, of course, I remembered that accidents happen. Things aren’t always our fault. Sometimes life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. We stumble and fall then we get back up and learn from our experiences. I will look to the ground now when I’m walking in the winter.

But you know I’m not just talking about walking. I’m talking about my day-to-day life. I make mistakes; I falter. I ask my God for forgiveness, I think about what I could have done differently, I thank Him for his presence in me and I start a new day knowing that I am forgiven and renewed in Christ.

I also noticed through my icy experience yesterday that humility and thankfulness seem to go together. While I was humbled by my fall, I was also quite thankful that nothing was broken – my glasses remained intact, no bones were fractured. I was truly grateful at that moment.

In the scripture above, the apostles are not telling us to, ‘be humbl’ or to ’be thankful.’ They are telling us ‘to do’ not ‘to be.’ We can’t just ‘be.’ First we have to ‘do.’ In doing, you will eventually be. Every day, there are opportunities to humble ourselves. You don’t have to fall to be humbled. It's a choice we can make whenever we feel that we may not be getting our way. Humbling ourselves is as simple as making the decision to not be prideful. The more we do this, the easier and more natural it will become until, at long last, we will be humble.

Giving thanks is also a conscious decision we need to make daily. We need to thank God for the abundant and rich blessings in our life. Think about all the blessings you have received from Christ and take a moment to truly appreciate each of them. In time, we will evolve from someone who gives thanks to someone who is truly thankful.

My hope for you is not that you slip on the ice and fall on your face. My hope is that when you do fall, you can learn from it, be humbled and give thanks. My hope is that you make a decision each day, whether you fall or not, to humble yourself and thank God.

A New Year's Goal

Many people think there are two types of people in this world – proactive and reactive – those who take responsibility for their lives and those who blame. I learned this summer that there are really three types - those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who say, “What happened?”

As you start this new year, I’d love for you to try to be one of the people who makes things happen. We learn about what it means to be a Christian. We read what the bible tells us we should do. We hear about people who have made a difference and listened to God. Strive to be one of those people. Put your words and your thoughts into action. Do something! Make things happen!