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?