New
Life News – April 2008
(A
monthly publication of the New Life Emmaus Community)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT : Please forward items that you feel might be appropriate for this section to Rakbuck@flash.net . This month’s Food for Thought is an anonymous entry entitled “Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?”
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly
advertised for hired hands. Most people
were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic.
They dreaded the awful storms that
raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and
crops.
As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the
farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little
man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the
farm, busy from dawn to
dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed,
the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the
hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook
the little man and yelled "Get up! A
storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind
blows."
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for
the storm.
To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the
barn, the chickens were in the coops,
and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured.
Everything was tied down.
Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also
sleep while the wind blew.
The
Moral to the Story
When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?
The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.
We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to
understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.
NEXT
GATHERING - The
April Gathering will take place at 7:00pm this coming Tuesday, April 15th at Universal
City UMC. Join us for an evening of fun
and worship. Directions: Take the
Pat Booker Road Exit off I-35 and proceed south toward the Randolph AFB Main
Gate. Turn left on Villa Dr (in front of
Long John Silvers). Go one block and
turn right on North Blvd. Proceed east
on North Blvd to the corner of North Blvd and Winn Ave.
2008 GATHERING SCHEDULE :
April 15 Universal City UMC, 90
Winn, Universal City, TX 78148 210-659-5555
May 20 New Braunfels 1st UMC,
572 W San Antonio St, New Braunfels, TX 78130 830-625-4513
June 17 Alamo UMC, 4071 Foster,
SA, TX 78244 210-661-6265
July Joint Gathering: TBA
August 19 Schertz UMC 3460 Roy Richard
Dr (3009), Schertz, TX 78154
September 16 New Hope UMC, 10155 Old Cimarron
Tr, Converse, TX 78109 210-658-1220
October 21 Bethany
UMC, 4102 Eisenhauer, SA, TX 78218 210-655-5473
November 18 TBA
December (no gathering scheduled)
If your
church/community is interested in joining the New Life Emmaus community for
Northeast San Antonio, please contact the Lay Leaders to be added to the 2008
listing.
LOCAL
CHURCH GATHERINGS :
We are posting the day & date of local church gatherings
in the newsletter to invite others to come.
Please update this information by replying to this newsletter if your
church changes/cancels your meeting.
Local Gatherings scheduled:
Alamo UMC: 2nd Sunday of every month, 12:15 pm, pot luck.
First UMC New Braunfels: 4th Tuesday of every month, 7 pm.
Northern Hills UMC: Last Monday of every month, 7 pm.
Schertz UMC: 1st Tuesday of every month, 7 pm.
St Andrew's UMC: Fridays, quarterly.
Universal City UMC: 1st Sunday, every even month 7 pm – Next
Gathering will be in June.
2008
WALK SCHEDULE :
Walk# Dates Lay
Director Site
1445W Jul 10 –
Jul 13 Mary Robertson Mt Wesley
1468M Oct 16 –
19 Rick Bernhardt Mt Wesley
NEW
LIFE BOARD MEETING :
The New Life Board will meet on Sunday April 13th
at 2:00pm at Schertz UMC. At this
meeting we will discuss our 2009 Walk request and select Lay Directors for our
2009 Walks. All local church Lay
Directors and Board members are highly encouraged to attend. Any member of the community is welcome to
attend.
ALERT
: To All Individuals Living In The
Schertz/Universal City/Cibolo Metro Area
Information
just received is that the gang MS-13 is currently initiating new gang members
and an incident has already occurred. Please share with all your friends. The
initiation is as follows, several gang members are in a car and do a slow
moving tap (accident bump) to your car as you get out to investigate they shoot
you. This is not a joke. If you are involved in a minor accident I strongly
recommend you go to a well populated area or lit area if at night and call the
police. If any additional information is put out I will share it with you.
Garry W.
Noegel
Chief of
Police
Schertz-Cibolo-Universal
City ISD
1060
Elbel Rd,
Schertz,
TX 78154
Office:
(210) 945-6190 Fax: (210) 945-6193
Email: gnoegel@scuc.txed.net
www.scuc.txed.net
KAIROS : Kairos
Prison Ministry, Briscoe #3, takes place April 3-6, 2008. If you will pray during one, or more, of the half hour prayer vigil time slots listed below, please contact bwoolley@gvtc.com and indicate which dates and
time slots you will cover. The vigil begins at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday,
April 3, 2008, and ends at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 6, 2008. Please forward
this prayer vigil request to others who may wish to support this ministry in
prayer. “…whoever brings back a
sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death…” James 5:20
IHS, Bill Woolley
TIME SLOTS TO BE FILLED (Example
Note: 8PM = praying the half hour time slot from 8:00 PM until 8:30 PM)
Thursday, 4/3/08:
7PM, 7:30PM, …11:30PM.
FRIDAY, 4/4/08:
00AM, 00:30AM, 1AM, 1:30AM, 2AM, 2:30AM, 3AM, 3:30AM, 4AM, 4:30AM, …10AM,
10:30AM, 11AM, 11:30AM, NOON, 12:30PM, …2:30PM, 3PM, 3:30PM, 4PM, 4:30PM, 5PM,
…6:30PM, 7PM, …8PM, …10:30PM, …11:30PM.
SATURDAY, 4/5/08:
00AM, 00:30AM, 1AM, 1:30AM, 2AM, 2:30AM, 3AM, 3:30AM, 4AM, 4:30AM, …6AM,
…7AM, 7:30AM, 8AM, 8:30AM, …10AM, 10:30AM, 11AM, 11:30AM, NOON, 12:30PM, 1PM,
1:30PM, …2:30PM, 3PM, 3:30PM, 4PM, …5PM, …6:30PM, 7PM, 7:30PM, 8PM, ...9PM….
SUNDAY, 4/6/08:
00AM, 00:30AM, 1AM, 1:30AM, 2AM, 2:30AM, 3AM, 3:30AM, 4AM, 4:30AM, …9:30AM,
10AM, 10:30AM, …NOON, 12:30PM, 1PM, 1:30PM, …2:30PM, 3PM, 3:30PM. END
(A4)
PRAYER REQUESTS
: In order
to provide timely response in this area, we request that you forward any prayer
requests that you have by “reply” to this letter. Those requests will be sent out VIA immediate
distribution to all members of the New Life e-mail chain. Please continue in prayer for
Walk 1438 as the team and pilgrims deal with the death of a young pilgrim named
Liz early Friday morning at Mt Wesley.
PRAYER
VIGILS :
If you are a Prayer Vigil coordinator for your local church, don’t hesitate to
reply to this email if you are having trouble filling your requests. We’ll put out an e-mail alert and get them
filled ASAP. If you have questions
contact Joanne Lawrence at Granny9001@hotmail.com
.
NEW
LIFE WEB SITE :
Check it out at http://www.gbgm-umc.org/newlife-sanantonio
.
PUN OF THE MONTHJJJ :
Courtesy of Neil Bys
Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception
was excellent.
CLOSING THOUGHTS : “Apache Seasons of Life” sent in by Phill Swinney
There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his
sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest,
in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in
summer, and the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what
they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so
sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with
fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The Chief then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had
each seen but only one season in the tree's life.
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,
& that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that
come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are
up.
If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the
beauty of your summer, and fulfillment of your fall.
Moral:
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Live Simply.
Love Generously.
Care Deeply.
Speak Kindly.
Leave the Rest to God.
Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keep You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only God keeps You Going