New
Life News – February 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 “God Lives Under the Bed”
I envy Kevin. My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night.
He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, "Are you there, God?" he said. "Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed..." I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.
He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.
I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? He is up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed.
The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.
He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores.
And Saturdays-oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. "That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Fri day nights.
And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.
His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.
He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God. Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care
Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God. And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.
And you know what? Kevin won't be surprised at all!
NEXT GATHERING : The monthly New Life Gathering will
take place at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, February 19th at
2008 GATHERING SCHEDULE :
February 19 Bracken UMC, 20377 FM 2252,
March 18 Northern Hills UMC, 3703
April 15 Universal City UMC, 90
Winn,
May 20 New Braunfels 1st UMC,
June 17
July Joint Gathering: TBA
August 19 Schertz UMC 3460
September 16 New Hope UMC, 10155 Old Cimarron Tr,
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
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:
First UMC
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
WALK
NEWS :
Walk 1445 – We had their first team meeting today. Please be in prayer for our walk and start working early on those pilgrim applications. Help us make it the best walk ever for the pilgrims!
Mary Robertson, Lay Director
830-609-7665
Calling All Future Lay Directors : The New Life Board will be tentatively selecting our Lay Directors for 2009 early in April. Additionally we will start to chart out potential Lay Directors for 2010 and 2011. If you have expressed an interest in being a future Lay Director, even if you are not sure about 2009, please make sure you get your Lay Director interest form turned in to our Board Rep no later than the end of March 2008. Forms can be downloaded from the New Life WEB Site at http://www.gbgm-umc.org/newlife-sanantonio/forms.htm
EVERYDAY-USE TIP OF THE MONTH : ATTORNEY'S ADVICE – NO CHARGE
A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company.
1. Do not sign the back of your credit
cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED"
2. When you are writing checks to pay on
your credit card Accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the
"For" line; Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit
card company knows the rest of
the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through
all the check processing channels won't have access to it.
3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone.
If you have a P.O. Box use that instead of
your home address. If you do not have a P.O. Box, use your work address.
Never have your SSN# printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary but if you
have it printed, anyone can get it.
PUN OF THE MONTHJJJ :
Courtesy of Neil Bys
A group of chess
enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing
their recent tournament victories. After
about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to
disperse. "But
why," thy asked, as they moved off.
"Because", he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in
an open foyer."
WORTHY OF YOUR CONSIDERATION : From Bill Woolley - Hi, all you animal lovers. This is pretty simple. Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute (really) to go to their site and click on the purple box "fund food for animals" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know. http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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 be in prayer forJiml
and Sue Lloyd of UCUMC in the loss of their son Scott who went on to be with
the Lord after a long battle with cancer……
Ross Hoover is finally out of ICU as of tonight (Friday) and in room
252 (NE Methodist.) He is very tired and any little effort tires him out.
But he is improving and the doctor said he will remain in the hospital probably
for another 3 or 4 days. Thank you for
all of your prayers. I nearly lost him this time. It will be a while
for recovery. He sends his love and thanks for all the prayers that have
gone up for him. Praise God! Pat Hoover…… I’d like to ask for prayers for
a friend’s nephew, Michael Durocher, who is on his second tour in
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
.
CLOSING THOUGHTS : “What Happens In Heaven” sent in by Bill Bennett
I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, "This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received."
I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.
Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.
The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them. "I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.
Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section," my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed "How is it that there is no work going on here?" I asked.
"So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments."
"How does one acknowledge God's blessings?" I asked.
"Simple," the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord."
"What blessings should they acknowledge?" I asked.
"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy."
"And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."
"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day." "If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world."
"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world!."
"If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare."
"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair."
Ok, what now? How can I start?
If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.
ATTN:
Acknowledge Dept.: "Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people to share it with."
Blessings with love.