Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Fishermen Story is just the Beginning...

I was talking to my Associate Pastor, A.J., from my church back in Boone, NC and he was trying to plan his sermon for this past Sunday. I asked him what scripture he was using and he told me it was the scripture where Jesus calls the disciples and tells them they will now be fishers of men and women. A.J. and I think similarly about various things and this scripture seemed to be one such time. I read the scripture a few times and each time it just made me think about when I have answered Jesus when he has called me. It made me think about becoming a missionary. I denied that call towards mission work or ministry in general for a long time, but when it was finally time to make that decision it was rather easy. When I was asked to be a US-2, it never really crossed my mind to say no. I knew that the call was enough at that time and I was excited to "drop my nets" and head on the road with Jesus. He led me to this great place called Cunningham. I am forever thankful for Jesus for calling me here.

But I think there is so much more to the story and we get caught up on this one scripture and emphasize it so often. Once we have dropped our nets, started down that road with Jesus, things start to get hard. We never really knew what to full expect. People might try to tell you how things will be, but you never know how YOU will react. I think the disciples went through a "honeymoon" period with Jesus, where they were just so excited to be following this amazing man, and learning from him each day. But then after a few months things started to get a little harder. Jesus started to break even more of societies rules and teach about breaking all barriers and walls down. The disciples were only human and they had a hard time with this, they questioned Jesus and at times were afraid to be apart of it all. But somehow they pushed through and they knew Jesus was more than they could even comprehend. They kept following him, but it was harder each day. They witnessed miracles, but they still had moments of doubt.

I feel like I can completely relate to the disciples. Especially right now in my ministry at Cunningham. My honeymoon period here was wonderful, I thanked Jesus daily for blessing me with the words to speak to the kids, for the activities to plan, and for their wonderful participation and being good for me. I was just floating along, there were hard days, but things were good. Following that call had proved to not be so hard.

Then I left for a 2 week vacation to NC and upon my return, things were a little different. I have different groups of kids to work with each day, and they are testing my limits daily. Kids that were so sweet and nice to me before Christmas are now, have lots of moments of aggression towards their peers and towards me, they don't listen to me, and I am having a hard time finding activities that they will do. Things have been hard. It has been emotionally draining at times. In the midst of it all I have been struggling with other things on a personal level that I will share one day. Some involve whether I am being called to ministry past this 2 years. Even on the days I come home feeling defeated and not equipped for this job, I still know I will follow Jesus wherever he leads me. But I feel like a disciple, tired from walking that road with Jesus. I feel weary and I just need him to lift me up and let me continue on this road.

So I thank Jesus for calling me, I praise him for his unconditional love for me, I thank him for giving me the strength to go on each day and share his love with these kids. I thank Jesus for the opportunity to cast my net on these kids and scoop them up into the love of Jesus, because I know that other people threw them back after they caught them in their nets. These kids have been through so much, more than I will ever be able to grasp. These are the kids Jesus wants me to be with, and I will love them unconditionally no matter how hard it might be.

Jesus asked me to be a fishermen for kids:)

Jesus always taught his disciples & he taught me this week too. I taught a lesson on Jesus preaching in his hometown and how they bullied him and tried to kill him. So our lesson focused on bullying. I was so excited for the lesson and it went ok for the most part in my first group but at the end of the group 2 of my kids started bullying each other intensely and then others joined in. I asked them to remember what we had just talked about but they didn't want to hear it right then. I left the group feeling like I didn't get through to them.

I came back later in the day to drop some stuff off and I was filled with joy and hope. The staff, Kim, she told me that after I left she asked the boys if they felt like they needed to talk more about the lesson today. They all agreed that they did. They said what they needed to say to each other & they talked through their problems. They cried, staff & kids, over how they had all treated each other. They apologized. Their shared their love for each other. They felt like a family. When I saw the boys that afternoon, they were all smiles, getting along and excited to go sledding outside together.

You never know what God will teach you, you never know what seeds you will sow, and you never know what will touch these kids. I praise God for this!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

A Sea of Orange





I had a lovely time yesterday at the Illinois Basketball game! They played Wisconsin and won! Even though I will always be a UNC fan, no matter how far away I move, I got a ticket to go to the game, so I had to cheer for the home team. After the game we missed the bus so we had to walk for 45 minutes through campus, and we froze, but we at least got our exercise. Here are some pictures of us at the game, the crowd and the half-time show of Tumblers from Chicago.

Friday, January 23, 2009

A lot like me

I love this song! It's off the new Jill Phillips CD called Good Things. I just think it has a wonderful message. It got me thinking about this lesson I am teaching this week on Jesus beginning his ministry & goes back to his hometown. There was an activity in the book that I thought was great. It says to take strips of paper and make a paper chain, but on 2 of the sheets write times when others judged you or hurt you. Then on 2 other sheets write times when you judged or hurt others. Then you put them together in a paper chain. But you then take 2 cut outs of hearts and you write on each side, ways that you can live for God. Then you flatten the paper chain and shred the chain and put the remains inside the 2 hearts and tape it up. It is supposed to remind you that our past will always be with us and it is apart of us, but it is our choice on how we will go forward in our lives. Anyways, this song just reminds me how similar we all are, yes we have those small differences, but we have all experienced some sort of pain and have a story to tell. We just need someone to listen and to offer that safe space to share it. Listen to someone's story this week.

Sometimes I think you hesitate to say the way you really feel
Like there’s no way that I could understand where you are coming from
But if we could tear down these walls of bricks and mortar built with fear
I think we’d be surprised to find how small our differences become

We’re all in the same boat
Sailing on the same old stormy sea
If you look real close
You’ll find you’re a lot like me

We carry different burdens and we’re wearing different battle scars
If we both had our own way we would bury them forever
They give us different stories, how we came to be the way we are
Redemption is the common thread that binds them all together

We’re all in the same boat
Sailing on the same old stormy sea
If you look real close
You’ll find you’re a lot like me

Something about being vulnerable
Makes us think we’re setting ourselves up for pain
But you won’t find judgment in these listening ears
This is a safe place

So sit down for a minute and tell me what’s been going on

We’re all in the same boat
Sailing on the same old stormy sea
If you look real close
You’ll find you’re a lot like me

Thursday, January 22, 2009

A lovely prayer

I wanted to share this prayer that I enjoyed from the opening Inaugural Event. It actually was not aired on HBO as planned and there is a lot of discussion surrounding that on whether it was intentional or non-intentional. Either way I feel this is a prayer that does a good job of using inclusive language and being mindful of others backgrounds. Last night in Chapel we prayed for our new president and I am now going to reflect on this prayer below. Please join me in that.

By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire

Opening Inaugural Event
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
January 18, 2009

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Cunningham & This historic day

This was not written by me, but instead by a co-worker of mine, and I wanted to share it with you all. I think he says it well...

As I watched the Inaugural Celebration this weekend, I was moved by the sense of Hopefulness that I and so many others have been feeling since the election in November. It also reminded me of the parallels between the Hope that our new President has given us, and the Hope that we give to our young people on a daily basis. Consequently, it inspired me to write this unsolicited e-mail.

As an African American, and resident of this neighborhood called Earth; I now know what it is like, not to just have 80 or 90% pride in my country, but to finally know what it feels like to have 100% pride in a hopefully homogeneous nation, that has proven, that it is now ready to judge people solely on the content of their character. We are finally coming to the point where we can now “… recognize ourselves in one another…” And, subsequently, recognize and empathize with (the not so different) wants and needs of our clients. [How would we act, if we had to walk a mile in their shoes].

As a teacher and member of the CCH staff, I am reminded that a big part of my job is to have Hope for the future of our clients; but more importantly, to be a distributor of that Hope to all the little people (we work with), that have none. As a staff person, it is paramount for us to have “… common hopes”, along with “… common effort”.

Dealing out Hope for a better future, is one of the most important things we can do in this job (and in our personal lives). Sometimes this means working with clients who pose “… the greatest differences and the longest odds”, for any chance of success; and when you throw Hope out there, there’s never any guarantee that it’ll stick. But the success we have as a staff is never measured when change comes easy, but more often, it is truly measured, “… by the right we do, when the moment is hard.”

And if we don't do it… then who will?

Always keep a little Hope in your pocket, to share.

Glenn

This Historic Day


I have been up watching the Inauguration coverage already for a couple of hours. I am just so excited that this is actually happening! I am so proud of the U.S. right now. There are still many issues I have with problems in America but for this moment I am going to set them aside and bask in this historic moment. I am wearing my OBAMA shirt and celebrating from my apartment here in Urbana, IL. It's been such a year of change for me, for my other US-2 friends, and for our Country. Yesterday I went to a Unity breakfast to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and as I sat in a room with about 90% African American's and we sang Lift Every Voice, My Country Tis of Thee, and We Shall Overcome...I just smiled and tears came to my eyes that parts of Martin Luther Kings Dream had come true over the years and today even more so. His dream is alive and hopefully now will be reborn. I hope our country will continue this enthusiasm for Change, Hope and Service. Obama cannot fix it all, I know he will not. But I have hope our country can change, even if it is just through 1 person at a time.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Murder Mystery Fun:)


I cannot tell you how fun it was to have a 1960's Murder Mystery Dinner Party with all my friends here in Champaign-Urbana!!! There will be more pictures soon!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Women Weavers

I was reading a book celebrating Women in ministry and a female pastor from the NY Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church shared this:

"Women's hands bring wholeness and richness to ministry. they hold babies, spoons and needles; stroke fevered foreheads; clean what no one else wants to touch. They are hands that pray - in solitude and with the very old, the very young, and everyone in between. These hands serve the sacraments as a relational act, attending to the ties among people as well as to what ties the people to God...Women's hands have woven new patterns intot he cloth of the pastor's vocation. In this way we are truly people "of the cloth". Without the colors and the patterns that women bring, the cloth of ministry is not whole. Women's hands weave worship, always creating new sacraments and while celebrating the traditional ones."

I just thought it was a beautiful descriptions of women in ministry. I am really praying about the posibility of ministry in my future and this book has shared some wisdom with me. Plue I have the most amazing boss here at CCH, that has been a female pastor for 25+ years, and now is a Chaplain. So keep me in your prayers during this time of discernment of my call to ministry.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

5 lbs 6 ozs

Little baby Brooke was born into this world 23 years ago to the happy couple, Frank and Jill Newsome. I was their first kid, and my dad really wanted a little girl:) I am sure through the years I haven't always been such a little angel like I was on that first day when I entered into the world, but I bet I sure was cute that day. A lot has happened in 23 years, some I am proud of, some I would have done differently, some good times, some bad times, but over all it's been wonderful. I am thankful to ring in another year in my life:)

Sunday, January 4, 2009

I love my NC friends:)



I am so thankful to have such wonderful friends here in NC. They have supported me over the last 4 months through e-mails, prayers, letters, calls and much more. I love them and I am so glad I got to spend New Years with most of them and then hang out with more of them throughout this past week! I am so blessed:)