6 Days....The Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Awry...

But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

Still you are blessed, compared with me!
The present only touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects dreary!
And forward, though I cannot see,
I guess and fear!

(selection from, "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns)

 sad little mouse...reading the poem

".Still you are blessed...compared to me...the present only touches you...I backward cast my eye...and forward...I guess and fear"

This poem depicts the envy of a man toward a common mouse. He is saddened by his past, unable to stand his present and fearful of his future. His glass is quite definitely half-empty.

"The best laid schemes [plans] of mice and men go often askew..." Despite his melancholy outlook, he is right. Too often we make plans, as men or as women, and yet those plans do not come to fruition the way we dream. We know what we want and we try to manipulate life, people, situations, or standards to make our will win. But when our plans do not include seeking God's will, the outcome will generally be disappointing.

In the book of Jeremiah, the profit acts as a messenger for God to His people who are exiled in a distant land. Much of the book is sad, because Jeremiah has to tell the Israelites everything they have done wrong, but toward the middle of the book God gives the people hope. He says, "I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:10b-11) 

God tells the Israelites that He will rescue them. He already has a plan set in motion, they just need to trust Him.

The same goes for each one of us. God already has a plan set in motion for each one of our lives. A plan to bless us, to love us, to give us hope. In order to reap those blessings, we must live in God's will. We live in His will by seeking Him out every day of our lives: "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:12-13) He wants us to seek out His guidance. He wants us to seek out His plans for our lives. He wants us to seek Him out with our whole hearts; our whole lives.

But if we choose to set our own plans for the future, without seeking God's will, we will likely be like the mouse, watching our plans go askew (or just plan old badly).

We do not need to live like the Poet Robert Burns, saddened by the past, fearful of the future, and afraid of the present day's pain. We have the joy of knowing that God has good plans for us and He promises to fulfil those plans. He has them all laid out - and they are plans, "to give you hope and a future."

God has it all figured out - you just have to trust Him to lead the way.

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:10-14

Fun Fact...GUMY Memories Top Ten Countdown

#6....Seeing Jesus in the Mirror

On what was supposed to be a typical GUMY session we had been made aware of a conflict amongst some of the girls in the group and a new girl who had recently started attending. The long-term GUMYs were not being welcoming to the newcomer and myself and Libby (the other youth leader) decided we needed to have a lesson to bring to light some of the conflict - - showing all of the girls that Jesus is truly living inside of each of us.

To do this we had small handheld mirrors for each of the GUMYs that night and shared with them from 1 John 4: 19-20 about loving your sister/brother whom you see....During the lesson we told each one of the teens to look into their mirrors...and we asked them, "Do you see Jesus in that mirror?" One of the girls breathed on her mirror and then wiped the mirror on her pant leg before looking again. The image of her cleaning her mirror to search for Jesus was both inspiring and humorous. At the end of the day, Jesus does live inside of us once we accept the Holy Spirit...but sometimes the outside world has a hard time seeing him because our windows don't allow his light to shine through.

Question of the Day

What is your dream for the future?

(Dreaming is a good thing - God helps to reveal His plans for us by the desires He places on our hearts)

7 days....In Remembrance

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:17)

Today, September 11th, is a day of remembrance for our country. We mark a tragedy that impacted nearly every aspect of how we function. Prior to September 11th, we didn't have restrictions on what you could bring into an airport terminal, there were no blockades in front of the Capital Building, and we didn't even know what a Terror Alert was. But then September 11th happened, and though most of you are too young, or were not born when the planes went into the Twin Towers or the Pentagon or the brave people overthrew the terrorists and crashed the plane in a field in Pennsylvania, your life has been impacted by that day.

We remember the events of that day, but more we remember the brave acts of sacrifice by a few which changed the world.

When Jesus had the Last Supper with his disciples, he knew the significance and he knew that this meal would be one reenacted for generations. He knew that the symbolism of the broken bread and the cup of wine would be beautiful imagery for his broken body and his blood spilled in sacrifice for each of us.

Just like when we take moments today to remember those who sacrificed their lives for something greater on September 11, 2001, each time we take the bread and the cup we are reminded of the tangible sacrifice Jesus made for each of us on the cross 2,000 years ago.

The events of September 11th motivated many in our country to live better lives - to focus more on others and on service than on themselves.

The events of the cross were much more transformative. The cross isn't merely a motivational tool. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is life changing, because with his sacrifice, he made eternal life possible for all.

Remembering is important; it gives us a foundation from which to build - a touchstone for things in our lives. But remembering should motivate living. When we remember the sacrifice - we should be motivated to live life to the fullest making that sacrifice worthwhile.

Today is a day of remembrance - how will you honor the sacrifices made for you?

Scripture
Luke 22:7-38

Fun Fact...Top Ten GUMY Memories...
#7 .... GUMY Preview night 2011...
GUMY Preview is a night when 2nd & 3rd graders are invited to join GUMY for one night only. Last spring we had 18 total youth (GUMYs & preGUMYs) join us for the evening. The lesson was about building your spiritual house.

The kids were given various cookies, candies, sticks, frosting, etc. to build their houses out of..they were split into teams of 2-3 and given a time limit of 20 minutes. I was super impressed with all of the different structures, and was just a little sad when we brought in a rain storm and a wind storm to see how solid their houses were. (I had made my house out of tile and putty).

All of their houses were destroyed, with the help of my dad, Margie Hamler and Rikki Meredith, and we were left with a mess of sticky sweet building material all over the floor and only my tile house standing. The imagery of building your house out of the solid foundation of Jesus was simple. But what was amazing is the teamwork I saw across the various ages. The older youth nurturing the younger kids. Helping to move them on to a deeper relationship with Jesus.

Question of the Day
What one day do you have the greatest memory of?

8 Days....Loving your Frenemy....

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." (Luke 6:27)

Are there people you do not like? Maybe someone at school or a kid on your soccer team? Is there someone who has been mean to you; called you nasty names; picked on you? Do you have some one who falls into the category of enemy or frenemy?

I have people in my life who have hurt me. Some have hurt me through their words and some through their actions - - we all do. And it would be easy to turn one negative word or one negative action into another; to give what you get.

And if we are honest, we all probably have returned the hate someone has given to us back to that person tenfold.

But, we are called to be different. We are called to be Christians.

As Christians we are called to something higher something better something...we are called to be like Jesus.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenged common human beliefs - at the core of those human beliefs was "do unto others as they have done unto you". Instead Jesus taught us that we are to love our enemies...

He said, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31)

You wouldn't want someone to pick on you or to call you names. You wouldn't want someone to leave you out of a game or to ignore you at lunch.

You would want someone to say to you, "You are pretty." Or "You are kind." You would want to be included in the team or at the lunch table.

You would want to feel loved and to be loved.

"Do to others as you would have them do to you." Love your enemies - or your frenemies. Show them kindness. Show them that you are different in the very best sense of the world.

Instead of finding what separates you, find what pulls you together. Even the smallest of commonality can be a bridge to eternal love.

Love your frenemies - - it's not always easy - - but it will always be worth it.

Scripture (click below)
Luke 6:27-36

Fun Fact....Top Ten GUMY Memory...
#8 The first year I was a youth leader, we had four adult leaders and about three youth kids who were regular attenders. One of the other youth leaders discovered the 30HR Famine and thought it would be a good activity for the kids.

We had two eighth graders and one seventh grader and we proceeded to fast for 30HR at the church. Despite the hunger, we had a great time...but by the end of the 30HR we were supposed to break the fast with just beans and rice. One of the girls complained for the final two hours that she hated beans and she hated rice and she wouldn't eat any of it.

When we finally served the break of the fast meal, she licked her bowl clean. It no longer mattered what she was given to eat. She was just thankful for the food. It was amazing to see the transformation in just a few hours.

Of course, we ended the beans and rice with a junk food blow-out...but the kids didn't know that when they got their beans and rice!

Question of the Day?

What is your favorite frenemy relationship on TV?

9 days .... Watching the Commercials

"LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy...Answer me quickly, LORD...bring me out of trouble..."(Psalm 143:1,7,11)

"Answer me quickly..."

Isn't that what we want with everything in life? "Answer me quickly..."

Regardless of the question...and regardless of who we are asking...we want an answer, the answer we want to hear, and we want the answer quickly.

We do not want to wait for anything. We do not even have the patience to watch a commercial. We either flip the channel or we DVR the show so we can fast forward.

If we do not have patience to watch a whole TV program, our patience with God and His plans for our lives is probably pretty low.

But do not dispair, we are in good company...

King David, the man who God said was after His own heart, struggled with impatience for God to grant his desires. He wanted what he wanted and he wanted it NOW.

Sometimes David had a good purpose for his requests to God; And sometimes his motives were pretty selfish.

But even in the midst of his cries to God for mercy, to save him from his enemies and the struggles which surrounded him, David prayed, "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground." (Psalm 143:10)

David asked God to help him see God's will for his life. Even though David was desparate to be relieved of the pain and worry which conflicted him, he knew that God's will for his life was better than anything he could imagine. And David trusted in God's will.

Life is full of struggles. We want quick fixes and ready solutions. We think if God loves us He should give the desires of our hearts and He should grant those desires quickly.

But God works in a timeline beyond our understanding. His will is perfect. His will for your life is perfect - - and in times of struggle and pain you are right to pray for His mercy, but know that sometimes God displays His love by not giving us what we want.

Living in God's will for your life means developing the patience to allow God to reveal each step of your life's journey one step at a time...and sometimes that means having to watch all of the comercials.

Scripture

Psalm 143

Fun Fact - GUMY Memories...

#9 in the countdown of Top GUMY memories of all time...

In February 2002, we were preparing for our third 30HR famine and I hadn't been very faithful in promoting the activity. So about three days before the event weekend I prayed and asked God to send ten kids to the event for the weekend. I figured if each of the youth members who regularly attended brought one friend we should easily hit that number and have a good time with the event.

By 7:30 on Friday night, God answered by prayer...by four times. We had nearly 40 teenagers show up at the church to fast for 30 hours to raise awareness and money for kids around the world who were hungry.

I was humbled and completely in awe by what God did that weekend. And even more shocked Sunday morning, when a half dozen of the young people, most of whom had not gone to a church service before, came to worship with us and continued attending GUMC until they graduated and went to college four years later.

Question of the Day...

What was your favorite Super Bowl Commercial this year?

(Check this one out...It makes me laugh EVERYTIME!)

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