The People of Saint Paul UMC

He Walks with Us
Nancy Schoen

(Jesus said) …And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 20b

A friend once asked me, “Did you ever leave the church in your early 20’s?” Emphatically, I replied I had not left the church then, when so many young people do, exploring and finding their own way in the world. In fact, had it not been for the church, I would not have even made it through my early 20’s!

The March day started like any other, when I was in college at UNL. I don’t recall what set me off, but having recently been jilted by the guy I had been dating didn’t help. After my morning classes, I came back to my room, and cried and cried. Couldn’t stop crying, in fact. Eventually, I made my way over to Wesley House and Daphne, the intern, sat with me. She got me an appointment that same day to see a psychiatrist at Student Health, who diagnosed clinical depression and put me on medication.

I continued counseling sessions with Daphne, and each morning, decided this was not the day I was going to drop out for the semester. I wasn’t sure I would make it to the end of the semester until I walked out of my last final in May.

I took a year off from UNL, worked full-time the next school year, and then was ready to resume classes to finish my degree.

My faith definitely helped me through the depression, knowing God was with me all along. I praise God I was raised in a faith-filled family, and I truly believed it saved my life all those years ago.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for those who have helped me on my faith journey. Bless them as they have blessed me.

Things I Learned from My Father
Clarice Schmidt

I know Christ walks with us….I learned from my father’s example at a very early age.

It was evident that he was a very devout Christian who patterned his life after Christ. I watched him enjoy people as he met them with honesty and integrity in his business. I watched him treat my mother, brother and me with great love and respect. His firm but kind discipline at home showed us his love in wanting us to be the best we could be in every situation we encountered. If we made mistakes in judgment, he helped us realize our mistakes and what to do to correct our actions and our thinking.

I listened to him sing hymns at home, at church and in solo parts in community chorus. He sang with such feeling. I knew he appreciated the fact that his talent was a gift from God and he wanted to share it with others. He taught us to be appreciative of our own talents and to share them with others.

He believed in helping those in need. One time I saw a Native American stop in his jewelry store to sell his handmade jewelry. My father gave him money because he was in need for travel. He showed us the importance of helping others even if you don’t know their name.

He taught us to pray by example. We always heard his prayers at meal time. He took us to church. He taught us the importance of family values. He loved little children and could usually get the shy ones to talk to him by teasing them and making them laugh.

He encouraged us to excel in our studies, to get as much education as we could, to always do our best and never give up.

I am lucky to have had him as my father. He died at an early age, but his love walks with me every day. What joy he gave me in showing me that CHRIST LIVES!

The Ever-Present God
Jane Rogers

He walks with us all the time no matter where we are or what we are doing. You can always talk to God through prayer or just talk to him as you are driving along or walking or whatever you are doing. He is always there. He is not there just in church or if you are praying or young. He is there as you grow older and if you are working out on the treadmill or driving down the street. Reach out to him for comfort and support. Have you ever thought when driving your car about Jesus being in the passenger seat? You will drive very safely to keep him safe.

On November 18, 2011, I had emergency surgery for a brain aneurysm which was discovered accidentally. Yes, that is only eight weeks ago as I am writing this. Believe me, as I was traveling down the interstate in an ambulance the night of November 17 to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, there were prayers by me. I did not know what was going to happen; was I going to live or be impaired or be okay? God was with me to comfort me and give me courage. As I lay in Intensive Care that night at the hospital, God was there to comfort me. Two nurses were responsible for me all night. One of them was constantly checking on me. I did not have family with me that night in Omaha. My daughter had to make plans to go to Omaha the next day to be with me during surgery, but I had the peace of knowing that God was there with me. I was being held in his arms. What great peace comes when you know that God is at your side! You have to have faith to understand this.

At times I feel I can place my hand in his as he walks with me. He is there for comfort and support. Trust God to comfort you everywhere you are. Believe!

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for Thou art with me: Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Thin Places
Marilyn Moore

The Irish talk about the “thin places,” those times or events when it seems the distance between yourself and God is so thin that you can almost reach through, and literally feel the presence of God. I first read about this a few years ago, when our Sunday School class was reading The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg, a contemporary theologian. Then, a few weeks ago, Dr. Lux made reference to the same concept in his sermon. How could I live most of my life, never having heard of this wonderful metaphor, and then encounter it twice—I don’t know, but I love knowing it now.

The thin places—those times or events when you know you’re in God’s presence, when you think you could put out your hand and touch God’s hand. I suspect those moments come at different times for different people, and we may call them by different names. For me, those are the moments that are achingly tender, moments of joy or love or stillness or terror or weariness, moments when my very soul seems to be at the breaking point.

Sometimes those moments are in the midst of worship, perhaps because I’m more attentive. Sometimes those moments are in the midst of the busy-ness of daily work, when I pause to catch my breath. Most often, those moments are in the midst of times with those I love, or those I’m trying to love.

The season of Lent is the time of the year when we’re called to walk with Christ, to be aware of our own path, and to move our path to be closer to that of Christ’s. For me, it’s a time to be more deeply watchful for the thin places.

God Walks with Us
James J Millstead
Daily life gets cluttered, it’s a fact that makes itself very evident in my life. What do I need to do at work, when does my daughter have to be to her next event, and that strange feeling that I’m forgetting something important. Time for remembering that God is with us through every minute doesn’t always reach the top of my time list.

I have always been an early riser, I have found in the mornings over the years it’s easy to remember that God walks with us everyday. In my younger years I spent a lot of mornings getting up to either hunt or fish. I’ve seen some truly extraordinarily beautiful things that make God feel very close. Hundreds of Great Snowy Owls flying out of pine trees all around me, without making a sound. Almost stumbling over a new baby fawn whose mother had gone out to feed. Geese landing against the pink of a rising sun, jumping a coyote, or a pheasant on my walk to the lake. Hundreds of times I have just been awed by the beauty God has created.

As I’ve grown older and my responsibilities have changed, I don’t find myself in the field as much but, the miracles of the morning keep right on going. I n the last year, I have found myself face to face with four baby raccoons right off my front porch in the middle of town; seen deer wandering through my former Woods Park neighborhood, rainbows, auroras around the moon, shooting stars, and the list continues on and on.

God walks with us every minute of every day, his miracles are there to remind us we just need to look, enjoy and remember. If I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary on my daily morning outings, I always have the sunrise on my way to work to remind me God is always there in my life, and I take just a moment to thank him for it all.

A Passion for Mission
Tom Lamberson

Over the past several years I have had the opportunity to participate in a number of Saint Paul UMC Mission Trips with both adults and youth. Each trip has been a unique experience. Each in its own way has been a time to reflect and renew my faith.

Getting away from the day to day responsibilities of the office and having a chance to do something that is out of the routine is very refreshing. But spending those days doing things that are all about someone else is where I see God at work.

Seeing a truck driver being a counselor to those who have needs beyond the food and water he is delivering. Sharing time with our youth cleaning bathrooms and bunk beds and having them ask what else needs to be done is where I see God. Serving a meal for homeless men and hearing their stories is God at work. Sharing devotions and those times together where we are one with God and each other, helps me draw closer to God.

Through the years I have come to realize that the times that I am doing something for someone else is when I truly feel close to our Awesome God.

He Walks with Me
Keith and Lue Griffith

Dear Friends,

What a wonderful reminder: “He Walks with Me”! It has brought to mind thoughts we’d like to share with you.

We’ve had a long journey–80+ years. Through those years we’ve realized His Presence and our constant prayer has been, “Lord, show us the way”. And he has!

Six years ago He revealed to us that we needed to put our busy lifestyle behind us. He would take us on a new path. (It became a time for needed rest and making plans for an unknown future.)

Big changes came when we made Legacy Terrace our new home. It’s a lovely residence for Independent Living. The atmosphere is one of beauty, friendliness, caring, and security. Here our many needs are being met. For this we say, “Thank you, Lord!”

We are here because we need to be, for we both have health problems. We are learning about Alzheimer’s Disease and how to deal with it. Lue’s new role is as a caregiver. How we need Him!

With the change in lifestyle we’ve sometimes longed for the times when we served Him in many ways. We realize now that He is still by our side. We are learning patience and understanding. He has taught us that we can reach out to others with love and be channels of blessing. Most of all we have found peace, knowing that He walks and talks with us day by day!
Shalom,
Keith and Lue

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths”
Proverbs 3:5-6

Eternal Spring
Kay Kile

You will show me the path of life,
Abounding joy in Your presence,
The delights at Your right hand forever.
Psalm 16:11

Dear Jesus Christ, I thank you
For the beauty of the spring
For flowering trees and gardens
For song of bird on wing!

But most of all I thank you
For springtime in my heart;
For joy that lives forever,
Though earthly joys depart.

For hope of Life Eternal
That’s why my heart can sing–
Though winter comes to earth–
Up there will be Eternal Spring!
Alice Hansche Mortenson

He loves each one of us as if there were only one of us.
St. Augustine

He Walks with Us
Ruth E. Griswold
I sense that Jesus walks with us when:

people are giving generously to groups like the Back Pack
Program, Food Bank, etc
people visit shut-ins
someone shares a smile and/or a greeting with a stranger
people make hats, lap rugs, quilts, etc. for those in need
people pull together to help persons who have been injured, have a serious illness, or death in the family
people volunteer at kitchens for the hungry and homeless
youth and adults volunteer to go on mission trips in this country and other countries
people take those who can no longer drive to appointments
people volunteer to help immigrants learn English

Plus many more examples of people helping people.

We feel Jesus with us as we go about doing these and similar activities for other people.

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:37-40

A Holy Conversation
Stephen Griffith

In May 2009, I visited Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Built in 537 CE, this was the largest, grandest church building in the world, and the center of eastern Christianity for hundreds of years. Its name means “Holy Wisdom” (Proverbs 8). In 1453, Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks, and the great church was converted into a mosque. The Ottoman Empire was dismantled after World War I and when Atakurk established the modern state of Turkey, Hagia Sophia became a museum open to people of all nations and faiths.

While we followed our guide, other guides were speaking to other groups in German, Japanese, French, Farsi and a host of languages I could only guess at. Here we were amid hundreds of people speaking different languages and yet, at the same time, I experienced a deep sense of peace. In this vast space, with its soaring ceilings covered with magnificent mosaics and filled with a throng of tourists all talking at once, I was somehow aware of the voice of God, the sound of sheer silence. What came to mind was the opening of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Faith is a conversation with God. The Word – “Logos” in John, “Wisdom” in Proverbs – is in conversation with all creation and all living things. Christ is before all things and in all things, speaking us into being even amid all the cacophony of this crazy world.

After our guide completed his narrated tour I wandered through the immense space. It seemed a holy place indeed, filled with the prayers of many centuries. Off to one side I spotted a man leaning back against one of the giant columns, head bowed, eyes closed. With people all around he was not looking, not impatient, but still, and deeply present. I stood watching him and, in the silence of that moment, sensed the presence of God.