Gritty sand
Help me move this rock.
Tasting the salt of the earth.
Thirsty, but thirsty for what?
Cool breeze washes away sadness.
More light, but where is that star?

A clock set for Kabul time
Already tomorrow morning there.
Cold and snowy in Kabul now.
I carry a soldier, now,
In my pocket,
But also in my heart.

A map with notes and prayer requests
Asking for Peace,
For people and places
With no sacred spaces.

Where is that star?

by Katelyn

Join us on Super Bowl Sunday for soup, salad, and all the fixings.  We are going to have several more meals on Sundays to raise money for Mountain T.O.P. and other mission work.  Many thanks for the support our congregation always shows our UMYF.

Purchase your Flamingo Insurance Now!  Join Club 52!

Friends, you do not want to be caught without this important protection.  These flamingos can strike without warning, and if this happens to you, you will need the professional services of the UMYF to remove these pesky, plastic pests. For $1.oo a week, or $52.00 a year, you can purchase this important piece of mind. We offer a complete package of flamingo removal services including removing the flamingos and, well, just that. If these terrible hot pink birds invade your yard, call the UMYF Flamingo Removal Professionals at 615-403-8455.  For our especially environmentally conscious customers, we will remove the flock to the ecosystem of your choice.

As the youth were setting up this station, three deer were grazing in the playground. The kids were thrilled to see these graceful creatures, always reminders that even in our highly developed city, peaceful, beautiful, wild animals might appear, always reminders that God is the Creator.  But it was hard to see the stars.  So it was not clear what we should do.

How can anyone follow a star, if the sky is overcast?  What does it mean to follow Jesus when things are not clear? And what does it mean to follow a star in the 21st century? With our modern technology, scientists can see distant galaxies, planets similar to ours, and detect the evidence of black holes. We can look at these pictures on tiny phones that we carry in our pockets.  Yet, finding the star that God is calling us to follow is not as easy.  In fact, our technology may make it even more difficult to find our way. But certainly God is calling us on a journey. How should I follow God today?  How should Hickory Bend follow the star?  Where will it lead us?  What gifts do we bring?

As we pack up the sacred space on Awakening to an Epiphany, we can remember to carry the light with us.  Those of you who traveled through the sacred space are carrying a soldier with you.  You have put Kabul time and weather on your phone. You are listening for a bell and remembering that as the People of God, we exist, like the clapper of a bell, between our earthly homes and our heavenly home. You are returning, as the Wise Men returned by a different path.  You have been invited to return with a bag of food for the poor. You have tried to return to your own fields, like the shepherds, rejoicing and praising God for all that you have seen and heard.You have thought about the things in 2012 that you can give up and other things that you can increase.

So carry the light with you.

And follow that star. The star is certainly there, and God is certainly guiding us.  So often, on my own, life is so difficult and my path is so hard to find!  Then we gather to worship.  When I am with you, the sky is bright with stars.  The clouds lift.  I find my path again.  I believe that together, we will find our way to return to our fields rejoicing and praising God.  Together we can return by a different route.  Together.

AWAKEN TO AN

Come to Hickory Bend UMC
605 Stewarts Ferry Pike
Nashville, TN 37214

Walk through a Sacred Space and into your own Epiphany.

Youth, children, babies, and adults are most welcome.

January 8-15, 2012
6:00-8:00 each evening

Spend a few minutes, an hour, a lifetime, or an eternity.
For more information call 615-403-8455.

Join us for Christmas at Hickory Bend UMC!

I am going to get organized.
I am going to be on time.
I am going to eat healthfully.
I am going to exercise regularly.
I am going to be more responsible about money.
I am going to stop wearing goofy clothes.

Now, why do I think this year will be different?

Because something is different this year.

Hickory Bend UMC is different.  We have always had a reputation of being a welcoming congregation with a giving spirit. This year, we have been called into new territory. We have come through a difficult year, and we have come through it richly blessed.  We usually form committees and study our ministry. We usually sign up for projects and plan our events. We usually put things on the calendar.  We continue to do this, but, this year is different. We can continue to plan, schedule, volunteer, and study.  But for about a year, we haven’t been able to some of those regular things. God has taken over our calendar.

On one hand, our congregation has been struck with many illnesses, surgeries, and hospitalizations that no one could have seen coming.  We are watching dear friends and long time members lose their health and even their memories. Some of our members have been hit with unemployment and underemployment. We couldn’t have anticipated that. Many of the pillars of the church, the people who have led the church through its toughest times are now, themselves, in need of the love and care of the church.  The people who have cared for us for so long, now need our care.  That is different.

On the other hand, God has brought us many new friends. We are constantly receiving new visitors with amazing gifts, and other with heavy burdens. Some of those are the same people. God is bringing us wonderful people to enrich and enlarge our congregation.  That is ongoing, but the needs and the gifts are new and different.

Brother Gary’s illness and the side effects of his therapy have hit him hard. His whole family has been turned upside down, first by the flood, and then right on the heels of that, a difficult diagnosis.  After years of not taking any time off, our SPPR strongly insisted he take some time to heal.  He reluctantly agreed.  That was different.

And the conference has certainly stepped up to help.  We are connectional ministry, and thanks to that, the district has sent us guest speakers, and now, Bob Lewis, who has already been a great blessing to us.  And he brought a whole pew full of people!

We are different. We have grown. We are learning how to take even better care of each other. We are learning how to step up to leadership in new and unexpected ways.

We could never have planned this. We could never have formed a committee to learn these things and prepare this things in case we ever needed these skills.  We had to be thrown into the middle of the deep water to find out we could swim.

But we have found that we can swim.  We are cleaning the church, and sending cards, and taking food, and calling friends, and praying for one another, and reaching out to new people. Hickory Bend is going to be fine. We have been well trained by Brother Gary and others before him.

This year is going to be different. We can learn from Mary to take the Good News for what it is. We can learn from her cheerful obedience. We can learn from Joseph to open our hearts to surprising and unexpected responsibilities. We can learn from the angels to proclaim the good news that Christ is here!  We can learn from the shepherds to respond with open hearts and go to visit the Christ child. We can learn from the Magi to bring our gifts.

So this year is going to be different. We can’t imagine today what challenges or opportunities may come. I want to say as clearly as possible, I believe in us as a church family.  We will make a way through this year’s challenges, no matter what may happen, so that we can open our hearts to the opportunities this year may bring.  We have no way of knowing now what we may need to do, but with God’s help, we can do anything we need to do together.   Thanks be to God. That is not different. God’s love is constant and His strength endures. What I see is a new willingness in us to follow the shepherds to the stable and see what the Christ child wants us to do.  So as we all must leave Advent and Christmas, and return to our work, and school, and responsibilities, let us all greet this New Year with the joy of the shepherds as they returned to the fields.

Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard.

For me, that would be different.

thinkBIG!

Join our UMYF group at Warmth in Winter!  WnW is the THE Tennessee Conference retreat for United Methodist Youth.  Great music, inspiring workshops, crazy dancing, and powerful worship.  Call Emalie for details 615-403-8455

Check it out on the official WnW website.

http://tnumcyouth.org/

This Christmas Eve, Summit Hospital will be almost empty.  The only people there will be patients in ICU, their families, a few families in maternity, and the faithful staff who work so hard to make sure they are given care. For several years, Hickory Bend has taken a holiday meal to Summit Hospital ICU on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Easter.  If you would like to be part of this ministry, speak to Jeannie, Gabby, or any of the Youth.  For more information, call 615-403-8455.