PRETTY WOMAN

Plans for UMW Annual Meeeting have all been put into place. Registrations have been confirmed by Registrar Vicki, food orders have been turned in, and hotel rooms have been booked. Gail has all of her ducks, or shall I say barbeque, in a row and we are ready ladies!
Two years ago we found ourselves second guessing the decision to hold this event WAAAY DOWN in Poplar Bluff. "It's so far. No one will want to travel that far for a meeting," we all whispered. We wern't even quite sure how to pronouce the name of the place. But, we went ahead, on Faith of course, and we began the planning work.
Well, guess what. It appears that we will have a record crowd down there! Over 250 women, men, and children have registered. CHARLES BUCK look out! Here we come.
Oh, and this meeting will be my "Last Hurrah", so to speak. Mabel Unser will be installed as 2010 President of the Conference. Sometimes, I can't believe it's only been four years and other times these four years have seemed so short.
Now, here's a thought for you all.I sincerely believe that all the members of United Methodist Women are beautiful. Yes, they are. When I look out at any gathering of our Mission Warriors, I see beautiful women. I see thoughtful,caring, and loving women. OUR members think about others, they care about what happens to all of God's children and above all they love their God. Those things make them beautiful beyond words and appearance. Now sometimes, we get a little less pretty. We get fussy and prickly and we bicker about all kinds of stuff. But, then we get down to the Purpose of this organization and our beauty always shines through.
Blessings Beauties.

What's cookin?

Have you seen the curent movie "Julie and Julia"? Basically, it is a clever combination of two stories of two women. They never meet, but Julie tries to put purpose to her life by spending one whole year creating the recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.
I enjoyed the movie so much that I purchased a copy of Julia Child's book. I wanted to cook the infamous Beef Recipe from the movie. However, my cooking skills are such that I first had to buy a proper pan to cook the durn thing in. But VOILA'! I did it and it was tasty. Now, I can't wait to try other new recipes.
Why, I am telling you this? Well, because I think it is important that we, as Faithful Christians, try new things. Are you in a rut and always doing the same thing? (Cooking the same recipes, planning the same meetings, following the same worship service format, singing the same hymns....over and over) BTW, did you know that the Doxology may be sung to the tune of "Hernando's Hideaway?" OLE'!
Bon Appetit, mes amis! Get creative! Do something out of the ordinary. Try a Souffle' instead of that boring meatloaf! How about helping the congregation learn a new hymn? God knows that it might wake a few people up in that meeting or that worship service.
Let me know what you serve this week. Adieu.

Singing Sewer Man

The Singing Sewer Man (aka my spouse of 44 years, Scott) left for Korea yesterday afternoon. The Kansas City Chorale was invited to represent English speaking choirs at the Inchon Choral Festival in South Korea.
When the dates were set for the trip, I began to make all kinds of plans of stuff to do while he was gone.
Numero uno on my list was to re-do(strip wallpaper, prime and paint)our bedroom.I bought the paint, the primer, a new bedspread and shams. Then, I intended to finally sort through my tons of UMW paper and get ready to ship the important stuff to Miss Mabel Unser. And,I wanted to work a couple of days at my day job. Super plans, I thought.
Well, today I woke up with either a rotten cold, swine flu, or maybe seasonal allergies. Anyway, I can't breath. I feel really bad and I can't talk. Rotten isn't bad enough to describe how I am feeling.
Some wise woman once said, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." So the "best laid plans of mice and men..." and United Methodist Women, often get changed.
I'm not doing what I planned to do this weekend, but maybe I am getting some rest and relaxation that I needed. I read today. The Bishop's Daily Devotion Book is terrific. Right on in so many ways and the man can really put stuff into perspective.
I made it to the Della Lamb Community Services Board Meeting, and came away in awe of their Mission Work.
God is Good. His plans are best. I think he's trying to tell me something...I know he is.

In the Jungle, the mighty jungle......

Kearney First UMC has a beautiful new amendment to its worship space. Until now, our sanctuary has been what I would call a "multi-purpose room with an undesignated design". Now, with the addition of a larger chancel area and increased choir/praise music space, the "barn" really invites worship.
Our pastor, Fred Leist, finally has space to really move around and preach.(There is a legend that he once fell off the "one step" pulpit area, right into the middle of the congregation. Someone in the congregation yelled, "Safe." Fred bounced right up, straightened his specs and kept preaching. He didn't miss a word of his message. PTL)
The entire congregation is amazed at the diffence that one stained glass window,one stone wall,and some subtle color can add to a room. The space that used to be so cold and uninviting now has warmth, texture and depth.
We are truly blessed to have this new space.
Kearney FUMC is a lively, growing congregation. We strive to be friendly and welcoming to all. Our youth and children's ministries are thriving and we offer 3 Sunday morning worship services. Mission is alive and well at FUMC Kearney, and of course I have to add that our United Methodist Women groups are extremely active.

Visit the FUMC Kearney website to get a great look at our new space. Or better yet, visit us.

Patsy Cline

I awoke last night about 2:30 a.m. and just couldn't fall back to sleep. Your first thought is probably "those crazy old ladies in UMW are giving their infamous Queen a bunch of trouble again. Poor thing, she can't sleep." But, actually you would be wrong.The Queen has her own issues.
I lay there, kicked off the covers, pulled them back up, turned over and turned over again. Then, I finally decided to get up. It was no use trying to sleep. I was overcome by the things I should have said or writen, and what I could have done, but didn't.
I wandered around the house a bit, observed a large moonlit doe munching on my hostas, emptied the dishwasher and eventually opened my giant crossword puzzle book. After completing a puzzle or two, the yawns began to come.
Back in bed, I tried to get back to sleep, but again my worries were keeping me awake. It was then that I recalled who it was that could put me into a state of calmness that would allow me to relax enough to get back to sleep.
"God Will Take Care of You" if you only "Trust and Obey, for there's no other way". "What a Friend We Have in Jesus".
The next thing I knew it was time to get up. God is Good.

MO UMW makes Cinamatic History!!!!

"You ought to be in Pictures". We've made it to the Movies, gals. Check out our own Marvelous Max Marble's Mission Cast for Monday July 27, 2009. You will see yourself, our youth and our Study Leaders at our 2009 Cooperative School of Christian Mission.
It was a wonderful event and a BIG THANK YOU goes out to the dozens of men and women who worked so very hard to make this project extremely meaningful to our membership.
And, thank you Max Marble for giving us the Conference recognition and publicity we
so deservedly need. Max is one of UMWs most ardent supporters. He is always quick to give UMW credit for his passion for Mission. Max grew up a Missional environment and witnessed first hand the work of women missionaries who were supported by our gifts to Mission. We love you Max!
Now, it's on to Poplar Bluff and our Annual Meeting. Don't forget to come early for "Chat and Chew". Carol Renfro and the Program Committee have some wonderful plans. So, put September 27th on your calendar and get your car tuned up for the trip.

What is Mission?

It takes a lot of work to produce a School of Christian Mission. Most of the work responsiblity falls on the Dean, Assistant Dean, and the Mission Team of the Conference United Methodist Women. Between today and Sunday afternoon, there will be buckets of sweat and a few tears shed as we work very hard to make this event pleasurable and meaningful for the 300 plus atendees.
There will be lots of talking about Mission this weekend. Mission to the people of the Sudan and to Native Americans. Those are two of our studies this year.
The third study, our spritual growth study, emphasizes Food and Faith. We'll look at food....from manna in Exodus to the loaves and fishes in Matthew. Our Faith is tied to our Food. Of course there will be a lot of food eaten in the CMU cafeteria.
Oh, and we have a group of ladies who do "hands-on Mission" while we are in Fayette, with their sewing projects. The leader of the Youth and Children's Schools have planned a visit to the local food pantry.
But, Cooperaive School of Christian Mission is mostly about Mission to ourselves, the participants. CSOCM is a time of learning and renewal of our Purpose and Spirits. It's a lot of work, but it's a whole lot of fun.
There will be so much laughter this weekend that CMU will be transformed. God has a marvelous sense of humor.....or he wouldn't have made us crazy Methodists!