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!

Pittsburg High School Class of 1964

Scott and I are taking a day off from working on the preparation for Cooperative School of Christian Mission to travel "back home" to our High School Reunion.
Our class is very close and many of the original 193 graduates of that year will be there with us.
No one really famous graduated from PHS in 1964 (unlesss you count the Queen of MO UMW and her husband, the Grammy winner). But, in 1966, there was Bill Russell, of the L.A. Dodgers, and in 1959 or maybe it was 1960, Gary Zukav frequent guest on the Oprah Show walked down the aisle at the Pittsburg Municipal Auditorium.
But, we "64ers have been and continue to be a class of interesting citizens. Take Shurleen, for example. After an unfortunate marriage and lousy career choices in California, she reinvented herself and became a rural Kansan, with a new career as a travel guide and a new name. She is very happy as Jean Marie.
Then, there's Billy. He was a roadie for Rock Bands in the late sixties and experimented with lots of stuff we don't want to know about. Now, he is a highly respected High School Administrator with lots of awards and expertise in dealing with troubled youth.
And John, who started out working for the water department...digging ditches, no less, and he's now the City Manager.
We've got teachers, preachers, sports agents, and doctors. Lots of good solid average folk. I can't wait to see them. They won't have changed one bit since we saw them last. In my eyes, they will be forever young.

Ready for Cooperative School of Christian Mission?

It's July, once again, and almost time to hit the road to Fayette. I have been attending schools of Mission for a long time. Schools of Mission are an annual event in all of the UMW Conferences throughout the United States, but there are still many United Methodists who don't know a thing about them.
Our school is a cooperative one, which means that it is jointly sponsored by UMW and the UMC through it's Creative Ministries Team. So, why don't we have a ton more attendees? Beats me. But,I guess we aren't telling enough people the story of Cooperative School of Christian Mission.
Several hundred women, children, men and youth attend our Missouri Cooperative School each summer. We have a fantastic time. There are study groups, fellowship, great food, and exciting worship. This year we have a young new music leader and plenty of new songs to inspire and thrill our attendees.
Sometimes, "The Queen" even joins us. She last visited us in 2007. Perhaps she'll come again this year. Shari Habban is dropping by on Saturday. Several years ago a District Super dropped in. Oh, we ask a lot of other important people to come but so far they have declined. July is a really busy time of the year, I guess.
We are planning to host a missionary visitor this year and since one of our studies is on Sudan, we will visit with some Sudanese refugees, also.
Okay, so far as I can tell, CSOCM is the one of the largest gatherings of UM's on the yearly calendar. I'd like to make it the largest. Y'all come!