Overscheduled. Exhausted. Overwhelmed. - by Kim Metzer

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the staff here at DeWitt Redeemer takes turns writing a weekly entry.  It is our hope that by posting frequently our church family will come to look forward to the weekly entries, and even subscribe by email so that posts aren’t missed.  While we all have a common goal of serving God by using our talents at our local church, we are all very different!  We use the blog entries as another way for the church family to get to know us better and to communicate what God is laying on our hearts to say.  It is also our hope that if a particular blog post touches you, or gives you an aha! moment, that you’ll take a minute and leave a comment.

You’ll be hearing from, and seeing, me a lot in the upcoming weeks as we start to promote the upcoming Church-wide study of Simplify by Bill Hybels. 

 Overscheduled. Exhausted. Overwhelmed.

Sound familiar? Too familiar?

“By eradicating clutter from your inner world, you can experience immediate rewards: greater energy, clearer purpose, richer relationships and more.”

No matter what phase of life you’re in, the book has something for you!  Over-scheduling, Over-spending, Over-allowing toxic people in your life and Over-complicating your life can happen at ANY age!

We’ll be forming new small groups for the purpose of completing this four week study together.  This is a great opportunity to try a group on for size.  If after the study ends you and your group didn’t click, we’ll get you into another one.  If it’s a good fit then we’ll have message based weekly discussion guides available until we start another Church-wide study.  Another option is the website Right Now Media (www.rightnow.org).   Right Now Media is like the Netflix of Bible studies!  Contact me at the email address below to request your FREE subscription.

I’m looking forward to getting to know more of you in the New Year!  Keep reading the blog so you can get to know me and the rest of the Redeemer staff!

Contact me in the church office (517.669.3430 x116 or kim@dewittredeemer.org) for more information!

~Kim

Comfort Ye! - by Eric Snider

Below is a blog written by our congregation member Eric Snider:

I am doing my annual listen to Handel’s Messiah.  I was struck this year by the first words sung in the opening tenor recitative: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.”  Those are the opening words of Isaiah 40.  These words appear to have been spoken to people who were not in comfortable circumstances.  They viewed themselves as faithful followers of God, who were about to be handed over to a culture, society and political system that despised God.  Why should anyone in circumstances like this find comfort?  The end of Isaiah 40 says it:

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Those words resonate within me at the end of this year.  A week before Thanksgiving I was informed that my current employment might end within a year.  On the very day this was announced to me, The Upper Room daily devotional I receive via email was titled “A Better Future.”  The text was Isaiah 43.15-21, which includes these words: “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (18-19).  I am hopeful.  I am trying to live in excited anticipation to see the way in the wilderness and rivers (notice it is plural) in the desert.

Isaiah says that the new thing has already sprung forth: the way in the wilderness and the rivers in the desert.  He asks us “do you not perceive it?”  I need those kind of eyes, like the shepherds at Jesus’ birth who saw the multitude of angels.

Wise Men Still Seek Him - by Suzie Unruh

This morning on the Christian radio station they talked about, “how you don’t need to ask God to come help you and hold you during difficult times, because He is already there, always… you just need to turn to Him. He never leaves you.” It was a good reminder for me – often I forget that He doesn’t leave me, I just don’t always seek. I personally tend to praise Him during the great times in my life, but during difficult times I normally start to stress, worry, and lose sleep trying to solve the problems of my life on my own. When I do remember to turn to Him I have a totally different outlook on my situations, knowing He has a plan for me that is far better than my own. Hebrews 13 says, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” and how “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This Christmas when you see the phrase, Wise Men still seek Him, remember He never leaves you – be wise, lean on Him & praise Him for never leaving you during times of trouble and times of joy.

A Season of Giving - by Diane Lantzy

The other morning, as I was filling up my car with gas and grousing about not only the need to do so (even with lower gas prices) but that biting wind that I had to endure for…well, oh, maybe five minutes, I had the sudden realization that instead of complaining…I needed to thankful.  Thankful for the ability to fill up my car with gas without taking food off the table.  Thankful that I only had to endure the biting wind for five minutes before hopping back into a warm car.  Thankful that I had a home to go back to where I was safe.  Thankful to be part of a generous congregation that helps to fill these types of needs for so many in our community.

At this time of year, Redeemer in DeWitt strives to provide children with back to school needs, help families to celebrate Thanksgiving with sufficient food and bring Christmas joy to people who can’t afford to celebrate Christmas and heat their house at the same time. This results in a lot of requests in a short period of time but this generous church family always provides all that is needed.

But what is even more incredible is that this generosity is not limited to the holiday season. The Season of Giving at Redeemer Church is the entire year. We support the Food Pantry continually, provide dressers to young mothers, visit shut-ins, donate books, give bottled water to the homeless, and prepare meals for a day shelter. This is only a portion of what our church family does and doesn’t even account for what we are all doing individually to help others.

I am so blessed to be part of a church family that doesn’t limit their generosity to a certain time of year but demonstrates that all seasons are the Season of Giving.

God Hears Us - by Ben Barnes

I’m five months into this parenting situation and there are days that, when I wake up in the morning, I forget that I’m a father.  But I’m 100% sure that’s only because of the lack of sleep.  Believe it or not, babies don’t always sleep well.  And my baby is no exception.  We spend a lot of time getting up to give the baby a bottle or to replace a pacifier or, more often than not,  because the baby just decides to cry.  There have been a few times that we’ve gone more than just a few minutes before running into the nursery to settle her down.  I know babies cry.  Mine does.  A lot.  Sometimes her cries are telling Jeannette & I that she has a need that she can’t take care of on her own.  Other times her cries are just for mom or dad to come sit and watch her sleep.  Ultimately, my hope is as we take a few extra minutes to attend to her (after her immediate needs are met), that she’ll learn that she doesn’t need us to be there at every waking (and sleeping) moment.  Because we (and she) need sleep.

The Psalms are full of a very similar situation.  “God, hear my cry from the depths.”  “Attend to my needs, O God.”  “How long must I wait for you, O Lord?”  David was in a dark place and was crying out to God for help.  And it seemed to David that God was the only one able to take care of his problem at times.  Some of David’s cries are desperate, as if he thought God might not be listening.  But God was hearing.  Just like Jeannette and I hear when little Emaline cries at night, God was hearing David’s cries from the depths.  Though God may not have immediately swooped in to solve all of David’s problems, He was listening.  Though God may not have answered David’s cries immediately, God was teaching David.  He was helping David much more than just the initial and immediate problems David found himself in.

We’ve all been there.  We’ve all found ourselves wanting God’s help in the immediate.  “God, please help me finish this report.”  “God, I can’t deal with a speeding ticket right now.”  “God, this blog was due a week ago.”  God hears our cries.  In some instances, God is quick to help.  And at other times, God allows us to suffer briefly, knowing that it’s for our long term good.

Random Acts of Kindness - by Pastor Rod

Last week Jan and I were in Holland/Zeeland visiting our grandson (and his parents).  It was Evan’s 4^th birthday – and we were helping with preparations for the party.  On Friday morning I went to the local Starbucks to get my morning coffee…and ordered my usual.  As I drove up to the window, the person inside said:  “Your coffee was paid for by the person two cars in front of you.  Have a nice day!”

I have been the recipient of such random acts of kindness before – just recently someone paid for Jan and my meal at a local restaurant.  I have also done such a kindness before – “paying it forward”, as it were - at a toll booth or at the grocery store.  And when I’m able to do that I’m always reminded how good giving without expecting something in return feels.  I’m equally amazed at how shocked some people are that someone would be generous and I’ve actually had people try to refuse the offer as if their acceptance will obligate them in some way.

Giving of our resources is a serious matter; but it’s also a practice that brings inexpressible joy and blessing when done in the right spirit.  As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  And, as the Apostle Paul wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, “God loves a cheerful giver.”

Giving is at the heart of the Christian life, at the heart of the Gospel, and at the heart of God.  “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His one and only Son…”  God is the infinite and perfect Giver:  giving is integral to who He is.  And because giving is inherent in God’s character, when we give we identify with Him and we reflect His likeness.

I like being around people who are generous. I watched a friend, one Sunday at a restaurant, quietly pay the server for the meal of a World War 2 veteran and his wife seated nearby – not because he knew them – but because he wanted to honor this veteran for his service to our nation.

Years ago I came to the conclusion that giving is a great paradox:  I have the privilege of giving, and I get the benefit and blessing of giving; but what I am giving is not actually mine – it belongs to God.  Accepting the paradox gives me freedom to be a faithful and generous giver.

We are sent into our world in the same way that Jesus sent His disciples out to declare the Gospel message, reminding them “Freely you have received, freely give.”

Have you tried giving extravagantly?  Have you tried giving without expecting something in return?  I’d like to hear your stories of “paying it forward.”

Beating the Winter Blues - by Jack Hanneman

With fall coming to a close and winter inching closer, for some of us this is the start of Seasonal Affective Disorder or Winter Depression as it may also be known as. Winter Depression is estimated to affect 10 million Americans. On Wikipedia.org they talk about signs and symptoms are lack of energy, craving carbohydrates, difficulty concentrating on or completing tasks, and withdrawal from friends, family and social activities – which all lead to depression. I personally tend to embrace the winter and the more snow the better is great for me . . . breaking out the snow mobiles, ice fishing, and heading North is something I love about living in Michigan. But, on those weeks when getting out is not possible, some things I do to curb the winter blues, is taking a walk with my wife and girls through the well-lit mall, taking on projects that keep me focused on the task - not the weather, using the winter months to plan summer vacations, and when possible we’ll try and take a family trip south. If cold is not your thing and if your philosophy is staying inside is better than getting out, I encourage you to look forward, keep your widows open during daylight hours, and invite friends or family over for coffee, games or dinner.