During one of our staff devotions our Ministries Leader, Brad Boland, shared a devotion with scripture from Isaiah 43:19,
“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.”
When we have to change what we do because of things beyond our control or out our usual comfort level, blessings beyond our ability to perceive can come from that change.
In our CUMC Recreation Ministry’s
C-Sports, each season our participants “do a new thing”. This is a great opportunity for change. Some of them find their love of a sport. Some find that they love being on any type of team that does something good together-even if they don’t like the sport. Some find a new friend. Whole families connect where they normally wouldn’t have even met. They learn about Jesus or they learn something new about Jesus through a shared experience.
Our volunteer coaches are ministers to these participants and these families during the season and they are also the influencers to create change—beyond the actual sport—through the weekly devotion time. Unbeknownst to them, this time they spend coaching and teaching through that season can be life changing and produce blessings that will continue to flow even for many generations. These are our greatest ministers and we are all blessed by their willingness to be a part of our ministry.
Don’t forget to find the blessings even in the hard parts of life. Forced change beyond our control can put us out of our comfort zone but it can sure teach us new things we never imagined would be blessings!
Blessings,
Marcia Horn
Director of Recreation Ministry
Christ United Methodist Church