Rec Min | June 2022

Making choices will bring consequences.  It’s just that simple. An action brings about a reaction regardless of the intention, or lack thereof.  Making choices starts before we can even speak our first word. You can witness that when a toddler throws a tantrum and when they bang that toy around until they drop it on their bare toes. The shock and pain they receive is evident in their cry.  They unknowingly made a choice to do that and there was a consequence.  You can witness it when you have a 10-year-old who knows they aren’t supposed to leave their bicycle on the sidewalk near the road but does it anyway.  The next morning the bicycle is missing. That was maybe a mindless choice, possibly because they were hurrying to get in from a rain storm, but, no matter, there was a consequence. Let’s not even begin with teenagers and the conscious choices they make, fully aware of the consequences.  All three of those examples had consequences that were not enjoyable yet they were valuable. When the consequences have value, lessons are learned and for the most part – aren’t repeated.  As we grow and mature, we learn. When you know better you do better. Be intentional in all you do for the good of all because good intentions do not bring about negative consequences.  Being intentional means to purposefully pursue the life God has called you to live and this requires you to consciously act. God is intentional and He has asked us to do so as well. 

Rec Min | May 2022

One of my favorite songs I listen to often is “Hills and Valleys” by Tauren Wells.  I listen to it when I feel over-anxious and I listen to it when I am working out at the gym and I feel overjoyed & empowered.  This song “Hills & Valleys,” according to Tauren Wells, was inspired by the quote “When you’re on the mountaintops of life, learn to bow low—and when you’re in the valleys of life, learn to stand tall.” Wells says he hopes the song encourages listeners to remember, “We’re standing in God’s grace, and His grace is enough—He’s the God of the hills and the valleys.” 

Remembering He is with us even when we feel absolutely hopeless can have a negative impact on our faith if we feel He has left us in that misery. Forgetting Him when we are coasting through a wonderful stretch of life as if we have no worries may give us a hollowness about our faith.  The latter can be something we really don’t recognize until someone sees it for us and reminds us how blessed we are. You are blessed in the good times and you are also blessed when you go through the not so good times.  Finding the blessings and your purpose when you’re in the valleys is where we find that foundation of our faith to get through it. Know this. Trust in Him.

Marcia K. Gibney
Director of Recreation Ministry

Rec Min | April 2022

April 2022

We are in the Lenten season and on Ash Wednesday many of us made resolutions to commit to change our lives over the next forty days so that we might be more like Christ. Many chose to fast in many different ways. Mostly I hear of those who sacrifice the delicious chocolate we have all come to love and overindulge in on too many occasions. Some give up fast foods, social media, being too inactive, etc. The list could go on and on but the one common denominator is that all of these things, while separately may not be bad for us once in a while, are bad for us when we continually overindulged so much that they became the normal.

Lent is a time to "repent" and return to God – re-focus our lives to be more in line with Jesus. It is 40-days to test yourself in changing your lifestyle and letting God change your heart. How many of us have sacrificed one of our guilty pleasures for 40 days and then on that 41st day completely obliterated a bag of chips, candy coated chocolate pieces, french fries and a milkshake just for breakfast??? So, what does that say about the way we “re-focused” our lives?  That we only had do it for 40 days and we’re good?  That is a hard NO. This is not the way we should approach life changing ways to live our life in line with Jesus. Key words:  LIFE CHANGING. Even if you go back to eating that delicious piece of chocolate and spending time on social media, keep the focus on that less is truly more. The less time you spend on social media, the more time you have to spend with loved ones, devotional time to grow your faith, volunteering to serve those in need. Add a piece of that chocolate back but add a 30 min walk outside in God’s great creation -- nature. Continually decrease the want you have for things and slowly replace that time and energy with what is good for you, good for your soul, good for your walk with Jesus and life changing.

Marcia K. Gibney

Director of Recreation Ministry
Christ United Methodist Church

Rec Min | March 2022

I’d like to share an excerpt written by Steve Ellisor that can be found in our C-Sports Spirit Moments book. It is the foundation of our ministry and why we do what we do at Christ United Recreation Ministry. 

Unexpected Blessing

During the formative months of the Recreation Ministry, a committee was organized to determine the policies and procedures of the Ministry. One of the first questions we addressed was, “Why are we doing this?” 

Discussions regarding the church’s role in the community and our opportunity to provide healthy and recreational activities for our members were met with concerns about proper stewardship of resources. How, we asked ourselves, can we reconcile exercise, play, and family activities with the components more associated with “church” such as worship and education?

 During one of the meetings, someone first introduced the verse from the 3rd Chapter of Proverbs that says, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” There it was! The question for us to answer became, “Why haven’t we been doing this before?” God, our Creator, must be acknowledged in everything we do. Then, those activities become acts of worship as the Holy Spirit will guide us in every way.

 With that revelation directing us in our purpose and mission, the committee decided to place a stone marker at the entrance to the gym which would be a sign to all who enter that our God is acknowledged in everything we do.

 I made calls, Googled, and everything I found that would fit our needs was in the thousands of dollars range. Our young ministry had no money and, to complicate things further, had my pledge that, “If we can’t raise it, we won’t spend it.” On a Monday evening a week or so after the committee had given me the task of procuring such a marker, I announced to our Administrative Board what it was I was trying to do. Their appreciation of the idea was dampened by the expected cost. I was at a loss.

 The morning after the Administrative Board meeting, around 9:00 in the morning, I noticed a lady walking toward my desk from the sanctuary area. She approached me, introduced herself, and said, “I was on my way from Jacksonville, Florida to my office in Jackson, Mississippi, and God told me to stop here. I’m from Blessings in Stone and I’d like to give you a brochure.”

 Wow! In the brochure were beautiful stone etchings of verses. We made a deal right then and there. Mr. Bob Powell from our church built a beautiful pulpit to fit the stone inscription of Proverbs 3:6…all of which cost less than $200! It sits at the entrance to the gym and continues to remind all who enter that everything we do is for, of, and about our Lord.

 What a great foundation—we have been blessed by this!

 Marcia K. Gibney

Director of Recreation Ministry

Christ United Methodist Church

Rec Min | February 2022

The month of January flew past like a jet in the night. The older I get the faster time seems to go by. Speaking of getting older and time flying by faster, as we get older, we don’t want to slow down but we want to slow things down – it’s kind of an oxymoron.

There are things we want to speed up – like healing from a wound or surgery. The things we want to slow down are aging and time. If you break it down to what we can control, aging and time are definitely 2 things out of many that we cannot. All you can really do is choose to find ways to find joy in aging and in those moments as time passes.

Choosing to live a physically healthier life will reap many benefits and, in those benefits, you will have much more joy than pain. Activities like riding bikes with your grandkids and being able to volunteer with organizations that need physical labor to help the needs of the community are two examples of things that can bring joy – but only if you’re physically able.

Just as in our physical life, our spiritual life choices are in our control. When we make time for God and we strengthen our faith, there is joy even during a hard time. That faith and the joy we know from that is what will get us through hard times. When we choose to not make time for God, we tend to focus on the negative and fall away to a point where we feel hopeless.

“6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Corinthians 2:6-7

The choices we make to keep our physical bodies strong to bring us a greater ability to enjoy life in its fullest is in our control. Choosing to keep our spiritual life strong is in most definitely in our control. As a matter of fact, we are called to become more like Jesus and to become more holy and this will take exercising the mind, body, and spirit.  Time may still fly as we get older but it is a greater jet ride with joy and that can only come from strengthening our faith, living a life with God as our pilot!

Marcia K. Gibney
Director of Recreation Ministry

Rec Min | January 2022

January rolls around once again the advertisers for health, fitness, and well-being have been bombarding us with fitness and diet advertisements on every tv channel, social media outlet, and text messages from unknown sources!

These programs will get you highly motivated and feel as though you’ll be twice as muscular, half your size, and able to compete in the summer Olympics by March.  Folks, let’s not fall into that trap. God created our bodies and they are amazing, but there is no fitness program, no diet, no well-being program that will work that fast. 

When we are born, God created us in his own image - from the dust in the ground.  We are born as infants and we grow for 18-20 years before our bodies are for the most part, finished with physical growth. This is not a quick process and He did not create it to be either.

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:1-2

Take your time to set realistic goals. Your goal for any physical and health change should be for it to become a normal way of life -- not a quick change that will only serve you for a short while. Gradual changes take time to transform your body permanently. Spend as much energy and time with God as you do on these goals. Let Him change the way you think and transform you into the person you are meant to become.

Marcia K. Gibney,

Director of Recreation
Christ United Methodist Church

Rec Min | December 2021

December is here along with all of the busyness of the season that this month brings.  This month will fly by quickly and before you know it, it’s the start of a new year.  How do we slow down and truly focus on the real reason we have Christmas?

Last week I received my third invitation to a Christmas party from a friend (3 of the 4 weekends in December!). To have the energy to go to these parties (and bring a dish), get my Christmas shopping done, plan and attend family gatherings, and let’s not forget the rest of the everyday household things that have to be done – usually on the weekends, is unfathomable. For years I stressed over these types of things and I would come near to collapse by the end.  No anymore. After going through a major life change and recently losing my dad, I now make choices to only do things that enrich my life and bring me closer to love and family. These types of major life events will certainly have you reconsider how you spend your time. Don’t wait for a major life change-do it now.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)

So, how do we slow down and focus? Pray for peace and discernment in your life and in your choices. Rethink all of those events and find the ones that would truly mean the most to your heart. Don’t feel the pressure to attend them all in the short season. You can always plan something another month for the purpose of visiting. When you have a peace about that, you can truly slow down and enjoy this season and its true purpose.  When you plan your friend or family gatherings, plan to make that celebration focus on why we gather at this time. After all, Jesus IS the reason for this season and how we can spend eternity in His loving arms.

Marcia K. Gibney
Director of Recreation Ministry
Christ United Methodist Church

Rec Min | November 2021

Having conversations with my teenage son is actually enlightening sometimes. Not that it’s not enlightening ever, but let’s face it, we don’t always like the same subjects or even understand some of the same language we speak in the same house!  One of our conversations recently was about a friend of his. After a discussion about this friend and what he had done, I asked, “What is his last name again?” and Tucker responded, “I don’t’ know.” “How do you NOT know his last name if he’s a friend!?” was my response. My son reminded me by tartly asking me if I knew Noah’s last name.  I told him I wasn’t sure which Noah he was referring to because if I did, I would certainly know his last name. He meant Noah, as in the Noah who built the ark. Seriously?! Did he just turn that around on me?

Now, this is probably a 3rd or 4th time during other conversations in the past that I’ve asked him if he knew a friend’s last name. The answer has always been the same – “I don’t know”.  When I grew up, we knew everyone’s last name! They were also known by their parent’s name such as John Anderson’s daughter or Rachel Smith’s son.  Is it that ironic that these younger generations have leaned more towards a one name society?

The other side of that conversation - going back to the friend who did “something” - went more in the direction of a devotion (which really warmed my heart as a mom). What do we want our only name to mean to others if they only know our first name – by something we did? If we did good, good! If we did bad, did we confess and correct and be known by that?

We all know one name and a last name is not needed to know Him. His name, His story, and all that we do through Him, because of Him, is all we need to know.

“So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Col 1:10

So maybe a last name isn’t as important as we have made it to be in society. Maybe how we live our life is more important.

Marcia K. Gibney

Director of Recreation Ministry

Christ United Methodist Church

Rec Min Message | October 2021

Well, we all try to not be anxious but so many outside influences work on us daily.

In one of my earlier newsletter articles, I wrote about my 21-year-old daughter. She’s a senior in college – a double major and a scholarship dual athlete who has also landed her first job (before graduating) head coaching 3 teams (a varsity, jv, & middle school volleyball team) during her own sports season, as well as helping her boyfriend get to his sports practices & workouts who is unable to drive due to a temporary medical issue. The ability to balance all of it and her school work is tremendous, and impressive, but this makes me anxious.

When I arrive at work each day, I see our C-Sports fields. Due to many factors over the last year or two, they are looking bad, um, well, let’s give it a more positive description…they are in “transition” right now.  It’s soccer season so we have hundreds of little and big feet on them every day of the week and we’ve had some really impressive amounts of rain. The chemical part of the “transition” has caused the ugly stuff and getting to the point when we can put down the visible treatment (laying sod) so it can be pretty again will have to wait a couple of weeks when the season is over. I know it’s only going to look worse before it gets better and then it will be beautiful. This still makes me anxious.

Let’s not forget to mention the bills that come in every month, the “oops, mom, I know it’s 10:30pm but forgot I have a project due tomorrow and I need poster tonight” from my 16-year-old son, I need to tend to my yard projects I want to do with the plants I bought two weeks ago, the ability to be in two places at one time because only I can do the things at those two places and it has to be done at the same time.  All of these make me anxious.

Just proof reading this article makes me anxious just from sharing a few things that make me anxious – this list doesn’t come close to everything that makes me anxious.

My greater anxiety comes from not being able to sit quietly and breathe in the word of God and let Him have control over the things I think I can control. I know I have to STOP to breathe and rest in my faith that “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” --Rom 8:28. That scripture is where it starts for me. The issue I feel for my daughter – I let go of that because she’s working through it and learning how to balance life.  It’s the same thing for those C-Sports fields – rely on the professionals who are doing their job. Finding the blessings in the bills – I have a nice home that keeps me safe and a good car that gets me places.  The fact that my son didn’t just not do that project and get a zero for a grade. Knowing I can accomplish one thing with better care & quality rather than trying to divide myself up and give half to two things.

Give me an anxiety and I’ll show you my faith.

One simple practice of giving yourself time to sit and be with God to release that control and those anxieties is really all we need to do. We must do it regularly. For many, it is hard to make that time at first but I can assure you that making it a regular habit will give you a greater amount of peace than any amount of anxiety you have had or will get in the future. Sit with God. Find the blessings. Breathe.

Marcia K. Gibney

Director of Recreation Ministry

Christ United Methodist Church

Rec Min Message | September 2021

Watching my oldest child blossom into an impressive young woman these days is amazing to watch - a tremendous leap from a teenager! She is a senior in college, a scholarship volleyball athlete, coaches 3 school volleyball teams-middle school, JV & Varsity, and has a wonderful relationship with a young man I absolutely adore-whom she is having to help a bit (he is unable to drive for six months due to a medial issue). Between schoolwork, her practice, coaching her 3 teams’ practices, managing her household, and helping drive around her boyfriend who is also an athlete with a tight schedule, even I get overwhelmed at all she has on her list to do.

Although I worry, I also know her strengths and I am especially familiar with her determination! She calls me every day and we talk through some of the stressors. A big list we make is priorities. Once the priorities are set, it is then a matter of action. Teaching her to take care of herself has been an important item to put on her list of priorities. Just because she is young doesn’t mean she is indestructible!

Mark 12:30-31 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  Loving your neighbor as you love yourself means you must love yourself and treat yourself well. I encourage her with this verse often. We need to remember that we cannot do what we love, with those we love if we aren’t well physically, mentally, and most especially, spiritually. That is where we will fail if we fail ourselves. Pray for guidance, wellness, peace, and balance. Most of all, pray about everything - take your heart to the Lord before anything else. He is #1 priority!

Blessings,

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

Christ United Methodist Church