Rec Min December 2022

Have you noticed that some of the big box stores are now closed on holidays? Over the last 20 years we have become a 24/7 society. We have been accustomed to getting what we need, when we need it regardless of the hour or day.  I’ll be the first to admit I used to complain about stores being open on holidays and I felt bad for those folks having to work. At the same time, I’d be the one at the grocery store on Christmas morning because I forgot to get eggs. I’d also thank the store clerks for being open and working that day. Several times those people would tell me how grateful they were for the extra hours and pay so they could afford to feed their children and pay their power bill that month. We would chat and talk about our blessings. The feeling of the Christmas spirit was rejuvenated with that chance meeting of that person being in that place at that time. It was a great opportunity to make a connection and I always left with a heartwarming feeling of gratitude.

We don’t always consider those in need needing to work when others want to be home with family for the holidays. Sometimes, work families are all some employees have for a family so being together at work on a holiday is precious to them. We can admonish companies for being open on holidays and criticize them for it being “all about money” for them or we can find the blessings in that situation and know that God always has a plan. His plan is 24/7 and it is Christmas every day with His gifts he has given us with peace and love through Jesus Christ.

  “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:7

Rec Min November 2022

Thanksgiving at the Adult Table

For me, sitting at the kids table at Thanksgiving was not my chosen place. I wanted to sit next to my grandmother. Instead, I was repeatedly directed towards the dreaded kid’s table no matter how many times I tried to sit at the adult table. I had to sit with those “kids” all the time (siblings and cousins) so it was nothing special to me. We either got in trouble for talking too loudly, not sitting down, or worse, flicking food at each other. Sitting next to my grandmother meant I could talk and be heard and not treated like a kid. Since she was the last one to sit down and a slow eater, other adults had already finished eating and there was a short window of time I had to go sit by her at the adult table. Many times, my dad would spot me and he would snap his finger and point me back to the kid’s table. My grandmother would pat my hand and whisper to me that we would have time later.  Of course, that time always fell during clean up time. That was the only time washing dishes didn’t feel like a dreaded chore. She would wash and rinse and I would dry and put away. We would talk and talk and talk about everything for a long time because you know what - all those adults at the adult table were nowhere to be found when it came time to do dishes.  Sitting with her at the adult table and doing dishes with her afterwards was a wonderful and special treat.

Sitting at the adult table not only meant special time with her, I’m pretty sure the food tasted better and the tea was sweeter.  I may not have understood the other conversations going on at the table but I automatically became taller, smarter, and 20 years older just sitting there.  Those memories are priceless and I am very thankful for them.  I’ve always said I’d never have a kid’s table for my grandchildren because I despised it growing up but looking back, maybe I will. Otherwise, sitting at the adult table at Thanksgiving might not be a special treat and I want my grandchildren to have those special memories forever too.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!   Psalm 107:1

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

From the excerpts from Steve Ellisor’s From the Rec Min ,Oct 2011. Steve always left us with good words and it is good to read them again.

“I was listening to Christian radio this past week when I heard the announcer energetically encouraging his listeners to “get in the fight!” No, he wasn’t by any means advocating violence, but was encouraging us to, in a sense, put our efforts where our mouths are. He tapped his microphone which made a loud bumping sound over the speakers and said, “This isn’t the fight!” He added, “Calling ‘Sound Off’ isn’t the fight, making sarcastic comments about the government during dinner with friends isn’t the fight, listening and agreeing with an angry talk show host isn’t the fight.” He said, “We must act!” Then, in a “What would Jesus do?” type statement he said that we must make peace, be merciful, bear a pure heart (see Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12). We must hunger and thirst for righteousness above all else. We must serve by leading. We must MAKE disciples by BEING disciples!

In Matthew 7:16 Jesus tells us, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” He is telling us that the work we do and the results, thereof, will identify us as disciples…or, not disciples. The work you put into teaching and mentoring children, witnessing your faith, and serving as a personal example is the “light” you shine which moves people to “glorify your God in heaven” (see Matthew 5:16). You are bearers of the Word! James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!” Through your dedicated service, hundreds of children and adults have indicated that they have accepted Christ during the various C-Sports seasons. I pray that God continues to use you in ways that transform lives and make disciples!”

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

Rec Min September 2022

Who grew up in a home where children were told to be seen and not heard? Me. If I heard that once I heard it 50 times. My dad was very strict on his children showing manners at all times but especially if we had company. Even grandparents were considered company! If a human being could burst into a million pieces, it would’ve been me during those times I was working hard to be quiet, yet I was definitely seen. He didn’t tell me I had to be still so I broke that rule sometimes without even making a noise. I never understood why that was a rule but I was wise enough to understand the consequences of breaking that rule.

Then I grew up, got married, and I had children. I completely understood. However, not in the way you’d think. As I come full circle, I see that even as a child being seen and not heard gave me opportunity to watch people and learn the different ways people communicate, their body language, and how they respond to life situations. Having to be quiet when I wanted to yell gave me an opportunity to learn self-control in times when it is hard. It is only as an adult now that I see how those lessons formed me as a friend, wife, and mother (even though I don’t think my dad intended on that being the lesson-ha). Unbeknownst to me, it made me wise beyond my years as a child and as an adult, it prepared me in situations where being seen and not heard saved me from more than consequences from my dad.

 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

Prov 9:9 

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.”

Hebrews 12:11-13

Sometimes we don’t understand the discipline but we learn from it and sometimes that lesson is learned much later.

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

Rec Min August 2022

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

That was the phrase I exasperated (and I do mean exhaustedperated) as I walked into my daughter’s apartment this weekend. As recent college graduate (& an athlete for 4 years) who got her first full-time job as a coach and teacher, she’s had a whirlwind few months of leaving the old life and trying to get organized for her new life. Roommates leaving (and leaving behind lots of stuff), working full days of workouts and practices over the summer for 3 separate teams, trying to keep up her laundry, groceries, cleaning, taking care of her dog…just couldn’t get it going.

Welcome to adulthood, right? That phrase is used so negatively these days. Instead of what should be a welcome, an encouraging introduction, most of the time it is used as a slap in the face. So, I proceeded to welcome - encourage her to into adulthood in the best way possible. We emptied out everything, made big piles, attacked each one to get rid of everything not touched, worn, seen, or thought about in a year, reorganized and placed in appropriate places. 3 truckloads to a donation station and 6 bags to a consignment store later, we were down to what was a manageable household for someone who will be working 10-hour days (12–14-hour days during coaching months). And just like a welcome/introduction, it only happens once. At my age, the back and shoulders can only take so much welcoming. The gratitude she had for me and her step-dad was overwhelming for us as we just did what we thought was right and good. The best part was the sense of calm I saw overcome her tenseness – it was a physical transformation. I knew then she would be alright in these next few busy months.

Staying organized and keeping things clean gives us back more time to do the important work in life. It gives us back our time to nurture our minds, bodies, hearts, and spiritual life. Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

Cleanliness is next to Godliness in that it leads to more time with God. That time is priceless and it gives us peace in the other parts of our lives.

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

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