Rec Min January 2023

Relationships are sometimes hard. The holidays can wreak havoc on our emotions and this time of year we are usually already keyed up a few notches when an adverse situation arises. How we choose to answer to the situation is going to be either a reaction or a response. James 1:10 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Being slow to anger requires us to trust in God, and His plan for our lives. Reacting doesn’t allow us time to step back and give any value to the situation. Reacting is quick - usually negative. It causes an even more negative reaction and before you know it, the respect and honor are gone and so is the value of that relationship.  Those are hard to recover.  Responding requires us to step back and give not just the situation value, but the entire relationship value. Choose to respond. Allow enough time to pass to allow you to put yourself in their place and understand their position. You may not have taken the same stance as they did but the action of trying to understand is where you both can find the respect and the value in that relationship. If you can’t value & respect yourself, you cannot give to another what you don’t have. Our faith, our love for the Lord, and His example gives us what we need to be able to respond to adverse situations. It gives us peace within ourselves, peace outside of ourselves, and peace to others.

 

Blessings,

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

Rec Min December 2023

Christmas Pressures and Christmas Treasures

Christmas. We all know the real reason for the season of Christmas. It is a time to immerse ourselves into the acknowledgment of, the teaching of, and the celebration of the birth of Jesus. There is no greater event in the history of mankind. This is the one true treasure. 

Christmas. We plan months in advance. Most of the planning is what decoration theme to have, what gifts to buy for what person, what dinners to host, when to have the party, what parties to attend, and how you can get from point A to point B without going broke or disappointing someone. We have to have that perfect festive dress or suit for our babies, the matching family outfits and the best photographer with the best backdrop. Finding the perfect gifts that will light up the faces of our children and having enough gifts for our children so they will feel the magic of Christmas. Finding a meaningful gift for our spouse, our parents who have everything, the babysitter, co-workers, and the list goes on. These are the pressures.

In all those pressures you will find treasures. The fellowship we have at parties with family, friends and co-workers give us warmth and togetherness outside of the regular everyday life. The heartfelt feeling of seeing your children’s faces explode with joy when they see their favorite toy. The sight of the beautiful family photo on a Christmas card as you put it in the mail. The love we have for the people we spend our time with and the joy we find in being together in the season of all that is Christmas is irreplaceable. Teaching your children throughout the season the real reason we celebrate this time of year is a great treasure.

Remember, even though we know the real reason for Christmas, we want this to be the foundation of all that we do to celebrate. Make that your purpose for all that you do.  Remember, throughout the pressures, find the treasures because they are there because of Him.

 

Marcia Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

Rec Min November 2023

Rec Min Message:

When I was younger, reading books was the love of my life for a long time. I remember fondly being able to cuddle up with a big blanket, several cups of coffee, and book with the whole weekend to start and finish it. After marriage and kids, life’s responsibilities made time to do something solitary futile. I either got interrupted or fell asleep within 10 min. Finishing a book was impossible. Within 2 weeks I was rereading the previous chapters so I could refresh my brain to continue on to the current chapter. Eventually I gave up.

Until 3-1/2 years ago, I lived 3 miles from work and everything else and my kids were young during that time. Time in my car was short with 2 noisy kids in the car and the drive frustrating due to heavy traffic in such a short distance! Now, kids are grown and gone. I moved so now I travel 45 minutes to and from and it’s through the tunnel! If you’re from here, you know traffic at the tunnel can sometimes make that 45 minutes become an hour or more ... and talk about frustrating … WOW. However, that time in the car has become the best time to get in some “me” time. While I’ve still got a lot of life responsibilities and still no time to sit and read, this is the perfect time to get back to my love of reading and use this time in the car for audiobooks! I cannot wait to get in my car, get situated and crank up the “Bluetoothed” audiobook! It is refreshing to my soul and it rejuvenates me in every other aspect of my life. I’ve found some great devotional books that have been life enriching.

I’ve said it before in my Rec Min Message and I’ll say it again -- find the blessings. Before, the drive to work was a time of frustration and anger with the nightmare of traffic and now it is the best time of my day to enjoy some “me” time replenishing my soul with a good read, well, a good listen with an audiobook! Heavy traffic making my 45-minute drive a 2-hour drive – no problem! 😆

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” Psalm 103:2

Blessings,

Marcia K. Gibney,

Director of Recreation Ministry

 

Rec Min October 2023

Do you ever notice how easy it is to be offended? Some of us are passionate about how we spend our money and we have high expectations for customer service folks. Some of us are passionate about left-lane loafers and we have high expectations that they will move to the right lane. Some of us are passionate about our children and we have high expectations for others to see them as we see them.  Anytime we have high expectations, we are easily offended.

 

I’ve always worked to lower my expectations for others because the other person’s high expectations may not be the same as mine -- and vice versa. When I say “lower” I probably mean more to “balance” than lower. I’m a military brat where high expectations were beyond high; I tend to be perfectionistic and typically have really high expectations. I have learned over the years that taking the time to RESPOND instead quickly REACTING serves everyone much better. As Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” We must use our self-control to find the goodness in the situation and focus on that. Have the patience to put yourself in their shoes and try to see their side. Choose kindness and gentleness as a response instead of an explosive, negative reaction.

 

God compels us to be forgiving. Sometimes that means forgiving before being offended. If we focus on the fruit of the Spirit, a peaceful situation will come from what would have been an offensive ending. The joy of working it out will produce a love of each other and a balance in expectations that brings about peace going forward.

Blessings,

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

 

Rec Min September 2023

It is always good to look back and see the growth of our ministry. Many wonderful ministry moments have occurred and Steve Ellisor did a great thing when he recorded them in the “From the Rec Min” books. These are available at the rec desk, Vol. 1 – 7.

 

Reflection from Steve Ellisor’s From the Rec Min - September 2008

I’ve always felt it was important for coaches to encourage parents to participate, or at least be present, in the team devotions during each practice. The messages are for them, too! I want the coaches to include their own stories and add to the written materials; to personalize the experience as much as they feel led or feel comfortable doing. Let the children, and families, SEE the message as much as they HEAR it.

One of my favorite songs, and here I go getting teary eyed, is Some Things I Must Tell The Children by Gloria Gaither. I sang it to my kids at bed time when they were little. I’ve performed it at baptisms. The words remind us of the important things we must tell our children. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says, “Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up.” When you deliver the devotion, lead a prayer, or spiritually mentor children (with family members listening close by) you are planting seeds that you may never see bear fruit. This is our service to God. He does the rest. Our job is to first see that we, ourselves, are open and receptive to His Spirit and then to pray for His guidance as we deliver messages and interact with his people.

Prayer Partners are praying for you daily. I hope you are praying for your team and for this ministry as a whole. God is good and the Holy Spirit is at work because you committed to be His agent of love, grace, and instruction to your team. May He richly bless you for what you are doing for His kingdom!




Blessings,

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation

Rec Min Aug 2023

We have A LOT of responsibilities in life. None of which are possible without the ability to wake up each day with a spiritual heart and a body ready to serve. We all agree that the most important responsibility of our daily life is to take care of our spiritual health. Without this, we decline and fail in our greatest responsibility to be the messengers we are called to be.

 

Health and fitness are also a huge responsibility. In fact, if we do not take care of the body we have been gifted with, we will fail in our spiritual health as well. Being fit calls us to be ready to serve others physically when it is time to help build a house for the poor, clear a yard of storm debris, run a race to raise funds for the local food pantry. Good nutrition supports the daily exercise so that we can be consistent in our efforts to be healthy.

 

Feeding the body healthy foods along with daily fitness changes our bodies not only physically but mentally as well. People who exercise regularly have better mental health and emotional well-being, and lower rates of mental illness. Studies have shown that exercise can reduce the risk of developing mental illness and help treat some mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety.

 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

– Romans 12:1

 

Just like our spiritual health, we need to make a point to take out some time for our physical health. Without good health fed by good nutrition, we risk the very purpose of getting up daily to be physically able and mentally ready to serve others. We are gifted this life and these bodies and we are meant to serve others with our minds, bodies, and spirit!

 Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry

 

Rec Min July 2023

This newsletter topic is brought to you this month by the experiences during our C-Sports Basketball Camp, which was held the week of June 19th.

 

Scripture is sometimes hard to understand for the younger ones. Being able to relate scripture to the things kids enjoy today can be the best translator of the way Jesus lived his life. There are many ways to apply being a teammate with scripture to daily life. Learning a new sport with new people and doing that for 3 hours for 4 days a week can really test them, especially if they haven’t had a good breakfast and plenty of fluids!  So, learning about being a good teammate was a topic we discussed many times during the camp.

 

Romans 12:19-21 says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” The first part was easy to explain but the second part was a little difficult. They couldn’t figure out why the scripture tells them to put hot coals on another person’s head! Once it was explained to them that responding kindly to an unkind person makes that unkind person feel guilty or sorry for their own behavior it was easier for them to understand. Having the thought of hot coals placed on our heads for negative behavior would definitely have people rethinking how they should treat others. This was quite the picture for them to visualize otherwise!

 

This lesson is not just good for basketball camp kids; this is good for all of us. In a world where negativity gets more attention, we should focus on creating more positive actions in our daily life. If we expect our kids to learn it, we must live it and be an example.

 

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

 

 

Rec Min June 2023

Many times we make quick decisions and we don’t always know immediately that it was the wrong decision. When we do find out it was the wrong decision, we know we should have involved a greater amount of time to that fleeting thought. However, sometimes we think so long on it that we get bogged down on too many factors that do not really pertain to the actual conflict anymore. As my dad used to say, “Study long, study wrong.”

Often you hear people say they “heard the voice of God” or they had a “gut” feeling when they’ve made a choice that produced the best outcome. This is true discernment, the very tool given to us by the Holy Spirit, and what enables us to have proper understanding to make wise judgements. This heightened level of critical thinking is a true spiritual gift that helps us to decipher right from wrong.

Every day is filled with conflict. Conflicts with people, schedules, as well as an internal battle we have with ourselves. We cannot avoid making decisions and if we do, that is also considered a choice by not deciding. Not all conflicts are negative. Sometimes it’s a matter of how you look at it and problem solve so that a conflict can become two good experiences. Look for the blessings, let the gift of discernment involve the Holy Spirit, and then move forward with confidence in your choices. Make the best of every situation for the glory of the Lord and be at peace.

 

Marcia K. Gibney,

Director of Recreation Ministry

Christ United Methodist Church