So you missed out on our Hard Core Bible Study during Lent start on Wednesday. No worries, pull out a journal of any type and jump into the scriptures. Here’s a list of the readings.

Readings:
Day 1 – Genesis 1:1 – 15
Day 2 – Gen 1: 6 – 8
Day 3 – Gen 1: 9 – 13
Day 4 – Gen 1:14 – 19
Day 5 – Gen 1:20 – 23
Day 6 – Gen 1:24 – 31
Day 7 – Gen 2:1 – 4

Reflecting On the Journey
God’s creative power brings order out of chaos. What “chaos” are you experiencing in your own life, or in your family, right now? Are you having trouble with your parents, brothers or sisters, friends, school, or work? What problems do you need to solve with God’s help? What difference does it make to you to know that God has created-and is in charge of – an orderly cosmos?

Is your own life so hectic that you are missing out on the gift of God’s sabbath rest? If so, what changes can you make in your schedule that will allow you to enter into a time of rest and re-creation?

If people tried to describe what God was like by observing you, what would they say? Of course, “God is spirit” (John 4:24), not a person of a particular gender or age or eth- nic group or nationality. But each person is created to have fellowship with God, to have God’s Holy Spirit living in him or her. Therefore, you bear God’s spiritual image. How would your actions and words be different if you took seriously the idea that you are created in the image of God?

What are you currently doing to care for God’s creation? What could you be doing to be a better steward (or caretaker) of the people, plants, animals, air, water, and rocks of God’s good earth?

Some of you may know the whole story, others might not. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which begins for us as Christians the observed season of Lent. Not all faith expressions observe Lent, but we do as our heritage goes back to formal liturgical traditional denominations.

Anyways, we observe the time of Christ going into the desert by often sacrificing something of our normal day to ‘prepare’ ourselves or to ‘purify’ ourselves for Holy Week and our ministry beyond then.

We in the youth stuff will be doing a couple of things to move into the desert of our normal to ‘prepare’ and ‘purify’ ourselves a bit more.

Lenten Practices

As a Group

• Hard Core Bible Talks : Wednesday Evening at 6:30 – 7:30 – We will get more indepth into the stories and scriptures of the bible than is our norm. If you are game for some deeper talks, deeper questions, then give this a shot.
• Girls Book Club : Wednesday Evening at 6:30 – 7:30? – This is exclusively for girls who want to digest some books that are of interest to them & discuss amongst peers. Cheryll Young will be helping facilitate the group.
• Eikon Photography : Wednesday Evenings at 6:30 – 7:30 – We are looking to bring back our Photog group. How does your photography impact and reflect your spirituality
• Prayer Txts : I am going to start up sharing some of my daily prayers via txt again. If you are interested in getting some reflection from me sign up here.

On Your Own

• Wesleyan Fast : Each Thursday evening, after the evening meal, until mid-afternoon on each Friday, Methodist people are invited to follow Wesley’s example of fasting and prayer. During this time he did not take solid food but fasted and focused much of his time in prayer. (Water is permissible in the fast)
• the H2O project : Water is a global crisis. You might not know this because it comes so easily for us here in the states. Fast from drinking anything but water & save that money you might otherwise spend on cokes or lattes and give it to a global water project to help those around the world have a safe drinking water.
• Examen : much like we do at Drive Groups, ask yourself each evening “Where did I see God today?” “Where was I reflecting God today?”
• Read the Bible : Don’t just randomly read, but pick a book of the bible, spend your Lent reading each day. There are many daily reading options out there (like Nashville Area Journal) that are longer or shorter readings.
• Pray Regularly : Use your cellphone to set an alarm for morning, midday & evening prayers. No need to say something uber formal, but just take a minute to say a prayer in your day. Its what Jesus did most in the desert.

Ski Trip is this weekend. Due to the size of our trip I’ve expanded our transportation and our housing. This affords us some flexibility to add one or two more folks. So if you had plans that fell through, give me a shout As Soon As Possible!! We have just over 40 folks going, so it should be a crazy good time.

Itinerary: We will jet from the church parking lot in a big ole’ bus at 3:30 (or the earliest we can get everyone out from school, JP2 gets out at 3:15, so it will probably be 4ish), head up to the slopes grabbing a quick bite to eat, ski late into the night at Perfect North (like 1am, its really cool).

Those who have never skied will have lesson options and some of us adult leader types will help you get through the equipment rental process.

We will then head back to lodging at Higher Ground Retreat Center just a few miles from the ski slope, grab a few hours rest, wake for breakfast, a time of devotion and then hit the slopes for the rest of the day. Ending around 5-6pm then heading home. Should arrive home around midnight.

Packing List

• Money for food (we have breakfast covered, but other than that, you’re on your own)
• Ski Gloves
• Ski Pants
• Nice Warm Jacket (preferably one that doesn’t get wet)
• Long Underwear
• Ski / Knit Hat
• Glasses or goggles (something to hold them on as well)
• Chap Stick
• Other under garment clothes (sweatshirt, pants, etc)
• Sleeping Bag & Pillow (needed cause we’re staying in bunkhouse type setting)
• Pillow and/or Blanket (for the bus for those that can sleep on the bus)
• Toiletries (I don’t want to smell your inevitable stink)
  • Towel, Shampoo, Body Wash, Toothpaste, etc.
• If you think of something more, go ahead and put into a bag. Just think WARM and DRY and you will do just fine.

If you want to drop your stuff off early (so you can come over right after school) let me know and we will have the conference room open in the morning of Friday or Thursday evening to stick your stuff. Then you can just come on over and get on the bus ready to go.

If you have not turned in your Perfect North Ski Slope Release Form or the HFUMC 2009-2010 Health / Release Form, please bring those along with you on Friday or give to me sometime tomorrow around WNT / Ash Wednesday Service.

See many of you on Friday!!

shalom

-gavin

Check out the slopes here:
URL: http://www.perfectnorth.com

yes it was a crazy snowy time that weekend, but we were able to stay quite Warm at Warmth in Winter. our group was small by some of our standards, but it was one of the most gelled groups in years. Everyone did great, being where they needed to be, and no incidents to speak of.. or that I am aware of. Check out our PhotoSet from Warmth in Winter 2010.

After just a nuts day of weather apocalypse we made the trek down from Hendersonville to Murfreesboro for Warmth in Winter. We made it just in time for the start of the 1st session. Captured ourselves a front row seat (no doubt the weather enabled some of that). Here’s some shots from the day. Look for more photos at our Flickr pages

It is time for our annual Ski Trip to Perfect North.

It will be an overnight trip and the cost is going to be $155 for youth and $65 for adults. Youth fee covers transportation, hotel night, and skiing (food is not provided) Adult fee covers skiing. Deadline to sign up is January 31st & would require the Perfect North Ski Slope Release Form & $55 deposit.

We will jet from the church parking lot at 3:30 (or the earliest we can get everyone out from school), head up to the slopes, ski late into the night (like 1-2am, its really cool). We will then head back to lodging, grab a few hours rest, wake for breakfast, a time of devotion and then hit the slopes for the rest of the day. Ending around 5-6pm then heading home. Should arrive home around midnight.

There seems to be a lot of buzz about the trip, so we most likely will be taking a charter bus for the event. If you have never been skiing, no worries, Perfect North is a great place to learn & besides, most everyone had to learn sometime so we all get it.

Packing List

• Money for food (we should have breakfast covered, but other than that, you’re on your own)
• Ski Gloves
• Ski Pants
• Nice Warm Jacket (preferably one that doesn’t get wet)
• Long Underwear
• Ski / Knit Hat
• Glasses or goggles (something to hold them on as well)
• Chap Stick
• Other under garment clothes (sweatshirt, pants, etc)
• Sleeping Bag & Pillow
• Toiletries (I don’t want to smell your inevitable stink)

There is probably more, but that list will get you started

Check out the slopes here:
URL: http://www.perfectnorth.com

We traditionally throw a bit of a Super Bowl party for our Room at the Inn guests. Terri Donaldson is helping to coordinate Here is our Current List of Needs

Updated: Jan 28th 4pm

Set Up Cots
1. Jennifer Elder
2. ___________________

Prepare meal, serve & clean up (5:00- aprox. 7:30)
1. Parker Smythe
2. Austin Chariton
3. Russell Vannozzi
4. Aaron Longe
5. ______________
6. ______________

Innkeepers (7:45 p.m.-5:00 a.m.) ADULTS
1.______________
2.______________

Breakfast & Clean-up (4:30-aprox. 6:30 a.m.)
1. Clayton
2.______________

Sandwich meat (24 sandwiches)
1.______________

Bread (to make 24 sandwiches)
1.______________

Apples/Fruit (12)
1. David McCoy

Chips (12 individual bags)
1. Aaron Longe

Milk (one-half gallon)
1. Hurdle

Orange Juice (one gallon)
1. Aaron Longe

Eggs (3 dozen)
1.______________

Sausage Biscuits (24 total)
1.______________

Browned Ground Beef- 1 lb. (for sloppy joes)
1.______________
2.______________
3.______________
4.______________
5.______________

Manwich Sloppy Joe Mix (1 can)
1.______________
2.______________
3.______________
4.______________
5.______________

Chips
1. Sarah Gullha
2. Erin Lusk
3.______________

Baked Beans
1. Donaldson

Hamburger Buns (8 count)
1. Savannah Hall
2.______________
3.______________

Desserts (12 servings)
1. Savannah Hall
2.______________
3.______________

Soft Drinks (three 2-Liter bottles)
1. Sydney Incoraia
2.______________

Pickles- Dill chips (one jar)
1. Savannah Hall
2.______________

*If you are bringing food, try to bring by Sunday morning if possible.

**Have items in kitchen no later than 4pm

***We are always in need of fellas to stay the night and people to help with the morning breakfasts. This cannot be handled by youth alone, so don’t be shy parents. &:~D

Hey All,

Sorry for being absent this week leading up to Warmth in Winter, I was taken out by that stomach bug. I will spare you the details, but I am doing much better now. Anyways, here’s some info for those going to Warmth in Winter this weekend.

The trip is on, regardless of what Nashville snow storm we get. I’ve had assurances from the bus company that it can handle the trip to Murfreesboro & back. We will meet up at the church at 5:00pm, so if you need to drive a bit more carefully due to your local road situation do that. If you want, you can come up to the church earlier to avoid any road nervousness. By early I am thinking like 3pm, if you need to drop off earlier than that give me a ring.

Packing List:

• Bible
• Normal Clothes
• Warm Clothes (We will go for a walk to get dinner)
• Money for Dinner Saturday Night, late night pizza, drinks, books & other nick-nacks
• Pillow Sleeping Bag, for those of you who cannot share a bed (we have nice big rooms, but you won’t have a bed all to yourself)
• Camera
• Backpack (if you want to carry around freebie stuff)
• Swimsuit (there is a pool of some nature there, I’ve seen pictures)
• Sunscreen (prob won’t need it, but it’d be funny to see someone putting it on)
• Sled (honestly, don’t think there is hill around us, but you never know, haha!)

We should return around 12:30 on Sunday. Could be a bit later if roads still warrant more caution.

Some of y’all were asking for the rooming list: Hendersonville FUMC WnW Rooming

Many of you are like me & seeing the devastation that people are pulling themselves out of after the earthquake that hit Haiti this week. As with anything of such catastrophic size, you & I cannot do a whole lot to make some massive impact, the enormacy of the problems are too much. But, we can not do nothing. And, if we respond how Christ compels us to give, pray, and love then what we do do will be compounded by others in our faith community & That will make a massive impact.

Here is what I suggest we do to help Haiti:

1. Give to two entities:
   • United Methodist Committee on Relief is already on the ground and was on the ground in Haiti when the earthquake hit. (Executives of UMCOR were actually rescued from the rubble of a major hotel just last night). 100% of your giving goes into the efforts in Haiti. Your money doesn’t cover administration etc because that is already taken care of with everyones regular giving to the church. Donate to UMCOR’s Haiti Advance
   • Want something a bit more personal? Give to Bahamas Methodist Habitat, they are using their pilot network and island locale to ship in relief supplies as well as pull displaced persons out of the country. Many of you met Abraham & the other BHM staff this summer, they are the ones coordinating those efforts. Donate to Bahamas Methodist Habitat relief efforts
2. Bring Items to Coffee House & Drive Groups on Sunday:
   • UMCOR is in need of “kits” for distribution through the Haiti population. I will have some buckets for the “cleaning buckets” on Sunday on the media bar and 1 gallon zip lock bags for “health kits.” Bring supplies to fill those Sunday morning & evening. Download the Cleaning Bucket List : Download the Health Kit List
   • If you wish to contribute a Bedding Pack, feel free to do so. Download Bedding Pack List
   • Drive Groups can organize to go purchase needs & pack a bucket or health kits.
   • We will take them to the Conference Office for shipment to the UMCOR distribution center in Louisiana.

Abraham has started a twitter account to do updates. Follow BMHUpdate