Basketball and Christmas, a unique combination--Wesley Foundation E-Letter

Dear Friends,

 

Finals week!  Arghhhh!  I hope you are all surviving, and even thriving, maybe even surprising yourselves.  It’s been a long road but the semester is almost over.  You did it!  Yay!!!!!!

 

Remember lunch—Our next one is on Tomorrow.  I’m bringing my famous chili.  Yeah!

 

ROAD TRIP!!!  On Friday we will meet at 5pm and travel to Nashville.  We will stop and eat at the Olive Garden at Rivergate, and then head down to see the lights at Opryland.  We’ll have a great time.  E-mail me back if you want to go.

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

For most people we are in the middle of the Advent or Christmas season.  When I say “Tis the season” at my house, it means basketball.  Yesterday as I was running, I kept thinking about basketball.  Probably because the love of my life (Tim, my sweet husband) is a coach.  I was thinking about how a coach is always there for his (or her) players.  There is always that word of guidance that is available from the sidelines.  Sometimes players heed it.  Sometimes not.  As I think about the life of faith, I am so struck by the similarities.  While Tim cannot play the game for his players, he is always actively engaged with what is happening on the court and through that can offer guidance, wisdom, and the perspective of expertise that years of studying the game have given him.  While God cannot come down and live our lives for us, the Lord is always actively engaged in the life we are living, and always has wisdom, encouragement, and guidance for making the life of faith work better.  I don’t understand why players do not listen to their coach.  I also don’t understand why we would try to live our lives without seeking and listening to the God who loves us and longs to give us His best.

 

Now I know that these ramblings don’t seem very seasonal.  It would appear that this week I am lacking the “Christmas spirit.”  But if you consider that Advent is not just the time when we prepare to receive the baby Jesus, but also prepare to receive the returning Jesus, then a rambling about listening to the true Life Coach makes lots of sense.  Jesus is coming again, and often I believe it will be sooner than we think.  Just as basketball players are on the court playing to win, we should be living our lives out in such a way that it gets the world ready to see Jesus face to face.  The question that matters most is this:  will the world recognize the Lord of Life when He comes by the way our lives have introduced Him?  As I understand scripture, the Lord is the good shepherd that seeks every lost sheep.  He wants the world to recognize Him; He wants to draw everyone to Himself; His ultimate desire is not to condemn the world but that through Him the world would be saved.  Ephesians 1:9-10 says this:

 

With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

 

What astounds me about this plan for the fullness of time, is that as His children we have a significant role to play in it:  “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10).  We were made to help the good work of Christ to come to pass.  We are a part of His love playing itself out in a world that does not know how to love.  And as this understanding unfolds within us, His love also begins unfolding within the world. 

 

It is so cool how our Life Coach is so committed to helping us.  What I love about Tim as a coach is that he is always ready to help his players play well and live well, advising them from the sidelines of the court, within the walls of the classroom, wherever they may need help the most.  God is the same way, only more so.   As believers we are so blessed to have the best Coach in the world always on our sideline, wherever we are, giving us the instruction we need.  I love that He is absolutely ready to help us understand what our part is in that wonderful plan that sets the world free.  Again in Ephesians it says this:

 

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. . . .

 

As someone once said to me, if we are committed to knowing what God’s will for us is, God is absolutely committed to revealing His will to us. And in my heart I know that God’s will for us always reaches beyond us to a world that does not know Him and is hurting because of it.  Hope for the world becomes real as we live into and then live out the hope to which He has called us.  So I guess the questions we must ponder in this Advent season of preparation are these:  1) how full is the time?  And 2) what is that unique hope to which He has called us?  Knowing changes the world.  Or at least gets it ready to be changed when finally it see Him face to face.  In the spirit of the season I’ll end with this:  “Let earth receive her king!”

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

You are held in Love--WEsley Foundation E-letter (Methodist Student Center)

Dear Friends,

 

It’s almost here!  Our party is tomorrow night!  I’m so excited—can you tell? J  Please invite everyone you know and think would like a warm meal, a touching candlelight service, and a totally fun gift exchange.  Just bring a $10 unisex gift.  And whether you can bring a gift to exchange or not, just come and be with us; no one will leave empty handed because I have gifts for everyone.  (Just let me know you are coming so I can get more if I need to.)  This is just my way of saying you are special to me, and I am so glad you are in my life.

 

Next week we will have free lunches to help alleviate the Exam week stress.  We will eat lunch together on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, from 11am till 1pm.  Just come when you can, and bring friends.  There’s always plenty to go around.

 

Also next week we will be doing some cool “let’s love on campus” projects.  We will give away hot chocolate and popcorn.  It will be so much fun.

 

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

I just want to say to you, you are held in Hands of Love.  This is the time of year when it is so easy to get stressed out and overwhelmed.  It is the time of year that is supposed to be filled with joy, and instead is often filled with dread and an overwhelming sense of oppression and depression.  Hear me when I say, you are held in Love.  Love holds you.  Love knows your name.  Love speaks your name with tenderness and warmth, and Love has given everything so that you will know, taste and see the goodness that comes with being loved.  The name of Love is Jesus.  He is with you.  He never leaves you.  He walks with you, and when you cannot walk, He carries you.  He holds you and consoles you.  And when His suffering, death and resurrection are too much for you, He comes to you as an infant, as vulnerable and safe as the cooing of a baby’s contentedness swaddled in a warm embrace.  You are His.  You belong to Him and nothing eradicates that belonging.  It is etched into His very being, because He gives Himself generously, pouring Himself out into your deepest need.  You might be able to out-need the resources of human beings, but you can never out-need Him.  He is able to speak life into every lost part of your life, every dead part of your heart, every scared part of your soul.  You are irrevocable His.  And His name is Love.  And Love holds you.  Never give up, unless it is in giving yourself into His mighty, loving Hands.

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

A Christmas of Ordinary Holiness--Wesley E-letter (United Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends:

 

Hey there!  I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving!  It was so fabulous just to be with family and eat lots of home-made food.  That is such a rare thing in my house that we have to wait for special holidays to get home cooking. 

 

Tomorrow night, John Yonts is coming to share with everyone about how to begin financial planning while still in college.  This is probably one of the most helpful things we can talk about, especially with the reality of college expenses so high.  Come with your questions and come hungry.  Remember dinner is at 6:30pm!

 

Here is info about our Christmas Party!

 

Next week will have a special Advent worship service followed by our annual Christmas party.  After dinner next Thursday night, Broadway UMC’s praise team will lead us in worship and then we will have a fun gift exchange.  Be sure and bring a $10 unisex gift.  We will find some fun way of exchanging them!

 

Also next Wednesday we will be out on South Lawn again giving things away!  Look for us!

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

As I think about the Christmas story, I am always filled with awe at the paradox of God’s most wonderful miracle.  Our neon addicted culture would probably say that the miracle is in the angelic choir lighting up the stark night sky in the country-side.  But no, this isn’t the miracle that changed the world.  This event was merely the herald that announced the true miracle to its first observers.  The real miracle of Christmas is so much more humble:  The almighty, most holy God became flesh and dwelt among us, coming to us through ordinary means; Jesus was born.  I don’t know which is more astounding.  That Jesus was born in a manger, or simply that He was born. 

 

I love it!  Jesus was born!  Jesus, our Savior, was pushed through the birth canal, was nourished from a young woman’s body, and had to be swaddled to stay warm.  Jesus came to this world in the same way as any of us ever do:  through a woman’s womb, and into a make-shift crib.  As a mother of small children I am acutely aware that nothing is more ordinary or humble than trying to get little ones to sleep.  And Jesus was a little one.  In that one moment of unbelievable generosity, the most holy God sanctifies the most ordinary experience of our lives: living.  Our living is so meaning-filled to Him that He dignifies it by living it with us.  How eloquently the scripture captures this ultimate gift:

 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  Philippians 2:5-7

 

When we look for miracles, we want them to be other-worldly, extraordinary, inexplicable.  You know—spiritual (and visible) fireworks.  We don’t want our miracles wrapped in the ordinariness of an everyday occurrence.  We want them to glow, with neon.  We want lots of lights, lots and lots of lights.  With so much eye-candy in our over-saturated, consumer driven culture, it seems everyone is trying to top everyone else in being noticeable.  And the result is that everything looks flashy while being empty and hollow underneath.  Within our neon addicted culture the Lord of life is inviting us to a quieter and more solid experience of the miraculous.  

 

The Lord chooses to work through that which is ordinary, His hand deftly moving through circumstances that we would call banal at best.  No glitz or glamour, just the Hand of mercy redeeming things that we believed to be beyond hope or help.   Somehow one day leads into another day where the Fingerprints of blessedness appear.  And slowly the passage of time reveals to eyes that seek Him evidence of God’s presence gently weaving itself throughout our daily-ness.  Every moment is Holy to Him because He is in it.  ­He is in it. 

 

In this midst of this Christmas season, I invite and challenge you to train your eyes upon the Holy:  not necessarily the brightest lights, but certainly the truest Light.  Be courageous enough to seek the manger spoken of in the Angel’s songs, and not merely end your seeking when you find the angelic choir.  Search deeper and nearer, looking not for the best glitz, but rather for the most ordinary holiness and the most holy ordinariness.  As much as our Lord seeks us, He also wishes to be found.

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Standing Your Ground--Weekly E-letter for Wesley Foundation (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

Earlier this week I was watching TV and saw a special on the National Geographic Channel about Yellowstone National Park.  This is one of my favorite places on earth, so even though I was dog-tired, I stayed up to watch it.  I’m so glad I did.  Amazing how God can use the most mundane things to bring encouragement.

 

The narrator was talking about how several years back the park service had introduced wolves back into the eco-system of Yellowstone.  He went on to discuss how wolves are at the top of the food chain in that environment and how their hunting skills benefit all of the animals, particularly when they bring down a bison.  Many other animals are able to eat, and thus to survive, as well as the wolf.  In addition, the hunting customs of wolves actually strengthens the bison population by removing those animals that are weak or sick.  It was incredibly interesting to see how everything in that environment fits together.

 

However, what intrigued me was the observation that bison have a much better survival rate when they turn and face their predators instead of fleeing.  Standing their ground helps them to survive the attack intact.  In fact, those bison that stood their ground were able to level some pretty heavy blows to their opponents as opposed to the ones who merely run.  Running presents a greater danger because the wolves jump on the bison’s back and bring it down.  By facing their predators, the bison removed the easy access provided to wolves when they run.

 

How powerfully this metaphor extends to the spiritual life.  Let’s face it.  As persons of faith we are constantly hounded (pardon the pun) by our adversary.  Perhaps it is a lie that we have bought into.  In a recent conversation with my own campus minister I was reminded of the ways I tried to pass myself off in college as unintelligent and helpless.  It worked for getting attention from boys, but as long as I hung on to that image I could not move beyond it into what God had created me for.  It was a lie that I bought into that did more harm than good.  There are other things we face as well:  character flaws, bad habits, personal attacks from others, injustice, grief, prolific discouragement, incessant “bad luck,” distraction, destruction, depression, and so much more.  The temptation is always to give up, give in, and give over our selves and our control to something or someone else.  It is so easy to think that by running away we can simply outrun whatever (or whomever) is trying to bring us down.  I love the scripture that applies so aptly from Ephesians 6:10-13:

 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.  Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 

 

What I so love about the Lord is that He equips us not just to survive spiritual attacks, but to overcome them.  As we take up that full armor (Ephesians 6:14-17) and face him full on, our adversary has no weak spots to exploit.  We meet those trials and temptations meant for our defeat and destruction with the hope and promise that we can have victory.  As we belt ourselves with truth, walk in peace, dress in righteousness, wear our salvation, shield ourselves with faith, living and speaking the Word of God, we find that we have everything we need to expose and defeat the spiritual difficulties we face.  Ultimately it is not we who are fighting, but rather we are standing strong in the victory already won for us by the Lord Himself.  We stand strong finally not in our wisdom or power but in God’s.  And that makes all the difference.

 

Whatever we run from, we can never really escape.  Should our troubles pursue us, we simply have exposed rear ends that have no armor to protect.  And even if by running away we can leave behind unpleasantness for the moment, the unfinished business of the past always comes back to haunt us.  Only by standing and facing the adversity of our lives with the strength of God beside us and within us are we able to resolve the difficulties we face.  And in the process our weaknesses are transformed into strength.   Just as the Bison population has been made stronger because of the introduction of the wolf, we too are able to become more than we are when adversity arises.  We simply have to know how to face it.   So what I guess I am trying to say is . . . . don’t run away from the tough stuff, no matter what it is.  Stand up, face it, and expose it to the truth of who God is in you and for you.  You will do more than just survive.  You will ultimately thrive.

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

                                                                                   

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

 

Let me introduce you to Saint Karen--Wesley Foundation Weekly E-letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

 

Hey there!  How about this weather?  Isn’t it great?  This morning I got to watch Noah and Isaiah in their costume parade at school.  It was so cool!  Yeah!  So anyone got any cool costumes this year?  I would like to send out a big Wah Hoo! to Dave Vickery and Kelly Ogles for winning our costume contest last week at Wesley.  Gary Ransdell and Mr. Bucket never looked so good!

 

TOMORROW get your FREE CANDY!  We will be handing out candy on South Lawn from 11am till 3pm.  It should be awesome fun.  Come and hang out with me; I’m decorating the mommy van for a little bit of trunk or treat on campus!

 

This Thursday we will have a special All Saints Day service.  We will eat at 6:30pm and at 7:30pm we will have our service in the chapel.  So many times we lose people we love and after the funeral, there is never a time when we get to talk about them.  Well Thursday night we will have some time to celebrate the lives of those who have gone before us, tell their stories, and remember what gifts their living has given to us.  So please join me for this special time.  Come and light a candle for your special loved one.

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

This Thursday, November 1^st , is All Saints Day in the Christian calendar.  The New Handbook of the Christian Year describes it this way:

 

In contemporary understanding, it commemorates all Christian people of every time and place.  “The saints” in New Testament usage refers to Christians collectively, and it is with this biblical understanding that celebration of this day has been rapidly spreading among Protestants in recent years.

 

For some reason this special day has lodged itself in my heart.  In other words, it’s taken up residence.  I just can’t help thinking about those “saints” in my life who have loved and inspired me, and who are now cheering me on from the arena of heaven.  I have such a special place in my heart for them; in fact, they live there.  It is as if their earthly life continues in the influence and inspiration that shapes my day to day choices and experiences.  All Saints Day is a time to remember and celebrate God’s goodness to us through those who are now with Him.

 

So I would like to introduce you to “Saint Karen.”  Karen Pelz was a professor in the English department at WKU in the early 90’s.  In 1992, as a sophomore in college I answered an ad she placed in the Herald offering a student room and board in her home for $500 a semester.  Mrs. Diddle had just died (yes, the Mrs. Diddle as in Diddle Arena, but that’s another story), and I needed a new home.  So I called the number and went over to meet Karen and her family.  Now Karen’s family included her elderly mother and five cats.  After that initial meeting, Karen thought I would be an okay boarder, so I moved in.

 

Life had never been so good.  Karen could cook.  And she made my lunch everyday and sent it to school with me in a brown bag with fun pictures drawn on it.  She even did my laundry.  All this for only $500 a semester.  Talk about God’s grace.  But I really had no understanding of how God’s grace would work through Karen to shape me as a human being, and especially as a pastor.

 

When I moved in, Karen had been in remission from cancer of the esophagus for two years.  Shortly after I arrived however, Karen began having bad pain in her back.  The doctors kept telling her that there was nothing there, but Karen knew something was wrong.  Eventually, cancer was discovered in her body.  Over the next three years I watched as the cancer re-emerged into Karen’s life, bringing with it the tyrannical treatment of radiation and chemo, and a slow descent into a morphine induced drowsiness that never seemed to let up.  The pain was just that bad.  In the evenings I would get home from the Wesley Foundation and spend some time watching “Northern Exposure” or “David Letterman” with Karen as I rubbed her swollen feet and her back and prayed.  I just kept praying that God would bring her healing.

 

I always felt that God had brought me to Karen so that I could bring cheerfulness and joy to her home.  Some days were easier than others.  Toward the end of my three years there, there was a particularly difficult day to be cheerful.  Karen’s brother and his family had come in from somewhere up North to spend time with her.  On that particular afternoon when I came in, they had just left.  I remember that moment when I gathered up my courage to put on a happy face to go in to where Karen was resting.  So I headed into her room with my upbeat self and said hello. 

 

Now I must pause in the midst of the story to tell you something about Karen.  She never minced words.  And she just spoke her mind.  In fact, one of her favorite t-shirts read “FUBAR University.”  I’ll leave your imagination to figure out what it meant.  Let’s just say it’s not the kind of thing one would wear in church.  So you have to understand that her next words to me were spoken in love, but were direct none-the-less.

 

So I headed into Karen’s room with my upbeat self to say hello.  And Karen looked up at me and said, “Sami, I don’t mean to be rude, but it is so hard to say goodbye to my family for the last time when you are so damn cheerful!” 

 

I have never forgotten her words to me.  Every time I walk into a hospital room, a place of deep grief, a situation that is full of anguish, I remember her words.  They have taught me well.  Better than any seminary course on pastoral care or CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) experience.  With her courage to speak the truth in love, Karen taught me to walk softly on the holy ground of people’s souls.  Sometimes it is the only holy ground they have.  I remember it every time I pray with someone, every time I encourage someone, every time I listen to someone pour out their story in my hearing. 

 

Shortly after I finished my college work and moved to seminary, Karen died.  Her long battle with cancer was finally over.  Her healing had finally been won. So as I think about All Saints Day, I think about Karen, one of the best teachers I ever had.  I cherish her memory, and often, as I teach now, I will feel her presence over my shoulder, looking on, encouraging, simply being the reminder that I’m not here alone.

 

Friends, I don’t know what your saints stories are, but I encourage you to remember and celebrate them.  And if you have a story you want to share, come and join us on Thursday night for our All Saints Day service.  It will be a blessing to us all.

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Seed or Sod--Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

 

Tonight is the big night!!!!! The much anticipated, highly celebrated Halloween party!  We will eat a spook dinner, carve pumpkins, sing karaoke, and award fabulous prizes.  The festivities begin at 6:30pm.  I look forward to seeing everyone there! 

 

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

A few weeks ago my brother-in-law was over at our house, and he and my husband were talking about lawns.  Of course we had been in a terrible drought and most of the grass in our neighborhood was brown.  Bill commented on our lawn that the back was much greener and growing much better than the front.  He said it must have been seeded, while the front had been sodded.  He could tell that the roots of the back yard had gone so much deeper than those in the front; that’s why it looked so much better.

 

I have been sitting with this image and this question for several weeks now:  seed or sod?  In our quick fix society it seems so much easier to transplant someone else’s work into our lives for results that are immediate.  But in life as in lawns, there are no easy buttons.  It is true that sod looks much better in the short run, but it amazes me that after three years the differences in quality are still so apparent.  Seeds build better roots; sod is too shallow.   

 

Things in life have to be deeply rooted to survive.  Anything that is of value must be planted deeply, tended regularly, watched over intentionally.  This is such a slow process because seeds are so small.  And they seem to take forever to grow.  So much of the growth that happens in the beginning is hidden, beneath the earth.  And this is often the way God does things.  God plants His Word in us through seeds which we can choose to nurture or to ignore.  We can cultivate the growth of God things in our lives, but it takes patience.  I love the scripture in Philippians 2:12-13 that says, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”   Because God is not into sod, He makes sure that what He is building is “built on rock,” able to withstand whatever circumstances that try to derail His intentions.  And He expects us to work with Him, even though it demands we cannot take the easy way out.

 

It is true that we can manufacture a veneer of okay-ness in the image infatuated society we live in.  And we can do this in all kinds of areas:  academics, jobs, friendships, relationships, organizational involvement, church life, dating, marriage, whatever.  We can make things look great on the outside while being a complete mess or completely shallow underneath.  But heat always reveals the depth of roots.  Without being the real deal, things that look good on the surface soon dry up and blow away because they cannot withstand the elements.  Change and hardship reveal what we are made of; we either crumble or stand tall.  Just like seeded grass that remains green (or greener) in a drought, or shallow sod that burns up easily. 

 

I invite you to take a personal inventory with me:  What parts of your life are you allowing God to plant and grow seeds of strength in?  What parts have you been faking it, trying to make things look better than they really are?  What parts of your life do you recognize as being in the long process of growth, much of which is happening where others can’t really see it?  The good news is that God loves seeding things and bringing forth fruit from that which is seeded.  It doesn’t matter what kind of soil we’ve become, God’s intention is for us to bear much fruit, and He will see that we are properly seeded to bear His fruit.  He is patient and loving and teaches us to wait with Him for those good things He is growing.  And when we finally see progress it will be of the kind that cannot be taken away:  “For as the earth brings for its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations”  (Isaiah 55:11).

 

So rejoice with me friends!  We may be sod (get it? Sad/sod?  J) now, but “instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off”  (Isaiah 55:13).

 

Hoping,

 

Sami

 

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

 

Have lots of joy! Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

Hey there! I am still so pumped up about last night's big cookout. Wow! It was so cool to sit outside
on the front porch and talk and eat free food. Thanks to everyone who came by!

Tomorrow night (Thursday) we are eating at 6:30pm. State St. UMC is providing food, and Broadway UMC is
coming to lead us in worship (7:30pm). I am so excited! You know how on Sunday mornings the praise band
will only do three songs? I always feel like I'm just getting warmed up when all the music is over.
Well, for worship tomorrow night, we are spending a whole hour in worship! Louis has 13 songs lined up.
Yeah! So come and get lost in praising God. It will be awesome.

Reminder—If you are going on our Fall Retreat (October 19-21) to camp Loucon, you need to get a $25
deposit (total cost $50) to me this week!

NOW FOR SAMI'S RAMBLING ABOUT JESUS:

I think one of the most elusive qualities about life in today's culture is joy. So much of life in so
many different sectors is full of stress, striving, competition, and general anxiety. I see it when I
talk to students, professors, people in the work force, moms who stay at home, church folk, secular folk,
every kind of folk. Everyone seems stretched thin to breaking. And no one seems to have time for joy.
Or real community.

For me the two really go hand in hand. Perhaps that's why last night's cookout on our front porch was so
edifying. There was no agenda. There was no schedule. There was simply food and friendship being
offered to anyone who would take it. And in the laughter and simple community that was shared, my heart
felt light and joyful.

I love just being together without having to accomplish anything, simply appreciating the company of the
person(s) one is with. I often wonder if that is what Jesus experienced as He walked among the throngs
of people gathered to together to taste something of the Kingdom of God that He brought with Him. I
wonder if that is why the disciples stayed with Him morning, noon, and night, forsaking an old way of
life that no longer satisfied. It seems a Christ-like community transforms one's experience of the world
in profound ways. Life together, sharing the Holy Spirit, saturated with God's love, is satisfying in
the deepest ways. And the joy one lives with in that kind of community changes everything. It brings
with it the courage to step out as a new kind of being: a human being who for the sake of Joy runs with
perseverance the race of life, following the example of Christ and trusting in His Holy Spirit to keep
him or her following.

It's why hanging out at the Wesley Foundation is a spiritual exercise, even if we aren't doing
anything "religious." When we are together, and the Spirit of the living God permeates the spaces we
live in, we are transformed. And that transformation changes the world as we step out into it.

So I wish for you my friends joy and community. That you may have the courage to live boldly in a world
that does not understand either one. So that you may have the courage to be transformed and then to
transform every other place you go.

Hoping,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

Courageously Play!--Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

Fall break is almost here! Yeah! I'm looking forward to time away with my family.
May each of you get some much needed rest and a chance to renew your energies.

We have some cool things coming up.

FALL RETREAT—This will be October 19-21. The cost is only $50. I need to know by
Thursday October 11th if you plan on attending. $25 is due then. If money is an
issue let me know. I want everyone who wants to go to be able to.

NEXT TUESDAY—we will have a cookout at the Wesley Foundation from 4:30pm till 6:30pm.
Mel Wilhelm, the youth minister from Covenant UMC in LaGrange, is coming up to visit
and bringing food. No program, no catch, just dinner. So come by and enjoy some good
times and good free food.

NEXT THURSDAY—Broadway UMC is providing music for us, for a really awesome time of
worship. This is a time to leave the worries of school, family, friends, etc. behind
as we focus totally on Jesus and praise Him. Of course we will eat first at 6:30pm.

Now For Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

As we look forward to a Fall Break that begins soon, go forward into that lazy time of
rest and re-creation. It's okay to have fun. God designed you for joy. So take time
to revel in it during this break. Be courageous in resting, really resting.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap. Don't waste this precious
time doing "important" things. Allow yourself the luxury of loafing. Honestly, this
is part of our best spiritual practices. It is called Sabbath. If you are like me,
it is all too tempting to squander such times catching up. Instead of truly allowing
the body, mind, and spirit to rejuvinate and restore lost resources, we push ourselves
demanding more than we were made for. And then when circumstances and life culminate
in such a way that they absolutely do demand more of us, we have nothing left to give
because we gave our best away to the non-essentials, never giving the best of
ourselves time to be recharged and re-invigorated.

So bravely go into this time of Break, and Break away from the temptation to turn it
into just another long weekend. Instead, be a good steward of the self God has given
you and rest. You just might be surprised just how much more you get done when you
get back!

Hoping,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

An Angel Helped Me Carry Something to DUC--Wesley Weekly E-Letter (Methodist Student Center)

Dear Friends,

Hope you are enjoying this nice change in weather. It actually looks and kind of feels like fall! Here
is a quick run-down of the stuff we have going on:

Tomorrow night we eat at 6:30pm. Of course it's free. And then we will make prayer labyrinths. If you
enjoy making art, you will love this. It is a really creative way to pray. We will also talk about
prayer as a journey and where our journeys are taking us this year. It should be fun.

Also this Sunday Bishop James King will be in Bowling Green at Christ United Methodist Church. At 6pm
there will be a time of singing where different churches will share music from around the Bowling Green
area. We will also be singing and sharing a slide show of what God is doing at the Wesley Foundation.
It is one of the ways we will celebrate our 50 years of ministry at WKU. Be sure and join us!

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

Yesterday I was visited by an angel. God sent a young man to help me out in a situation where I was too
proud to ask for help. I was walking from the Wesley Foundation to DUC, taking our Pack & Play to a
friend who has a baby a few months younger than Isaiah. I figured I could just carry it and walk, since
parking is so difficult. Of course the hill was much steeper than I anticipated, and the Pack & Play
weighed more than I thought and was hard to hold on to! Sweat was dripping off of me by the time I
reached Cherry Hall.

As I was going in to Cherry a young man stopped to hold the door for me, and seeing my struggle he asked
if I could use some help. I said no. He said since he was already late for class, he might as well go
ahead and help me. I told him I didn't want to keep him from class. Again he offered.

There was something in his offer that was like manna from heaven. I finally accepted the help he was
ready to give. I'm so glad I did. My load was heavy.

I think this is how Jesus is with us. We walk through life carrying loads of heavy stuff: high
expectations, doubts, fears, frustrations, hurts, habits, broken relationships, disappointments, anger,
worry, etc. At every turn Jesus is standing there asking us, "Can I carry that for you?" His promise is
that He takes the weight of our sin and worry and gives us His heart instead. What a cool trade! It is
a transformation that brings freedom, energy, and aliveness. We begin to care about things He cares
about, yet having the power we need, His power, to actually do something that makes a real difference in
the concerns on our hearts.

I was truly humbled to have to accept help the other day. But the blessing that young man gave me was
immeasurable. So Kenny, wherever you are, thank you for showing me Jesus. I hope you come to Wesley
sometime so everyone can see what my angel looks like.

Hoping,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

God Found Me--Wesley Foundation E-Letter (Methodist Campus Ministry)

Dear Friends,

It's been a beautiful day. I tend to forget when the weather is so hot and dry for so long that
eventually it will change. And so it was nice to be outside on this day when there was a crisp-
ness in the air and a break from the sweltering heat. It's another reminder that time does move
along, and so do our lives.

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

I have just finished reading a book. It has challenged and inspired me in ways I never dreamed
when I picked it up one afternoon from the stacks of religion books in the public library. On that
crazy afternoon when I was so desperate for a quiet, contemplative space to pray, I retreated to
the library for some solitude. Only, I found when I got there that there was a buzz and busyness
present that precluded any real solitude. After fumbling around for some inspiration, I checked a
couple of books out and headed home, disappointed that my "day with God" was not what I had hoped
it would have been.

It is amazing how God shows up anyway. Over the course of three weeks I have been slowly,
deliberately, prayerfully reading this book. And it has delighted and surprised me the way I have
sensed the presence of Christ raise off the pages to speak to my heart. I thought I had to do a
bunch of religious searching to find God. Instead, God found me.

I love the surprising ways that the gospel breaks in to my predictable life to say, "Hey you!
Here's some good news!" I love that I cannot manufacture it, but instead can only humbly receive
it. I love that the only response that merits anything is mystified gratitude. I love that at the
end of the day, I am no judge of how God will show up next.

It seems like God has been showing up more and more in unpredictable, yet "good news" ways. It is
so good to be reminded that we are not in this life alone. We have each other, and we have God who
loves us desperately and is passionate about teaching us to love one another.

So dear friends, and I mean every one of you, let us live into this semester with wonder in our
souls. Be assured that we are never lost from God's good news. It can show up at any moment in
surprising and unexpected ways. Let us also be humbly aware that the next blessing sent to inspire
and encourage us may come from the unlikeliest of places. We must be prepared at any moment to
encounter the Living Lord in everything and EVERY one around us. We never know when something of
the eternal will tap on the exterior of our hearts asking to be let in. I just know I want to be
ready and receptive when it does. Do you?

Hoping,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

I'm Experiencing Conversion

Dear friends,

It’s that time of year again to begin those weekly meanderings of events and ramblings. Here’s a cheer for the weekly e-letter: YAY!

Tomorrow night is our first worship service of the semester. The theme is “Word of God Speak.” Faith United Methodist Church is coming to provide the music. FREE food is at 6:30pm. Our service will begin around 7:30pm. Come and consider what Word God is giving to you. Call us at 842-2880 if you need a ride.

Saturday we are celebrating 50 Years of ministry on the Hill! Join us at 1pm at the Wesley Foundation for a magnificent time of worship and commemorating God’s work through our campus ministry at Western. Almost all of our former campus ministers are returning to share in the occasion. Rev. Ken Southgate, campus minister of EKU’s Wesley Foundation will be giving the keynote address. Come and see which alumni have changed the most!

Tuesday we will be grilling for the masses on DUC South Lawn from 5pm-8pm. Come and grab a quick burger or dog on your way to class. Free food is a sign of God’s love. We will be giving away free T-shirts while they last.

Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

I just read the following words:

“Conversion isn’t, after all, a moment: It’s a process, and it keeps happening, with cycles of acceptance and resistance, epiphany and doubt” (Take This Bread, pg. 97).

The truth of these words settles into the deepest part of me. Wow. I have just seen the thing that has been stirring in my soul these last few weeks written on a page in a book. And I have to stop and really consider what this conversion is that has been taking place inside.

Oddly enough, it is a conversion of hope, a letting go of the anxious to grasp more fully the Transcendent. It is like this Holy Mystery keeps inviting me to reach beyond my self to participate in the life that is alive around me. And I find that I am so hungry to see God in the life all around me, to be fully immersed in what God is doing. I am hungry to be a part of something bigger than myself. However, to live into this desire of my heart, I really have to let go of the things that usually reside there: things like self-doubt and self-sufficiency; worrying and restlessness; business and a compulsion to control. None of these things come from a place of hope. Instead they are born of fear.

Scripture says that perfect love casts out fear. So ultimately conversion to hopefulness is to delve deeply into love, falling in love with all that God loves. It is finding the courage to drink deeply of God’s love for a broken world, and allowing that love to mend everything within and around us.

I guess this is my prayer for this new year, that those deepest yearnings of my heart will find their way to reality as God’s grace works itself out in my life. I want to invite you to join me in this journey of hope. Amid the papers and the projects, the tyranny of deadlines and due dates, to allow Hope to reign in your hearts. The God who loves us, calls us by name, and sends us forth to share His love is so much bigger than the things that keep us up at night. And in working out His agenda for our lives, all the other details fall into place.

Hoping,

Sami

Congratulations on surviving Finals--Wesley Foundation E-Letter

Weekly E-letter:

 

Dear Friends,

 

Hope you have all survived finals week.  As a way of celebrating the end of the semester, we are taking a road trip to the Spaghetti Factory in Nashville tomorrow night.  Just meet at the Wesley Foundation at 5pm if you would like to join us.  We'll carpool there!

 

Now For Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

 

Many of you have finished for the semester.  Some of you have an exam or two left.  The fact is that the semester is drawing to a close.  Can you believe it's here?  Hard to imagine since it seems like yesterday we were just beginning.  Just yesterday it seems I was walking up the hill with a big belly full of  baby, yet today Isaiah Wesley is six months old.  Wow.  Time flies when you're having fun.  Or that's what they say. . . .

 

Speaking of time flying, I was reminiscing about high school this morning as I was getting ready for the day.  In particular I was remembering one of the most influential teachers I ever had.  Her name was Mrs. Bauersachs; many of us just called her Mrs. B.  I have yet to see another like her in public education.  She lived her faith in such a profound way that it spilled all over her students.  I guess what I remember most is that I loved her classes (she taught English and writing).  She went out of her way to make students feel at ease.  Before our exams she always tried to "do a little dance" beforehand, usually telling a joke to relieve our anxieties and help us lighten up.  I always appreciated that she genuinely tried to make us laugh.  Not many teachers did that—most of my other teachers were too wrapped up in teaching their curriculum to see that laughter mattered.  Perhaps the thing that imprinted itself on my person more than anything else is the day that Mrs. B said, "Do whatever you want to in life, just love." I found in her statement a profound encouragement to live the life one longs for, rather than falling into someone else's dreams, but also an imperative that really is imperative.  She taught us that love is important business. 

 

And it wasn't just her words that emphasized the importance of love, her life demonstrated it too.  Mrs. B. was in charge of organizing the spring talent show.  Going against school tradition she allowed some students in a rock band to enter.  These were the kind of students that everyone else had all given up on.  But she believed in them and allowed them the same kinds of opportunities as the more "acceptable" kids.  Unfortunately, the young men broke the dress code and performed in sleeveless t-shirts that were cut completely up the sides.  Their band was disqualified.   I had her class afterward.  I'll never forget the scene that unfolded when there was a knock at her classroom door during that period.  In stepped the same student whom she had taken a chance on and had broken the rules.  With as much sincerity as I've ever seen in a teenage young man, he simply said, "I'm sorry."  And with tears in her eyes she forgave him. 

 

Don't ever think that love isn't costly.  That was her last year at my high school.  I guess love was too radical for the administration to handle, because they fired her.  And I know she left heartbroken, because when she packed up her room at the end of the year, I tried to help her.  She didn't much want help.  My last memories of her leave an ache in my heart. 

 

But heartache is not her legacy; love is.  My time with her cemented something in me that longs to live Love.  No matter the cost.  For those of you who have received these e-mails for a while, you probably recognized a theme a long time ago.  Every message I feel God gives me to give revolves around, centers around, finds its beginning and ending and being in Love, God's Love.  My heart is to do for everyone who will listen what Mrs. Bauersachs did for me:  bestow love on each person as a beautiful child of a Living and Good God.  God loves you.  Every fiber of my being tells me so.

 

So go forth into this new season, this summer break.  Do whatever you want to—just love.  Live in Love.  And know how powerfully Love calls your name.  And wherever you are Mrs. Bauersachs, thank you.

 

Blessings,

 

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

You're almost there! Wesley Foundation E-letter

Dear Friends,

It is hard to believe that classes are officially over. It has been one crazy year. When I think of all
that has happened in my own life over the last nine months I am staggered by the many changes that have
taken place. There were so many times when I thougt, "Can I really make it through?" And here I am on
the other side of such silly thoughts. Maybe you are on the other side of your own silly thoughts.
Anyway, praise God we made it! Now if we can just survive finals!

Here are some activities to help the last days along:

Tonight is the last movie on the lawn. We'll set up the grill on DUC South Lawn about 6pm. We'll give
away free burgers and dogs as long as they last. After that we'll watch "Facing the Giants" on the
Academic Complex. Should be fun. If it rains we'll take the party back to the Wesley Foundation.

Next week's awesome adventures:

Ladies Tea Party--at my house Tuesday at 5:30pm. I'm pulling out the good china girls!

Guys Cookout--at my house Thursday at 5:30pm. These are the special ranch and A-1 burgers, hand
pattied.

Roadtrip to Nashville--Friday we'll celebrate the end of the semester by riding down to the Spaghetti
Factory downtown Nashville.

Join us for some good times!!

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

Last night I got the privilege of speaking to a group of high school students about the things that
matter most. I asked them about the things they cared about the most, as well as their biggest
challenges. Their responses were so thoughtful and honest. The biggest issues centered on trust and the
difficulty of living up to expectations. As you read this, you are probably thinking something
like, "Some things never change." In the midst of taking a deep look into the core of who we are, we
then listened to the deep wisdom of Scripture. I say listened because several of the students read the
passage aloud, and all of us listened for those places where the word of God really seemed to speak to
those deep places in our hearts. The passage we looked at came from Proverbs 3: "Trust in the Lord with
all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall
make your paths straight." Good words to live by.

Amazing how such ancient words spoke so powerfully to the present realities of this very young
generation. In the tension of this last week of school, it speaks to us as well. This is a time when it
is so easy to try to manipulate one's life into a neat package, and say to the world, "This is who I
am!" But like all tests in life, some finals are harder than others to conquer. At the end of next week
some students will be doing a victory dance; some will be wearily traveling home feeling like they've
been beaten down. And so the words of comfort come: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean
not on your own understanding." Comfort! What comfort?!

The comfort of letting God be God, the comfort of entrusting ourselves to hands more capable than our
own, the comfort of the relief that comes when we admit that we don't know it all. The truth is we don't
need to know it all. We just need to surrender it all into the sturdy, yet gentle, tender, yet wise,
hands of God.

I spoke with a young man last night who was so full of Jesus, suffused with a passion that lit up his
eyes and his heart. He was there to help with the youth. He shared with me the story of how he left the
University he was enrolled in to return home and attend the local community college. Most young people
would be devastated by such a move. But this young man's eyes shown as he told me how God had
orchestrated this move in his life, and in so doing had opened up possibilities for him that were his
true heart's desire, including a new relationship that brought him much joy and a closeness to his
mentors that buoyed him up. He was involved in a powerful ministry to youth that he loved. If he had
trusted in his own wisdom he would have been lost and miserable. By trusting God at a difficult
intersection in his life, he was found and blessed. The world just can't offer that.

So in these final days when anxieties run so high, remember who is really in charge, who is really Master
of the universe. No, it's not he-man. It's God. Who loves you and calls you by name. Trust me, there
is great safety and joy in answering. Until next time. . . .

Blessings,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

Hope--Weekly E-letter Wesley Foundation

Dear Friends,

I just got back from eating Baskin Robbins ice cream with a friend. There is nothing like Jamoca Almond
Fudge ice cream to make the day better, and I was having a pretty good one to begin with. I hope each of
you has something like that in your life that brings you simple joy. Sometimes it is just good to step
away from the craziness and simply enjoy life. It somehow makes the craziness less crazy.

Anyway, tonight is our special PICTURES OF GOD worship experience. Bring your picture with you and we'll
scan it in! Food at 6:30pm, our service starts at 7:30pm. SMILEY & THE HOT MINUTE will be sharing
praise and worship music. Should be lots of fun.

Next week we will watch a "Facing the Giants" on the lawn. Watch for more info later on.

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

Yesterday I wrote my e-letter and lost it in cyberspace when I hit send. Today I am writing it first in
a Word document. It seems I always have to live and learn the hard way. Pray for me; I need it bad! 

It's been a rough couple of weeks on campus. My heart has been so heavy for most of it over the
shootings at Virginia Tech and then the death of the young man in Keen Hall. Yet at the same time the
presence of God has been so profound. I've seen Him move in ways that have amazed me. While I have
wrestled with what to say in the midst of tragedy, I keep coming back to the presence of Hope which
persists no matter what.

We stood together on the lawn last week lighting candles to honor those who had lost their lives as well
of those who were hurting. The light spread from one person to another. Nobody cared who they received
the light from. Divisions seemed to melt away from the gathered crowd as we kept passing the constant
flame from one candle to another. That's how I think of Hope. We share God's heart with one another,
passing His blessing around from one person to another, feeling in our own hearts the Love of God that
beats there, and communicating it to others in simple gestures, like light bearing. We are His light
bearers.

We also bring light by bearing the cares and burdens of others; we care about what they care about, we
feel their heartache with them. Somehow it makes the day better. We join our hearts with theirs and
simply stay with them in their need, being a face of love for them to gaze upon, or even gazing upon them
with love when their pain is so great they cannot even raise their eyes. We care and we offer the space
of our hearts to carry those who hurt to the heart of God. If we can't make it better we take the hurt
to the One who can. While I don't know what to say in the face of unspeakable anguish, this is what I
wish to be, and what I try to offer in the place of words.

I guess I keep coming back to that simple truth that God holds us. We are held in love, just sometimes
we don't know it. In the aftermath of all that has happened, my heart aches most for those who are
lonely and feel they must suffer alone. Like the young man who took his own life. I just wish I would
have known him. I just wish he had known there was a place on campus where he would have found
friendship and acceptance. A place where he would have been loved.

I want to say to you who are reading this and feel lonely, like there is no place where you really
belong, like your life doesn't matter and nobody cares, we are your place. We care. Your life does
matter. It matters to God and it matters to us. I promise you welcome. You will find rest for your
soul.

For some of us it is a major step of faith to trust. If you need to trust that someone cares, trust us.
Give us a chance to shower you with God's love. We will honor the step of faith you take.

Know you are not alone. Know that you are loved.

Blessings,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

Candlelight Vigil Tonight

Dear Friends,

A campus wide candlelight vigil is being held tonight at 10pm at the Guthrie Tower. This is an
opportunity for us to stand in solidarity with those at Virginia Tech who are experiencing the tragedy of
yesterday's shooting spree on that campus. Please join us for this time of reflection, prayer, and
lifting up those who are hurting.

Blessings,
Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

Dear Friends,

Hope you are staying dry on this rainy day! At least it is starting to warm up. It snowed here for the Easter weekend. Nothing like hunting eggs in a snow storm! Wow. Tomorrow night we will be hosting a movie night on South Lawn. Come and join us for dinner at the Wesley Foundation at 6:30pm and then trot down the hill to enjoy "Cars" on the side of the Academic Complex (about 7:30pm). In case of rain we will just watch at it at the Foundation. Otherwise bring a blanket and crash (ha, ha) on the lawn.
Now For Sami's Ramblings About Jesus: Last night I got the rare privilege of watching TV with my wonderful husband Tim. Boston Legal was on. It always makes me think. The episode revolved around the theme of love and how to experience love we must make ourselves vulnerable to others. In order to love we must accept the risk that vulnerability brings, but in rejecting risk we also condemn ourselves to loneliness. We reject the one thing we were made for. The choice to love and be loved always brings risk. But it is riskier still to not love at all.

I laid in bed last night thinking of love, God, and Easter. It is incredible and wonderful to me to think about God, maker and ruler of the universe, risking everything to love us. Isn't that what the incarnation is all about? Jesus, the one who is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15-16), became flesh and walked among us as a man, a human man, a flesh and blood person who wept and laughed and cried and everything we do as humans. It is so easy to think, "surely the Divine Being would not become something as vulnerable as human?" And yet He did. And then it is so easy to think, "surely God as human wouldn't be subject to the kinds of inconveniences and discomforts that most humans endure." And yet He says of himself, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). And then it is so easy to think, "but surely the Most High God would not permit Himself to suffer and experience the deepest of human misery." And yet Jesus's life as a man ends on a cross. Wow.

What complete and utter vulnerability. God in Jesus risked everything to love us, and experienced real loss in the process. It is a shocking God we follow as people of faith. Which one of us when faced with that kind of loss up front would risk loving to begin with? And yet Jesus does.

What I love is that death does not have the last word. A few years back the song "Arise My Love" was released. It tells the story of Easter morning from God's perspective. In the early morning hours God's light breaks forth and calls Jesus back to life. God's love risks complete vulnerability, is vulnerable even to death, and then rises forth to new resurrected life that is forever beyond the grasp of death. It is like the sweet words of Solomon: "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame." (Song of Songs 8:6)

I love that love has the last word. That love lives, even in the midst of the worst life brings; love lives. In all my years of being alive, being a pastor, being a campus minister I have only seen one real need in people's lives: the need to experience real love. And Jesus is the love that lasts and has the last word. It is the real word we all need to hear. It never matters how deep the wounds are that I have seen (and felt). The hunger is always to experience love. And His love is so longing to fill us up. He even went to the cross to give it. I'm just so glad it didn't stay there. So how about some resurrection love? Jesus loves you. He meets you where you are (no matter where that is) and moves you where He is. . . . To new life. It's why we do what we do. We just want you to know you are loved.

Blessings, Sami 


Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation
1355 College St.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 842-2880

You are not your grade--Wesley Foundation E-letter

Dear Friends,

 

Make sure you get out sometime and enjoy this beautiful weather!  It is so good to just be outside. Monday night we took a family walk around the neighborhood.  It can be difficult getting places when the two-year old believes every rock (no matter how small) is a treasure that must be picked up.  Even though we didn’t walk fast or far (and had to carry him half of the way home) it was a wonderful reminder of the necessity to enjoy life while living it.  So get outside and do some enjoying!

 

This week Broadway UMC is coming to lead our praise and worship on Thursday at Solid Rock Café.  Remember free food at 6:30pm, worship at 7:30pm.  We’ll be doing something creative and inspiring as we worship, so set aside some time for God.  No matter what is going on in your life, you’ll be glad you did.

 

Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:

 

When I was in seminary I had a New Testament professor who used to say to us:  “You are not your grade.”  A part of me believed her because she treated everyone with dignity, no matter what.  But then every year as graduation drew closer, the seminary would spend one of its convocations giving away awards to students who excelled in various areas of study.  Sure enough, there was always a New Testament award.  As much as I wanted to believe that grades did not matter, I lived in the paradox of a training school for pastors who gave away accolades to those who made the best grades.  There was no award for the student who had the best pastor’s heart.

 

We all have to live in that paradox as people of faith because we move in a world whose paradigm is based upon outward appearances to determine inward value.  Yet faith tells us that our lives matter because God created them.   We have to live knowing that our inward value transcends whatever outward appearances say.  It is so easy to fall into the trap of trying to prove our inner value through an outer accumulation or accommodation.  This is especially true on a college campus where we accumulate so much:  GPA’s, clothes, ipods, computers, blackberries, video phones, friends on Facebook, memberships in clubs and organizations, positions in clubs and organizations.  It’s not bad to have these things; it’s just bad to allow them to define you.  Or to look to them to provide you with the one thing only God can give:  a sense of peace about yourself and your life.  And when accumulating doesn’t do it for us, we always seem to turn to accommodation to fill the holes that accumulation leaves behind:  drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, addictions of all kinds.  I believe that true peace about oneself and one’s life comes only through humility.

 

I have been pondering this concept of humility.  What does it mean to be humble?  I believe God is showing me that humility is not the same as humiliation (although humiliation can lead to humility; it certainly has in my life, but that’s another “ramblings”).  Humility is not being totally down on yourself.  Humility is seeing yourself as God sees you.  It is knowing that without all the stuff, your life matters and has value.  It is living as if the content of your heart is more important than the content of your closet, wallet, or GPA.  There is no contempt in humility, for yourself or others.  A humble person doesn’t need outward stuff to validate them.  So they never have to expend energy trying to prove their own worth to themselves or others by accumulating the outward stuff.  And they never have to put someone else down, or look down on others to feel good about themselves.   Jesus was so humble.  He knew who He was no matter who the world told Him He was.  And he was completely free to love others as they were, no matter what the world said about them. 

 

No matter what this world (or campus) says about you, you matter.  Jesus’s love speaks the truth of who you are.  You are a person of immeasurable worth.  You are His.

 

I love you too.  This ministry loves you.  As people who walk with Jesus, we just want you to know His truth.

 

Blessings,

Sami

 

 

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu