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

 

God is Big Enough--Wesley E-letter

Dear Friends,

Hey there! Hope you all survived Spring Break and that you have returned
rested and re-created, ready to take on the challenges of the last few weeks
of school. It sure was quiet around here with everyone gone. Tonight at
Solid Rock Café we'll hear how the group did on their trip to Mississippi to
do hurricane relief. I've heard that they stayed in a house with no walls!
Way to rough it for the Lord, guys (and Kelly too). Feel free to bring your
own Spring Break stories to share. We will also watch "A Night with the
King" and consider the message of how God works in our circumstances to give
our lives purpose. Can you see God's purpose for you unfolding in your
present circumstances?

Also want to give a big shout out to Smiley and the Hot Minute. The
pre-Spring Break concert was awesome. It was so refreshing to hear good
music, dance, sing, laugh, eat gourmet burgers and dogs (yes I am the
grill-master), and be with some really cool people. By the way, the warm
fuzzy hackey sack competition sparked added its own flavor to the evening.
All in all, everyone had a chance to unwind before heading out of town in an
atmosphere of old-fashioned, good, clean silliness. I love you guys! We'll
do it again before the semester is over. Be sure and check out the pictures
(complements of Lauren Davis, she takes the best pictures) on Facebook!

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

I wrote this e-letter once before on Monday, before it was eaten by the
internet boogie monster. One mistake click of the keys and all of my heart
that I had poured out on paper (I mean screen) was gone forever. I told Tim
(my wonderful husband with the very nice legs) that it felt like giving
blood and then watching someone pour it out all over the floor. However, I
have had time to continue to think about what I wanted to write even more,
and maybe that's a good thing.

You see, the week before Spring Break I attended the Angela Shelton lecture
on campus. It is one of the events dedicated to raising awareness of sexual
abuse, rape, and violence in our society, as well as trying to help us know
how to prevent, stop, and heal such atrocities. For the last two weeks I
have really been seeking the Lord, trying to find a way to connect God's
healing grace to this kind of trauma. But at the same time I fell into the
trap of focusing too much on what is wrong, beginning to believe that
somehow what is wrong with the world is bigger than Who is right. I
certainly understand more than ever that our lives are the spiritual
battleground where evil tries in subtle and sometimes brutal ways to remove
our human dignity and sacred worth. Hearing and seeing the ravages of those
who have suffered from such abuse breaks my heart; it makes me angry; it
makes me ask questions that are hard to answer. However, in my wrestlings
over this issue I come back to the fundamental belief that healed my own
brokenness and continues to keep me whole each day: God's love heals
anything; God's love heals everything.

I had a profound insight about the power of God's love in all my wrestling.
The pastor at the church I attend said in an Advent message that God is
constantly joining us where we are. While we keep trying to leave our
present space and time to get to heaven, God keeps bringing heaven to us.
Thus the significance of the Christmas manger. Jesus enters into the human
experience by being born in absolute vulnerability and poverty. And yet in
the current liturgical season, Lent, I find a parallel message at work as
well. We try to avoid suffering, ignore suffering, and ultimately pretend
it isn't there. Yet here is Jesus walking right into the middle human
suffering, shame, and misery by trudging to the cross. We shut our eyes to
the pain of our sisters and brothers; Jesus opens Himself to pain in a very
intimate and personal way. And then overcomes it.

I honestly don't know why bad things happen. But in the core of who I am I
believe God's redemption touches every part of our human existence. God
restores every thing the Devil tries to steal, kill, and destroy. What
Satan demolishes, Jesus resurrects. He brings glory out of our ashes. All
we have to do is give our ashes to Him. He can make something beautiful out
of them every time.

No matter who I talk to, no matter what their struggle is, no matter what my
own struggles are, basically the biggest challenge we are all trying to
prevail in is believing our own worth. Each of us has it; it is our
birthright. And no matter who we are, we have an enemy who tries to deceive
us into believing we have lost it or never had it. And the only One who is
able to restore it, restore our belief in it is God. Only God is big enough
to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of our receiving it. Dear
friend (I'm imagining all your faces as I write this), know that you are a
person of sacred worth. God created you in love and deliberate, creative
attention. You are His masterpiece. Your life can never be messed up
beyond His ability to restore your beauty. You are loved. You are
infinitely loved.

Blessings and peace,

Sami

Sami Wilson

Campus Minister/Director

WKU Wesley Foundation

United Methodist Campus Ministry

270-842-2880

sami.wilson@wku.edu

Dear Friends,

Hope all is well today!  Just a reminder that our very own David Sparks will be speaking 
tonight at 180 (BCM) at 8:30pm.  David is the Kentucky Annual Conference leader of youth 
and young adult ministries.  He is always thoughtful and passionate about his work with 
young people and always thought provoking.  It will be a treat to hear him.

Also, "Smiley and the Hot Minute" will be bring praise and worship music to us this 
Thursday at SOLID ROCK CAFE'.  There is free food at 6:30pm and worship will follow afte rward about 7:30pm.  They even have their own page on facebook!  The message will look at how we live out a God-sized purpose.

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

Every now and then I get to watch Oprah.  It's one of my favorite shows because it inspires me.  Lateley I've seen a couple that have dealt with the subject of intention, basically what are we focusing on in our day to day lives.  It was a powerful insight for me because the message is that we give power to what we focus on. 

I am reminded of  a time when I was a young and very green pastor in Florida, enrolled in CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education).  My supervisor had a saying he would use when we allowed someone else to get the best of us.  He would say, "You gave your power away." 

I think we do the same thing when we focus on those parts of our lives that are difficult, arduous, challenge us in the most profound ways.  It's not that it's bad to think through the difficulties, but it is important where we stand when we do.  Where do we focus from?

Let me make it more plain.  When we look at our problems, challenges, and headaches, do we do it as beloved children of God?  Those whom our Lord delights in?  Or do we look at life as one who is about to get run over by it?  I have found that simply changing my perspective changes my whole day.  And often not just my experience of my day, but also the outcome of it  as well. 

There is a different kind of energy that flows out of me based upon my frame of reference.  When I am conscious of my identity as God's beloved, I act upon the abundance of a Heavenly Father who loves me, and desires to love on me.  I act confidently, knowing God has the answers so I don't have to.  I act fearlessly, because my heart is full of joy and desire, leaving no room for fear.  I a ct passionately, knowing that the passion of God's heart, living itself out through mine, will bring Life to my life.  All of those assets that are so admired by the world--confidence, fearlessness, passion--begin to redefine my identity.  The power of this redefinition is that its source has nothing to do with me at all.  It is like a river that flows through me, originating in the imagination of God.

Who does God imagine you to be?  How powerfully would this world be changed if we all allowed our focus settle exclusively on God's identity for our lives instead of our own?  It is amazing to me that the transformation of the world resides simply in our focus.  Wow.

Hope you have a great week!

Blessings,

Sami



Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

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

It's cold outside, again! (Wesley e-letter)

Dear Friends,

It is amazing to me that yesterday could be so (relatively) warm and today can be so 
cold!  Weather in Kentucky can change at a moments notice.  Anyway, hope you are all 
staying warm.

Speaking of staying warm, we are giving away Warm Fuzzies at DUC today (2-4pm) and 
tomorrow (10a-2p).  I even changed my picture to a Warm Fuzzy on Facebook to commemorate 
the event.  Be sure and pick yours up!

Remember tomorrow night SOLID ROCK CAFE'.  We will be talking about "Listening to God."  Specifically, how to tell whether it's God's voice or your own.  Free food at 6:30pm.  Love to see you there.

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

This morning before my quiet time I found some songs I had written  a couple of years ago before my oldest son was born.  As I pondered them in the quietness of God's presence, it struck me that they still spoke truth to me.  All of them were written as love songs to God.   All of them speak of the power of God's presence.  The funny thing is that they reflect those quiet, intimate moments with the Lord that are often hidden.  These aren't mountain-top moments.  They aren't blind-me-on-the-roadside moments.  They are those simple times when life is ordinary and somehow an ordinary moment belongs to Him.  And it's not even that special, as if God shows up in a noticable way.  It is that ordinary moment that is given to Him. 

I can hear in the songs the rythm of my life speaking.  In one there is so much pain.  And yet a repeating affirmation of faith answers:  You, God, are there.  In one there is that beginning awareness of God's closeness and a companion awareness of yearning to be His.  In another there is a simple trust that speaks beyond circumstance:  My heart and my life are safe in Your hands. 

Where do you hear the rythm of your life speaking? I guess this experience brought forth for me that awareness that life, at its most basic,  is a search for God, and living is being found in God.  When everything "spiritual" is stripped away (that sense of being used by Him, the pride of serving Him, the fruit or growth that comes from Him, the elation of feeling close to Him, the compulsion of having to see Him) all that's left is simply Him.  And in the grand scheme of things, that is enough.  That simple Presence is enough to order my days, our days.

Now I like spiritual fireworks better than anybody.  I like the rush of feeling God's power move through my life like a racing river.  I love seeing Him work.  I especially love being a part of His work.  Yet I find in that hunger a spiritual greed that tends to take over.  If I really had to choose, it's really His quiet closeness that I need more.  Because it's really the only thing that sustains.  Nothing else, not even the things of God, can take the place of God in our lives.

Gosh this is such a profound truth.  It's like I hate it even as I write it.  But I know it is true.
My most honest confession is, "I want the stuff of God."  Yet God is so much more satisfying, ultimately, than all His stuff.  Some spiritual guru, somewhere, sometime, said, "Seek the God of consolation rather than the consolation of God."  I'm beginning to understand more what that means.

So here's the good news in all of this.  While we cannot eat spiritual dessert all the time, we can be quite nourished and ultimately satisfied with the simplicity of just being His.  And out of all that being, our lives begin to make sense.  We begin to know peace.  We begin to know, without having to be reminded every second, who we are and whose we are.  And God's most important work is done then because no one gets to take the credit but Him.

Blessings,

Sami



Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

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

Wesley Foundation E-letter, Methodist Campus Ministry

Dear Friends,

Hope you are all staying warm on this cold evening.  The Super Bowl party was great fun Sunday night.  For those who missed it, we will try to have another sports and chilli get together for the NCAA Basketball championship game.  Come on down for another night of mayhem.

We are also beginning a new Ladies Bible Study.  Meet at the Wesley Foundation at 11:30am on Thursdays. 

Tonight at Solid Rock Cafe' we will be having hot food and good fun.  We will be talking about listening to God.   I mean, how is it possible to know what God wants for us and from us?  Together we'll find out.  Join us at 6:30pm at the Wesley Foundation.

Enough announcements.....

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

Ever been lost?  There's a hit TV show by that name.  I don't know that I've ever been lost like that before, but immediately what comes to mind is shopping with my mother as a child.  When I was a small girl, and even a teenager and college student, I loved to shop.  And anytime my mother and I would go shopping (the mall, Wal-mart, wherever)  I had a tendency to get pre-occupied with stuff she wasn't interested in.  I would wander off, first just a few feet, being sure to keep her in sight.  Then I would go a little farther.  I would stay gone a little longer.  And then before I knew it, she was no where in sight, and I couldn't find her.  I can still feel that pit of the stomach sickness that would kick in the moment I realized I was . . . . lost.

Yes, these were the days before cell phones.

How many of us could say, "Been there; done that"?  It's so easy to get lost.  It just takes the lure of a minute second of diverted attention, the itch to just check something out,  the hook of becoming engrossed, and then the sickening realization that finding one's way back is more than difficult; it begins to look and feel impossible.  It happens in so many different ways, times, and places.   It even happens to responsible individuals.  It even happens to persons of faith.  It can happen anytime we wander off and take our focus away from where it is supposed to be.

Rather than focus on the many ways we wander off, I want to encourage us to think of the One who is always ready to find us.  Back in the day, my mom didn't always know where to find me.  Sometimes I'd be in Wal-mart and hear my name on the loudspeaker.  But God always knows right where we are, even when we think we've wandered off from Him.  It's true that we can so run away with our choices that it is hard for us to think about Him, much less see His presence in our lives.  But even if we are lost from God, God is never lost from us. 

The thing that gives me hope more than anything else is the realization that God sees us and He wants to connect with us.  All I have to do to experience this is to stop running from Him, and to start running to him.  To begin to make different choices about how I spend my time, who I spend it with.  It is really as simple as redirecting my gaze to Him.  One of the most powerful statements of this truth came on the night we went to see Maya Angelou speak last semester.  After she was raped as a child, she chose not to speak for many years.  But then one day she dared to speak so that the poetry she loved so much could come alive.  This is what she said about that day:  "I found that I had left my voice, but my voice did not leave me."  All she had to do to reclaim that lost part of herself was to speak again. 

Just like all we have to do be found is to stop running away and start looking for the Lord, because He is always looking at us.  (Since He never loses us, He never has to look for us.)  I love that part of Psalm 23 that says, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."  Goodness and mercy do follow us as surely as the eyes of the Lord follow us every step we take.  And if we just stop walking away from them, they bump right into us.  How painfully God longs to embrace us with love, and yet we seldom let Him.  We think if He follows us at all it is with retribution.  Really He is following us with love and longing, wanting only to heal us of the wounds we found in lostness.

My friends, join me in not being lost anymore.  Let's just be found.  By God.  And His amazing goodness.

Blessings,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

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

Wesley Foundation E-letter

Dear Friends,

Hope you are all doing well on this cold day. Amazing how the weather can change so
drastically so quickly. Kind of like the unpredictability of all aspects of life. It's
good to know that there is a warm winter coat in the closet on a day like this. Just
the way it is always good to know that God's peace and provision are always available to
lean on when we need it.

Anyway, SOLID ROCK CAFE is tomorrow night at 6:30pm. We will be having homemade soup, compliments of our dear frie nd Karen Ray. If you haven't met her, you should stop by. She is an awesome cook! We will be making plans for the rest of the semester, and then heading over to "AfterDark," at Van Meter at 8pm.

SUPERBOWL PARTY

We will meet for our annual Superbowl Party this Sunday at 5pm at the Wesley Foundation. There will be free food (Sami's chili), and we will project the game on the big screen in the living room. Come for a wonderful evening of fun and fellowship.

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

This morning I have been sitting with the following scripture: Guard me as the apple of the eye (Psalm 17:8). Sometimes I go looking for scriptures to think about. But this one seemed to come looking for me. As I sit with it, I can't help but think about my boys. They are both the apple of my eye. I heard once that this expression comes from th at particular thing that happens when one's focus is so fixed on the another person that he or she could see their reflection in one's eyes.

This is how I look at my boys. It's as if I am trying to memorize everything about them in that moment so I wont forget, so my heart will always feel the joy of seeing their little selves, so I can always look back at that time and instantly be there again. When I am with them I watch over them in just this way. And I am immediately available if there is a need. I can steer them clear of danger. In the intenseness of my gaze I am a part of whatever they happen to be into.

And this is how God looks at us. He guards us as the apple of His eye. When I think of God guarding me as the apple of His eye, I am filled with such a sense of well-being. I know that He is watching out for me, ready to intervene if I need it, enjoying me, and being a part of my life.&nbs p; I think of the surety of a mother's gaze. Not much is likely to get by me. And if my boys are that safe in my gaze, it overwhelms me to think of how safe we are in God's.

Somehow understanding God this way takes the pressure off. The worries that would normally keep me up at night seem to lose their power when I really take a hold of this concept. I don't have to be all-seeing and all-knowing anymore. I don't have to be anything other than what I am.

As I think of the pressures and challenges of college life, there are so many pitfalls that are available for falling into. And yet in this most important time, God is there with you, guiding you, enjoying the fabulousness of who you are, always ready to step in do what God does best: save the day.

I guess I just want to challenge you with this thought: You are the apple of God's eye. He delights in you and watches over you with great joy.& nbsp; People in your life may not understand you, but God is immediately connected to your deepest being with His deepest self. And He wants you to enjoy the great love He has for you. So join me in a day of sitting in His gaze, and being an apple.

Blessings,

Sami


Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

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

Wesley Foundation E-letter

Dear Friends,

Hope this finds you well. We are off to the start of another great
semester.

Solid Rock Cafe this Thursday! Faith UMC's praise band is bringing
music and a great
home-made meal will be provided by Broadway UMC. I hear they are
bringing breakfast!
Come for free food and a time of starting the year off right. We will
be looking at how
to make the best start of things with God's help.

Now for Sami's Ramblings About Jesus:

Often a new year brings many changes. For my family, the biggest
change is the addition
of our newest member Isaiah Wesley. He was born on November 10th
weighing 6lb 5oz. It
is amazing how crazy life with a newborn and toddler (Noah, my other
son, is 2 years
old) can be. But in the midst of all the craziness, God always seems
to know how to get
my attention.

Like when I spent three days over the break watching the "Lord of the
Rings" trilogy. I
thought I was finding a mind numbing distraction from the endless
cycle of feeding,
burping, and changing diapers. But in the midst of the distraction,
God spoke to my
heart. Mr. Frodo, the hero of the movie, is desperately trying to
complete his quest to
destroy the Ring that rules all others. It is a terrible burden
because the Ring exists
only to dominate and rule all others. The bearer of the Ring faces
tremendous
temptation to give in to his or her own evil desires of domination.
Even the person
with the best intentions can find his or her will to do good
eventually eroded by the
Ring's power and seduction. So Frodo is chosen as the one who must
destroy the Ring by
returning it to the fire in which it was forged. Now Frodo is a
hobbit. A small
creature that has none of the skill, prowess, or powers that others
do. Frodo often
doubts his own abilities. At one point, the Queen of the Elves
encourages him by
saying, "Even someone who is small can change the future." No one else
could do what he
alone was chosen to do.

As I have pondered this, it struck me that this is how God works in
our lives. We may
not think we are much by the world's standards, but with God working
in us, we can do
great things. The familiar scripture says, "I can do all things
through Christ who
strengthens me." I have often looked at the enormity of ministry and
wondered how
someone like me could do something like that. In one conversation with
myself I even
said, "Whatever made me think I could do this?" And in that instant
these words came
into that place in my heart where God speaks: "I did."

But here's the thing. We often cannot do these God-sized things alone.
As a mother and
a minister I face this reality everyday. God always is supplying
someone to make the
burden lighter. And this leads me to the best part of the "Lord of the
Rings" movie.
It is in the final moments when Frodo is nearing the end of his quest.
His faithful
companion Sam is with him as they draw closer to the volcano where the
Ring must be
destroyed. Sam sees the complete exhaustion Frodo wears upon every
ounce of his being.
Knowing Frodo cannot go any further, Sam says to him, "I cannot carry
your burden, but I
can carry you." And with that he picks Frodo up and carries him to the
completion of
his journey. That picture reminds me of the devoted friends who
carried the paralytic
to Jesus, even lowering him down through a hole in the roof to deliver
him right at
Jesus's feet. So many times we need someone to carry us there. It's
hard sometimes to
admit we need to help of others. We have to be humble enough to accept
help, especially
when we need it most and want it least. But praise God for those Sam's
in our lives who
recognize our need and lend themselves to seeing God's vision for us
completed in us.

I want to encourage you today, at the beginning of a new semester and
a new year to
believe in yourself. You have a special and unique purpose on this
earth that only you
can fulfill. God has plans for you that are important, that fulfill a
wonderful part of
the purpose He has for His kingdom. Don't doubt yourself simply
because you don't think
(or others don't think) you measure up to greatness. Allow God's
greatness to be
revealed in you through your obedience to the purpose He has given
you. And finally, be
humble enough to admit that you may not always be able to do it on
your own. God always
sends us help when we need it. They cannot complete His mission for
us, but these
faithful friends can carry us to that place where we can complete our
mission for Him.

Blessings,

Sami

Rev. Sami Wilson
Campus Minister/Director

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