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

 

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