United Methodist Rural Advocates
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Prayer

10/28/2014

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How do we let people know that we value their friendship?  We can communicate on Facebook.  We can send cards and letters.  We can call and be called on the phone.  We can meet them for meals.  We can help them be aware of when something is happening in their lives that needs attention: high or low blood sugar, an introvert who needs to take some me-time, someone who is way too stressed.  On "The Big Band Theory" Amy has a picture painted of her and Penny and has it framed.  The problem is that it's 3' by 5'!

People need to know that we care, that we are there for them.  For many months we may go by with little happening in either life, and then, BOOM we find ourselves needing one another.  I have a lot of acquaintances, a few friends, and one I could call at 3am if my world is falling apart.  She has also called me in the middle of the night.  Why?  Because we know that we are, and have been, really there for one another.  We can tell each other things we dare not speak aloud to anyone else.  We know the other won't judge us.  They may nudge us in the direction of doing what we knew in our hearts we needed to do all along, but they don't laugh or name-call.

We sing "What a Friend we have in Jesus", and it is a comforting hymn.  But in the grand scheme of friends and friendships, is that relationship a two-way street?  Do we remember to talk/have conversations with Jesus, or do we just list off a bunch of things we need for him to do?  Do we feel we can "call him up" in the middle of the night when things are falling apart, or even in the middle of the day when all seems to be well?  How do we let him know this friendship is important to us?

Loving God, we appreciate that you are there for us, and we promise to be there for you.  Help us to listen as well as speak when we pray, that the things you need us to do will be accomplished.  Let us remember that you are always there for us, whether we are on the mountain top or way down in the valley.  Our relationship with you is not one that needs to have a portrait to hang on the wall, but it does require conversation.  Without that conversation our relationship withers and dies.  Thank you for always nudging us to keep the lines of communication open.
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Prayer

10/21/2014

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There is a huge elevator not too far from our house. It's been there about 4-5 years, and every year I am fascinated by the harvest activity. On Sunday I drove by once and there were trucks all the way down the access road (about 1/2 mile), with some waiting out on the highway. When I drove back they had started to form a double line on the access road so they wouldn't be blocking the highway. I began to wonder two things: Where did all these trucks go before this elevator was built? And how do we translate this amazing harvest gathering to the work of the church?

The phrase, "If you build it, they will come" keeps running through my head. All those trucks full of grain used to go someplace else to deliver their cargo. Now they come here. It says something about offering people what they need (or didn't know they needed). It says something about giving them a nearby place in which to gather. It seems to me it is exactly what rural congregations have to offer the people who live near them. People who may not realize they need the services a church offers. People who may not realize they need a place though which to impact the world. How do we engage the people around us? How do we ensure they know we're there and that they need us?

God of the harvest, there are so many around us who still need to hear of your love, who still need to meet your son. Don't allow us to become complacent, or to be blinded to the needs around us. Open our eyes to see those who are not being served, those who most need us. Help us to find ways to give our people the push, the encouragement they need to reach out beyond themselves. Let us not ignore the potential harvest that is all around us.
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Prayer

10/7/2014

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Sometimes the machinery around us tries to be smarter than we are. I have just spent nearly 2 hours outsmarting the contacts list on my yahoo mail. You see, they don't want me to have two of the same names on my list. I list everyone on here with UMRA as the first name so I can find them quickly, then your first name as middle, then the last. So I end up with two UMRA Grace, UMRA Litchfield, UMRA Ruesink, UMRA Taylor, etc. It would not allow me to have these as separate names, but kept trying to merge them. So you may find some of your last names look funny, but it is my way of outsmarting the machine.

My kids laugh at me often because I sometimes imagine the machines around us rising up against us and taking over the world. And no, I will not watch Transformers movies. I think it goes back to 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which the computer, Hal, takes over the space station. As much as people can betray other people, my greatest fear is for machinery to do it. I think because even if the machines can think (Hal), they cannot feel. It is our ability to empathize with others that I think keeps us from treating them meanly. It's that old concept of walking a mile in another's shoes. If you can do that you cannot treat them with disrespect.

Loving God, there are so many around us who are in need of our love and care. We pray that you will always help us to feel what the other feels, and to respond as we would want others to respond to us. Let us treat others with respect, and to always see the face of Christ in the faces of those around us. Help us to remember that all persons, no matter where they live, no matter their beliefs, are still your children, and as such are members of our family. Give us grace to love them as we would want to be loved...
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    Peggy Jeffries

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