Category: Life

Lent where to Start?

mattdamethodistLeave a comment
Today marks the first day of Lent. Lent is a season of reflection, renewal and refocusing our lives to God. A lot of times the hardest part of lent is where to start. Here are a few suggestions.
 
This year at First United Methodist Church of Locust Grove I am asking people to read through the Psalms with me. You can find a guide to that right here.
 
If you are looking for something else I would call your attention to what Zach Bechtold and I at BeardedTheologians have put together called the 40 days of Beardedness it will post live to our blog www.beardedtheologians.com each day or you can download the whole document here. 
The United Methodist Church offers this awesome Lent Photo-a-day meditation to try.  You can find out more about it here.
rtc_photo_a_day_lent_2017.png
There are many ways you can practice Lent. These are just a few ways. I hope you make Lent a spiritual time of reflection, renewal and refocusing to draw you closer to God and not something that you do just as a showy practice. Jesus talks about showy religion in Matthew 6.
Peace be your way,
MF
 

All Saints Day

mattdamethodistLeave a comment

Today is All Saints Day. The United Methodist Book of Worship explains All Saints as…

All Saints (November 1 or the first Sunday in November) is a day of remembrance for the saints, with the New Testament meaning of all Christian people of every time and place. We celebrate the communion of saints as we remember the dead, both of the Church universal and of our local congregations. For this reason, the names of persons in the congregation who have died during the past year may be solemnly read as a Response to the Word.  ~from The United Methodist Book of Worship (413)

This year I remember my mother. Pamela Jeanne Bushyhead

464740_676558040783_1399102985_o

Who graduated to Church eternal this past March. Preaching at her funeral has been the hardest but yet most life giving thing I have done. You can listen to the sermon

I miss her so much. She was a Saint, and she would have to be to put up with my father and us five kids. Today I pause not just to remember her but all the other Saints that have passed in the last year. So I pray this prayer that is in the Book of Worship today.

We bless your holy name, O God, for all your servants who, having finished their course,now rest from their labors. Give us grace to follow the example of their steadfastness and faithfulness, to your honor and glory; through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (ENGLAND, 20TH CENT., ALT.)

Peace

MF

And the Dance Carries On…

mattdamethodistLeave a comment

480504_625355815453_347736736_n.jpg

This picture was from the last time I danced at the Sac and Fox Powwow. It will always hold a special place in my heart. It was taken in 2012. We did not dance in 2013 because Laura had just broken her arm and we were in no place to dance. In 2014 I was surviving the Typhoon Glinda and the GYPCLA event in the Philippines. In 2015 we did not dance because we had just lost my Grandfather the man to my left in the picture. This year we won’t dance because we lost my Mother.

Going to the Powwow will be rough. This is one of those events that is so special for me. Many memories have been made at the Powwow. We must carry on this tradition it is apart of who I am and I want the girls to have an opportunity to experience their culture.

Next year, I hope to be able to dance, I have the blessing of inheriting my grandfather’s regalia. I plan on using what I can of his and what I can of mine to honor him and my mother. Both of them made my regalia.

And the dance carries on….

1908377_767614547813_2883159251368699540_n.jpg