Jamey's Newsletter: Sunday, April 7, 2024
I was leaving a hospital visit one day and overheard someone in another room say to a friend, "The question is not why am I still breathing but what am I going to do with the breath that I still have?"
What a powerful question for someone to ask while lying on a hospital bed.
It shouldn't take a near-death experience to make us consider what gift we have in everyday moments. The Psalmist says, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Every breath I have is too precious to spend on hate and being mean to people. When making every breath count, I would rather spend my days breathing in joy and breathing out grace.
May we learn to number our days by exhaling love.
What are you doing with the breaths you have left?
Jamey
Modern Worship Easter Service 2024 (Gainesville First United Methodist Church, Gainesville, Georgia)
Weekly Prayer
Gracious God, please give us the wisdom to recognize the lies we tell ourselves and the courage to turn toward the truth. In the end, may we love as you have loved us. Amen.
Wisdom Nugget: As we exhale love, we also learn to inhale peace—finding tranquility within ourselves that becomes a wellspring of strength and resilience in facing life's challenges.
A Question to Consider: What legacy am I leaving behind? Will my life be defined by chaos or peace? Love or fear?
Meme of the week
Dad Jokes
How does the man in the moon cut his hair? Eclipse it!
Boy: Dad, can you tell me what an eclipse is? Dad: No sun!
Photo Taken By Me
(Baseball Camp in the Dominican Republic 2012)
Book I am Reading
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
Videos I Found Interesting:
How to speak so that people want to listen | Julian Treasure | TED
Found Interesting on Social Media
Podcast Worth Listening to:
Articles that caught my eye:
Caitlin Clark and Iowa find peace in the process
UGA students describe saving family from car that crashed into creek
How to Navigate Encounters and Friendships With Disabled Folks
What I've Learned: Sheryl Crow
Photos: Forbidden places you can't visit
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
A community service project by Cub Scout Pack 16 will dispose of old electronics like computers and printers. The Cub Scouts will be in the far corner of the MAC parking lot on Sunday, April 14, to assist in taking donations from vehicles.
Happening at Gainesville First United Methodist Church
Info Meeting: April 14, 5:30 pm / Trip: May 12-20, 2025
Discover the fascinating lives and faith journeys of John and Charles Wesley, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and others during an 8-day tour of England, including London, Oxford, Bristol, and other historic cities.
An informational meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14, in the Reception Hall of Gainesville First United Methodist Church to provide details of the tour and pricing. Join us!
Weekly Blessing and/or Quotes
May your days be marked by a conscious effort to exhale love into spaces that are yearning for warmth, to bring light into the shadows of despair, and to sow seeds of peace in grounds torn by strife.
"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." - Mary Oliver
