"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you."
Song of Songs 4:7
Today, I am thankful for the United Methodist Church's commitment to campus ministry. It was at the Wesley Foundation at Oklahoma State University that I met my wife, Sheryl!
I was active in our campus ministry all through college. After my four years were finished, I moved to Tulsa and began to work at New Haven United Methodist Church.
In campus ministry, the opening week is crucial. You have to have lots of activities and the building needs to have an "open house" feel with snacks and people hanging out that first week. That's when college students usually set their routines and the majority decide where they will be involved at this time.
During my senior year, we had lots of freshmen who were active and these made up much of the leadership after I graduated. I came back from Tulsa for the activities that first week when the sophomores were leading. I was so used to greeting people when I was there that I realized I had failed to train anyone left to do the same. When people came through the doors, I was encouraging them to leave their seats and welcome people as they entered.
I was telling them to do this when a young couple entered the building. Everyone stared at the two of them and I waited, thinking, "Come on, come on... Get up!"
No one said anything and the couple started to turn around in the awkward silence! I jumped up and invited them in and began showing them around the building.
I noticed the young woman was quite striking and soon found out that she was with her brother! My friend Van began to show him around and I had time to visit with her. Her name was Sheryl Heaton and I encouraged her to return for the activities that week.
I managed to make the drive in the evenings after work from Tulsa and Sheryl was at each event. We started dating and this has been the relationship that has sustained me throughout my life.
Not everyone meets their spouse through The United Methodist Church but it is a place where we find relationships that build us up and give us life. I find that it is a place where we can hold common values as simple as "do no harm, do good, continue daily in your walk with God."
As we continue through Lent, how often do you greet those who are new who come through our doors? It becomes easy to become comfortable with those we already know. We need to remember that it can be a spiritual discipline to draw our circle wider and include those we meet along the way!
And you never know how the blessings of this discipline may rebound on you!
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| These are the hostesses from our wedding shower at New Haven UMC in Tulsa. L to R, you have Janice Hannon (daughter of a UMC minister), Bobbi Neal (whose daughter became a UMC minister), Linda Harker (later became a UMC minister), Sam and Sheryl (granddaughter of a UMC minister), Sue Hay (whose husband later became a UMC minister) and Deb Dermyer (friend and youth sponsor). The United Methodist connection is pretty amazing! |
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