Archive for August, 2009
Caring for Others
Monday, August 31st, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Tuesday we learned that our daughter, Mary Beth, a sophomore at TCU in Fort Worth, had the flu and a sinus infection. After much discussion, she chose to stay in Fort Worth and isolate herself in her room until she could return to class. Wednesday morning she seemed worse. Fortunately a friend was coming to Houston and could bring her home.
My time waiting for her arrival was spent making sure her room was ready and buying all kinds of healthy comfort food to have in the house. At HEB I wandered the aisles looking for Mary Beth’s favorite blue Jell-O, tapioca pudding and grape Gatorade.
As I was preparing to nurse Mary Beth back to health, I received a phone call from my mother’s neighbor. Mom was gravely ill but would not go to the hospital.
After many hours and countless phone calls, my brother, who lives in Michigan, managed to get Mom to go to the hospital to begin getting the care she needed.
Since I am only four hours away from Mom, under other circumstances I would have gotten in my car, driven to Fort Worth and begun caring for Mom. But, of course, May Beth was due to arrive home at any minute.
What a clear illustration of what is meant by the “Sandwich Generation.” Before this week, I understood the concept but I never really appreciated the pressure on the “meat” of the sandwich coming from both slices of bread.
As I stood in my kitchen contemplating my dilemma, an amazing thing began to unfold. God clearly took control. The phone began ringing — my dearest friends with whom I have walked other tough roads began to call. Several offered prayers and meals. A couple offered to take Mary Beth to their house or come to mine, to nurse her back to health so that I could go to Fort Worth. One friend who has medical expertise offered to walk me through the maze of after-hospital care and insurance which we will shortly face.
The next morning a florist delivered a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers. Later that afternoon, another gorgeous bouquet was delivered. Sitting on my kitchen counter was God’s kingdom in many colors, given to my family by our wonderful friends.
As the week wore on Mary Beth improved steadily. She slept all night snuggled up in her bed. She rested all day curled upon the couch. I spent lots of time plying her with liquids and Vitamin C — making sure she ate well to aid her healing.
My time not spent waiting on Mary Beth was spent on the phone caring for Mom. Speaking with nurses and doctors at the hospital, talking with Mom and my brother and making plans for after Mom leaves the hospital took hours every day.
Saturday morning as Tom was cooking Mary Beth breakfast, she sat at the bar and I stood there rubbing her back and holding her close — just as I did when she was small. In a flash of memory I felt Mom’s hand on my back with the same loving mother’s touch I was giving Mary Beth.
Later in the day I looked over at Mary Beth cuddled on the couch, wrapped in an afghan Mom crocheted several years ago. Sunday Mary Beth went back school wrapped in the armor of love and health coming home gave her.
Now that Mary Beth is better, I will shift my focus to Mom. This morning I’m headed to Fort Worth to spend time with her unraveling the mystery of her future. But I’m not going to be traveling with the picture of a sandwich in mind. Instead I’m carrying the image of that afghan in front of me. In that blanket, I’m seeing warmth, comfort and generations of love woven together. For me, right now, it is a clear illustration of God’s care for each of us, as we need to feel loving protection, day by day.
Showers of blessings,
Leah Taylor
P.S. Many of our churches have support groups for those caring for aging parents. Some of them have groups that provide respite care and game days for those who can no longer be on their own. If you have a story about one of these ministries that you would like to share, I would love to hear it. Let me know — tayleah@comcast.net.
Laity Blog: The Sandwich Generation
Sunday, August 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Tuesday we learned that our daughter, Mary Beth, a sophomore at TCU in Fort Worth, had the flu and a sinus infection. After much discussion, she chose to stay in Fort Worth and isolate herself in her room until she could return to class.
Wednesday morning she seemed worse. Fortunately a friend was coming to Houston and could bring her home.
My time waiting for her arrival was spent making sure her room was ready and buying all kinds of healthy comfort food to have in the house. At HEB I wandered the aisles looking for Mary Beth’s favorite blue Jell-O, tapioca pudding and grape Gatorade.
As I was preparing to nurse Mary Beth back to health, I received a phone call from my mother’s neighbor. Mom was gravely ill but would not go to the hospital.
After many hours and countless phone calls, my brother, who lives in Michigan, managed to get Mom to go to the hospital to begin getting the care she needed.
Since I am only four hours away from Mom, under other circumstances I would have gotten in my car, driven to Fort Worth and begun caring for Mom. But, of course, May Beth was due to arrive home at any minute.
What a clear illustration of what is meant by the “Sandwich Generation.” Before this week, I understood the concept but I never really appreciated the pressure on the “meat” of the sandwich coming from both slices of bread.
As I stood in my kitchen contemplating my dilemma, an amazing thing began to unfold. God clearly took control. The phone began ringing — my dearest friends with whom I have walked other tough roads began to call. Several offered prayers and meals. A couple offered to take Mary Beth to their house or come to mine, to nurse her back to health so that I could go to Fort Worth. One friend who has medical expertise offered to walk me through the maze of after-hospital care and insurance which we will shortly face.
The next morning a florist delivered a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers. Later that afternoon, another gorgeous bouquet was delivered. Sitting on my kitchen counter was God’s kingdom in many colors, given to my family by our wonderful friends.
As the week wore on Mary Beth improved steadily. She slept all night snuggled up in her bed. She rested all day curled upon the couch. I spent lots of time plying her with liquids and Vitamin C — making sure she ate well to aid her healing.
My time not spent waiting on Mary Beth was spent on the phone caring for Mom. Speaking with nurses and doctors at the hospital, talking with Mom and my brother and making plans for after Mom leaves the hospital took hours every day.
Saturday morning as Tom was cooking Mary Beth breakfast, she sat at the bar and I stood there rubbing her back and holding her close — just as I did when she was small. In a flash of memory I felt Mom’s hand on my back with the same loving mother’s touch I was giving Mary Beth.
Later in the day I looked over at Mary Beth cuddled on the couch, wrapped in an afghan Mom crocheted several years ago. Sunday Mary Beth went back school wrapped in the armor of love and health coming home gave her.
Now that Mary Beth is better, I will shift my focus to Mom. leave This morning I’m headed to Fort Worth to spend time with her unraveling the mystery of her future. But I’m not going to be traveling with the picture of a sandwich in mind. Instead I’m carrying the image of that afghan in front of me. In that blanket, I’m seeing warmth, comfort and generations of love woven together. For me, right now, it is a clear illustration of God’s care for each of us, as we need to feel loving protection, day by day.
Showers of blessings,
Leah Taylor
P.S. Many of our churches have support groups for those caring for aging parents. Some of them have groups that provide respite care and game days for those who can no longer be on their own. If you have a story about one of these ministries that you would like to share, I would love to hear it. Let me know — tayleah@comcast.net.
Laity Blog: The Sandwich Generation
Sunday, August 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Tuesday we learned that our daughter, Mary Beth, a sophomore at TCU in Fort Worth, had the flu and a sinus infection. After much discussion, she chose to stay in Fort Worth and isolate herself in her room until she could return to class.
Wednesday morning she seemed worse. Fortunately a friend was coming to Houston and could bring her home.
My time waiting for her arrival was spent making sure her room was ready and buying all kinds of healthy comfort food to have in the house. At HEB I wandered the aisles looking for Mary Beth’s favorite blue Jell-O, tapioca pudding and grape Gatorade.
As I was preparing to nurse Mary Beth back to health, I received a phone call from my mother’s neighbor. Mom was gravely ill but would not go to the hospital.
After many hours and countless phone calls, my brother, who lives in Michigan, managed to get Mom to go to the hospital to begin getting the care she needed.
Since I am only four hours away from Mom, under other circumstances I would have gotten in my car, driven to Fort Worth and begun caring for Mom. But, of course, May Beth was due to arrive home at any minute.
What a clear illustration of what is meant by the “Sandwich Generation.” Before this week, I understood the concept but I never really appreciated the pressure on the “meat” of the sandwich coming from both slices of bread.
As I stood in my kitchen contemplating my dilemma, an amazing thing began to unfold. God clearly took control. The phone began ringing — my dearest friends with whom I have walked other tough roads began to call. Several offered prayers and meals. A couple offered to take Mary Beth to their house or come to mine, to nurse her back to health so that I could go to Fort Worth. One friend who has medical expertise offered to walk me through the maze of after-hospital care and insurance which we will shortly face.
The next morning a florist delivered a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers. Later that afternoon, another gorgeous bouquet was delivered. Sitting on my kitchen counter was God’s kingdom in many colors, given to my family by our wonderful friends.
As the week wore on Mary Beth improved steadily. She slept all night snuggled up in her bed. She rested all day curled upon the couch. I spent lots of time plying her with liquids and Vitamin C — making sure she ate well to aid her healing.
My time not spent waiting on Mary Beth was spent on the phone caring for Mom. Speaking with nurses and doctors at the hospital, talking with Mom and my brother and making plans for after Mom leaves the hospital took hours every day.
Saturday morning as Tom was cooking Mary Beth breakfast, she sat at the bar and I stood there rubbing her back and holding her close — just as I did when she was small. In a flash of memory I felt Mom’s hand on my back with the same loving mother’s touch I was giving Mary Beth.
Later in the day I looked over at Mary Beth cuddled on the couch, wrapped in an afghan Mom crocheted several years ago. Sunday Mary Beth went back school wrapped in the armor of love and health coming home gave her.
Now that Mary Beth is better, I will shift my focus to Mom. leave This morning I’m headed to Fort Worth to spend time with her unraveling the mystery of her future. But I’m not going to be traveling with the picture of a sandwich in mind. Instead I’m carrying the image of that afghan in front of me. In that blanket, I’m seeing warmth, comfort and generations of love woven together. For me, right now, it is a clear illustration of God’s care for each of us, as we need to feel loving protection, day by day.
Showers of blessings,
Leah Taylor
P.S. Many of our churches have support groups for those caring for aging parents. Some of them have groups that provide respite care and game days for those who can no longer be on their own. If you have a story about one of these ministries that you would like to share, I would love to hear it. Let me know — tayleah@comcast.net.
Laity Blog: Exploring the District Leadership Teams
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Last weekend a group of clergy and laity who are members of their District Leadership Teams came together at Lakeview. Those of you who were at Annual Conference in May will remember the presentation given by Rev. Susan Beaumont assessing the Model for Ministry, its implementation and how it is working. Within her report, Rev. Beaumont made a series of recommendations about things we can do which will make the Model work better. Several of the recommendations applied to the way our District Leadership Teams (“DLT’s”) are working and how they need to work.
One key learning from the Beaumont report was that the DLT’s need to perform the extremely important role of linking the local churches with the Conference and that we must do this better.
Chris Harrison, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Bay City, organized the Lakeview meeting and gathered information about the current make-up and organization of each DLT. Rev. Harrison chairs the DLT for the Southwest District. Representatives from all nine districts were invited to attend and almost all districts were represented.
What followed was an evening and a full day of discussion about what the DLT’s should be doing and how they can most meaningfully support the local churches in all districts make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The discussion was respectful and fruitful. I hope I can speak for the whole group when I say that we came away from the time we spent together feeling like it had been worth the trip.
One thing which we all agreed upon was that the DLT’s should be a group which assists the District Superintendent. The corollary to that statement is that the DLT’s should not be making more work for the District Superintendent. This idea, which now seems intuitive to me, was not a thought that I had before we met.
As with any discussion concerning all nine districts, we continue to be aware that our districts are complex and very different. The Houston-area districts are heavily populated and tend to be urban and suburban in character. Some of the districts in the other parts of the conference are very rural and some of them are dominated by very small churches. It is crystal clear that the role of the DLT will have to be customized to fit the character, population and demographics of the district it serves.
But we also agreed that we must utilize every means of communication available to us, exploiting those that we already have and constantly looking for new ones. One of the best parts of our time together was the stories we shared. One great story came out of the Northwest District where a very small church has taken on the mission of supplying all children in their town with a working computer. The average age of members of the church is over seventy, but the members have learned how to refurbish computers and have made it their mission to reach out to their community in a very hands-on way. Other churches in the area support the ministry by donating computers. What a gift those people have become to their town! I hope that you’ll all hear the details of this story – look for it in the Methodist Reporter or on the conference website soon.
Much discussion has taken place over the past four years about the Measures of Fruitfulness adopted as part of the Model for Ministry. One of the things that will be happening at your Charge Conference this year will be an opportunity for each church to talk about what you are doing in your community, your mission field, which makes you proud. You’ll have a chance to tell those stories that are not necessarily reflected by the numbers you report to the Conference. These are the stories of how you are reaching out to those around your church and how you, as a church, are showing the transforming love of Jesus Christ. As you collect those stories and share them with your DS, think about sharing them with the entire Conference.
Remember those great District videos we saw while sitting in the sanctuary of The Woodlands UMC in May at Annual Conference? Several people at the meeting last weekend reported that there were ideas in those videos that they were able to take back to their local churches to start new ministries or to supplement and improve ministries or mission work already in place.
The more we learn about each other, about where we see Christ at work in and outside of our churches, the more we can all do – together as an Annual Conference or as Districts, and as local churches – where the real work of making disciples for the transformation of the world happens everyday.
Showers of Blessings,
Leah Taylor
Laity Blog: ‘Tis the Season … for College Kids to Leave Home!
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Last week Tom and I moved Mary Beth to TCU for her second year of college. She had to be there well before the beginning of school so it was a lot less hectic than last year. There were fewer people moving in and she took a lot less stuff this year (although she still has more than she’ll ever need) so the moving in process went smoothly and quickly. And that should have been great but we both missed her before we ever left her room.
In the last week I’ve spoken to lots of my friends and acquaintances that are sending kids back to college or moving them in for their first year away from home. One friend, whose son just left for his first year, shared with me that as long as he thinks only about the adventure that his son is embarking on, he feels great. When he stops to consider the change from his point of view, he wonders when the dull ache in his heart will go away.
Another friend of mine told me that she is just not going to think about it – the time honored “ostrich” approach. That was my plan last year. It didn’t work so well!
There has been a lot of chatter on Facebook amongst us new or soon to be “empty nesters”. It seems like an impromptu support group has sprung up with those who are past this particular transition caring for those of us who are in the midst of this change. We are stuck in the middle of one of those ultimate parenting conundrums. We want our children to grow up, we want them to succeed, we want them to be able to leave home and stand on their own two feet. But we really hate to see them leave!
A moment guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes has been walking into Mary Beth’s bedroom and being able to see the clean surfaces of her bed, chair and dresser! Opening her closet door and seeing no clean clothes wadded up and tossed on the floor can leave me sobbing. These are sure signs that she is not here. I thought the second year would be easier, but so far that hasn’t proven to be the case.
Yesterday morning as read my devotional, it started with a reading from 1 Kings. It was the story in Chapter 8 of Solomon finishing the temple, moving the Ark of the Covenant into the holiest space, and then the glory of the Lord filling the place. The author, Marvin D. Arnpriester, Senior pastor of Broadway UMC in Council Bluffs, Iowa, used the story as a means to talk about transitions! Isn’t it odd how sometimes when you turn to God, you get just what you need? That happened for me yesterday when I read these words, “God is with us too during our times of transition. Change can be difficult, but it may well be that in these moments God’s glory is revealed and life takes on new meaning and beauty.”
Rev. Arnpriester ended the devotional by asking me to think about how God has been with me in the transitions of my life. I am still sad that Mary Beth has gone, but I’m working at opening my mind to how I might see God’s glory revealed to me in this transition in my life. Perhaps as us new and soon to be new “empty nesters” experience this particular transition, we’ll find new meaning and beauty in our lives and in the world around us.
Showers of blessings,
Leah Taylor
Laity Blog: Partnership with Cote d’Ivoire Conference
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
In November of 2008 a group of approximately 35 United Methodists from the Texas Conference traveled from Houston to Cote d’Ivoire to participate in the distribution of more than 800,000 insecticide treated bed nets. You raised the money for those nets. And for those of us who had the opportunity to participate in the distribution is was a life-changing experience.
But did you know that our partnership with the Cote d’Ivoire Annual Conference has more facets than just the purchase and distribution of long-lasting treated nets for the prevention of Malaria? The ground breaking fund raising for and distribution of those nets was just the beginning of what promises to be a relationship that will grow and benefit United Methodists and others in both of our conferences and countries.
Other areas of focus for the partnership currently are:
Community Radio, Education, Healthcare Institutions, Seminaries and Microfinance. There is a task force in place with members from both conferences looking at these issues. The group is lead here in Texas by Rev. Cynthia Harvey, Director of the Center for Missional Excellence, and Rev. Rick Goodrich, Assistant to the Bishop. Both Cynthia and Rick have made several trips to Cote d’Ivoire to work on putting the infrastructure in place to allow us to work together on these items.
During the next week, Isaac Broune, the Director of Communication for the Ivorian Conference, will be visiting us here in Texas! He’ll be making a whirlwind tour to many of our churches, checking out how we do things so that he can take information back to Cote d’Ivoire. Isaac speaks impeccable English – when we were in Cote d’Ivoire he translated both Bishop Huie and “Rev. Cynthia’s” sermons into French for the non-English speakers in attendance. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to host him here and I hope that many of you will meet him.
In partnership with United Methodist Communication and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry a community radio state is being established in Cote d’Ivoire to help educate Ivorians concerning health related issues and much more. Work is underway to establish the station by the fall of this year – 2009. Discussions with vendors of hand cranked radios are underway so that the coverage for the radio station can be extended to areas that do not have electricity.
There are 49 primary and secondary United Methodist schools in Cote d’Ivoire that educate more than 17,000 children. At Annual Conference last May, a program to “Adopt a Student” was introduced. For a sponsorship of only $600 per year, a church, UMW group, or family can provide tuition, curriculum, food and materials for a child in one of those schools!
The Cote d’Ivoire UMC owns and operates Dabou Hospital which is about an hour outside of Abidjan. Improvements at the facility needed for the delivery of health care include physical, medical and spiritual support. If you attended the Lay Session at Annual Conference, you heard Kathi Mann, Director of PIM, talk about plans for teams to travel to Dabou Hospital in the near future.
The Institut Superieur de Theologie in Abidjan (“ISTHA”) educates and trains pastors to serve in the UMC in Cote d’Ivoire. Through the partnership between the two conferences, a newly developed partnership with Duke Divinity School is being put in place to serve the school and the country.
Microfinance is an area that will be developed in the future to help improve investment in local Ivorian business to address issues of poverty.
So you see there are unlimited opportunities for all of us to do God’s work through the partnership of the Texas Annual Conference and the Cote d’Ivoire Conference of the United Methodist Church. Whether or not you will ever feel God’s call to go to Cote d’Ivoire, you can make a difference. All kinds of expertise will be needed to turn these dreams into reality.
I hope over the next few months, you’ll pray about where God might call you to “fit into” this vision of growth and prosperity!
Showers of blessings,
Leah Taylor
Laity Blog: Should You Have a Facebook Page?
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Last week there was an article in the Houston Chronicle about how Twitter is being taken over by the older generations. Earlier this summer, an article about Twitter and the way it works was the cover story in Time magazine.
I haven’t used Twitter yet, but I’m learning more and more about it. Something tells me that it is just a matter of time before I’ll be tweeting along with millions of others who communicate electronically everyday.
So how about Facebook? I do have a Facebook page and I use it everyday! In fact, I love it. My daughter set it up for me toward the end of her senior year in high school. During her freshman year of college, I was able to see all the pictures she and her friends posted on their pages. Kids who were her friends from Katy “friended” me so that I knew what was happening in their lives whether they were at TCU with Mary Beth or off at another school. Before I used Facebook, I didn’t know that the word “friend” had a verb form!
Another great result of my Facebook page is that I have been able to make contact with lots of young clergy in our Conference, as well as some lay folks who work on the internet daily. Through Facebook, I’ve seen new baby pictures, wedding photos, kept up with progress in some of the Conference new church starts, and come to know some of the children of our young clergy. In fact, just last night I learned that one of our clergy couples have a precocious young son who informed their VBS that the first book of the bible is the book of “Genocide!” Who knew!
Through Facebook, I’ve heard about the Candidacy Summit as it was happening and gotten word on the first time ever event the Conference held for high school students at Southwestern in July.
A couple weeks ago, Mary Beth informed me that her grandfather (my dad) had friended her on Facebook. Yes, that’s what happens with grandkids – the parents are no longer relevant! Mary Beth let Dad know that I, too, had a Facebook page and he did decide to friend me. It doesn’t surprise me that Dad is on Facebook. He has always been very computer savvy. But something happened that did surprise me just a few days later.
One of my cousins who lives in Chicago saw me on Dad’s Facebook page and friended me. Rachel is a couple years older than I am, but we are close enough in age that I have great memories of playing with her when we were both children. She now is also a lawyer and she and her husband have two daughters. We exchanged messages and email addresses and have had a series of “chats.” My daughter calls this “talking” to her friends – to me talking is voice communication but in any event, I have enjoyed my exchange with Rachel. As we shared what is going on in our lives, I told her about my job as Conference Lay Leader and before I knew it, we were engaged in a spiritual dialogue.
It didn’t occur to me that my Facebook page could form the foundation for a discussion of my faith! So, for those of you who have not completely embraced electronic communications, I suggest you think hard about exploring the potential it provides for us all. Not only to keep in touch, but to build new relationships. Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, blogs – the electronic means of communications just keeps getting larger. We won’t all master them all, but just think about the possibilities for doing God’s work!
Showers of Blessings!
Leah Taylor
P.S. Catch up with me on Facebook or send me an email – tayleah@comcast.net.