What If…

Tomorrow the Spring Hill United Methodist Church will hold their 14th annual Fish Fry.  This day has been marked on my calendar for months as the food is amazing. It is extra special this year as the church is donating all of the proceeds to Middle Tennessee Flood Relief. So…I would love to see you there.

Here are the details:

3:30p – 7:00p
5286 Main Street (or follow the trail of people or smell of fried golden goodness)
$10 for adults; $5 for children (all you can eat!)
Burgers are available for $5
Take Aways are available as well.

I’ve been getting all kinds of messages from friends in Louisiana asking me how you can help.  It’s awesome to see friends & family want to pitch in and it’s really interesting how many Louisiana connections there are here in the Nashville area.  So first off thanks! And here are some ideas on how you can help.
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1) We obviously need your prayers.

2) We will also for weeks to come need teams who are willing to come clean up flood damage.  You can coordinate trips up with me at williamguice@gmail.com or at Facebook.com/williamguice.

3) And maybe the easiest and most helpful at this moment: Gift Cards.  The best would being cards to Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, and Target.  This way we can help families go get what they need to clean up or start rebuilding.

I will be in Monroe next Monday and Tuesday.  So here is the plan…

*Bring gift cards to First West (Global Ministries Office – Mark Fenn) or Christ Church (C/O Jarrett Carter).
*These guys will collect the donations.
*I will pick them up on Tuesday while I am there and bring them back here to distribute (through the Red Cross, The Church at Spring Hill, and Rolling Hills Community Church).

Any amount will help!  If you have any ideas or questions, give me a buzz. Thanks again.

4) Please pass this around to anyone you know on Facebook, Twitter, Email…any of your networks.  Nashville really needs your help.  The flooding has been a huge hit to the area as most here, no matter the socio-economic level, were unprepared.  Almost no one here has flood insurance and it has been quite a shock to many. Living in Louisiana there is a certain level of preparedness that is always there with all the weather that the state gets; here it’s not the same.  No expected this or saw it coming and the clean up is going to take a while.

Thanks for your willingness to serve & give.

Peace ~

William

williamguice@gmail.com
twitter.com/williamguice
facebook.com/williamguice
615.517.2480

We are one day away from beginning the observation of Lent in our community and in much of the Christian Church worldwide.  This past Saturday we began tuning our hearts toward what God may be wanting to do in us as we examined Jesus teaching at Nazareth and how Jesus challenges us to see him in ways that we don’t often expect.

This year we are joining with Spring Hill United Methodist Church for Ash Wednesday and will then journey together through Lent using this guide that my friend Brody Harper help me put together. Feel free to download it. Use it and journey with us.

Maybe a good framework to use is examining your intent and practices as you see them played out in your rituals, your story and your relationships.  In other words what are the things you do over and over again and where do they say that your allegiances lie (rituals)?  What are you involved in that says who you are?  What would a biographer say is the arc of your life (story)?  How are you relationships – with God, yourself, your family, your friends, your community (relationships)? Is there work that needs to be done in these areas?

Remember Lent is not just about giving something up? It’s about laying down thins that are keeping you from being everything that God created you to be and picking up things that do this. I’ll be honest Lent is a struggle.  It is hard work. It takes commitment but just like the exodus, the exile the 3 days in the tomb, the waiting of the church there is redemption in the end and how we handle the waiting is as important as how we handle the victory.

Praying that you join the journey with us.

Peace ~

William

2010 Lent Book