Nome Church of the Nazarene

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I'm not going to tag them but, there are many of my friends who can make me smile just by seeing their picture. Thank you for being my friend and for the smiles. :)

"Holiness is the choice to march to the beat of a different drum . . . The desires which characterize the fallen world we live in once dominated us. These desires are themselves to be rejected and replaced by new desires. This is what holiness is all about-not just doing what God wants, but desiring those things in which He delights."
Bob Deffinbaugh
What a challenge for the journey.

Beautiful reminder. Personally this is the best post I’ve ever seen on FB:💖💖 HE is always with us.

Me: Okay, God, here's the thing. I'm scared. I'm trying not to be, but I am.

God: I know. Want to talk about it?

Me: Do we need to? I mean, you already know.

God: Let's talk about it anyway... We've done this before.

God: *waiting patiently, unhurried, undistracted, never annoyed.

Me: Okay. So, I'm afraid I'll do everything I can to protect my family and it won't be enough. I'm afraid of someone I love dying. I'm afraid the world won't go back to what it was before. I'm afraid my life is always going to feel a little bit unsettled.

God: Anything else?

Me: EVERYTHING ELSE.

God: Remember how your son woke up the other night and came running down the hall to your bedroom?

Me: Yes.

God: You were still awake, so when you heard him running, you started calling out to him before he even got to you... remember? Do you remember what you called out to him?

Me: I said, "You're okay! You're okay! You're okay! I'm here."

God: Why did you call to him? Why didn't you just wait for him to get to your room?

Me: Because I wanted him to know that I was awake, and I heard him, and he didn't have to be afraid until he reached the end of the dark hallway.

God: Exactly. I hear you, my child. I hear your thoughts racing like feet down the dark hallway. There's an other side to all of this. I'm there already. I've seen the end of it. And I want you to know right here as you walk through it all, you're okay. I haven't gone to sleep, and I won't.

Me: *crying. Can we sit together awhile? Can we just sit here a minute before I go back to facing it all?

God: There's nothing I'd love more.

♥️🙏♥️
(Copied and comforted)

I'm not that strong. I need God and I need you. 🙏🙏

That voice you hear telling you that you don't have to go to church is not the voice of God. We need each other.

I was chatting with some friends of mine on our beach vacation last week, and they commented on how little my teens were spending on their phones.

"I'd pay good money to get my kid off their phone," they said. "How'd you do it?"

And I replied, "It wasn't easy. I had to show them that there were things worth doing that weren't on their phones--even when I didn't feel like it."

And they countered: "But don't you remember how we never had to be told how to fill our time? We just did it."

That's when I said, "Yeah, but we didn't grow up with iPads on car trips and every toy lighting up and a phone to play with at every juncture. I know how hard it is for me to put my phone down, and I remember a time without them. They don't."

You see, when my kids were babies, I would watch when my mom would get down on the floor with them and play. I just wasn't into it and always wanted them to occupy themselves for a few minutes so I could do dishes or pick up a few things.

She would show them how to stack blocks and how dolls could have tea parties and how a box could become an airplane. She worked as a nursery school teacher many years ago and explained how kids sometimes need to be taught how to use their imagination and learn to play.

She used to say, "It takes time, but it will pay off later when they can entertain themselves."

And she was right. Eventually, my kids did learn to play by themselves more, and I was so appreciative my mom showed me how to do that.

About 18 months ago, I realized my teens were in a bad place with their phones from the pandemic. I often found them in their rooms mindlessly scrolling or watching videos for hours. When I asked them to put their phones down, they usually would, but only to roam around our house moody and sullen until I found them back up on their beds an hour later.

I knew something had to change. I had to teach them things to do without their phones.

So, instead of simply telling them to put their devices down, I would say, "Hey, let's go thrifting." Or, "I looked up a new trail to hike." Or, "Let's watch an episode of that show you like." Or "Do you want to go to the bookstore with me?" Or "Sure, I'll drive you and your friend to X."

Anytime they expressed an interest in something that didn't have to do with their phone, I tried to pounce on it.

When my daughter said she wished she didn't quit piano, I dug our old keyboard out and showed her an app where she could learn her favorite songs. When another said she loved live music, I tried to find every opportunity to take her to some free concerts. When another said she needed volunteer hours, we did a few opportunities together.

Don't kid yourself. My three teenagers did not welcome these opportunities with open arms and phrases like, "Oh, mom, you are the best! Thank you so much for limiting my screen time!"

It was exhausting for me to work and try to fill their phone void. I had to sacrifice a lot of my free time and the things that I wanted to do for myself. I had to endure a lot -- A LOT -- of eye rolls and sighs and how they could turn the word "mom" into three syllables.

But I kept at it.

When Starbucks had half-off days, I took them there. When they mentioned a local place they wanted to go, I scheduled the time to do it. When they wanted to bake a cake at 10:30 p.m. even though I was bone-tired from a long day, I took a deep breath and said sure, why not?

And excruciatingly slowly, I noticed a change.

One day, my daughter asked if she could get some books from the library, so I dropped her off while I ran an errand. She plowed through an entire series, and I tried not to make it a big deal (although I was so happy I could have cried.)

A few days later, two of my daughters and their friends went to watch the sunset with a picnic for a few hours at a local park while the other had some friends over for S'mores. The only time I saw the phones out was to take some pictures.

They are now starting to fill their own voids in healthy ways.

Don't get me wrong. They spend PLENTY of time on their phones still, but when I talk to them about it, they've definitely made progress.

I was surprised when at the beginning of the summer, one of my almost-18-year-olds told me she didn't want to keep her phone in her room at night because she found it too distracting, and my other daughter said she took Instagram off her phone "for now" because she didn't like the way it made her feel.

And now, when they have a bad day, or I can tell something is wrong, I don't see them rushing into their bedrooms and sitting on their phones all night. I see them going for a jog, taking the dog for a walk, or sometimes even journaling.

I don't think they would have made these healthy choices if they didn't know what it felt like not to be tethered to their phones. They no longer use them to soothe their minds or hearts.

Here's the thing: We can complain about technology, phones, and social media. We can focus on how different things were when we were growing up. We can try to put all the monitoring software and screen time limitations we want on their devices.

OR we can do something about it. We can teach them how to live life in a different way.

I'm not saying it's easy. But I am saying they are worth it.

You got this. It's never too late to change the tech rules in your house, and it's never too late to model the behavior you want to see.

Whitney Fleming Writes
*Reposted from last summer

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I would love to have you join us as we pray for Alaska and our world. 🙏🙏

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:4 NIV
What a wonderful reminder. :)

The lies will sound so Biblical.

The latest ways you can help.
Just wanted to share some updates on Maui.



Death toll is now at 96, as of Monday morning. That’s more than the Paradise Camp fire in 2018, and the most wildfire deaths in a century for US events.
Both the Pukalani and Kahului churches were/are sheltering people. I haven’t heard a recent update on the Kahului church, but I know the Pukalani church has been sheltering people since last week. Between 5 and 20 people each night. Pukalani church has been very active. They’ve been sheltering and providing immediate needs to those in their community. They created an amazon wish list, and according to the pastor have spent about $20k in the last week.
Pukalani church is also partnering with World Vision. It looks like government agencies might be trying to create temporary shelters on their campus, as well as World Vision supporting their distribution efforts for those in the community.
Jim Letoa, our Sacramento Compassionate Center warehouse director just happened to be in Oahu for a family funeral. He made his way over to Maui and helped support the Pukalani pastor organize some relief supplies.
Rick Power, the DS, and Eric Paul, the district compassionate ministries and social justice coordinator, are working on traveling there as soon as possible.
We’ve sent 1000 cases of CCKs to Convoy of Hope, who are sending a container right now via air with supplies, and will send our CCKs later. We have stayed in touch with Convoy to partner on the island with them.
We’ve already approved 10k of immediate funds to the district. Based on what I’m seeing now, I think the response, both short and long term, will need to be significantly larger. I think immediate needs could be even $100k, and long term needs much larger, if the churches commit to rehabilitation programming.
Here is a link to give to Maui Wildfire Response - www.ncm.org/maui_fb
Mikayla and I are exploring if it makes sense to travel there to support the DS, pastors, and other local staff. This will likely be focused on their transition into medium and long term recovery.


Thanks all,

Brandon



Jill Barber

Administrative Coordinator

USA/Canada Regional Office

Church of the Nazarene

17001 Prairie Star Parkway

Lenexa, KS 66220

give.ncm.org A series of wildfires devastated parts of Maui in Hawaii, killing dozens of people and destroying the historic town of Lahaina. The wildfires are the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The Church of the Nazarene in Hawaii is responding to this crisis, with Nazarene congregations on Maui s...

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