Forum - June, 2005

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What Grace Church is All About - Our Core Values

Bill Merz -by Karen knight

On trips to the old IGA store, Bill Merz had driven by Grace many times. He was concerned about the direction his life was taking and, as a parent, he wanted to be a good example for his children. He decided to give Grace a try.

Bill was born and raised in the Champaign-Urbana area. His family attended First UMC in Urbana where his parents are still active. After graduating from Urbana High School in 1977, Bill joined the army and was trained as a tank turret mechanic. When his tour of duty was up, he re-enlisted and received training in electronics. Bill has lived many places during his army career including Korea, Germany, Austria, and various places in the U.S. Eleven years ago, Bill retired from the army. He worked in Georgia as an electronic technician for a Japanese automotive manufacturing plant.

In 1996, Bill moved back to Urbana. He is employed as manager/programming engineer/trouble-shooter for APL Engineered Materials, a company that makes high purity chemicals used in the lighting industry for lighting places such as Memorial Stadium. He helped design the machine the company uses for production.

As a single dad, Bill takes parenting seriously. He has four daughters, Carrie, a nursing student at Parkland, Sara, also a Parkland student in childcare, Katheryn, a sophomore at Urbana High, and Emily, an eighth grader at Urbana Middle School. For relaxation, Bill likes to golf with his dad and he enjoys electronics. Bill and the girls enjoy traveling and going to movies.

Although Bill first started attending Grace in December, he has been quick to become involved. He is a part of the missions team, attended the Wednesday morning Men’s Breakfast, and helps with the Fellowship Café.

The weather in the month of May was certainly quite variable. Some days were quite warm, some very cold and many were somewhere in between. This changeable weather reminds me of our spiritual commitment; sometimes we are deeply committed; sometimes we have very little interest or involvement; and sometimes we are just lukewarm. We should be very thankful that God’s commitment to us is 100% all the time, which is much different from our variable commitment. His love never wavers; his concern is deep and sincere; and we are saved by his grace.

In this month of June, and from here forward, take your commitment to God seriously. Be thankful for God’s blessings, mercy, love and grace.

Prayer has a powerful impact on both the one being prayed for and the one praying. We must never forget that God still answers prayers. They are answered in his way and in his timing.

PRAYER

Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, thanks for your constant love and commitment to us. Guide and direct our steps each day. Help us to be sensitive to the needs of those around us. Help us to appreciate the miracles of your almighty power that surround us each day. Give us hearts filled with love so that we might appreciate the great love and compassion that you have for each of us.

We lift up the joys and concerns of our church family and our own personal prayers. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

NAIL IN THE FENCE

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said. “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.”

(Submitted by Mary Hackl from an article in the Argenta United Methodist Church Newsletter.)

“Crafty Critters” is not the name of some new invasive insects, but Grace’s own craft group. The group started five years ago, and participants are still creating beautiful items. Some of the activities include scrapbooking, stamping (they share supplies), making cards, cross-stitch, making jewelry and mending and sewing. People are welcome to bring whatever they like to work on and share ideas.

Crafty Critters meet once a month on Friday evening at 5:30 pm and decide at that time where they would like to go for dinner. After eating, they return to Grace and work on their crafts until 10 pm, or whenever they need to leave. Their schedule calls for returning on Saturday morning, but family weekend activities often supercede the Saturday morning workshop. The husbands take care of the kids at home so the women can enjoy this time out.

The group has gone “on the road” for classes in scrapbooking and occasionally, people have come to give lessons. Fellowship Hall was filled one Saturday for National Scrapbooking Day, where participants worked until midnight on their projects. If you have seen any of these beautifully finished scrapbooks, you know that the scrapbooks are a true family treasure. The stamped cards are beautiful, fun to make and a joy to receive. Pictured on this page are Rose McCarthyscrapbooking, Susan Ferguson,-stamping, Holly Brooks- scrapbooking, and Beth Morgan- stamping.

Anyone interested is welcome to come, bring anything you would like to work on, and share in fellowship and fun while being creative.

Thursday, June 23 – picnic at 305 Brady Lane (Joan Newcomb Neumann’s previous residence). Come at 5:30 and we will plan to eat at 6 pm. Meat, drink and table service will be provided. Bring a covered dish to share and enjoy an evening of fun and fellowship. Everyone welcome!

WANTED: Campbell’s Soup Labels for Educational Programs for Cunningham Children’s home. Each label is worth one penny towards educational supplies. Last year, 249,200 labels provided $2,492 in school supplies and equipment for Cunningham!

On Thursday, June 9, the XYZs will travel to Covington, IN to eat at the Beef House. After the meal, they will tour a candy factory in Attica. Departure will be from the church parking lot at 10:30 a.m. Call Mary Thompson (384-0346) by Tuesday, June 7, for reservations.

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