From the Lay Director
In my previous terms as Lay Director, my practice in writing the Lay Director message for the Newsletter had been very similar to that of my predecessor Wally Briggs – hope some inspiration will come from the Holy Spirit at the last minute before the deadline. As I start to write this, it is still three days until deadline, still hoping some inspiration from the Holy Spirit will come. So until that inspiration comes, some random thoughts.
If you were at the January 2025 Gathering, you heard that I have completed one project around the house since I retired at the end of July. I installed a bumper on the garage wall so I do not have to worry about dinging up the edge of my car door. Been living in this house more than ten years. Finally got that project done. Since the January Gathering, I have completed one more project. I dug out all of the empty boxes that have accumulated in our basement to decide which boxes we should actually keep. At least 60 boxes of different sizes and shapes. Used two boxes to take the Christmas lights that worked fine when I stored them last Christmas, but for some reason don’t work anymore, to the Lexington electronics recycling facility. About a dozen boxes went into our recycling dumpster. The rest of the boxes in various sizes and shapes went back into storage. Empty box sorting project complete.
I like to keep my outdoor Christmas lights up and on until Epiphany or the first snowfall, whichever comes later. This year has been pretty unusual for the cold temperatures and the depth of snow and its duration. The lights stayed up through multiple snowfalls. Some of the lights in the backyard require a ladder, and I am not inclined to climb on a ladder in the snow. The last of the lights finally came down on January 27. The ground around the lights lining the sidewalk to our front door finally thawed out enough to pull the stakes out. The lights are all down, but not all put away yet. There are piles of light strings still scattered around the basement.
One of the delights of the Christmas season for me is ringing a bell for the Salvation Army. There is something about wishing so many people a Merry Christmas that really warms my soul. I have been organizing bell ringing teams at my church for many years, always on a Saturday. Being retired, and the Salvation Army now having a website that you can sign up to ring as an individual instead of as a group, I rang a bell on a few weekdays too. During the day of Christmas Eve, my wife joined me to ring at the nearby Walmart Neighborhood Market. I may be exaggerating, but in the three hours that we were there I think at least 6,000 people went in and out of the store. At times, I would nearly come to tears witnessing the joy, gratitude and love in the people that passed around us. Next thing I knew, I would nearly come to tears witnessing the sadness, loneliness, despair and defeat in the people that also passed around us. Served to remind me that we Christians still have a long way to go in telling the world of the Good News.
We also have a long way to go in recruiting pilgrims for the upcoming Women’s Walk. Our deadline for committing to Asbury Inn and Asbury Seminary for the Women’s Walk is February 26. As of January 31 as I finish writing this, three applications have been received for the Women’s Walk. We need to have 12 applications in hand by the February 26 deadline. Scanning and emailing an application to Registrar Kristin Hobbs with a hard copy and deposit check to follow would be fine. Now is the time to take the next step in recruiting someone that you think would benefit from the experience of a Walk to Emmaus. Bring that pilgrim prospect to Gathering with you on February 7 for a free meal, some fellowship and a wonderful worship time. Give them a taste of what the Emmaus experience is like.
Teams to conduct the Walks are well on their way to being formed, but they are not complete. I would encourage you to not wait until you receive a phone call, text or email from a human person. If you are hearing the still, small voice of God calling you to serve during the Walk, let a Board of Directors member know and we will get you connected. I can understand some unwillingness to raise your hand without being asked. I have wondered the same thing myself. Is my willingness to serve getting in the way of someone else coming forward? Is my willingness to serve resulting in one less phone call, text or email being made and a connection never being formed that could blossom into something wonderful? I am sure God will work it out with the Walk Lay Director if there are too many volunteers. People are needed that can be present for the entire Walk. People are also needed that can be present for just a day or half day, or a meal or two. That is how I got started being involved in Walks. I saw during my Walk 89 that there were not quite as many people helping out for Sunday breakfast and lunch. So I would just show up bright and early Sunday morning to help in whatever way I could. I realized setting up and taking down all of those luminaries for Candlelight would be a big job. So I would come early to Candlelight or stay late afterwards. Then I was invited to be part of the Facilities team for Walk 104. Being a part of that Walk, seeing everything that went on outside the cloistered space of the conference room, closed a loop for me. God created this world for us. He could make any changes in and to this world that He wished. And he chose us to be the instruments by which He would bring about change in His people. Change that would help to bring His people into closer relationship with Him. Not that we can or should take any credit for the changes that occur. All I have been, all I can be, all I could ever be, is an obedient conduit through which God’s love and grace pour into His people. Almost in tears as I finish the sentence.
Circling back to bell ringing for the Salvation Army, my wife and I do not have a lot of traditions. Lots of ongoing practices that happen on a regular basis, but not many things I would consider traditions. I think we are going to make bell ringing on Christmas Eve a tradition. Even with witnessing sadness, loneliness, despair and defeat so many times, my own heart was nearly bursting with joy when we finally hung up our bells for the day.
Looking forward to seeing you at Gathering on February 7.
DeColores!!
Michael Watts
Community Lay Director
Lexington Emmaus Community
Mission Statement
Renewing Christian Disciples,
Strengthening Local Churches
Rejoice, Rejoice, and again I say Rejoice!