Dear Church Family,
Have you heard the amazing news about the new 3 octave set of hand chimes that Myers Park UMC in North Carolina gifted to our church? The people of that congregation have given us such a wonderful gift. 

The staff felt so overjoyed when they arrived that we tried to play “Joy to the World.” I suspect you might giggle or cringe at our music, not feel transported in joy. Nonetheless, you can find a link to the “masterpiece” CLICK HERE
Watch the video and one thing becomes clear: we need more practice. We would need a lot more practice before that piece sounds as joyful and uplifting as we wished it to be. Learning new things is like that. All of us would prefer to be instant successes. But as Malcolm Gladwell has pointed out, it typically takes 10,000 hours of practice to reach expertise. 
So, too, with our discipleship. Growing in faith means practicing it, daily, as we go to work, school, as we shop, as we interact with our family and neighbors or interact online. We have chances throughout the day to put what is in our hearts and mind to work in action, word and thought. Our goal is not to become experts, though. We are longing to be the truest, richest versions of ourselves. The people God dreams of us being. 
Here’s a second part of practice. Like the hand chimes, our discipleship is helped by having a group of people to “practice” with. At FUMC, we are here for each other. God has given you this church family to encourage and support you and to stretch and challenge you, too. 
We are imperfect people- we won’t always “play” the song in our hearts perfectly the first time. But God loves us. And God has given us each other. And each day, with practice, we will get a little better. Until the world rings with our beauty of our witness.
Here are a few of the lovely notes that were sounded in ministry this past week:
  • First of all, how about some good financial news? We covered our expenses in December and we finished the year at -$33,000. I feel even the second part of that sentence is good news for this reason… at the end of 2019, FUMC was -$133,000. We are making terrific progress. The most hopeful news is that our 2021 budget was reduced by $150,000 to match historic giving. For all these reasons, I am hopeful that FUMC will finish 2021 in the black for the first time in 4 years. Thank you, so very much, for your faithful generosity. We have great days ahead of us, my friends. 
  • The FUMC Day School is preparing for REGISTRATION on February 8th, and cannot wait to see what fun the Spring semester holds. We continue to learn: hands on exploration makes learning fun! Here is 2020- 2021 Registration info:
  • Monday, February 8th for currently enrolled students & siblings
  • 9AM -12PM [Line up at Northside door, closest to the playground.]
  • Wednesday, February 10th for Church members and previous families
  • 9AM -3PM [Line up at Northside door, closest to the playground.]
  • Monday, February 15th Open to the public
  • 9AM -3PM [Line up at Northside door, closest to the playground.]
  • We are the new home to Troop 76. The BSA has given clearance to their scouts to start meeting again, while observing distancing and masking. If you know a boy aged 11-17 who is interested in scouting, please see THIS VIDEO and contact Mike Key, the Troop Leader, for more information: [email protected] 
  • Pastor Jon has a new (7 week) online Bible Study: “I AM” declarations of the Gospel of John. Everyone is welcome to join in on Wednesday nights at 6:00 p.m. on YouTube or Facebook. Click on this link to watch week 1, The Bread of Life.
  • The Texas Methodist Foundation made a wonderful video about our feeding ministries at FUMC. If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check it out HERE. I know you hear me say it a lot, but it’s truly incredible that we have gone from feeding 50 families a month to almost 700. That’s 14x more families that we are blessing with life-sustaining food in this time of crisis. Thank you, church, for rising to the challenge. It’s hard work sorting, lifting, and distributing tens of thousands of pounds of food every month. But what a blessing to our community. I’m very proud of FUMC McAllen.
  • Some of you asked that we create a wish-list for items that FUMC McAllen needs. If you prefer in-kind giving, here are a few of the things that would bless our ministry. Do not worry or fret if you can’t help. These are wishes only. In time, we will get to them through the generosity of your regular giving. We provide this for those who wish to help out with in-kind gifts. A gift of one of these items frees up our regular giving for more of the amazing ministry FUMC is known for! 
  • An AED machine for our sanctuary. An AED is a type of computerized defibrillator that automatically analyzes the heart rhythm in people who are experiencing cardiac arrest. When appropriate, it delivers an electrical shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm. We have one in the education building, but would love to have one for our sanctuary also. Many public spaces have AEDs and they are easy to use, even by ordinary folks and can save lives. Contact Charlene if you want to know more [email protected] 
  • New computers for our staff. Did you know that most of our computers are 9 years old? Needless to say, it’s on our wish list to get new or near-new computers for our hard-working staff. Contact Pastor Jon if you want to know more [email protected]
  • Mark and Raylene (sp) West donated grapefruit for our Food Pantry recipients this month. They live in Bentsen Palm in a mobile home park and when the Winter Texans didn’t come this year because of COVID they shared their grapefruit! More to come! Thank you! 
I’ll see you Sunday. And may your life be sending out beautiful notes of joy into the ears of this community and of our great and wonderful God. 

Pastor Laura
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