"Decisions and Houses and God's Plans for Us" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 07/10/2019

Jeremiah  29:11

“I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord.”

Yesterday, I walked through the two houses the church owns.  They are just to the east of the parking lot.

Fifteen years ago, the church was expanding and the church bought a number of houses with the plans to increase the church building and expand the parking lot.  The world changed.  The church changed.  What people are looking for in a church changed.  A year ago we owned eight houses.  Two were sold to the tenants who lived in them.  Three were sold to a private individual.  One was sold to Habitat for Humanity.  Two remain and later this summer they will be torn down.

The two houses are made of brick. Inside they have three bedrooms and full basements.  Kitchens where thousands of meals were prepared.  Living rooms where families gathered.  Bedrooms where people laid down to rest at night.  There is no denying, a house is a sacred thing.

The houses are in need of repairs and the church does not have the funds to continue to make the needed repairs.  We are a church and we are not experts in property management.  Our property is landlocked with very limited green space. 

We make decisions.  It would be very presumptuous of us to think that we make perfect decisions.  We try always to make the best decisions for our church family and our church home.  If you reviewed the abstracts for these two houses and you would discover that we have owned them three times and sold them twice over the last 70 years.  I believe each time these decisions were made, the leadership of the church was making the best decision they could at the time.  I believe every decision was made with a great deal of prayer and holy conversation.  Now it is time to demolish the houses. 

Still, people need housing.  Polk County has a housing shortage.  We are not housing specialists.  We are working to be faith specialists.  I think we can faithfully work with Habitat for Humanity (they are housing specialists!) to address the housing needs in Des Moines and West Des Moines.  A few months ago we dedicated one Habitat House.  Our next Habitat for Humanity panel build will be October 5th and that day we will build the walls of another Habitat Home.  

We make decisions.  We decide what job to take, who to share our life with, what to spend our money on, when to buy a new car, whether we should send our children to camp, how we will spend our day.  All the while, we pray that our plans in some way align with the plans God has for us, never being certain, praying that our good intentions count for something.    

May God bless the wood and the bricks and all the natural resources that went into these houses.

May God bless the carpenters who built these houses.

May God bless everyone who ever lived in them.

May God bless the church members and leaders throughout the years who did their best to manage and finance and oversee the houses.

May God bless the future for this property and our church.

May God bless the homeless and those struggling to find a home.

May God bless our ministry in providing homes for others.

And may we bless God as we make decisions and seek to live faithfully,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.

We worship on Sunday mornings at 8:30 in a traditional way and at 11:00 in a casual way.  You are invited.  We would love to worship with you.

This week at WDMUMC:

Welcome Pastor Trevor!  This Sunday Pastor Trevor will be preaching and we will hear what he has to say about his life, and church, and God.  Our youth mission team will be commissioned at 8:30 and at 11:00 we will celebrate a baptism.  It is a good day to be the church.

Painting Party!  Like bright colors?  Want to make the 3rd floor more welcoming for our children?  Today from 4-6:30 Morganne is hosting a painting party on the 3rd floor.   (I think this includes pizza!)

Vacation Bible School!  Begins this Sunday!  Dinner is at 5 pm and VBS runs from 6-8!  We will be blasting off for Mars to learn about God! Bring your children, grandchildren, and the neighbor kids!  You can register at https://wdmumc.org/education/vacation-bible-school/?et_fb=1

Guidebooks!  Our church directories have been mailed out.  We have discovered some glitches in the system.  (Computers talking to computers!)  If you did not receive your guidebook, please call the church at 515-279-0826!

Pastor Cindy is in!  Next Monday, Wednesday and Thursday during vacation bible school I will be in my office from 6-8pm.  If you would like to stop by and talk.  (If the weather is nice—I will be out front on a lawn chair.  Let’s chat.

Parking Lot Update!  Good news!  We met with the paving contractor yesterday.  The parking lot will be paved in two sections, so we will ALWAYS have access to the parking lot in some way.  Construction will begin in 2-3 weeks.  We will do our best to keep you informed.