Alexis - A Future South Hills Graduate



Alexis - Administrative Professional Graduate  Sept. 2017

While waiting outside the door where my 8 o’clock class would start, I recognized someone who was walking down the hallway toward me. Alexis was carrying her blue graduation gown and was on her way to have her picture taken with her fellow-students who will graduate from South Hills in September 2018.

Alexis is also one of the South Hills Student Ambassadors who organized groups of student visitors to take them to different classes where they could sit in while the classes were in session. I first met Alexis in the fall of 2015 when I was auditing courses at South Hills. When the “Day at the Hills” arrived that term, she encouraged me to attend a customer service class and an accounting class. She was a student in both classes, so I followed her. Both classes are in the Administrative Professional Program which is the program in which Alexis will receive her degree.

When I became a full-time student in the Administrative Professional Program in August 2016, I joined the Student Ambassador Club. On the “Day at the Hills,” I was able to work alongside Alexis who was always busy helping someone. It’s just her nature. She always had a smile for everyone.

Alexis lives near Belleville and would drive the back roads to South Hills, even in the wintertime. In addition to being a full-time student, she is always busy at home helping her mother and father with their work. She is doing her summer internship at Strawberry Fields, Inc., in State College, PA.

I will miss seeing her around school because she has been such an inspiration to all of us.

Congratulations, Alexis, on achieving your Administrative Professional Degree at South Hills! All the best to you in the future!

Determination

Determination

Rev. Karen Weiss at Woodycrest UMC, July 30, 2017

Rev. Karen Weiss talked about “Determination” in the continued series of sermons “Dog Days of Summer” in this morning’s service.

Our scripture reading was from Genesis 29:15-28.  

Our regular pastor, Pastor Renee Ford, is recovering from shoulder surgery.

 When we are determined to accomplish something, are our motives pure or selfish? Let’s look at four people, Jacob, Laban, Leah, and Rachel, in the above Genesis scripture. As we learned from an earlier sermon, Esau’s birthright was stolen by Jacob who had to leave his homeland to avoid being killed by Esau. Jacob traveled to Laban's home, a relative who lived 500 miles from Jacob’s home, and offered to work for him.

Laban asked Jacob what he should pay him for his work, and Jacob replied that he would like to marry Rachel, Laban’s second daughter, who was beautiful. Laban agreed to give Rachel to Jacob after he completed seven years of work. The seven years went by quickly for Jacob, and Laban planned the wedding to be held at night in order to trick Jacob.  He gave his older daughter, Leah, rather than Rachel to be married to Jacob.

Leah had poor eyesight and was not as attractive as Rachel, so Laban felt no one would ask for her hand in marriage and tricked Jacob into marrying her. The morning after the wedding, Jacob realized what happened and asked Laban to give him Rachel, as he had promised, but Laban said that Jacob would have to work another seven years. Jacob agreed to work another seven years for Rachel’s hand.

As we can see, Jacob was a determined man. He had the patience to steal Esau’s birthright when Esau was at his lowest, and he was willing to work for 14 years to marry Rachel. Laban was a determined man, too.  And we don’t know if Leah was in on her dad’s plot to marry her, rather than Rachel, to Jacob.  It seems she could be because the first daughter is married first, so she may have turned down offers of marriage which we don’t know. These are examples of determination driven by unhealthy thoughts.

How can we use determination for the betterment of the world without hurting someone else? Our motivations count because God sees our heart.

Rev. Weiss encourages us to pray to God for direction to help us know if our desires are pure or selfish.

Rev. Karen Weiss is an ordained deacon in the UMC and provides spiritual direction through Water Works Ministries. She has a Masters of Religion, Spiritual Formation, 2013, from Evangelical Seminary, and a BS, Environmental Systems Engineering, 2001, from Penn State. She has travelled as a ministry volunteer three times to Thailand, one time to Mongolia, and various times around the United States.

Sacrificial Love

Pastor Renee Ford and Cassandra Lyon, a Penn State Graduate

With the theme on loyalty this morning, Pastor Renee Ford continued her summer sermon series on the "Dog Days of Summer," and how it ties in with our scripture reading from Ruth 1:6-18. In this reading, Ruth shows her loyalty to Naomi, her mother-in-law, by staying by her side regardless of the consequences for Ruth.

Dogs also display loyalty regardless of the consequences. Zander, a white dog, travelled two miles through heavy traffic to the hospital where his owner was a patient. Pastor Renee shared how her own dog would travel to her school each day to watch for her and then travel back to where she would get off the bus after school. Incredible loyalty. She said there are countless stories about dogs’ loyalty that could fill volumes.

As we can see from the stories above, dogs will take incredible risks for their owners out of love. Ruth knew that Naomi needed someone to take care of her, so, out of love, she took incredible risks to stay by Naomi’s side.

Another moral to these stories is that often our richest treasures result from our faith journeys. We need each other more than anything else. Our lesson is not what we have that matters, but who we have. Picture God’s love for us.

This week, Pastor Renee would like us to follow Ruth’s example when someone needs our care.

Pastor Renee Ford is the pastor for Grays United Methodist Church, Houserville House of Hope, and Woodycrest United Methodist Church. She is also an Instructional Designer for the Department of eLearning Design and Innovation Group in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.

"Sweet Beulah Land"

For our special music this morning, Pastor Renee Ford sang a song “Sweet Beulah Land.” Pastor Renee recently officiated a funeral for a lady who requested this song be sung at her funeral.

Pastor Renee said she has been thinking about the words since the funeral and wanted to share with us this morning.

 

The words are beautiful and touching. The song was written and composed by Squire Parsons in 1973.

 

 Listen to Carroll Robinson sing the song.

 “Sweet Beulah Land”

I'm kind of homesick for a country
To which I've never been before.
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken
For time won't matter anymore.

I'm looking now, just across the river
To where my faith, shall end in sight (Shall end in sight)
There's just a few more days to labor.
Then I will take my heavenly flight.

Chorus:

Beulah Land (Beulah Land) I'm longing for you (I'm longing for you)
And some day (And some day) on thee I'll stand (Someday we will stand)
There my home (There my home) shall be eternal (Eternal)
Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land

Pastor Renee Ford is the pastor for Grays United Methodist Church, Houserville House of Hope, and Woodycrest United Methodist Church. She is also an Instructional Designer for the Department of eLearning Design and Innovation Group in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.



Beautiful Skies Bring Back Childhood Memories

These unusual cloud formations are so beautiful that I wanted to share them with you.

I was sitting on my deck this evening, thinking about the day, and became caught up in the beautiful sky all around me.

While taking the pictures, I started thinking about my Mother when I was a child and we lived on the farm in West Virginia.

Sunsets then meant the day was over, the chores were done outside, and we would be inside preparing to go to bed  (we were asleep before 9 p.m.).


To enjoy a sunset today has become a rare thing for many of us.

Our lives have become so busy that we don't have the time to take a moment to soak in the beauty of a sunset or even look up at the sky, except when we are driving.

Here are seven reasons for taking time to enjoy the sunset.

Enjoy and thank you for listening.

Have a great week!

Conflict and Struggle

Darien Parker, Pastor Renee Ford, Mary Bunge

This morning’s message was about conflict and struggle. In Genesis 25: 19-34, Esau gave his brother, Jacob, his birthright for a cup of red lentil soup.

In the story, Isaac and Rebekah were married 20 years before Rebekah gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first, all red and hairy, and Jacob, clinging to Esau’s heel, was born second. As Rebekah carried the twins, they wrestled in her womb, like two disagreeing nations. Esau became a skilled hunter and Jacob was a quiet man who stayed close to the tents.

One day, Esau came back to the tents and was exhausted from hunting. He said he was so hungry he would do anything for a bowl of red lentel soup that Jacob had been preparing. Jacob, seeing that Esau would do anything to satisfy his hunger, told Esau he would give him a bowl of red lentil soup if Esau would give him his birthright. Esau, who was famished and felt near death, agreed to give Jacob his birthright. The birthright meant that Jacob would become the leader of the family and receive twice as much inheritance.

This story helps me understand that all conflicts and struggles may not have immediate solutions, but my choices may make the outcomes different.  I am grateful for my family, my church family, and my friends for their support and friendship. 

Thank someone who has blessed you.

Have a great week.

Pastor Renee Ford is the pastor for Grays United Methodist Church, Houserville House of Hope, and Woodycrest United Methodist Church. She is also an Instructional Designer for the Department of eLearning Design and Innovation Group in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.
 

 

The Smile of a Happy Dog

Mark and Suuki

Even dogs smile as you can see in this picture of our son, Mark, and our grand dog, Suuki. They let me take their picture when they stopped by in October 2014.  You can see her smile and the strength in her legs as she braces herself against Mark's knees.

Suuki is a rescue dog and is still shy around others even though she has been in our family for several years. She loves to ride in the car and stand on her hind legs and look out the window.

She loves to go hiking in the mountains. Even though she is a small dog, she has no trouble hiking up mountain trails. She loves to go in the water when she is near the stream because her little belly gets hot and the water cools her.

Her Grandpa calls her the "Great Suuk."