United Campus Ministry

Relax, Rest and Renew!!!

By David Moore

The following is an e-mail I received from a friend:

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. “If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.”

“In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

He continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.”

“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.”

“So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don’t carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.”

“Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you’ve rested.

Life is short. Enjoy!”

God gave us the Sabbath as a means to provide us rest and a time to seriously reconnect with God. I know that there is a lot to do and I believe it is very important to work hard. But, it is also essential to stay rested so that the quality of your work is excellent. It is also critical to stay connected to God. There may be time when you feel as if you can carry the load on your own but some day the storm will come and the rain will fall and the only foundation that will hold you steady will be our Father in Heaven. Take time, make time, to rest, reconnect, and renew your commitment to Christ daily.

Peace,

David

Introduction & Testimony

by Sheila DesRivieres

Hi! My name is Sheila and I am the new administrative assistant for United Campus Ministry. I came all the way from Michigan with my husband and we are enjoying every minute of being in Alaska! I figured I should tell a little bit about myself and how I became a Christian.

To my benefit, all my life I was raised going to church.However, I did not accept Jesus Christ as my Savior until the age of 13. Our church was having a revival service and I was sitting in the back pews with the rest of the youth of our church. All of the sudden I felt something grab my heart and tears started gathering in my eyes. I couldn’t figure out where all this emotion was coming from. I then felt a push forward and realized it was God calling me to accept him into my heart. I grabbed my friend Jessica and we went to the front of the church and it was after I was baptized a week later I began my spiritual journey.I thought that after becoming a Christian and being baptized that everything in my life would go smoothly from then on. Of course this was not what happened. Over the years I have found that I probably have even more challenges in my life because I am a Christian. However, if I depend on God to help me through I know that I can easily overcome them. Moving away from my family and to Alaska was a very difficult transition for me, but through much prayer I was able to find a great spiritual group in UCM and I am so thankful to be here! I am looking forward to meeting everyone at UCM and having a great year!