Beanbags to help Chicago Youth!
I would like to formally introduce you to ULS Productions.
ULS Productions is the construction component of the Urban Life Skills
Program where the youth from the program will be trained by our
professional carpenters. The youth are mentored and taught how to
build and design various projects. We are going to start out by
creating beanbag sets. Our beanbag sets are designed and created by
the youth and mentors. All of the profits from their work will go
directly to the youth and the expansion of ULS Productions. Through
this we will train the youth in business management, provide career
training, and empower them for the future. We want to purchase a shop,
equipment, and expand opportunities for youth in Little Village. Our
desire is to see this grow and expand beyond bean bag sets into bigger
projects.
CLICK HERE for a flyer for our beanbag sets. Please distribute to
others that you may know who would be interested in purchasing these
sets! Thank you for your support as we see to keep youth in Little
Village off the streets and empower them to succeed!
Matt DeMateo
ULS Program Director
7 Reasons Why You Should Join a Small Group
Relationships: A
small group gives you the opportunity to get to know people at a more intimate
level. Sunday mornings are an awesome
time to worship with the whole family of God, hear a sermon, engage in
corporate vision, but a small group gives you a chance to build deeper
friendships.
Learning
the Word of God: Sunday’s sermon is a great time to get a
broad teaching of the Word of God. However, small groups provide time for one
on one discussion. Your group can provide a time to clarify answers to
questions from Sunday’s sermon.
Opportunity
to Serve Others: One of the greatest joys of being in a small
group is the chance to bear others burdens, serve their needs, and step out
beyond your own issues.
Place
to invite friends: A small group is a natural place to invite
friends and family. Sometimes people are more comfortable going to a small
group then attending a Sunday morning service.
Place
to Pray and Share your needs: A gathering of a few people
is a natural environment for prayer. A big part of prayer is conservation with
God and small groups provide the perfect environment for communing with God.
Engage
in worship: Gathering in a small group allows you to
experience worship at a very intimate level.
Follow
the New Testament pattern: Acts 2:42-47 gives us a blueprint of
what the early church was passionately committed to. The early Christ Followers
gathered in homes, shared meals, read the Word, prayed, and worshipped. When
you participate in a small group you are following the New Testament pattern.
The Weight of Time
Both my grandparents and aunt & uncle own next door trailers on a
small fishing lake, near Terre Haute, Ind. My mom & stepdad bought
my grandparents trailer last fall, so we all decided to go down there
over Memorial Day weekend. Though we've been eating fish out of that
lake for almost 20 years, this was the first time in probably over 5
years that almost all our family has been down there at the same time:
parents, siblings, aunt & uncle, cousins - just not our
grandparents or one other cousin this time.
Caught almost a
dozen fish over the weekend, most keepers, and I'll go ahead and brag -
a bass that was the biggest caught over the weekend. Baylee and I went
on her first boat ride and she helped me fish some. She fearlessly held
both a worm and a fish. We all stayed up around the fire till past
midnight talking & laughing, and also partook in the family
tradition of playing Phase 10.
Tuesday before we left I was on
the dock with Baylee for a last time. While basking in how much fun the
weekend had been and also reminicing of other times standing on the
same dock, a real weight came on me: the weight of time. I didn't
realize how heavy something could be that you can't hold in your hand.
The weight of the past.
All of my memories of the trailer are positive and special, and they
bring me immense joy thinking about them. But what was heavy to me is
what is obvious: I can't relive many of them. Sure I can still fish
down there again...but never again with my grandpa. I dropped my
glasses in the lake this past weekend...but it wasn't the same
hilarious family experience as when my grandpa did it years ago. It's
the same when you're remembering life after you see high school,
college, or old church friends on Facebook. How many times in our lives
have we been in a moment with friends or family and thought, "I hope
this moment never ends." Yeah, they all did. You just can't TIVO the
past, rewind & relive...and knowing that to be true doesn't mean it
doesn't suck any less.
The weight of the future. Driving
home up 41, sharing with Jeannette about being on the dock with Baylee,
we started talking about the future as well. We'll be 50 when Baylee is
18, 60 when she's 28. I want more time with her than that! Only God
knows if we'll even have that much time with her. It's a pretty heavy
thought to wonder if someday you'll get to hold your 2 year old's 2
year old.
All this heaviness wasn't/shouldn't be about saddness, for me it was about necessary clarity.
I've
been waking up earlier these last couple days to get to my work and get
it done, so I can be home a little earlier. A two year old who doesn't
want to go to bed hasn't been that big of a deal. Still frustrating,
but a frustration that I know I need to cherish.
Like pressure on coal to make a diamond, the weight of the past & future give the necesary focus needed for the present.
From
a drive I had late at night last week, the below Chris Rice song has
been stuck in my head. Didn't know I'd be grasping it's message over
Memorial Day weekend, as it pretty much encompasses what hit me on the
dock standing there with Baylee:
Life Means So Much:
Everyday is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there’s plenty of room for writing in
All we do and believe and think
So will you compose a curse
Or will today bring the blessings
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketchings
Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much
Everyday is a bank account
And time is our currency
So no one’s rich, nobody’s poor
We get twenty-four hours each
So how are you gonna spend
Will you invest or squander
Try to get ahead
Or help someone who’s under
Has anybody lived who knew the value of a life?
And don’t you think giving his own
Would prove the worth of yours and mine?
Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much