wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 274-Flood disaster includes 'serendipity moments'

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

>Flood disaster includes 'serendipity moments'

>Jul. 1, 2008

NOTE: A photograph, audio and related stories are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

>By Marta W. Aldrich*

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (UMNS)--In flooded-out Cedar Rapids, United
Methodists are talking about "serendipity moments"--those times when God
offers small encouragements and assurances to people in unexpected ways.

The encouragements take many forms. A church team from Ohio had planned
a mission trip to Virginia but, when housing arrangements fell through
at the last minute, ended up going to Iowa instead. A United Methodist
pastor, whose Cedar Rapids church was flooded, discovered that the
waters stopped rising right at the foot of the sanctuary cross hanging
on the wall, so he "took up his cross" and carried it to safety.

The Rev. Beth Straw's serendipity moment came Friday, June 13, after the
Cedar River crested almost 20 feet above flood stage and filled the
basement and first-floor sanctuary at St. James United Methodist Church.
Thousands of homes in the surrounding neighborhoods also were partially
submerged.

Opening The

<http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/default.asp?month=6&day=13&year= 200
8> Upper Room devotional guide, the Scripture for the day was Isaiah
43:2-3: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; ... the
rivers, they shall not overwhelm you ... For I am the Lord your God ...
your Savior."

The Scripture's placement, said Straw, was not by chance.

"I preached on that the following Sunday," said Straw, who moved St.
James' worship services to St. Marks United Methodist Church, also in
Cedar Rapids.

Straw said the Holy Spirit put that passage "way ahead of time in The
Upper Room ... (so that) these people will know they will not be
overcome--that God is with them."

Launched in 1935, The Upper Room is a publication of Upper Room
Ministries at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, which provides
tools for spiritual formation and development.

The writers of the daily meditations are Christians of various
denominational and non-denominational backgrounds, both laity and
clergy, and come from around the world. The writer of the June 13
devotion, called "Depending on God," was Philip Polo of Nairobi, Kenya.

The Upper Room is translated into 40 languages and circulated in more
than 100 countries.

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Marta Aldrich, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

----------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe from this group, go to UMCom.org, log in to your account, click on the My Resources link and select the Leave option on the list(s) from which you wish to unsubscribe. If you have problems or questions, please write to websupport@umcom.org.

Powered by United Methodist Communications http://www.UMCom.org