Wesley United Methodist Church
September 2024
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Wesley United Methodist Church is a church family that seeks to live into John Wesley's three simple rules- to do good, to do no harm, and to stay in love with God. http://www.wumcsf.org
United Women in Faith
Even though our church’s United Women in Faith unit is on hiatus, doesn’t mean I have been resting. I have been attending United Women in Faith events all over the country.
In May, Don and I attended the North Central Jurisdiction Quadrennial Meeting in Indianapolis, IN. It was an inspiring 3 days of worship, amazing speakers, and music led by Amanda Powell who is one of the best song leaders I have ever encountered. The primary business conducted during the meeting was to elect the next North Central Jurisdiction Team of leaders and to elect the next Board of Directors members from the North Central Jurisdiction. I am pleased to say that I personally know 3 of the 4 newly elected Board members and have worked with them. They are all committed, gifted women and will serve our organization well at the national level. Marsha Timm from Elkton, SD was elected as the new Chair of Nominations for the North Central Jurisdiction for the next quadrennium.
Don and I also attended Mission u South in Mitchell in July. We almost doubled our attendance this year (35 last year vs 60 this year). I am so glad to see people availing themselves of this opportunity to learn and grow and experience God at work in the world. I also attended Mission u North in Jamestown, ND because I felt it was important for me to continue to build on relationships with women I have met and worked with over the past 23 years in both North and South Dakota. The comments I heard from first time attendees from both sites was “What a great experience! Why haven’t I come before! I will be back!”
I will try to do a better job of keeping all of you informed of opportunities to attend meetings around the conference in the future. With that in mind…the next Southeast District meeting will be in Elkton on Sept. 14. If you are interested in attending, contact me, Dawn Armstrong (605-988-7023 cell, 605-271-8846 home). The program will start at 9:00 am and will close in the early afternoon.
The Dakotas Conference UWFaith received a grant to produce a Webinar on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives August 17. The information on how to log on to this Webinar was late coming out so I wasn’t able to convey the information to all of you. If you would like to view the Webinar, you can go to the conference website at https://vimeo.com/1001240343
The Webinar was designed to address a racial justice issue that plagues our sisters and brothers in the Dakotas, and learn what we can do to help.
The presenters were Lily Mendoza, Director of the Red Ribbon Skirt Society; Lisa Heth, Director of Wiconi Wawokiya, Inc.; Rev. Susan Jennys, Colton/Chester UMC; Colleen McKirdy, President of Dakotas Conference United Women in Faith.
Digestion time depends on a variety of factors
For humans, digestion is one of the fundamental processes for surviving and staying healthy. Without proper digestion, bodies lack the necessary nutrition required to produce energy that helps us maintain vital bodily functions.
The digestive system takes nutrients from food and breaks them into small parts for your body to absorb and use for energy, growth and cell repair, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
How long does it take to digest food?
It may take six to eight hours for food to pass through the stomach and small intestine, according to Mayo Clinic. Digestive enzymes and acid in your stomach break down the food, which is then passed through to the small intestine.
Maximum absorption of nutrients takes place in the small and large intestines.
However, the length of time it takes to digest food can be influenced by various factors, including what you ate, your age, gender and if you’re pregnant. Women tend to digest food slower than men (one of the reasons we are so efficient at storing calories and fat), and digestion slows as you age.
How long does it take your stomach to empty?
After passing through the stomach and small intestine, the food enters the large intestine. It takes about 36 hours to move through the entire colon, according to the Mayo Clinic. In total, it might take between two and five days from the moment you swallowed food to empty your stomach, depending on the individual.
What foods digest quickly?
Simple carbohydrates, such as white flour and refined sugars, are easier to digest than complex nutrients like protein or fats. Cooked vegetables, eggs, applesauce, white rice, white bread and salmon also are easy to digest.
God has created a wonderful system for us to extract nutrients we need from the food we eat. And that is part of the reason we give thanks to God before we eat.
Christmas Shoe Boxes
This is a heads-up notice about the Christmas Shoe Boxes that will be distributed to the children on the reservations in North and South Dakota. I don’t have a deadline for the pick-up yet but it is usually sometime in early November. So…start picking up gifts to fill a box or two or twelve. We have a lot of leftover empty boxes from last year, so if you don’t have a shoe box, you will be able to pick one up from the church. Mary Wilcox and her sister filled 20 boxes last year. That is our challenge for this year—to fill enough boxes to make up for those that Mary will not be able to fill this year due to health issues.
So, what do you put in these boxes? Spirit Lake Ministries has asked that a winter hat and mittens or gloves be included in each box. Other than that, it needs to be age appropriate.
If you have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, ask them what they would like for Christmas. Add that, a few more small gifts, some candy, place a rubber band around the box and the top, then put the age group and gender of the child on top of the box. You have just built a box of love. We are looking for the following age groups. Infant, Toddler, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, 13 and up.
Please only add new toys and please don't put any clothing except the hats/gloves or mittens in the boxes.
I will include more information next month as to how to wrap a box, etc. If you have any questions, let Dawn Armstrong know (605-988-7023).
