Kingdom Rock VBS is FINALLY over!

Whew!! I. AM. EXHAUSTED. 

VBS is finally over. Yes, we had our county fair and VBS the same week. I'm never doing that again! 

But we survived and boy did we have a blast!! The kids really enjoyed all of our crafts and songs and lessons and games. Boy, did we have some great volunteers helping and the other directors and I would surely have been lost without them. 

Heather and Chrissy did awesome every night with their skit! This two ladies are awesome!

I made the backdrop and most of the decorations. I had so much fun!! Check out that throne!! Our AWESOME pastor put that together for the kids so......

...every kid got their picture taken sitting on the throne that they'll receive Sunday after the church program.

A real suit of armor!! Thanks Brooke for letting us borrow it! 

Any offering the kids brought we collected for the Kazembe Orphanage. We had a table set up to represent how many books we were able to buy for the orphanage. I think this pic was taken the second day and the kids were outstanding!

The kids enjoyed yummy snacks all week!! Thanks Carol and Liz, Sue and Jeanne! 

Our great feast hall, otherwise known as our church basement :) 

Best of all the kids got CRAZY! And it was a blast! We got them singing and dancing and jumping and really learning that God helps us STAND STRONG! 

Amanda and Shannon thanks so much for all the games you played with the kids! I think the water games were especially a hit! 

Our Medieval Castle crafts were pretty popular with the kids too! 

They made popsicle catapaults which resulted in a mini marshmallow war! 

Torches...

3D Castles....

..and shields! I just love Yahoo's SERIOUS expression! 

But the most anticipated event was PIES IN THE FACE! We made a deal with the kids that if they could get 45 kids to come one night of Bible School then Friday they could EACH put a pie in one of the director's or Pastor Jerry's faces. What a blast!! 

We were going to let the preschoolers go first but I didn't anticipate that they wouldn't understand what to do...HA! So I had a teenage helper give a demonstration. That's my babysitter up there covering her mouth as she's about to wallop me with a whip cream pie! Oh joy!! 

I think Yip and Yap were enjoying it just a little too much! 

There's Yip going after his poor mother and Heather sneaking up behind me to add even more stickiness to my hair! Ugg! 

Despite the fact we had Bible School the same week as our county fair we still had a fantastic turnout and the kids had a ball! Just one more day to go. Tomorrow we'll have the kids program at church and then we'll tear down all the decorations. So maybe, just maybe next week I'll get to enjoy a little rest...please??? 

Sunday Devotions - Looking forward to Death

I Corinthians 2:9  ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’"  

I recently read the book, Heaven is for Real, the story of 4 year old Colton's visit to Heaven. In the book, his father Todd relates how after his son's heavenly experience he had trouble getting Colton to be safe. He tried to explain to the little boy that if he wasn't careful around the street, for example, that he could get hurt and die. Which the little boy replied joyously, "Then I could go back to heaven and see Grandpa!!!" The thought of death was exciting for Colton. It was something he looked forward to because he had already been to Heaven and he KNEW it was a WONDERFUL place! A place to look forward to going to. 


But honestly, don't we all fear death just a little bit? Not often do we hear someone wanting to speed up the time they have on earth. Shouldn't we though. I mean, Heaven is beyond what we can imagine! We can't fathom the grandeur of what God has in store for us, but we know it's going to be great. 

John 14:2-4

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going."

Revelation 21:4-8

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."  He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."  He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.  He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Have you ever heard the song There Are No Band Aids in Heaven? 

I love that song. It's just another reminder that we shouldn't fear death because by accepting Christ we have also accepting the great things he has in store for us. 

Dear Heavenly Father, Although I know You don't want us to go looking for death help us to overcome our fear and anxiety of it.  Help us, as adults, to learn to view this world and the world you have in store for us with the trust and innocence of a child. Amen. 

Sunday Devotions - A Child of God

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
John 15: 12

About six years ago, our family lived in Delaware for a short time. While we lived there we attended one of the oldest Methodist churches in the area, in Townsend, Delaware. It was a wonderfully historic site full of information that I didn't even get the chance to dig into.

One sermon given in that church has stuck with me through all these years. A visiting minister was talking about her journey to join the clergy. As part of her training she was required to have a mentor. Her mentor was an older gentleman whom she came to find irritated her to no end. She found a very hard time working with him and found it hard to "love him" as commanded in the Bible. Years later, after this female minister had her own church, she met a young man also in training to be a minister who had the same mentor as she did. She asked the young man what he thought of their mutual mentor. The young man had nothing but praise for his mentor, which quite surprised the female minister!

She continued her sermon to explain how it didn't matter what she thought of her mentor because God had a purpose for him, as he has a purpose for us all. Perhaps his purpose was to be a grand influence in the young man's training. In the eyes of the young man this older mentor was wonderful. This viewpoint emphasized to the female minister that the man that irritated her so was a Child of God. God loves each and every one of us. He loves the strong, rich and powerful in the same way as he loves the poor and meek. God loves murderers and thieves as he loves little children and ministers. GOD LOVES EVERYONE! He may not like a person's choices but He still loves us all the same.

This was a wake up call for the female minister and she has driven herself to beginning viewing, or judging, people differently. Now she tries to see people as God sees them and not so much through her own eyes. God has a purpose for everyone.

This particular sermon has stuck with me for many years because, I admit, I can be very judgemental towards others. I often catch myself having to rethink a person whom I've met, especially when that person annoys me, and remind myself that God loves this person as much as I know He loves me. A humbling and empowering thought.

Dear God, Thank You Lord for Your never ending love. Every person on Earth is Your child and You have a purpose for everyone of them. Help me to love others in the way You love them. Amen.