Last week was so busy, tiring, and exhausting! It was also exhilarating, exciting, and awesome! Every day brought about new challenges, and those challenges consistently pointed me back to my Heavenly Father to cry out for guidance, strength, energy, protection, and a passion for Him. Last week, I was reminded of the verse in Matthew. Matthew 19:26 states, “ But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” I realize that Jesus was closing a parable here, but this encouraged me last week. Vacation Bible school is an event that requires many, many hours of preparation work, prayers, planning, etc. But truly, it is God who brings the children. We can invite and encourage, but it is God who brings those dear little ones to us each day during VBS.
We started off our week last Sunday with a church picnic that included two other area churches. It was a combined singspiration service with a picnic following. Also, our church had a group of seven people come from Canada on a missions trip to help us with VBS. It was nice to have extra hands to help set up for the picnic as the work went faster. We had a quite a few people attend the service and stay for the picnic. Roger and another man in church grilled the hotdogs for lunch, and I am so thankful for Roger’s willingness to help out. He has interests and ways to serve that he enjoys too, but he never hesitates to pitch in wherever needed. He painted and prepared both the backdrop and a moose for me this week. I could’ve never have done all the work I needed to do without Roger’s willing heart and capable hands. I am blessed to have him by my side. We finally left church about three after cleaning up from the picnic, having a short meeting with the team for VBS, and doing some last minute final touches to a few things. It was a quite a long day to head into an equally tiring week, but God’s grace is always sufficient.
I greeted the dawn on Monday morning as I was up early. The first day is generally the hardest. The kids haven’t yet learned a Bible lesson, they don’t know what’s on the schedule next, and they are the hardest to excite on the first day. Roger left for work early, but not before taking the time to pray with me over the day. He knows the work and heart that has been poured into this, but also that our desire is to see God glorified and to point the children to Jesus. I arrived at church with my kids early. It looked like rain and it was drizzling just a little. We set up the registration table inside due to the drizzle, but thankfully, Allison (one of the ladies from Canada) was willing to take some of the kids outside. We definitely wanted people to know that we were still having VBS, and that we were prepared no matter what the weather was like! Thankfully, God cleared the skies a bit so that the children could go outside at game time. God brought us 76 kids that first day!! One of my friends, Hannah, had come from another church to help me with the preschooler class. I had not originally planned on teaching, but one of our teachers had to back out. Hannah agreed to help me, and I am so thankful for her! She has three little ones, but faithfully showed up each day of VBS and rotated teaching days with me. We averaged about eighteen kids every day in the preschool class, so we needed lots of extra hands! Jocelyn (one of the teens from Canada) also helped in that class and was a help also. We didn’t lose any of our kids all week (except for that one time when one of Hannah’s little ones went to her car to get a water bottle). It was a great week with that class, and that age group is a lot of fun. Although tiring, it was a good class. Also on Monday a dear friend from church gave me a gift of money. She knew that I would be having several of the team members stay in our home, and that I would have a bigger than usual grocery bill. I was so blessed by her thoughtfulness and generosity!
I came home on Monday afternoon more tired than I can remember for a very long time! The kids were excited about VBS, and I worked hard to keep them excited. I do love and enjoy working with kids though, so it’s not hard to be excited about this week! I think the adrenaline rush was over in the afternoon, and I needed a nap! Thankfully, I was able to take a quick rest which gave me time to be still and pray. It was a good day.
Tuesday was day two of VBS! We had three teen boys staying at our house this week, so I asked to borrow a van from Rogers work. Kevin graciously gave us the use of his big van, so that I could get everyone to church every day. God brought us over 70 kids again on Tuesday! Praise the Lord!
Okay, I realized that if I write an essay on every day of VBS, this will be a very, very long post! I’m going to hit on some highlights and praises of the week instead.
1) On Wednesday, Allison, Hannah, our pastor’s wife, and myself made lunch for the team, and a few others. I wasn’t sure exactly how much spaghetti I would need, but God made it stretch enough to feed everyone.
2) God provides a meal for our family and the team from Canada on Wednesday. After VBS and lunch, the Canadian team was talking over their plans for the rest of the day. They didn’t have a place to go for dinner so I invited them to come to our house for supper. I certainly enjoy having guests in our home, but as I walked away I immediately started thinking about what I would make for supper. I walked outside to check on my kids, and a lady from church (Robin) was walking in to pick up her grandkids. She said, “Hi, I made you supper.” My mouth about dropped open as I realized that God had just answered a prayer that I hadn’t even prayed yet! She had made chowder and fresh bread and enough to fed all of us! God is just so good!
3) After cleaning up from lunch, I gathered my tribe to head home. Poor Chandler had a migraine, and he hadn’t even eaten lunch. I was going to head right home, but realized that I should take Roger some leftover spaghetti lunch. We headed out to the airport to give him lunch. When we arrived at the airport, the paparazzi was there interviewing Roger. Okay, I’m kidding! Two guys that were taking a media class had to make a video on a small local business. They had come out to see Roger’s work, and had followed Roger around for the day to interview him. They wanted a few pictures of our family with him at the airport, so we all climbed out of the vehicle. Chandler wasn’t too crazy about having anyone take any pictures, but he did well. I will be excited to see the video these guys will make.
4) Allison invited us down to the lake to swim on Wednesday afternoon. Although tired, I wanted to just sit, relax, and fellowship with my friend. The kids were so excited to go to the lake, and even Emma got in the water. They also had the opportunity to go tubing, so that was so fun for them. Poor Chandler missed out as he wasn’t feeling well, but these headaches really knock him down.
5) Thursday was a rainy day, but God still brought us over 70 kids. The teen guys from Canada did a great job with games all week, so even though we were inside, the kids had a wonderful time. Roger had off on Thursday, so it was nice to have him around. After VBS, he helped me make supper for the team that came over for dinner. Roger made enchiladas which were delicious! We also had fruit, chips, salsa, guacamole, and Oreo dessert. I had originally thought that I would need to make lots and lots of popcorn on Thursday evening for the closing program on Friday, but Allison beat me to that job! She had it all done before I could even offer to help. I’m so thankful for her thoughtfulness.
6) Friday morning dawned beautiful and sunny! I was so glad to wake up on Friday morning and spend time with my Heavenly Father rejoicing that He had helped us through the week. The kids commented at breakfast that they wished that VBS could go for another week! Meanwhile, I was singing at the top of my lungs “Praise the Lord” and “This is the Day”!
7) We had a good turnout of parents and guest for the closing program. It ran a tad bit long, up it’s hard to squeeze everything in that is important! The children had brought in over $400.00 in the penny offering! That’s a lot of pennies! The offering is going towards a VBS that will be happening in Mexico in a few weeks. I was thankful that the penny scale never broke, and that Allison and several others were willing to count all those pennies every day! One little girl brought in about five dollars worth of pennies every day. She told Allison that her dad had gotten them from the bank. The pennies had been in rolls from the bank, but she had opened them all up and put them in a baggie! I got a good chuckle over the little girls face as she told Allison how hard it was to unroll them all!! And every day, Allison would re-roll all those pennies after the offering! Ah, I love these kids!
8) After the closing program, we had root beer floats and ice cream on the back church lawn. It was good to interact with all the parents, and to try to make connections with them. Then it was clean up time! I’m so thankful for many hands that made light work! It’s a big job to get everything put away, but many people stayed to help. The back of our van was full of VBS stuff that I would need to put away, but the church building was back in order for Sunday.
9) On Friday afternoon we went down to the lake with the team and many people from church. The kids were excited to play with their friends, and I was thrilled that the week was behind us. God had certainly shown Himself strong by bringing us children, protecting us from harm, giving each worker energy and strength. VBS is an opportunity to interact with all kinds of kids, church kids, unchurched kids, great kids, naughty kids, rich ones and poorer ones. Yet this week they were all able to learn about God’s Forever forgiveness. They memorized 1 John 1:9 that they will hopefully remember all of their lives. I am thankful that I was able to have a part in this week. We surely serve a great God! I’m thankful for each person that was willing to have a part in VBS, and for those who prayed, gave financially, and gave of their time and efforts. My prayer was that God would be glorified and to point the children to Jesus. I do believe that God answered those prayers.
10) Saturday morning - Roger took the team on a scenic flight before they left for home. I’m thankful that Roger had the opportunity to take them, and that his boss was willing to allow it to happen. They all seemed to have a great time on the flight, and the morning was beautiful weather. They all came to our house for breakfast before packing up and heading out. I made blueberry coffee cake, egg casserole, and fruit. God has blessed us with a home that allows us to have guests, and I was very thankful that our kids were able to see teens that had a desire to serve God this week.
Although a busy and tiring week, I just cannot help but sing the praises of my Heavenly Father. He brought the team from Canada to help us. He brought children to VBS. He gave strength and energy when I should’ve had nothing left. He truly is worthy of all our praise!
I am going to include a you tube video that was made from Rogers interviews. He is such a hard worker, man of deep faith and convictions, great dad, and wonderful husband. I truly enjoy watching this video as it is a small picture of what Roger does every day. https://youtu.be/4n0VIvt2TQE
This week is over. Summer break has officially begun! I have a low key week planned, and a few fun activities for our children. I’m looking forward to some down time and for sitting still. The verse I have claimed for this week is Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
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