Life Here and There

Every year, there is this week that falls right in the middle of summer. I call it “VBS week.” It’s a week when we have VBS, fittingly (Vacation Bible School). Here’s how it goes… wake up late cause you’re exhausted from the night before, spend all day doing work and getting ready for VBS, survive the evening’s whirlwind of activities, go to bed, wake up late and repeat!

This isn’t a complaining post though, it’s actually a praise. I love VBS week! It’s exhausting, but it’s exhilarating! It’s stressful, but it’s such a blessing. Last night, I had to get onto a little girl who was high on sugar and couldn’t sit still. She kept trying to dive into the burning bush during my lesson. The last time I explained that it could burn her (a light bulb in it, not a real fire) she looked up at me and latched on to me – gave me a big hug!

So let me put it plainly – kids are worth it! I wouldn’t trade VBS week for much of anything!… I’d just give the kids less sugar.

This week is our church’s Vacation Bible School, a week filled with what I call “blessed chaos.” Yesterday, my day started around 8:30 am and ended about 11:00 pm. It was filled with a hospital visit, some technical support, a few phone calls, getting our laptop and projector to run a song DVD, talking to some rather energetic kids about missions, and a counseling chat with a couple of friends. It was fifteen hours of blessed chaos. What does that phrase mean, anyway? (more…)

I love VBS week! I love to watch kids having fun. I love to see the people of God in action, doing their thing to accomplish ministry to families. More than anything, I love seeing little ones embrace the story of Jesus as their own. It’s awesome! This year’s VBS has been a blessing to my heart for quite a few reasons.

One is that we’ve started out with about twenty more kids involved than last year. Two is our Associate Pastor, Cory McCaig has done an absolutely awesome job of leading it and teaching the kids. Three, our Associate Pastor has led, not me! Angie and I, for a decade, have always spent our wedding anniversaries at Vacation Bible School, but this year, we get to run away for a night and celebrate our tenth (more on this in the next post).

I’ll have to report later on the results, but through two nights, I’m fired up about attending Avalanche Ranch!

Today begins a very hectic season in our lives – well, hectic if traveling is hectic. We’ll be leaving the middle of this afternoon for the great metropolis and returning tomorrow evening. Week after next, it’s on to St. Louis for a three-day jaunt where I get to see the Cardinals play at the new Busch Stadium! The following week is Vacation Bible School, interrupted by a one-night stay in Tulsa for our Tenth Anniversary (which you’ll hear more about later). The following week, I take Angie to St. Louis and I return to Northwest Arkansas the next day while she goes with her family to Griffin, Georgia for several days. Then, a week later, I meet her in Kentucky for a week to visit with my family. All of this in June… and I’m not even missing a Sunday service!

It’s really a good thing I love traveling. I especially love Branson. Why, you might ask? Well, it’s not the country music, the craft festivals, or all the super-expensive shows. It’s certainly not the outlet malls either. It’s really the fried green Tomatoes served up hot at MacFarlan’s and the cheap breakfast buffet at Starvin’ Marvin’s! You should have known it would all surround fried foods! I also love the drive through the Ozarks, a movie at the Imax Theater, and especially being with my wife and daughter! They make these moments wonderfully special.

See you in Branson! I’ll save you a fried green tomato… maybe.

Have you ever experienced sweet exhaustion? Less than an hour ago we capped off our final night of Vacation Bible School by singing some lively songs which included jumping, clapping, and shouting (in church nonetheless!), dining on tacos and nachos, and sliming the Pastor and Worship Leader. Tonight was merely the finale of a week of getting to know our backward friends, Pete and Repeat, learning spanish with an odd assortment of costumed characters, and learning that Jesus is our Friend, our Life, our Leader, and our Savior.

Vacation Bible School is by far the most exhausting week of the church year, but also the most exhilirating! One young man trusted Jesus as his Savior and several others were asking about what it means to be saved. Relationships were built, seeds were planted, and God was glorified!

If you’ve never been involved in children’s ministry before, you’re missing out! You might not be a teacher, but what if you could be a greeter, a helper, or a prayer warrior? Nobody on earth is as precious to Jesus as children. I would urge you to find room in your life and in your schedule for a little sweet exhaustion. The sooner, the better!