Whale of a Week!

You should see my house right now.

VBS prep and the County Fair just collided on our schedule and my house looks like Hobby Lobby on Black Friday.

I have pool noodles in the dining room, glue bottles on the kitchen table and a shark costume on the living room floor.

There’s piles everywhere.

My mind is just as cluttered as my house.

This year’s VBS prep includes costumes for a turtle, a shark, and an octopus.

I’ve never made a shark costume before and the instructions on Pinterest were vague. “Put the shark fins were you think they should go.”

Seriously? I’ve never even considered where shark fins should go!

You don’t want to know how many times I’ve ripped out Sharky (as we now affectionately call him!)

And then there’s the octopus.

I kind of went a little wild with the tentacles and the entire costume has a life of it’s own.

Every once in a while I take off the VBS hat and put on the 4H leader hat and help with projects, design the club’s backdrop and help write project reports.

And occasionally I’ve even put on my mom hat and cooked.

But more often than not, when one of the kids will ask about food and I’ll tell them to cook something.

We’ve eaten a lot of hot dogs.

My poor husband should get a medal.

Our conversations have been a bit one-sided this week and have gone like this –

“How’s the best way to attach elastic straps to a turtle shell made of cardboard and flannel?”

“Can you print the 4H sign?”

“Would you make some coral reef from this spray foam? And paint it?”

“What should we use to pad sharkie’s head?”

“Can you find the 4H backdrop?

“Can you pick up elastic on your way home?”

“Where do shark fins go?”

“Can you tell me again that I’m wonderful and that I can do this?”

And he does.

And I do.

And little by little we’re gaining on it.

The next 10 days are gonna be crazy!

But one way or another – we’ll make it!

PS: Where do shark fins go?!

VBS Week

It was VBS week this week.

Many of you are nodding right now. You know exactly what VBS week means.

Busy days, late nights and exhaustion!

But also fun, laughter and blessings.

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I worked with an incredible group of kids!

A crazy bunch of teens who served with their whole hearts and kept me laughing!

13686678_1271086162904327_3183896377120225765_n They memorized, rehearsed, and brought the characters of the nightly skit to life.

Teaching truth, sharing the gospel, and loving on the kids.

13668948_1270739699605640_8980708736091413003_n Games.

Crafts.

Bible lessons.

Snack time.

I sat back each night and watching God work in and through these servants.

And I was blessed.

VBS

This year’s VBS is now history.

What took weeks to plan and prepare for – was over in the blink of an eye.

We had drama.

And laughter.

And suspense.

And lots and lots of trench coats.

And we had music.

And silly games – both inside and out – because of course we had rain.

We did crafts.

And got snacks from a crazy snack lady person.

And had an absolutely incredible group of volunteers – including some amazing teenage helpers and actors.

But most importantly –

We had lots of precious children who heard about the One True God.

And that made every detail worth it.

Dropping Details

VBS is less than a month away and this VBS director is up to her eyebrows in plans.

Have you ever had so many details floating around in your brain that some just slip out? Kind of like filling one’s bucket too full and trying to carry it?

Some details are humorous – like sitting down at the table for a meal and realizing you forgot the silver ware.

Or worse – being so into drama rewrites that you forgot to make supper.

This week a wonderfully patient friend and her daughter went VBS shopping with Angel Girl and I.

And by “went shopping with us” I mean she drove us to the big city and picked up the details I kept dropping.

Our list was massive – everything from rubber ducks and hula hoops to scrapbook paper and brass paper fasteners. By mid afternoon we would walk into a store and I would look at her and say, “What exactly are we getting here?”

Then we spent 10 minutes finding a certain kind of paper only to stare at it blankly because I couldn’t remember why we needed it. Two stores later it came to me. Too late.

We only forgot our teenager daughters twice. Good thing they have cell phones and lots of patience.

Oh – and a good sense of humor because I might have embarrassed them when I started dancing in the aisle at the party store.

Or when I sang along with the background music.

At one point I asked my very patient friend what it meant that I knew every word to the oldies songs playing, expected her to say I must be getting old. Instead she replied without missing a beat, “That you have a good memory.”

Bahahahahah!

A Wild West Kinda Day

Last week was a humdinger – let me tell you.

The poison ivy went systemic and even with steroids, it continued to spread.

But I made it. It was by the grace of God and lots of help, that we were able to host our all-day VBS here on Saturday.

And I do mean a lot of help.

Somehow backdrops got painted, the building was emptied, props were found, lines were learned and some incredible teens preformed some hilarious skits that both entertained and taught truth.

These kids rock.

Somehow benches got painted and cement blocks found, a herd of stick horses was created, and a sound system set up in a building that has no electricity.

Snacks were made, hamburgers grilled, watermelon cut, dishes washed and everyone was fed, three times.

Flubber was made, crafts prepared and rattlesnakes bought. Games were set up, torn down, and the new ones prepped. Again and again.

It was an intense day.

It took an army of people.

Servants.

Quietly doing what needed to be done.

Teaching truth.

Living out God’s love.

I was humbled and blessed.

Calling in the Cavalry

Many of you may remember that we frequently host a one day – all day Vacation Bible School here at Windy Ridge. And it’s all done outside, in tents and on the lawn.

Every year people ask what we will do if it rains. Every year I just smile and say we’ll figure that out when it happens. But it never did.

Until last year.

In the middle of the worst drought in 100 years (seriously , we hadn’t had any rain for almost 3 months!) yet the minute the kids step off the bus that morning it started to rain.

Then the wind picked up and it started to pour.

Then the lightning came and some really strong wind gusts.

We huddled together under the tents we had set up and watched the wading pools fly by. After we saw the food tent fly by – we decided to quickly move all the kids back on the bus.

We were just in time to see the porta- potty blow over.

When the rain stopped, we moved back outside and enjoyed a great day.

But I determined then and there that we needed to have a back-up plan. What if they rain hadn’t stopped? We sure couldn’t spend all day in the bus!

My idea? The pole barn.

The only problem was that it, like all the other buildings on the property, was full of “treasures”.

But if we could simply rearrange the building to put all the storage items in the back half and keep all the easily moveable things in the front half (things like tractors, mowers, balers, etc..) Then, on VBS day, we could simply drive out the things in the front half , park them in the pasture and set up VBS in the now empty front half of the pole barn.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

All winter it seemed brilliant. All spring it seemed genius.

It really did seem like a wonderful plan until last week when we suddenly realized there were only 3 weeks till VBS and we still hadn’t started re-arranging.

We worked in the evenings – sorting, emptying – but the task was monumental.

The scrap guy hauled away 3 loads. THREE loads! God bless him.

We’ve had a fire going that would rival the eternal flame.

But still we had a massive job.

It was time to call in the cavalry – the kids in the youth group. Young, strong, and would work for food. Perfect.

They arrived Friday afternoon in the midst of heat and humidity.

And they worked. Hard.

They moved piles and piles of wood left over from remodeling. They toted and carried. Car parts and bike parts. An outboard motor. Many, many doors. They unearthed some very interesting artifacts.

I’m wishing now that I had made them sign a confidentiality statement.

They were covered with sweat and dust and old spider webs, but still they smiled.

Then I fed them all the hot dogs they could eat and they had a massive water fight well past dark. And I smiled.

They earned it.

They got us over the hump. God bless them.

We spent another day doing the finishing touches, but now we’re ready.

So – maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

And maybe I need to bring those amazing youth group kids some ice cream. And cookies. And squirt guns…

Mystery in the Miracles

Once again we pulled off a one day – all day – Vacation Bible School – and had a great time doing it!

The youth group kids and the entire church family jumped in to help create a day of mysteries.

I had some seriously wonderful help from start to finish.

We learned who Jesus is by studied the mysteries in His miracles. (Yes – that is my oldest son Matt and yes – he is growing a beard. gulp)

We had hilarious puppet shows with an Australian goat and a hillbilly donkey.

And we went around the world gathering clues to solve the mystery. Miss Dorothy really rocked the Bolivian look!

While Pedro took the kids to the Antarctic to go iceberg bobbing.

And we had water. Lots of water. Lots and lots of water. Which was good – because it was a hot day. So hot that the Australian waterfall was a big hit.

We sent the kids home soaking wet but grinning from ear to ear.

They heard the gospel, learned about the Savior, and had a wonderful time!

Mission accomplished.