The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, it's not Christmas, it's VBS. We recently had SonLand Rainforest VBS at Grace. The kids had been looking forward to this for a long time. Every time we climbed in the car, they would request a Mr. Randy CD so they could "practice" their songs. Well the big week has come and gone. Here are some of the highlights.

Colin did a great job learning his memory verses. He learned motions to go with them and was eager to show me at the end of the morning. When I asked the kids to tell me their verses, Riley would often say, "I don't think we had one." Then Colin would jump in and say, "Yes, we did!" and proceed to recite it. Of course Riley then had to correct any words he might have omitted.

The most exciting thing that happened this week was my little girl giving her heart to Jesus. We were talking in bed one night about the story of the Good Samaritan. It had been the Bible story at VBS that morning. Riley, who has a strong sense of justice, wanted to know if the police caught the guys who beat the man up so Pop-pop could put them in jail. We talked about how that wasn't really the point Jesus was making. She told me that what the men had done was sin, and they were very bad. This led to a discussion of how everyone sins. Before I knew it, Riley was sobbing about her own sin and asking me to help her tell God she was sorry. We talked about how Jesus loves us so much, he paid for our sins by dying on the cross and he conquered death when he rose from the dead so we can be with him. All the pieces came together and Riley gave her heart to Jesus. I can't begin to describe to you the joy of knowing that your child's name is written in the Book of Life and the privilege of praying with her. Amen!!!

I was going to post some video of the closing program on Friday, but I'm experiencing some technical difficulty. I will have to try again later, but I will leave you with some VBS quotes from the kids.

Colin: When I grow up, I want to be Mr. Randy!

Note: Mr. Randy is our Pastor of Worship Ministries and he, along with Mr. Steve, lead the kids in worship and perform some hilarious skits. Colin is still talking about Mr. Randy smashing a watermelon.

Riley: Colin, you need to ask Jesus to forgive your sins . . .cuz you sin ALOT!

I guess we still need to work on fine tuning those evangelism techniques.

Let Summer Begin

I can't believe my little girl is starting kindergarten in the fall! Didn't we just bring a sweet 9-month-old home from Russia last week? Can she really be going off to school all day, five days a week? I'm really not ready for this but I know it's an important step for her in learning to be more independent.

I'm the kind of person who likes to do things on the fly, so I love the unstructured nature of summer. I know these months can fly by so fast though, and I want to be deliberate in this time with my kids. I'm keenly feeling just how fleeting these precious early years are. That's why I'm planning some special activities every week to do with the kids. One activity Riley has been eager to try is camping. I loved camping as a kid, so I was excited to share this experience with her. Before heading out to a campground, I thought we'd try it out and see how she liked it in the backyard. School was not quite out yet, but I dug a two-person tent out of the basement and pitched it in the side garden.

Jeff predicted that we wouldn't last until midnight, but I'm happy to report we made it the whole night. We started our camp-out with a late night snack of s'mores. (Note: Those giant marshmallows they're carrying at Buehler's make for some seriously messy treats.) Riley turned in around 9:00 while I sat outside the tent with a magazine and provided nourishment for the mosquitos until I decided to turn in too. Roo was pretty wound up about sleeping in a tent, so she didn't actually fall asleep until 10:30. Even then, she frequently woke up long enough to give me a big squeeze around the neck (thus waking me as well) and exclaim, "I love camping." Despite a lack of sleep. I'd call the outing a success. We're looking forward to doing some real camping this summer.

Riley is prepared for our backyard camping. Do you notice that the tent is bulging a bit?

Here's the reason for the bulge - a large inflatable mattress. The ground is not as comfortable as it used to be when I was a kid (or perhaps I've just become a wimp) . I guess we're going to need a bigger tent.