Winding Down

And so passes day 4 of Creative Arts Camp, the second-to-last day of the week-long event. They say all good things must come to an end. Maybe so, but the results of those good things should bear fruit for eternity. :)

From the looks of it, today was the day that exhaustion from the week seemed to catch up with a lot of people. Kim Shaw, the camp director, looked about dead on her feet, and who can blame her? She's only taking care of her family and kids, which includes a cute little seven-week-old baby boy, in addition to her many responsibilities with the church. If anyone has a lion's endurance, it's her in my opinion. The assistant music leaders helping teach her classes also looked pretty tired. Even Lynn in my drama group came in looking for all the world like a sleep walker. I promptly went downstairs to the gymnasium to fetch her a Dr. Pepper, for which she was very grateful. Anything to help out. It was the last day of normal classes, true, but we still needed to be at the top of our game.

Two of the arts & crafts teachers placed a big canvas drawing of the Earth in our drama room. For some reason, it sparked a contest among my co-workers to find out how many of us could broad-jump over it. I think I won.

Anyway, once drama class got underway, I continued to work with the kids on our portion of the program for Sunday evening. Even with stretch exercises, it wasn't until we repeated Psalm 150 a few times that I started to hear some enthusiasm in their voices. Today I added a new component to the program. I selected two "soloists" out of the children to read John 3:16-17, one verse each. Since these were longer, I encouraged them to really slow down and pronounce loud and clear for more impact. Both soloists did a great job on the two verses. Then the kids performed the final scene of the skit we've been reading all this week. Once again, I held a discussion at the close of the readings to find out what they had learned, and once again, the kids were extremely responsive. Two girls said they learned not to judge people based on outward appearances. A boy learned that God's love stretches to all people in all the nations of the world. One girl said she learned that we are all alike because God created us, and He created us to be unique. Another girl said the skit encouraged her to pray and talk to God at any time of the day, no matter where she was or what she was doing, just like the main character in the skit did. I was so impressed and excited by their answers. It showed that God worked through this drama to teach the kids more about His love and how to share it with others. God is so awesome and wonderful. His name be praised!!

Tomorrow, the kids will assemble in the Sanctuary to do rehearsals for Sunday evening. I gather most workers including myself will be handling "crowd control," in other words, roving around and making sure they're quiet. Never a simple task, but I'm sure the promise of a pizza lunch will help them. Please pray for my co-workers Lynn, Justin, and Lauren as they prepare to go on a mission trip to Orlando, Florida with other members of my church. They'll be doing Bible clubs for children and families as well as working to repair homes and businesses that have suffered damage from last season's onslaught of hurricanes. That is a huge opportunity for ministry and service, and I know God will use them and shine through them in such a great way. That's about all for right now.

Song of the Day: Todd Agnew & Chris Collins - "Grace Like Rain"

Verse of the Day: "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself; each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:34