Play-By-Play

Anna Kate and I were talking about ESPN and Lee Corso the other night. And I got this idea in my head of doing a running play-by-play of my workday here at the church office. I have no idea yet of whether it will be a "typical" snapshot of my daily activities here, but I suppose I will by the end of this entry, right? So, off we go...

8:01 AM - Arrived at work from home. Lugging my notebook, G-Force supplies, VBS CDs (for lunch), and a bag lunch. Which happens to contain both breakfast and lunch. I wonder if I'll start going out to eat more when I get paid? We shall see.

8:10 AM - Bible Study/Quiet time (reading from Hebrews 6 & 7, in case you're interested)

8:30 AM - Staff prayer meeting in the work room.

8:41 AM - Finished filling out my travel log from yesterday. Annie Ruth, Craig, and I went out on a prospect visit and because I drove, the church reimburses me for the mileage. I wasn't expecting that; how nice of them.

8:50 AM - I get called back to the work room for some impromptu prayer intercession. Apparantly, some of the people from our African missions group (including Pastor Randy and his son Ben, who has mononucleiosis) are still stuck at the airport and are awaiting a new flight. We don't know when they'll leave. So please pray that God will use them right where they are, that Ben will feel better, and that Satan will not wreck this important trip.

9:04 AM - Walked across the street to church. I had to finish cleaning up Room E-207 from G-Force last night. Mostly goldfish, animal crackers, and returning the TV/DVD player. I also had to store up my VBS decorations. At our VBS leaders' meeting last night, I found out my location for 1st-2nd grade music had changed. It's now in the Chapel instead of the choir room. The extra space is a blessing even if the new digs aren't exactly decoration friendly. I think it's colder in the Chapel as well, so that fits right in with what I'll be wearing throughout the week.

9:32 AM - Updated my attendence sheet for G-Force. We're adding new children every week. Definitely a positive sign.

9:57 AM - Cleaned up the resource room in the Webber Building. I didn't throw too much away because we have VBS coming up and need to conserve supplies. Never know when a certain nick-nack or a doo-dad lying around in that room might be the answer to a problem. But at least it looks a bit neater now.

10:34 AM - Read through the VBS Echo Bay music station packet. Studied over some of the Scripture verses. Contrary to popular belief, I'll do much more than simply stand up front and wave my arms around all the time. :)

10:46 AM - Called Charles McCombs. Arranged an appointment at 2:30 to talk about the SupeReaders Club and to show him the books I picked out. He's doing fairly well; he likes to get out and drive as often as possible.

11:05 AM - Helped Terri stuff envelopes in the conference room for the VBS workers who didn't show up last night. I think I got the labels mixed up more than once. But it was mostly making sure the 3rd-5th grade teachers got a new master schedule. Oh, and Randy Kirby popped his head in at one point. Made me do a double take. I guess his sinus surgery went perfectly because he showed no ill effects. Looked and sounded fine. Praise God!

12:37 PM - Lunch time. Peanut butter sandwich, apple slices, granola bar, and pineapple bites. Suddenly, I start to wonder why I ever considered going out to eat when I can pick an empty classroom, sit down with a delicious lunch, and watch Jeff Slaughter's music instruction.

1:42 PM - Back to perusing the Echo Bay station packet.

1:47 PM - Down to the Chapel. With the location change, all my plans for setup got scrapped. Now I'll have to come up with a new plan. So I decided to go down there and scope the place out. And almost immediately, the ideas began to flow. A "river" of tablecloth down the aisles. "Iceblocks" out of seat cushions for the kids to step on as they enter. A beautiful stone wall decoration that would add so much if I could just find a good spot for it. Maybe a fireplace made from colored cardboard and lincoln logs near the baptismal loft. Even saw a boombox in the puppet room, but I didn't check to see if it still worked. And like I said, it's cool. Oh yeah, this can work.

2:11 PM - Started typing up the motions for the Arctic Edge theme song for no particular reason. I might do that for all the songs. Just in case I or somebody else needs them.

2:28 PM - Charles McCombs arrives. He looked very robust considering how bad off he was at this time last year. It got so bad at one point that we figured for sure he wouldn't live. But his dysentry is cured, he is up and walking around with a cane, he's able to eat pretty much anything, and his voice is still strong. Just a bit quavery. And you can just feel the love of Jesus Christ radiating from this man by talking with him. He's got a fierce will to live, which is why he survived his ordeal, but that will is aligned with God's. He is simply a remarkable man. So I showed him the books. He took about five of them home, including classics such as Berenstein Bears, Curious George, and Dr. Seuss in his lot. He'll do a great job reading to the children in our library.

3:12 PM - Came across a story about a boy who died after riding the Aerosmith roller-coaster at Disney MGM Studios. Sad thing is, incidents like that are no longer rare. He joins the list of three other people who died in the aftermath of a Disney theme park ride. Granted, half of them were elderly or had a pre-existing heart condition.

3:30 PM - I suddenly realize it's 3:30 in the afternoon. And I don't have a headache. Not even the slightest trace of one. Yay!

3:46 PM - ... Okay, never mind.

4:12 PM - Read over some brochures for Adventure Camp. Anna Kate will be jealous; we're going back to Rocks and Ropes.

4:40 PM - Finished off the day with a nice chat with Annie Ruth. Good way to cap it off.

5:10 PM - Gathered my stuff, closed up the office, and headed for home. I decide to leave my VBS clip art and books there. Less stuff to lug home and then forget about come Monday.

Checking In...

Since the last several posts have detailed my summer internship, I'm going to take a break from that now and do a short update of what's going on in my life away from the church.

(Not to say that church is boring or I'm tired of it; I'm never tired for ministry. But it's good to be a well-rounded person experiencing growth and activity in various facets of life).

Anna Kate and I have made good on our desire to seize the summer. We've hung out quite a bit at each other's houses, in which we've pretty much run the gamut of our varied media interests. She has expanded my cinematic culture with the likes of Shrek, Signs, and Zathura, and I've introduced her to the world of Gargoyles. She's also broken me into Law & Order, Whose Line, Deal or No Deal, and Last Comic Standing. Just goes to show you how out of the loop I am when it comes to media entertainment.

That's not to say we're purely couch potatoes this summer. We've played basketball and frisbee and taken long walks in the great, hazy outdoors, walked each others' dogs (Izzy proved to be more cooperative than Scyler), went out for a nice dinner at O'Charleys, hunted through Barnes 'N Noble for Father's Day gifts (and ended up spending more time looking at odd stuff like books dealing with Da Vinci, rednecks, and weather), and worked together plenty at church. I helped her watch infants at intervals during CAC last week, and we "team-taught" a Sunday School class two days ago. She even stopped by after work on Wednesday to bring me a dinner from Firehouse. That was so thoughtful and I appreciated it beyond words.

And since I know you'll read this, hon, I'll go ahead and say it ahead of time. I'll miss you terribly over the next two weeks. Expect a call from me during the week of VBS. You'll get a sample of what you're missing out on.

Susannah started a new job last week. She's a receptionist at Webster University, a branch of Pinnacle Staffing, the company my Dad works for. She's doing good with it; like any new job, she felt a bit overwhelmed her first day when it seemed like they were throwing everything at her so fast, but I knew she'd settle in. We're working close to the same number of hours each week. She's already received her first paycheck, so I'm already jealous.

Baxter's going to New York with a baseball team. The rest of our family won't be making the trip, of course, but it will definitely be a fun experience for him. They'll be rooming in a barracks-like installment. Fun times in store.

With my first paycheck due this week, I should finally be able to purchase the rest of my summer textbooks. I'd gotten a head start in my summer reading by knocking out the one free book I got from my ED Pracitum teacher, but I guess I've pretty much blown it now. I've got some other purchases that I'll need to make, including a new power cord for my laptop along with some VBS decoration materials. Thank goodness for CAC inspiration :)

Continued prayers for my Furman friends at Seesalt this summer. If my estimate is right, they are taking a break this week, going home for a few days before heading back for a new batch of kids. Also pray for Cara Morgan in Pittsburgh with her team led by Jerome and Sami, as well as Karrah Leary in New Orleans assisting with the relief efforts. It's going to be extremely hard to disconnect from this group with my ED committments this year.

That's about all for now! Next time, it's probably back to intern stuff. Goodnight and God bless!

Small Amounts of Excitement

Oh goodness. My job is always packed busy on Sunday mornings. Regular church patrons sitting comfortably in the pews just don't realize all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the services each week.

My day began around 7:30. I made the rounds through the childrens' Sunday School halls and pre-school and infant classrooms. I have to set the chairs down, prop the doors, hit the lights, and switch the signs. The beeper tables are normally set out by the time I arrive, but I have to pass by and make sure. Crowds are extremely rare that early in the morning, but it puts the parents at ease to know there's always someone passing through with an eye on things. So I'll kind of rove between hallways during our 8:00 worship service, and at 8:40, I'll head to the choir room to warm up with the Sanctuary Choir. I'm thankful that Annie Ruth still lets me sing with them despite my other duties as a children's intern. It's hard to believe that I've been singing with the choir for over three years now. Please pray for our director, Randy Kirby. He had sinus surgery this week, but he's doing a lot better now.

So I sang in the 9:00 service (our anthem was "O How He Loves You and Me," guest directed by Tom Taylor). I had to duck out early to prepare for the 10:15 hour. Normally, I'd help with a pre-school or infant class during that time. Something different today. Our organist, Ken Varner, asked me to teach Kim Shaw's Sunday School class because she had to lead the CAC kids in the Call to Worship, and then he needed her for another musical. I agreed to do it and asked Anna Kate if she would help me since she's had the most experience with 1st - 2nd grade kids (and also because we were looking at possibly 20 kids total). She gladly accepted. The lesson went great; far better than I expected. About the only thing that went awry was that our DVD player refused to play a DVD on John the Baptist I'd borrowed. Technology wows me one week and lets me down the next. Go figure.

I spent the first part of the 11:30 hour making the rounds once again through the hallways. Now I have to close everything back down in the kids' rooms: stack chairs on tables, put up fences, lights out, change the signs, etc. But I did make it back to the Sanctuary in time for Communion. It was particularly special today. Instead of the ushers going around with the bread and cup, we gathered pew by pew at different tables assembled at the front and back. I like "open" communion. It somehow feels more alive that way. After that was over, we showed our VBS skit with Annie Ruth and Terri Tanner. As usual, they did a marvelous job. Fantastic chemistry, these two veterans have. Some points in the dialogue almost made me wonder why I bothered to write the skit. All I really had to do was shoot them the basic idea, and they would've run with it. Hey, that's how good they are.

Tonight was fun! The CAC kids presented their Down by the Creekbank program for their parents. Wow, they were awesome. There's so much raw talent among them. We had some truly amazing soloists; those who knew how to amplify their pitch, and those who could nail their notes with ease. Undoubtably, Will Shaw was the hero of the program. He had a solo to sing, and he had gotten about one verse into it when a kid reached out to try to adjust his microphone. It ended up slipping off the stand and clattering to the stage! I admit it, I held back a gasp. I'm sure Kim and the other parents got wide eyed, too. Not Will. He snatched up the mike, pressed it back into place, and kept right on singing. He never missed a beat. Talk about staying cool under pressure! Thanks, God!

Praise God also for VBS prop inspiration. I found a lot of possible ideas for my Echo Bay, including a fireplace and a river made of blue tablecloth. I had been thinking of going to the store to look for bags of cotton to make snow and ice. But lo and behold, I open the choir room's storage closet to store the table cloth, and there in the back corner are several bags of cotton left over from Christmas! Amazing where ideas come from, sometimes.

Goodnight and God bless!!

Lizards, Greensnakes, Tiny Tree Frogs

Down by the Creekbank
By the old holler log.

I'm sure that lots of people can recall a time when their church did Down by the Creekbank. It's been around long enough by now to be considered a classic. Well, FBC used it this past week as our theme for Creative Arts Camp. Kim Shaw managed the whole program, Vanessa Rhodes and Erin Oliver did the music and movements, and others like Rhonda Woody, Kim Sexton, and Kathy Sizemore took care of the exterior art and set designs.

Unlike last year's CAC, which featured quite a few activities separate from the theme, loose as it was, this year's tightened things up with the theme more pronounced, and nearly all activities having something to contribute to it. Well, except for Drama. I once again was asked to teach drama for the kids, and once again, I had no agenda to use for help. Craig was sick on Monday and Annie Ruth needed him the next day, and my assistance from Youth Drama never materialized; most of them must have left for Beach Camp or were otherwise preoccupied. So that left me by myself to plan my own thing. All things considered, I feel I did an okay job with the time and resources at my disposal. I have to give a shout out to Brenda Stephens, my high school drama teacher, and my friend Will Swinson. The main focus of my drama class was a 5-minute skit entitled "The Pit," loosely based on the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible. It had a lot of inspiration from a similar play that I helped with in Mrs. Stephens' class, but I altered the ending somewhat to pay homage to Will's version. Combined, both versions worked well!

One thing I discovered this week was that as a leader, you need to keep the kids stimulated as often as you can. This was especially an issue with the 1st and 2nd graders, many of whom are still working on their reading skills. A kid that age can get frustrated easily if he's slow to read drama skits or has trouble pronouncing a lot of words. Even worse, there's the danger of leaving too many other kids to sit around fidgeting on the Sanctuary pews, and the temptation is there to get distracted or wander away. Thankfully, I discovered a solution to this on Tuesday. Knowing that I would likely see a lot of these kids again in my music class at VBS (I'm also teaching the 1st and 2nd graders), I decided to devote a good part of my class to teaching them the Arctic Edge theme song. So by the end of the week, quite a few of them could not only sing the song, but they knew the motions nearly by heart. I pushed the theme as much as I reasonably could (but not enough to get confused with the over-arching Down by the Creekbank theme) so that they would know it come July. In essence, I was not only promoting Vacation Bible School, but still teaching drama - interpretive movement counts as drama, right? It was a classic "two birds with one stone" activity.

In the midst of the Creekbank craziness, we had our regular Wednesday night G-Force meeting with the 1st thru 5th graders. Oh my gosh, this was definitely a high point of my week. The lesson was supposed to be on Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount, or the Beatitudes. One thing we've kept doing is setting out a treasure box with three items inside that have something to do with the lesson. For example, last week's lesson was about the devil tempting Jesus in the desert. So the box had items like a loaf of bread, a crown, and a hand-made lifesaver (our resource room was my lifesaver last week!). The kids would pull them out, and we would ask how they related to what we were studying. Well, this week, I included items like two foam people holding hands to represent the peacemakers mentioned in the Beatitudes, and three copper pennies as a symbol of the meek and the poor. But the last item? Until the last minute, I didn't know what to use. Then in the resource room, it hit me. I used a cross.

Going into my lesson preparation that evening, I turned to God in deep prayer. I told Him that I was stuck, that I didn't know how I was going to do it with my inability to organize it the best I could. Time seemed to run out on me. Somehow G-Force got pushed to the backburner while I worked on CAC, and when it came up, I was left with little time to pull something together and make it sound coherant. I won't deny it, I was scared and worried. I didn't want to let the kids down. I wanted to look like I had it all together, but only then did I remember the one valuable lesson I learned this past year. It's when you admit to God that you don't have it all together, that you're out of options and are ready to quit spinning your wheels in the dirt, that He takes over and goes to work in you. And I began to feel the Spirit of God in my prayers. He gave me the simplest answer: "David, just tell them about Me. Talk about who I am, tell them what I do, how I change lives and can change theirs. And just let Me do the work. That's all you have to do. Tell them about Me." Suddenly, there was no choice. The cross was perfect.

As our G-Force meeting began at 6:30, I could tell immediately that something felt different. It wasn't just that we had three new kids in our group. It was more of a sense that God was taking control. This meeting would not be about a mere lesson with worksheets. The Holy Spirit was at work. I could feel it. As I talked about the Sermon on the Mount, God gave me the words and brought me clarity, somehow stopping me from getting jumbled and stumbling over things, as I'm prone to do sometimes. The kids all sat up as we introduced the treasure box. The discussion took a poignant turn as Gracie Strawhorn lifted out the little wooden cross. And Armando and I start talking about Jesus. His death on the cross. Will Shaw, Kim's son who was sitting next to me, described what it was like to die on a cross, showing how Jesus' hands and feet were nailed in place, and the crown (he called it a hat) of thorns was shoved on his head. Detail by detail, we explained the plan of salvation carried out by Jesus' death on the cross, and his resurrection three days later. We told how Jesus died for our sins, the things we do wrong, the things that grieve God, and we explained that when we do bad things, there are consequences, just like when we get in trouble for breaking a rule. But Jesus died for us so that we wouldn't have to face that, and that He wants a relationship with each of us. He loves us deeply and wants to know us personally, and to live in our hearts. Then we talked about how to accept him. Many of the kids knew the steps already; I think Rachel said we first have to tell God we're sorry for our sins. Gracie said we then have to believe in who Jesus is, the Son of God, and our Savior, and ask him to save us. Then I talked about what happens next: telling others about Jesus, and played a short video about a pair of missionaries in Kamchatka who shared their faith with the natives who, not long ago, couldn't even talk of God.

Armando must have somehow sensed what I was going to do. He walked out into the hall at the midpoint of our discussion. I saw him leave out of the corner of my eye, but I kept going. He was gone for a few minutes, and I wondered: what could he be up to? He then returned with a big box in his hands. The box contained little Bibles for the kids that he passed out, and the plan of salvation was printed on the very last page of each one. And I'm thinking, no way. We were never in touch this week. How could he have known I was going to talk about this? Again, that's how God works. Armando is one incredible servant who gives his all to the Lord.


The very next morning, Annie Ruth talked to the CAC kids and went over the salvation plan. They filled out little green cards with two choices: I want to know more about Jesus, or I have asked Jesus into my heart today! At the top of the card stack, I found Will Shaw's name. That Thursday morning, Will accepted Jesus as his Savior.

PRAISE GOD!!!

Wow, what an unbelievable moment that was. God used a lesson I had spent no more than a single afternoon's worth of time on, and He used it to reach Will and the others just the same. Incredible. That's the God we serve.

Pray for a girl named Aleisha. She came into my room as I was reviewing the missions video, and said she was looking for Pastor Randy. She's struggling with a lot of personal issues in her life, and had come down to church without her family's knowledge, just looking for someone to talk to. I spoke with her for a while and she let me pray with her. So please pray that she'll find the answers she needs and be comforted and encouraged by God.

Well, I'd better go for now. Big day tomorrow - I'll need to be at church by about 7:30. Thanks for all of your prayers and support, all who stop by this blog! I'll be posting more updates as the weeks pass! God bless!!

Gotta Love Technology

The rest of this week has been dedicated to more office work than time spent with kids. But that's important too. Otherwise, how are you going to come up with the material to do fun activities with them? It goes with the job.

On Thursday, I was introduced to a nifty machine called the Rumage 2000i. It's designed to copy CDs & DVDs at a rapid rate. It's a marvel to watch it go to work. By punching in a few keystrokes (which took some work to get the thing to line up exactly right; otherwise nothing happens), a little magnetic clamp spirals down, picks up a CD and drops it into your input device, where information on your 'dummy' CD is loaded onto it (its designed to do two CDs or DVDs at once). When one finishes, it ejects itself, and the clamp picks it up and loads it into the labeler, which puts a digital coating on the front (or back) of the CD. While it's doing that, the clamp goes back down to pick up another CD and load it, so it's pretty much doing multiple jobs at once.

Needless to say, the Rumage 2000i made copying Vacation Bible School music CDs and training DVDs a snap. I'm very happy to have this, my new best friend (just kidding) in my office space now. Certain to come in handy.

Speaking of VBS CDs, the folks at LifeWay played the efficient card this year. They packed all kinds of goodies such as PowerPoint slides, overhead cels, set-building ideas, clip art and mission videos onto it, in addition to the normal assortment of VBS music. I love it! Makes my job SO much easier. Now if only my laptop could travel...

So anyway I've been in music training mode the past few days. But never fear; VBS songwriter and motions guru Jeff Slaughter is back, and once again, he's done an exceptional job. One thing I've always appreciated about his coaching is that he goes the extra mile and does the moves backwards. Say what, you ask? Well, when you are picking up the motions for a song, there's the whole ordeal about matching your right hand with his right hand and your left foot with his, and so on. It's really hard and feels awkward always checking your alignments with every song. But what Jeff does is he learns the moves and performs them like the children are supposed to do them. It makes the trainee's work simpler because you can move your right hand with his left hand, and vice versa, which just feels more natural to do. So what happens is, you learn the moves backwards, and when you show them to the kids, they will get them the correct way. Hope that makes sense!

You can walk on ice, or take a little hike
Through the land of the midnight sun.
You can travel to the edge of the wilderness
And maybe see a caribou staring back at you.

You can ride a raging river in a tiny canoe
Or chill with your friends in an igloo.
But the coolest attraction in the frozen frontier
Is to learn to follow Jesus without fear.

We're headed to the Arctic Edge
Where adventure meets courage
Arctic Edge
Where adventure meets courage

The Lord commands us to be courageous
Whatever adventure we face, He will be with us
Arctic Edge
Where adventure meets courage
Where adventure meets courage!

More VBS news to come!! Oh Anna, I wish you'd be here. You have no idea what you're going to miss :)

Misdirection

Barlow Girl is fast becoming a new favorite Christian group of mine. I just checked out their music video of their newest single "I Need You to Love Me." It's a gripping song that speaks powerfully of our mission as believers. To reach out and love the lost into the Kingdom. We always need to be on the lookout for opportunities to put that love into action and not allow a moment to go by that can be spent giving someone the love of Jesus Christ.

Today was one peculiar day. First of all, the weather was persistently rainy and cool, which hasn't been the norm for much of this month. It felt refreshing to walk to and from the office in the steady rain (with a rain jacket on, of course. I take care of myself). In fact, I almost missed prayer time with the staff this morning because I was busy gathering paint supplies, brushes, sponges, and goldfish for "Paint With Me, Mommy!" in the Family Life Center. Right before 8:30 (which is when we pray), the floodgates seemed to fly open, and we got absolutely pummeled with heavy showers. My jeans were all splotchy and my tennis shoes squeaked when I made it just in time for the meeting. I thanked God for the foresight in my dress attire for the day. Had I worn "casual clothes" (khaki shorts and sandals), I probably would have gotten sent home with a sudden head cold.

We had about eight kids and their moms join us this morning, about the same number as last week, and that was encouraging when you consider the foul weather. Today they worked on 'trunk totes,' painting a cardboard box and decorating it for Fathers Day. Their Dads could use them to store things in their trunk on their way to work. Everyone did great and used their imaginations in decorating the boxes. Two of our boys, Mitchell and Camden, even got into a little rivalry with colors for Tennessee (orange) and Vanderbilt (black/purple) on their trunk totes. Miss Gerri's little boy brought a new friend, Summey, today. She was adorable, wanting to decorate the sign on the chalkboard with flowers and squigglies. I noticed she has a real knack for tracing in the lines on her letters.

After a long paintbrush and spongebrush cleanup, followed by lunch, I went out with Zach Dickson and Lauren Stoddard, two of our youth interns, for hospital visitations. One of my biggest reasons for wanting to go on this particular day was that Seth Penn was at Greenville Memorial for outpatient surgery. About three years ago, he'd had a metal rod inserted into his chest region to inflate it properly and stop it from concaving inward and hurting his breathing. Today he was scheduled to have it taken out. Seth is an old friend of mine back when we were in the youth group, and we also used to play together in the praise band. His parents are also very close with mine. The surgery was scheduled for 3:30, so we arrived at around 2:20, sat, and talked with Seth and his folks in the waiting room for over an hour. They seemed fine; Seth apparantly is in good graces with the anasthesiologist that assists the doctor in the procedure; he calls him "Tricky Ricky" or something of that nature. From what I heard later, the surgery went perfectly, and Seth was back home resting with his folks. Praise God for that!

And then things started to go wonky. We kept getting turned around in the Memorial parking lots and couldn't figure out where the exits and entrances were located. We had to pop a U-turn more than once to retrace our directions on the road. A few of the patients that we came to visit had been switched to new rooms without our knowledge, leaving us scrambling around a bit to find them. But the coup de grace came when we headed for St. Francis Hospital to visit Mr. Anderson, a man who had operations on both of his kneecaps at the same time. Apparantly, St. Francis has two branches. One for men, one for women. And as luck would have it, we found ourselves at the women's center. Not a good place to look for a male church member! I'm sure that's bound to give the staff a good bundle of laughs tomorrow at prayer meeting.

But even so, I came to see that God put me with Zach and Lauren for another reason: encouragement and support. It's easy to get harried and frustrated at so many mix-ups when you're out on a mission, so I was able to draw on my experience with hospital visits at Cherokee and Johns' Island to help boost their spirits up. Shakedown drives like these are all part of the game, and it helps to keep the big picture in mind and see God using you to touch these people simply by coming into their rooms, chatting with them, asking about what's going on in their lives, and praying for them. I could sense God telling me to hold back in the rooms a little and let Zach and Lauren do most of the talking, because I got the feeling God had something to say, something He was going to do to bless our friends, and He wanted to use Zach's deep, heartfelt prayers and Lauren's gentle smile to carry it out. It was a truly amazing thing to behold.

Just another example of how Yahweh, our God, makes our paths straight and clear. Even through misdirection.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
'Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?'
'Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?'
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen." ~ Romans 11:33-36

The Greatest Adventure

That's the name for our children's retreat this August. Its also the name of a favorite Steven Curtis Chapman song of mine. And I think it sums up my feelings after my first week as a children's intern at First Baptist Simpsonville.

I first learned about this position from Anna Kate, who served it last summer. She told me it was a blast, and that she loved being able to work with the children in all of our different activities. So I definitely have her to thank for helping inspire me to go after it. She has been invaluable in offering her advice, answering all of my questions, and just being so supportive and encouraging. Thanks, sweetie!

So ... my first week on the job. We haven't really begun to tackle the major events like Creative Arts Camp and Vacation Bible School yet. Those will come later. Most of my work so far has been preliminary stuff like writing skits, preparing lesson plans for Wednesday nights, staff meetings, worship planning, making signs, etc. But it has been lots of fun. I know pretty much everyone on staff in our church, and it's amazing to have the opportunity to go inside and see what goes into our worship services. Always love to have the inside scoop! We have prayer meeting every morning at 8:30, staff meetings Monday mornings at 9:30 (we're reading a book by John Maxwell called The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, an excellent teaching tool for sharing the workload with your partners on staff), and worship planning Tuesday afternoons at 2:00. It's been great fun, learning opportunities to sit in on these meetings. Perhaps what I love the most is the lack of any hint of dominance by any one member of our staff; even Pastor Randy barely takes up half the meeting with his remarks. Each person has a voice, and his or her opinions are treated with equal weight and respect, from the associate ministers to the interns. We've had plenty of laughs, mostly over sermon titles and the things that bother us the most about our worship experiences.

One thing that I got to do this week that I never thought I'd be good at was calling prospects, or visitors, to our church. Anna Kate said she'd never had to do that, and so I wasn't sure what it would be like, but I just prayed and asked God to give me the words to say. I had a couple of nice phone conversations. One was with a single mother who has four kids ages 7 and 11; another was with an older woman who said she loved our church and was definitely interested in helping out in a field of ministry. I made sure to send response letters, enclosed with any packets of information that would best meet their interests. Writing and mailing out "prayer grams" (basically telegrams in response to prayer requests) has been another blessed experience. I even received one myself from a family that simply said that they prayed for God's peace and love in my work this summer. Wasn't that nice?

Oh, we did get to participate in one 'minor' children's activity this past week. On Wednesday mornings, we have Paint With Me, Mommy for pre-school kids and their mothers in the classroom of our Family Life Center. So I got to help set up the tables, crayons, markers, glue, and decorations for the day. The children listened to Gerri, the woman in charge of the event, read a cute story called Edward the Emu and then they got to trace out their footsprints on construction paper, their mom's prints, and put little decorations on it to turn it into a tote bag. The kids all did a fantastic job and were generally well-behaved. Most of them were easy to talk to and not at all shy about smiling - always a positive sign. I helped serve goldfish to the kids and ice water to the adults; I'm amazed at how quickly that goldfish disappears; it's no wonder that we have at least 10 cartons stockpiled in the pantry!

Annie Ruth Yelton, our minister of children and my 'boss,' is just about the sweetest lady you will ever meet. And I've met quite a few of them. From just sitting down and talking to her, you can immediately see the passion that God has given her for these kids, how much she loves them and how determined she is to make sure they get the message of the Gospel in the best way possible. She is always bubbling with ideas, and you can't help but laugh when the "lightbulb" look spreads over her face; the joy is just that infectious. Her patience borders on the infinite and I don't believe that I've ever seen her get flustered. I thank God for guiding me to her and for enabling me to work alongside her. And Craig Holtzclaw, my partner, has shown himself to be a dependable worker and strong confidant. I had never had the chance to meet him before, but he has done a remarkable job helping out with our signs, shopping for supplies in blazing hot weather, working the computer, and doing whatever needs to be done.

I will post more updates on my position as the summer goes on, but I'm having a great time and I know without a doubt that this is where God wants me to be! Really, I just can't put into words the thrill it gives you of having the chance to impact kids' lives for Jesus. That kind of perspective makes you appreciate even the menial details of a job because you know what it's all about. Truly, this is what it means to make investments in eternity! God bless!