Pushed to the Edge
My goodness. I've been so busy lately that I can hardly believe it's summer and not fall.
Today's title has a double meaning. It pertains to my current status, and of course, the VBS Arctic Edge is next week! I doubt anyone is as excited as I am (but of course, I'm biased, so don't put too much stock in that). I've been anticipating and preparing for this year since the winter months, back when I first heard the preview clips of Jeff Slaughter's latest batch of music. The fact that Joshua 1:9 is our main verse is just cream cheese on the pizza (I'm not a fan of cake. Sue me) but the list goes on and on. I grew more and more excited as the summer months commenced. I plunged into the Bible lessons and just kept thinking, "Wow! The kids are going to learn so much from this!" The worship rally dramas actually look and sound authentic this year (Don't misread me; I enjoy them every year, but even our kids have told me they can get a little sacharrine sometimes. Even Annie Ruth admitted as much, and she is the last person you'd expect to be critical about anything. I admire that about her). The folks at Lifeway, Bill Cox (not Chris and Taylor's Dad), Lynne Norris, and Cupik Warrior Prod. should take a bow.
Well, this week kicked the excitement up another few notches, if that's possible. Ever since I started work, I've been engaged in preliminary decorations for my music station, Echo Bay. Nothing huge, really; just some clipart of snowflakes and the Courage Badges for starts, along with some wilderness shots. The only major decoration I'd done prior to this week was my make-shift caribou, which I created from the body of a camel, burlap sacks, cardboard flaps, paper towel rolls, and lots and lots of aluminum foil. On Monday, my station got the kickstart it needed to really transform itself from the old Chapel into Echo Bay when two wonderful servant adults at Laurel Baptist Church in Mauldin loaned me their fireplace and mantle, plus a window made out of plywood. It gave me the boost to jumpstart the creative process and really go to town on decorating. What a God-send they were!
Actually, God has been all over the place in my work getting ready for next week. Wednesday morning, I head over to the "white house" (not the President's abode, natch; just a regular white house owned by the church) to help Barbara Winnsett paint cardboard boxes white with blue highlights. We're going to use them to create our own igloo in the Sanctuary (but we have to wait until after the Sunday worship service). Anyway, we've got the paint and boxes out on the porch, but all we have to work with are paint brushes. And we have to do 50 boxes. Minimum. Needless the say, the prospects of camping out there the next three to four days looked pretty good. But God came to the rescue. Barbara's son Ben looked deeper into the house and unearthed God's chosen tool for salvation: rollers. Sweet, glorious rollers. And we were off and running. No one tell me God doesn't provide!
Meanwhile, I've been putting together the Echo Bay on the side. The mantlepiece, window (now sporting a royal blue curtain) and caribou (I finally found some antlers for him; took me the longest time) are all in place. Camping chairs and sleeping bag have been added, plus the station sign, a tree with snow made from cotton balls, as well as cotton batting for a snow-covered backdrop. Even found room on the left side to prop a sled against a door. Again, I'll have to wait until Sunday afternoon to finish it off, but at least I can step back, look at it now, and be satisfied to some extent. As long as the kids don't mind the heavy oak pews too much, I think we're in business.
All this leaves me thinking, "Where does the strength come from? Where does the courage come from? How can I keep this breakneck pace up without collapsing?" By this point, that should be obvious. But sometimes you just have to kind of stop for a minute, take stock of everything that's happened, and realize that you stopped living off your strength long ago, and God's been doing the work since. And you just have to praise Him. I take back that 'sometimes.' Do it ALL the time. Like one of our VBS songs states, "I will be trustin' God with all my heart, no matter what, no matter where, no matter when / I will depend on Him, I will not lean on my own understanding / In everything I do, I gotta have the courage to trust in God." Sounds simple, right? But it's so much more difficult to apply to real life, isn't it? I pray that we can drive that message home to the kids. Give us the strength, Lord.
So anyway, this is likely my last post before the main event. Next week - Vacation Bible School. "Arctic Edge: Where Adventure Meets Courage." I'm ready for it.
Today's title has a double meaning. It pertains to my current status, and of course, the VBS Arctic Edge is next week! I doubt anyone is as excited as I am (but of course, I'm biased, so don't put too much stock in that). I've been anticipating and preparing for this year since the winter months, back when I first heard the preview clips of Jeff Slaughter's latest batch of music. The fact that Joshua 1:9 is our main verse is just cream cheese on the pizza (I'm not a fan of cake. Sue me) but the list goes on and on. I grew more and more excited as the summer months commenced. I plunged into the Bible lessons and just kept thinking, "Wow! The kids are going to learn so much from this!" The worship rally dramas actually look and sound authentic this year (Don't misread me; I enjoy them every year, but even our kids have told me they can get a little sacharrine sometimes. Even Annie Ruth admitted as much, and she is the last person you'd expect to be critical about anything. I admire that about her). The folks at Lifeway, Bill Cox (not Chris and Taylor's Dad), Lynne Norris, and Cupik Warrior Prod. should take a bow.
Well, this week kicked the excitement up another few notches, if that's possible. Ever since I started work, I've been engaged in preliminary decorations for my music station, Echo Bay. Nothing huge, really; just some clipart of snowflakes and the Courage Badges for starts, along with some wilderness shots. The only major decoration I'd done prior to this week was my make-shift caribou, which I created from the body of a camel, burlap sacks, cardboard flaps, paper towel rolls, and lots and lots of aluminum foil. On Monday, my station got the kickstart it needed to really transform itself from the old Chapel into Echo Bay when two wonderful servant adults at Laurel Baptist Church in Mauldin loaned me their fireplace and mantle, plus a window made out of plywood. It gave me the boost to jumpstart the creative process and really go to town on decorating. What a God-send they were!
Actually, God has been all over the place in my work getting ready for next week. Wednesday morning, I head over to the "white house" (not the President's abode, natch; just a regular white house owned by the church) to help Barbara Winnsett paint cardboard boxes white with blue highlights. We're going to use them to create our own igloo in the Sanctuary (but we have to wait until after the Sunday worship service). Anyway, we've got the paint and boxes out on the porch, but all we have to work with are paint brushes. And we have to do 50 boxes. Minimum. Needless the say, the prospects of camping out there the next three to four days looked pretty good. But God came to the rescue. Barbara's son Ben looked deeper into the house and unearthed God's chosen tool for salvation: rollers. Sweet, glorious rollers. And we were off and running. No one tell me God doesn't provide!
Meanwhile, I've been putting together the Echo Bay on the side. The mantlepiece, window (now sporting a royal blue curtain) and caribou (I finally found some antlers for him; took me the longest time) are all in place. Camping chairs and sleeping bag have been added, plus the station sign, a tree with snow made from cotton balls, as well as cotton batting for a snow-covered backdrop. Even found room on the left side to prop a sled against a door. Again, I'll have to wait until Sunday afternoon to finish it off, but at least I can step back, look at it now, and be satisfied to some extent. As long as the kids don't mind the heavy oak pews too much, I think we're in business.
All this leaves me thinking, "Where does the strength come from? Where does the courage come from? How can I keep this breakneck pace up without collapsing?" By this point, that should be obvious. But sometimes you just have to kind of stop for a minute, take stock of everything that's happened, and realize that you stopped living off your strength long ago, and God's been doing the work since. And you just have to praise Him. I take back that 'sometimes.' Do it ALL the time. Like one of our VBS songs states, "I will be trustin' God with all my heart, no matter what, no matter where, no matter when / I will depend on Him, I will not lean on my own understanding / In everything I do, I gotta have the courage to trust in God." Sounds simple, right? But it's so much more difficult to apply to real life, isn't it? I pray that we can drive that message home to the kids. Give us the strength, Lord.
So anyway, this is likely my last post before the main event. Next week - Vacation Bible School. "Arctic Edge: Where Adventure Meets Courage." I'm ready for it.
posted by david @ 7:12 PM
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