My friend Kalahan over at "Be Still" wrote a wonderful a week or two ago about what she learned this summer. In a way, she inspired me to write this post. I learned so much this summer... things that I truly needed to learn, and I never want to forget. God is so great and merciful to teach me now!
Here are three things I learned this summer:
1. "If Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." ~C.T. Stubb.
Now, I'm not going to pretend that I made some extraordinary sacrifice for God this summer that changed my life forever and was really difficult. At this point in my life, God hasn't yet asked that I physically die for Him or that I give up my freedom, security, or leave my homeland in order that His gospel could be preached-- although He has told me to be willing to do all those things if He should some day ask! But, even though God isn't asking me to make the "big sacrifices" right now-- shouldn't I make those small ones every single day? You know, the things like holding my tongue when my siblings say something and I want to give a harsh reply, or giving up a few minutes of free time when one of my siblings wants to do something with me or needs to talk, or volunteering to do those 'thankless' jobs that would bless my parents by my doing them, and just serving the way that Christ did when He lived on earth! If these are the things He wants from me, and He was the God that died for me, then is there any sacrifice ever that could possibly be too great for Him?
2. God's plan is infinitely greater than my own. I was so stressed in June and July because I was still living in Nagoya, Japan, while I wanted to be back in Washington state. I was very, very worried that I wouldn't get back in time for our annual Vacation Bible School at my grandparent's house... however, the more I worried, I realized the less I was focusing on Jesus and what He did on the Christ. How ironic... the very reason that we do the VBS every single year-- to remind and teach the children about the cross-- was the very easiest thing for me to lose sight of in planning for it! Fortunately, we serve a God who, despite all my inefficiencies and mistakes, divinely orchestrated everything to work out so much better than I could have every imagined! We ended up having about 20-22 kids every day, the drama worked out well, the helpers were amazing, and I loved, loved, LOVED our curriculum. Also, I was able to get home almost a week early to shop and prepare for VBS. What a fool I was to worry so much! Everything seemed to go so well at VBS-- but the amazing thing about God is that He showed me that it went well in spite of me, NOT because of me.
3. I saved the most convicting, and the hardest, of this summer's lessons for last. It's simply this: I really needed to get over the "childish need" for friends. Now please hear me out. I love my friends! If you're reading this, then I want you to know that I deeply care about you and more than likely I have really enjoyed our conversations, learning from what God has done and taught you in your life, visiting with you, etc. In fact, many, many of the people I call my friends have been great spiritual influences in my life and have taught me a lot about God's blessings and how great He is! God has blessed me with great friends.
*Takes deep breath* That being said, I think that it's important to remember that that's all that friends are-- blessings. Friends are gifts from God, they are NOT meant in any way to "replace" God in our lives or be placed on par with God. Now, to be perfectly honest, I've never really been a girl who's 'obsessed' with her friends. I enjoy going to visit people, and having company over. I love talking with friends-- but I've never been a person who's constantly trying to spend every waking moment with her friends. Even so, I realized these past two or three months that I've found a lot of "SECURITY" in my friends. It's a false security, but it's one that I've been valuing for years now. I've had a "childish need," so to speak, for friends. I realized after I had spent several months in Japan that it was really hard to meet many new friends and to keep in touch with all the old ones. And I realized, to my dismay, that I was far too devastated about this. I was far too concerned over the fact that I wasn't surrounded by friends-- because I had found too much of my 'security' and 'identity' in who my friends are-- but wait, there's something wrong there. My security and identity should be found only in Christ!
Again, there's nothing wrong with having friends. God doesn't want us to hide in a closet our whole lives and never spend time with other people... but there is something very dangerous about placing too high of a priority on friendships-- because, after all, my best friend is always, ALWAYS with me! And He is the same forever and always! And His name is Jesus, and He IS awesome!
And those, my friends, are the things I learned this summer. And painful as it was to learn some of these things, I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. And I never want to forget them for the rest of my life...
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Fun with the Kovachs at Soap Lake!
These past few days have been so much fun! On Friday, I left for Soap Lake with my "second family" the Kovachs. Adventures have abounded since! Some of the highlights are as follows:
Yesterday (Sunday), Haley, her cousin, and myself, were all talking about how babies should be kissed and cuddled a lot, because if they're not, they won't feel very loved. Babies need lots of attention. Anyway, as we were talking about that, Jackson (two years old) came right up to me and gave me two kisses-- one on my cheek and one on the lips. Since then, he's given me lots of kisses and hugs and cuddles. He is so adorable!
We've also been playing a card game called Nerts. It is super fun!! We played today for about two hours....
Haley and I went on a prayer walk today. There is simply nothing better than going on a walk with one's best friend and spending the whole time praying for different things in one's life... there is something so beautiful, serene, and tranquil about praying outside on a walk (especially when one is not in a rush :).
We also went paddleboating yesterday. It was really frustrating for a little while, because the thing would NOT TURN LEFT!!!! Anyway, one by one we all jumped into the lake to direct the boat the way that we wanted it to go. Only, the water was slightly cold. Oh well, we adjusted quickly.
Oh, a side note about the paddleboating: on the way back to shore, Haley lost her flip flop. Thankfully, there was someone there to find it. Yours truly. Haha, I'm just kidding. She completely repaid me and banished any debt she owed me today when she found my best gray sweatshirt. :) Please realize that these last few sentences were a joke.
Well, we still have three days left at the lake! Well, nearly anyway.
Signing off with adventures ahead,
Rachel
Yesterday (Sunday), Haley, her cousin, and myself, were all talking about how babies should be kissed and cuddled a lot, because if they're not, they won't feel very loved. Babies need lots of attention. Anyway, as we were talking about that, Jackson (two years old) came right up to me and gave me two kisses-- one on my cheek and one on the lips. Since then, he's given me lots of kisses and hugs and cuddles. He is so adorable!
We've also been playing a card game called Nerts. It is super fun!! We played today for about two hours....
Haley and I went on a prayer walk today. There is simply nothing better than going on a walk with one's best friend and spending the whole time praying for different things in one's life... there is something so beautiful, serene, and tranquil about praying outside on a walk (especially when one is not in a rush :).
We also went paddleboating yesterday. It was really frustrating for a little while, because the thing would NOT TURN LEFT!!!! Anyway, one by one we all jumped into the lake to direct the boat the way that we wanted it to go. Only, the water was slightly cold. Oh well, we adjusted quickly.
Oh, a side note about the paddleboating: on the way back to shore, Haley lost her flip flop. Thankfully, there was someone there to find it. Yours truly. Haha, I'm just kidding. She completely repaid me and banished any debt she owed me today when she found my best gray sweatshirt. :) Please realize that these last few sentences were a joke.
Well, we still have three days left at the lake! Well, nearly anyway.
Signing off with adventures ahead,
Rachel
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sold out for Jesus
A few months ago, I was thinking about Vacation Bible School. That's not so strange. You think to yourself. She's ALWAYS talking about VBS. Why shouldn't she think about it? But bear with me a moment. This was one of the rare times that I was thinking of VBS in a non-positive way. In fact, you might almost call it a negative way. Why? Well, because, I bought into this lie that you and I both have heard everywhere. I was thinking that the lie was truth. I was thinking one day, that if only someone else would lead this VBS, he or she could do such a better job than I could. For instance, if someone who was really musically talented led the VBS, the kids could sound like a professional choir! Or if someone who was really talented at crafts led the VBS, she could help us save a ton of money on crafts and they would look great! Or if someone who knew his neighbors well led the VBS, we could have more neighbor children join in. These thoughts went on in my mind, and as you can probably imagine, I thought of more and more scenarios in which people who had talents that I don't have led the VBS, which would help it be better.
This, my friends, is not only ridiculous considering I can't really help the fact that I don't live around here and know neighbors here or that I'm not very great with crafts, but it's also one of the worst lies that Christians could ever believe! Think about it. If we believe that God can only use us when we have certain talents or abilities, we'll think twice about volunteering both in the community and in the church body. You'll stop telling people about God if you don't think you're a great evangelist. You'll stop teaching Sunday School if you don't think you're a natural-born teacher. If you're not incredible with toddlers, you'll stop volunteering in the nursery. If you don't have a "passion" for cooking, you might stop setting up snacks after church or for Bible Study. You don't think you're great at traveling, so you stop going on mission trips. Imagine, even, if everyone who didn't think that he was a great listener stopped attending the Sabbath day service!
These may sound like extreme cases, but it's the truth. What if we waited for God to give us the full dose of talent that we would like before serving Him? Listen to the wise words of the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 1:26, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised thing-- and the things that were not-- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." God has chosen those who are FOOLISH (me) and WEAK (me again) so that He can show His perfect power clearly, if I am only willing to be used by Him. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
If God can delight in using my insufficiency to show His aptitude and sovereignty-- then the least I could ever do is be willing to serve Him.
I don't just want to serve God-- I want to be sold out for Him. I want to be so sold out for the Lord that, no matter what else, my talent doesn't matter, my resources don't matter, my strength doesn't matter-- but that all these things pale in comparison to how great and awesome my God is!
I suppose I made it sound above as if I don't think it's important to have gifts. That's not it at all! God is the giver of all good gifts. He gives us all talents and abilities to SERVE HIM. But. If we're always concerned with waiting for someone with more talent to step up to the plate, we'll stop serving God where He wants us. One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
I don't think the author is saying that being able to speak well is bad, but rather that it's not where our faith should be. Our faith shouldn't rest on the fact that someone says or does things well, or in our abilities, or even how well we think some ministry opportunity will go.
Where, then, shall we put our faith?
In Christ Alone.
This, my friends, is not only ridiculous considering I can't really help the fact that I don't live around here and know neighbors here or that I'm not very great with crafts, but it's also one of the worst lies that Christians could ever believe! Think about it. If we believe that God can only use us when we have certain talents or abilities, we'll think twice about volunteering both in the community and in the church body. You'll stop telling people about God if you don't think you're a great evangelist. You'll stop teaching Sunday School if you don't think you're a natural-born teacher. If you're not incredible with toddlers, you'll stop volunteering in the nursery. If you don't have a "passion" for cooking, you might stop setting up snacks after church or for Bible Study. You don't think you're great at traveling, so you stop going on mission trips. Imagine, even, if everyone who didn't think that he was a great listener stopped attending the Sabbath day service!
These may sound like extreme cases, but it's the truth. What if we waited for God to give us the full dose of talent that we would like before serving Him? Listen to the wise words of the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 1:26, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised thing-- and the things that were not-- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." God has chosen those who are FOOLISH (me) and WEAK (me again) so that He can show His perfect power clearly, if I am only willing to be used by Him. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
If God can delight in using my insufficiency to show His aptitude and sovereignty-- then the least I could ever do is be willing to serve Him.
I don't just want to serve God-- I want to be sold out for Him. I want to be so sold out for the Lord that, no matter what else, my talent doesn't matter, my resources don't matter, my strength doesn't matter-- but that all these things pale in comparison to how great and awesome my God is!
I suppose I made it sound above as if I don't think it's important to have gifts. That's not it at all! God is the giver of all good gifts. He gives us all talents and abilities to SERVE HIM. But. If we're always concerned with waiting for someone with more talent to step up to the plate, we'll stop serving God where He wants us. One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
I don't think the author is saying that being able to speak well is bad, but rather that it's not where our faith should be. Our faith shouldn't rest on the fact that someone says or does things well, or in our abilities, or even how well we think some ministry opportunity will go.
Where, then, shall we put our faith?
In Christ Alone.
Special Acknowledgments
Hello friends! Well, today marks the third day of non-VBS-- meaning it's the third day since VBS has ended. Since VBS started exactly one week ago, I guess there is no time like the present to thank the people that helped me with this so much. :) Without you all, VBS would have been significantly different (in a bad way. :)
~I guess I'll start off with someone who is dear to my heart-- someone who helped me start the VBS, who has been there every step of the way, who has encouraged me so much in my walk with the LORD and who has helped me every single year with VBS. The kids might know her as "Mackenzie" or the "Song leader" or the "Assistant teacher," because those are just a few of her jobs at VBS. This person, of course, is Miss Haley Kovach. Thank you for teaching about missionaries too! Thank you so much dearie!! And we'll have many good laughs yet over things that happened at VBS!!
~Okay, moving on. Thanks so much to Grandma Bonnie. Thank you for coming up with the pyramid and for everything else you did. Thank you for suggesting VBS all that time ago-- I love doing it and I'm always blessed.
~ Grandpa Ken. Thank you for actually constructing the pyramid!! It was awesome!! Thank you for making that camp site too, I don't know what we'd have done without it.
~ Mom and Dad-- thank you for giving me this opportunity to come back so this VBS could happen. Thank you for the money for snacks, and for your prayers. I love you both!
~"Miss" Anne Rendle. Thank you so, SO, SOOOOOOOO much for being Percy in the skit (you are hilarious and amazing) thank you for helping me with everything I needed help with, and thank you for praying with me and encouraging me! You're a blessing!
~ "Miss" Keely Rendle, thank you for all your help. Thank you for being great with the kids (Remember last year, before you were even a 'helper' Sam wrote on his craft "Sam and Keely".... need I say more?) ;) And thank you for playing Joe Johnson. You are a great "sorta villain" haha.
~ Raymond Dokupil. Thank you for all of your work playing Albert. I think you were the favorite character among the kids!! And thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to stay for the full time many days!
~ Hannah Dokupil-- I'm so sorry you got sick. How are you feeling now? Anyway, thank you for coming at first despite being sick. You are a trooper! And thank you for being Carson. :)
~Grace DeBusschere, I'm so glad you could come, even for a short time!! You are a blessing to me and to everyone.
~Sophia DeBusschere. Thank you for all your great help and for being a lot of fun. :) I had a great time with you and I was blessed to see you with the children.
~Curtis Kovach, you deserve one of the biggest thanks of all, for stepping up to the plate of Carson with only a few hours notice. You're amazing.
~But first and FOREMOST, this whole post really belongs to God. Because He is my very greatest friend, the ONLY source of true peace, and it's only by His will that this VBS ever happened. And as long as "Doane Vacation Bible School" continues, it will be only because of Him and all for Him. I love you, dear Lord, most of all!!
Thanks everyone!!!
~I guess I'll start off with someone who is dear to my heart-- someone who helped me start the VBS, who has been there every step of the way, who has encouraged me so much in my walk with the LORD and who has helped me every single year with VBS. The kids might know her as "Mackenzie" or the "Song leader" or the "Assistant teacher," because those are just a few of her jobs at VBS. This person, of course, is Miss Haley Kovach. Thank you for teaching about missionaries too! Thank you so much dearie!! And we'll have many good laughs yet over things that happened at VBS!!
~Okay, moving on. Thanks so much to Grandma Bonnie. Thank you for coming up with the pyramid and for everything else you did. Thank you for suggesting VBS all that time ago-- I love doing it and I'm always blessed.
~ Grandpa Ken. Thank you for actually constructing the pyramid!! It was awesome!! Thank you for making that camp site too, I don't know what we'd have done without it.
~ Mom and Dad-- thank you for giving me this opportunity to come back so this VBS could happen. Thank you for the money for snacks, and for your prayers. I love you both!
~"Miss" Anne Rendle. Thank you so, SO, SOOOOOOOO much for being Percy in the skit (you are hilarious and amazing) thank you for helping me with everything I needed help with, and thank you for praying with me and encouraging me! You're a blessing!
~ "Miss" Keely Rendle, thank you for all your help. Thank you for being great with the kids (Remember last year, before you were even a 'helper' Sam wrote on his craft "Sam and Keely".... need I say more?) ;) And thank you for playing Joe Johnson. You are a great "sorta villain" haha.
~ Raymond Dokupil. Thank you for all of your work playing Albert. I think you were the favorite character among the kids!! And thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to stay for the full time many days!
~ Hannah Dokupil-- I'm so sorry you got sick. How are you feeling now? Anyway, thank you for coming at first despite being sick. You are a trooper! And thank you for being Carson. :)
~Grace DeBusschere, I'm so glad you could come, even for a short time!! You are a blessing to me and to everyone.
~Sophia DeBusschere. Thank you for all your great help and for being a lot of fun. :) I had a great time with you and I was blessed to see you with the children.
~Curtis Kovach, you deserve one of the biggest thanks of all, for stepping up to the plate of Carson with only a few hours notice. You're amazing.
~But first and FOREMOST, this whole post really belongs to God. Because He is my very greatest friend, the ONLY source of true peace, and it's only by His will that this VBS ever happened. And as long as "Doane Vacation Bible School" continues, it will be only because of Him and all for Him. I love you, dear Lord, most of all!!
Thanks everyone!!!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
VBS: the dramas, the lessons, the snacks, and more!
Haley and I with Bailey, the doll/puppet
Listening to the lesson
And questions
Me teaching the lesson!
Awww... Christina, Abby, and Anne :)
Praise and Worship
Silly Songs
Walking... it's the natural pose :P
Book time!
Me, teaching the children about a missionary named Joyce who works at God's Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti-- the kids were amazing. We raised nearly $200 for GLA!!
Working on the books!
Miss Sophia's review team!
Miss Grace's review team!
More book work. I love the expressions on Keely and my faces. We look like we're engaged in a very passionate conversation.
The drama cast! AHHH! The play was one of my favorite parts! From left to right: Albert (Raymond), Carson (Hannah), Claire (me, Rachel), Joe (Keely), Mackenzie (Haley), and Percy (Anne)! I had a great cast!
Silly Song!
Friday, August 20, 2010
VBS came and went-- already?
This week marks one of the greatest weeks of my entire life. Yes, I mean that literally and seriously. It was better than any vacation on the beach, any trip to somewhere fun, or almost any other period of 'relaxation.' This week I got to teach twenty children about the value of their lives to God. My best friend, Haley, and I spent the last twelve months planning for, praying for, practicing for, preparing for, ordering materials for, shopping for, and inviting people to Vacation Bible School. I honestly don't think you would believe just HOW MUCH God has provided for this VBS. First off, with the curriculum. I love the theme-- it was an Egyptian Mystery theme: Decoding the mystery of life. Every day there was a different lesson about life. Day 1: God made life. Day 2: God made life wonderfully! Day 3: God offers eternal life through Jesus. Day 4: We should value and protect life. And Day 5: God uses our lives. Each day we also memorized a verse that went with the theme, worked in some workbooks, had a snack and watched Veggie Tales, learned about a missionary, played a fun active game, played a review game, sang, did a craft, and one of my favorites-- had a drama! Before I say anything else about the drama, I have to thank my amazing cast: Keely Rendle (as Joe Johnson), Haley Kovach (as Mackenzie Ross), Raymond Dokupil (as Albert Peacock), Anne Rendle (as Percy Sedgwick), and Hannah Dokupil and Curtis Kovach (both as Carson Hughes). I played Claire Sedgwick, owner of the Sedgwick museum. It was a mystery set in a museum in Egypt. I. LOVED. the. drama. It was absolutely amazing-- an absolute must for next year! I also enjoyed the lesson time. Some kids might think learning the main lesson would be slow-paced or boring, but really the curriculum is super interactive! Some of the children even mentioned that was there favorite part!
Another amazing way God provided was through the families. He really, REALLY encouraged me through some people who came. How so? Well, most of the families said that they would only make it for two, maybe three days-- but by the end of the week they told me that they were so pleased with the VBS and their kids were learning so much and having such a good time that they rearranged their schedule to fit VBS in. And every single family came every day after the first. :) I was so happy! All right, I think that what I just wrote sounds like I'm bragging, like somehow MY VBS was so wonderful that people really wanted to come. This is NOT how I meant it, I meant rather that God was SO GOOD in encouraging me through these families. :)
The final way God provided for me, that I'll discuss here, is through the helpers. Every single one of the staff encouraged me and helped me, and the kids adored all the helpers. I could see God's light and love shining through the leaders! What an awesome God we serve!
I also have to thank one VERY special person, besides the LORD, for this VBS. Haley Kovach, my amazing Song leader, Mackenzie Ross in the skit, and assistant teacher. Thank you luv!
Here's one song we sang, in case you're interested. I think it's my favorite.
There Aren't Any Monkeys in Our Family Tree
If you're in the monkey business then you know you're gonna find 'em
Goin' rope to rope, swingin' vine to vine.
You'll find 'em in the jungle, You'll find 'em in the zoo,
You'll find 'em on safari goin' "ooh ooh ooh!"
But there's one place they'll never be--
There aren't any monkeys in our family tree!
We were created by the Lord above
We were created in His image of love.
We're not mutated from a chimpanzee!
There aren't any monkeys in our family tree.
If you're looking at the evidence, the truth is really plain
In the microscope, in the DNA.
Every kind is different, every one unique,
and none are linked together by the "missing link."
We're made by a Designer so it's clear to see--
There aren't any monkeys in our family tree!
Hey, hey, we're not the monkeys!
No no, ooh ooh, uh uh uh!
Hey, hey, we're not the monkeys!
They can't make a monkey out of me!
You can study every ology from A to Z,
But there aren't any monkeys in our family tree!!
All right, I can't put pictures or videos on this computer, but as soon as I can use my own computer again, I will post the videos of the drama (I have all but the first day on tape) and a BUNCH of pictures. So, instead of videos and pictures at the moment, I'll post funny/ cute quotes from the last week.
"Are you coming back next year?" ~Me
"OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH yeah." ~Sam
"VBS is canceled this year." (Two parents were saying this to each other a couple months ago)
"What?!? The forest VBS IS CANCELED?" ~Sam and Annie, the twins.
"No, the VBS at first EPC." ~their parents
"Oh good, we want to go to the forest VBS." ~Annie
"Joe is a man of few words. I used to think he didn't like me!" ~Anne (playing Percy)
"I don't like you." ~Keely (playing Joe)
"I apologize for his lack of manners." ~Me, speaking of Percy, playing Claire
"Oh, that's all right. I'm sure he's a nice person." ~Haley, playing Mackenzie
"No comment." ~Me
"We want to be on YOUR team!" ~The twins, Mia and Abby
"Should one of you go on another team?" ~Me
"NO! We want to be on YOUR team!" ~Mia and Abby
"She's (Anne) like my new best friend!" ~Mariah
One day, all of the boys were being naughty. We use fake dollars as a motivation for them to behave, and at the end of the week, if they've memorized their verses and been good and participated, they can spend their dollars at a little "store." Haley said, "Okay, you're all about to lose a dollar!" Instant silence.
Oh, this week was amazinggggggggggggg. :) God is awesome!
Another amazing way God provided was through the families. He really, REALLY encouraged me through some people who came. How so? Well, most of the families said that they would only make it for two, maybe three days-- but by the end of the week they told me that they were so pleased with the VBS and their kids were learning so much and having such a good time that they rearranged their schedule to fit VBS in. And every single family came every day after the first. :) I was so happy! All right, I think that what I just wrote sounds like I'm bragging, like somehow MY VBS was so wonderful that people really wanted to come. This is NOT how I meant it, I meant rather that God was SO GOOD in encouraging me through these families. :)
The final way God provided for me, that I'll discuss here, is through the helpers. Every single one of the staff encouraged me and helped me, and the kids adored all the helpers. I could see God's light and love shining through the leaders! What an awesome God we serve!
I also have to thank one VERY special person, besides the LORD, for this VBS. Haley Kovach, my amazing Song leader, Mackenzie Ross in the skit, and assistant teacher. Thank you luv!
Here's one song we sang, in case you're interested. I think it's my favorite.
There Aren't Any Monkeys in Our Family Tree
If you're in the monkey business then you know you're gonna find 'em
Goin' rope to rope, swingin' vine to vine.
You'll find 'em in the jungle, You'll find 'em in the zoo,
You'll find 'em on safari goin' "ooh ooh ooh!"
But there's one place they'll never be--
There aren't any monkeys in our family tree!
We were created by the Lord above
We were created in His image of love.
We're not mutated from a chimpanzee!
There aren't any monkeys in our family tree.
If you're looking at the evidence, the truth is really plain
In the microscope, in the DNA.
Every kind is different, every one unique,
and none are linked together by the "missing link."
We're made by a Designer so it's clear to see--
There aren't any monkeys in our family tree!
Hey, hey, we're not the monkeys!
No no, ooh ooh, uh uh uh!
Hey, hey, we're not the monkeys!
They can't make a monkey out of me!
You can study every ology from A to Z,
But there aren't any monkeys in our family tree!!
All right, I can't put pictures or videos on this computer, but as soon as I can use my own computer again, I will post the videos of the drama (I have all but the first day on tape) and a BUNCH of pictures. So, instead of videos and pictures at the moment, I'll post funny/ cute quotes from the last week.
"Are you coming back next year?" ~Me
"OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH yeah." ~Sam
"VBS is canceled this year." (Two parents were saying this to each other a couple months ago)
"What?!? The forest VBS IS CANCELED?" ~Sam and Annie, the twins.
"No, the VBS at first EPC." ~their parents
"Oh good, we want to go to the forest VBS." ~Annie
"Joe is a man of few words. I used to think he didn't like me!" ~Anne (playing Percy)
"I don't like you." ~Keely (playing Joe)
"I apologize for his lack of manners." ~Me, speaking of Percy, playing Claire
"Oh, that's all right. I'm sure he's a nice person." ~Haley, playing Mackenzie
"No comment." ~Me
"We want to be on YOUR team!" ~The twins, Mia and Abby
"Should one of you go on another team?" ~Me
"NO! We want to be on YOUR team!" ~Mia and Abby
"She's (Anne) like my new best friend!" ~Mariah
One day, all of the boys were being naughty. We use fake dollars as a motivation for them to behave, and at the end of the week, if they've memorized their verses and been good and participated, they can spend their dollars at a little "store." Haley said, "Okay, you're all about to lose a dollar!" Instant silence.
Oh, this week was amazinggggggggggggg. :) God is awesome!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
This Summer...
In a few weeks, I am flying back to the States from Japan. I will not be coming back to Japan again, I'm going home for good. Anyway, I've been working on memorizing my script for the drama at the Vacation Bible School I'm organizing at my grandma's house.
And guess what?!?
I'm the agnostic. HA. In all the previous skits for VBS I've been the wise, godly one that gives good advice-- so this is kind of new territory for me. We'll see how it goes.
In past skits Haley's been the troublemaker and I've always, should we say, helped her get out of trouble ... what happened to that? I'm in jest, of course.
Can't wait for VBS! Please pray for the kids, for the helpers, that we can memorize our scripts, that we'd have great weather, and that we'd be abounding in children with tender hearts!
And come if you can! E-mail me or leave a comment and I'll let you know the address/ place. :)
And guess what?!?
I'm the agnostic. HA. In all the previous skits for VBS I've been the wise, godly one that gives good advice-- so this is kind of new territory for me. We'll see how it goes.
In past skits Haley's been the troublemaker and I've always, should we say, helped her get out of trouble ... what happened to that? I'm in jest, of course.
Can't wait for VBS! Please pray for the kids, for the helpers, that we can memorize our scripts, that we'd have great weather, and that we'd be abounding in children with tender hearts!
And come if you can! E-mail me or leave a comment and I'll let you know the address/ place. :)
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