POST VBS

What a great VBS week we had! We had over 600 children registered for VBS, and we had about 98% attendance every day. Everyone had such a good time!!

Over 70 children wanted to pray to have a personal relationship with Jesus! I LOVE THAT!!!

We had a great closing program with about 1,000 people out at the pavillion....what fun!

Everyone was in great spirits, a good time was had by all, and the Lord provided fantastic weather for us, even though it was raining around the area....but not on us!!!

Orange Day Opening Ceremonies

Green Day Opening Ceremonies

HOT DOG DAY!!

Check my next update for more fun VBS pictures!

VBS Prep

VBS Crafts ready to go

So, everyone around here in KidsZone is in full swing today as we wrap up details for VBS Preparation. The craft room is piled high in anticipation of 600 eager children, we have boxes of cups lined up for snacks, nametags everywhere, we are building a forest and a cool cave for the bible room, and, all that has to be left sitting, while we do our run through for Sunday morning, because as we always know, no matter what else to you do during the week, Sunday comes around every week, ready or not....and well, we choose to be as ready as we can be!



Anyway, back to VBS PREP, I keep thinking today about the feeding of the 5,000 in the bible. I keep thinking of how simple it was for Jesus. He just prayed over the loaves of bread, and the fish, and boom, there was enough food to feed 5,000 people....can you just imagine what that looked like??? We just read over the story and think wow, that was a pretty cool thing....but, on the other hand, have you ever tried to prepare to feed 5,000 people?

Now, we are NOT feeding 5,000 next week, but, all in all, we WILL serve over 3,500 snacks during the week, and we have prepared over 3,000 crafts for the week...and I can see how many hands that takes, and how much time that takes....so, it just makes me appreciate the miracle of that story so much more, and really makes me focus again on how big God is......

It is awesome to look around and just watch God at work. I think He is always busy doing things, but sometimes we fail to take notice of what He has done that day. It is a blessing to be where God is at work, and be a part of that. We are looking forward the children next week, and sharing God and God's love with them, during bible school. It is a great and crazy time all at once.

Getting Started

Sometimes it is hard to get started on something new, don't you think? I have been pondering for several days now, just where to start on my blog. Anyone that knows me knows that my mind is normally in a whirl, thinking of a million things at one time, even if I am just sitting still, my mind is thinking of things...normally several things at once, maybe not even things that relate to each other, so with that in mind, you can see why it might be hard to figure out exactly where to start:)

So, I have decided to start with a very brief overview of my time here at CFC. I started this job in August of 1991....yes, that is NOT a TYPO, 1991....oh geesh....so, that now makes me the staff member that has been around the longest, and seen the most changes I guess. When I started this job, I was part time, and my staff was me. On a personal note, I had 3 children at home, a 5th grader, a 3rd grader, and a 5 year old. So, I was pretty busy trying to figure out how to juggle it all...and juggle I have done for years.

Today, I have a great team around me helping, both paid and unpaid staff....and many great volunteers. The church has changed so much over the years, and we understand that we must change with the times, in order to reach kids for the Lord, so we strive to stay current. Personally, all of my children have grown into great adults, and I still find myself juggling my life, so I can serve God in this capacity, and be there for my family all at the same time.

I feel strongly that we should bloom where we are planted, and since we are planted here in this very busy metropolian area, how can we reach the kids right here for the Lord? My sense is that so many kids here are so busy with life activities, I don't think they have alot of time for God in their life...and that makes me sad. So, what can we do to come along side of families and help them to teach their children about how important God should be in their lives? I want kids to know that God being in your life is not a once or twice a week activity, I want them to know how to walk with God every day.

Well, I think this is plenty of ponderings for one day.....stay tuned for more ponderings from Pat.

Turning Over A New Techno Leaf

Crystal is helping me to set up my blog and Twitter's. So stay tuned for the ever changing Pat's Perspective.