You'll see lots of familiar faces, since most of our Home Team participated. What FUN!
Kim and her chief assistant Laurie, take a minute to review all of their plans, in preparing for another exciting VBS (Vacation Bible School).Service is what we saw in action every day in God's Big Back Yard. Enjoy a little tour of our exciting week, as seen through the perspective of the Kindergarten Lady Bugs.
What a Welcome we received every morning. Mrs. Kim and Mr. Jay make sure that our Special Registration stations are clearly identified. They were already 'serving'.
We had our very own curb service as our team of Youth Guides made sure that every Lady Bug received his/her passport.
The God's Big Back Yard team even had it's very own youth photographer Hannah to have a record of the exciting , and fun filled week we all enjoyed.We began each day at the Community Corner where we met , heard and learned from our very special guests.
This lady visited us from Loaves & Fishes , a food pantry in our area that collects food to help feed people in our neighborhood and community. Some people need help to feed their own families. Every day, our donations this VBS were non-perishable food supplies and we collected lots, and lots. It was very exciting for us all to be able to serve families needing help.
Mrs. Alice and Vi told us all about the Prayer Shawl Ministry. They make crocheted or quilted lap blankets , shawls , chemo caps and slippers for friends who are sick and need something special to help make them more comfortable. While they sew or crochet , they pray for the people who will receive their very special gifts. What a wonderful way of serving others and sharing the love of Jesus!
Some of our Lady Bug class even got to try on a cap! We laughed and giggled! What fun!
Firefighter John told us all about how Firefighters serve their neighbors. He told us all about his gear and we even timed him to see how fast he could get his special pants, coat and fire helmet on. He was really fast. It only took him 35 seconds. As a firefighter he rides on a firetruck to accidents and fires. He helps and serves his neighbors.
Mrs. Joann helps people in our community learn how to speak English (ESL) so that they can pay their bills, do their shopping, talk to the teachers of their children, attend church and understand their doctors. She was very excited about being able to serve others.
Miss Caitlin talked to us about serving Jesus. She told us about a missions trip that she had gone on and that her younger brother is in the Ukraine on a missions trip right now. We learned that our mission field is in our own homes, neighborhoods, community and yes, perhaps on the other side of the world. Miss Caitlin and her brother are young, so we learned that we can serve Jesus no matter what our age might be.Our next stop every day was "It's Your Serve".
Check out all of those hands on our 'Serving Tree'. Each represents the ways that we all served others during the week. We made lots of people happy, especially our Moms and Dads and served Jesus at the same time.
Every class had different color green hands. It made it fun to look up at the tree and to be able to find our very own Lady Bugs serving hands. Mrs. Kim & Laurie thought of everything.Our next stop was to the Backyard Bible room .
We met several people from the Bible like Miriam who took care of her brother Moses; Four Men who took their friend to Jesus; a Samaritan man who helped an injured man; Zacchaeus pictured up in the tree, who met Jesus and decided to help his community; and Peter and John who served Jesus by showing His love and power to others.
As you can imagine, all of this excitement can make any Lady Bug really hungry. Mrs. Mindy had her very own Snack Shack ready for us. We just followed the wonderful smells wafting through the halls.
Mrs. Mindy made sure that we enjoyed lots of yummy treats every day at snack time. I'm sure that every Lady Bug probably had a personal favorite treat! Mine was everything chocolate!
The Lady Bugs had our own Craft Corner. It was our very own special room. Mrs. Geri and her team had lots of crafts ready for us. We painted flower pots and even got to glue jewels onto them. We put soil in them and planted flowers too.
The bigger kids had much bigger and harder crafts than we did, but they also had lots of helpers serving them. Mrs. Geri has a great team working and serving with her.After working so hard, we were ready for Recreation to run, play and just have fun. Check out a few of our games.
We got our very own rides.
Some really fun races!
Fun!
Fun!
So much fun!We all had to learn our Theme Song and our very own special Class song.
Melody and Harmony made the Music so much fun. They are alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic for sure!All week long we practiced and practiced so that we could put on a special show for our parents .
All of our hard work paid off. We sounded great and our parents loved the show.We went outside afterward and enjoyed a delicious Cookout. The food was good, but my favorite was the brownies and ice cream.
Lots and lots of people stayed outside to enjoy a nice sunny afternoon together.
Our very own Brian & Chip manned the grills and served us all!
Did you have fun ? I think this little girlie girl is giving us 2 thumbs up!So, when asked "Did we have a blast serving Jesus? Do we have fun serving Jesus? The answer most surely is......
And it was on Sunday that God revealed to me that I was being selfish. I have been worrying about my son who is serving God on a 6 week missions trip this summer in the Ukraine. I've been missing him. And then I looked over and saw her. The mother of this amazing young man.
You guessed it. Kim. Her son, Doug, is serving God and country in Afghanistan on a 6 month tour of duty. That's his summer vacation. He spent his holiday weekend literally fighting for my freedom. He didn't get to go to a parade, watch fireworks, hear the Pops in Boston, attend a family barbeque.
Doug and his buddies have endured many difficult trials while serving in Afghanistan. They put their lives on the line each and every day. Kim shares his letters with our small group. I have heard her voice tremble as she tells us of the reality of war, the dangers her son is in daily. 
So forgive me for being selfish about missing my child. He's safe. He sleeps well each night. He's protected. 
We've added another member to our Witness Protection Plan... Who are thosed masked people??
