Mt. Kilimanjaro Comes to Denver

Last week Carrie and Rose spent most of the week in Denver helping friends with a vacation Bible School.

Emily Albertson, Joanna Johnston, Carrie, Crystal Hunt, Rose, and Julie Hunt are six of the girls who participated in helping. I managed to get this quick snap of them after we arrived for the Sunday morning VBS program.

Emily and Rose manning the registration and ticket table on Friday evening.

The theme was about Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, using African animals for part of the themes.

The children learned about the elephant's ears, for example, and how we need to not just hear God's Word but do it.

They learned about the giraffe's large heart, and how we need to trust Christ with our heart.

The hippo's mouth taught to be kind with our mouths.

The monkey's hands taught us to do good.

The cheetah's feet taught us to run away from evil and to walk with the wise.

About 36 children attended altogether the various nights. A lot of work went into this VBS!

I loved how these ladies had found jungle or zebra striped tops at the goodwill!

The children's very favorite part was this puppet which Janet Albertson skillfully managed.

Some excellent lessons got across, as well as laughable moments such as when the puppet was blowing her nose and dropped the tissue!

Friday evening even I was asked to help man the stations outdoors for little games and activities.

For each activity completed successfully, the children received tickets which they could later trade for prizes.

Here, a VBS girl is doing the "fruit basket walk."

Here the children must take off their shoes and lift five marbles out of the water with their toes--

like a monkey!

Hannah is trying it out here.

I think the children loved this activity!

 In this activity, children were shown these African animals before they were put into this bag, and then they must reach inside without looking and choose one and guess which one it was by feeling.

 In this activity, the children had to choose one of these African animal eyes and guess what animal it belonged to.

 Then there was snack time and prize time.

There were hot dogs and these yummy cookies Carrie had made that afternoon.

Here was a sample snack that had been made the day of the monkey's hands lesson.

A plastic glove stuffed with popcorn!

 There were lots of fun posters hanging around the sanctuary.

That Friday being around Timmy's birthday, he was very happy to spend some fun time in the afternoon in the swimming pool with the Albertson boys.

I had brought sloppy joe, potato salad and fruit for supper.

Little Jonathan watching the boys swim.

Back to the evening VBS. Here is Mt. Kilimanjaro with a jungle jeep added in and a camping tent!

 Joy even had a volcano experiment to do!

Joanna practicing the fruit basket walk.

After the service, I drove us all the way home. We had brought Joanna, Julie, and Crystal Hunt home with us as well. Here I've dropped them off at the nearby park and they are heading to the field to play games.

It was a fun day for them all, I think.

It was such a privilege to have these lovely young ladies in our home.

Here they've joined us for family worship--followed by teaching each other tricks we or they have learned, and introducing them to the famous "Ooga Booga Club"!

Timmy enjoys opening birthday gifts and reading birthday cards.

This is Sunday morning back up in Denver. 

Unfortunately, many VBS children couldn't show up. Three had to attend a grandmother's funeral, some were still asleep, and others were absent for other reasons.

 Still, the program was very interesting.

Here one of the littlest girls gets to show us the elephant's big ears that teach us to listen and do God's will.

Another little boy gets to hold the cheetah that teaches us to run fast away from temptation and evil and to choose our friends carefully,

because he who walks with wise friends shall be wise.

Randy with his striped black and white shirt tells how many meals would be paid for with the money the VBS raised for hungry children in Africa.

Meanwhile, little 14-mo.old Jewelyn kept leaning over her seat in front of Jonathan and me, handing him all sorts of treasures that she was finding in one of the girls' purses!

For lunch, the big crew scattered around through the house and the yard to eat a delicious taco salad that we all contributed to.

Again, I took several kinds of fruit for a fruit plate. 

Looks like some cantaloupe has already gotten snatched away!

It was a very fun time for our children, and a great ministry experience once again for Carrie and Rose.

Mouse in the Pantry!

This is one mama that cannot abide mice in her pantry.

In all the fourteen years we have lived here in this house, we've succeeded to have only a few episodes of mice in our house.

In the garage, yes, but not in the house.

And I know, most people don't take pictures of the mouse droppings they discover one day in their pantry shelf.

But I do. 

Because--as I was gagging over this disgusting sight that met my eyes, and getting a rag and starting to clean it up (and yeah, it must have been those spilled peanuts that attracted the mouse,

but how on earth did a mouse get all the way to this high a shelf?)

well, as I was saying, I was in the middle of cleaning up those black things

when I had to look closer, and I discovered that they weren't mouse droppings!

They were grains of black rice from this bag!!

What an enormous relief!

So I wasn't this awful mama, after all, who has mice in her pantry!

And what a relief it is to discover in other ways, too,

that what we think are mouse droppings,

what we think are bad, dreadful, disgusting circumstances or events in our lives,

can be turned by God into something useful down the road.

What we think has been a ruinous mouse in our pantry

could turn out to be seed grain--something life giving and fruitful, something from which we will gain strength if we humbly accept it into our lives, 

work with it, 

absorb it,

digest it,

learn from it.

We need to also watch that we take closer looks at what appears to be bad things in our own or other people's lives.

Because what we misunderstood to be black mouse droppings might be black rice--

something to make a unique and tasty dish from.

What appears to be a disaster or a tragedy can be used by God as a gift to us.

What appears to be an action or attitude that had a wrong motive--

may, after inquiry or closer scrutiny, have been something truly meant well.

It is kind of embarrassing to call attention to mouse droppings, and to react by making a commotion and grabbing rags and disinfectant spray,

only to discover that it is black rice!

 It can be kind of humiliating to call something a toad,

or a frog or a salamander,

and then discover we had the story backwards and upside down--

or at least dreadfully skewed.

Thankfully, some mouse dropping stories have a good ending.

And thankfully not all the clouds on the horizon end up bringing hail to our gardens.

There is more knee work than we know what to do with--

and not just mopping up the floor with a rag because the mop handle broke in two.

Heavenly Father, there are plenty of mice and little black problems all around us,

but help us not to suspicion every black grain of rice in our pantry as a mouse dropping!

Teach us to live freely, openly, fully and trustingly.

Let Your blood cleanse every stain, and cover all the areas in which we need to improve.

Wash us in Your blood,
and keep us in Your wonderful care!

Tent Meeting Rainbow--Glimpse of Grace

Last week tent meeting was held as usual in our church parking lot. The evangelist was Mike Avery, GBS College president, who brought outstanding messages. My favorite was Thursday's with the following quotes or similar as he preached about confessing one's sins:

"Confessors have a liberty that deniers do not have."

 

And "Where did this heresy come from that if you are sanctified you can do no wrong?"

He talked about how if one is truly sanctified, he would be the first to humble himself when he messes up--because the best of us mess up at times.  

Also that same evening during the music time (Derald and Kim Hunt were singers) a storm blew through and the tent was ballooning and flapping and I ended up just plain scared so silly that I grabbed Hannah and Danny and got us three out of there in a hurry.

Too bad what people thought--I planned to stay safe with my little ones!

So while I was standing at the back corner of the tent, kind of weak and shaky, all the rest of the people stayed nicely seated in their seats whether they were scared or not. 

I felt silly. 

But I decided, (confession time) that the best way to deal with my fears was to listen to them this time and just find a safe spot from which I could actually enjoy the music (which was flying off the piano)

instead of sitting under the middle of the tent staring at the swaying tent poles and billowing tarp.

And then, weak and tired, I moved further back to sit down on some bricks near the parsonage.

And when I did, this is what I saw.

None of the brave, stalwart, courageous, unflappable people saw what I saw. 

Only the poor little lady that was scared silly of all the flapping, and her little son all wrapped up in his blanket saw this beautiful rainbow arched right over the tent and church. 

And just so God sometimes sends His little glimpses of grace not to the fine and brave and strong,

not to the pious worshippers or the nice, polite people who don't want to discourage the platform workers,  or to the politically correct.

But to the weak and weary, the shaky and embarrassed and failing to measure up--

He sends His little glimpses of grace. 

Well, we've been doing up corn lately.

And when a friend sends home with us an eleven-year-old who needs some time in the country,

he joins the work crew!

 He did wonder why it had to be so chilly in July! Even Sam was wearing a jacket!

 When there is a a lily-white, spindly boy from the city, this is one mom that hides a twinkle in her eye and sets him to work helping the other boys carry tubs of corn husks to the steers 

and things like that.

This is one mom that doesn't think it wrong to invent work to do or projects to enjoy or games to play--

anything to keep boys from computer game addiction.

 And here is Sam, having just gotten his drivers' license.

 And then Carrie and Rose left to spend this week helping with a VBS in Denver with friends,

so this mom is up to her ears with all the work the girls usually do!

Talk about load after load of laundry!

   

 And then I realize I need to send a wedding card to the oldest son of my dear friends Andy and Shirleen Troyer, who is getting married this Saturday. 

And in searching for a wedding poem I'd written long ago to copy into a homemade card, I found this poem I'd written, too.

  The Joy of the Lord is My Strength

There is too much joy in this world of ours

To complain about weeds and not notice flowers;

To whine at the thorn prick and not smell the rose,

To think only about our troubles and woes. 

There is too much joy to sit down and mope.

There's a lot of despair, but oh, so much hope!

Under the cloud is a rainbow's bright glow,

And the whirling blizzard leaves glistening snow.

Affliction's furnace leaves purest gold.

The kneading of pottery--a lovely mold.

The crushing of grapes--delicious wine;

The pruning of branches--a fruitful vine. 

Loneliness makes us appreciate

A hand to hold, a smile at the gate.

A noisy houseful of girls and boys

Brings with it a cartload of childhood's joys. 

For children remind us that the simplest of things

Bring such treasures of joy--a bird on the wing,

A newly hatched chick, the first daffodil,

A kite on the breeze, a bloom on the sill. 

But as adults, we, too, must learn

There's joy in hardship, and not to spurn

The trials of life that wear us down.

If we overcome, we shall wear a crown. 

There is joy in the Lord when earth's joys grow dim;

There is something to praise for if we wait upon Him.

If we serve Him for love, not for what we will gain,

We'll find blessings will shower like tropical rain. 

We're not all alone when we try to do right,

Though we walk here by faith and not by mere sight.

God's presence is there when others are gone

To lift up our load when we can't carry on.

His strength in our weakness, His lamp in our night,

His smile in our heartache makes everything right.

So we look to the heavens--the sun and the rain

Show us a glorious rainbow again!