Yesterday was a very good day at our church and it kicked off what I anticipate will be an outstanding week. As for my musings …

-All our Vacation Bible School decorations and props are in place and the church looks amazing. There wasn’t much room for me to move around while I preached yesterday. We have a large wrecked ship, a large Tiki hut and several other items on our platform. It is awesome. The hallways are all decorated and there is even a tunnel to get into the story room. Makes me wish I was a kid again.

-We remembered, and paid tribute to, 3 of our members who passed away in this past year. It was a perfect day to do that because all 3 of them loved kids and loved seeing children at church.

-We had a special time of prayer specifically for all the VBS workers.

-We have over 40 people helping in some capacity this week. That is a phenomenal response from the adults and teens in our church.

-The theme of VBS is Shipwrecked and the purpose is to teach the children that God is a rescuer. My message yesterday was on the Promises of Rescue we have.

-There was good energy yesterday when the service began. It started with the theme song of VBS, then a skit that introduced what the children will be learning this week and it was great. We had some congregational singing and people were engaged. Our time of honoring our members who have passed was very special and the time of prayer was great. Our children were the greeters at all the doors today and they were the ushers during the offering.

-Our attendance was very good.

-We are rejoicing that we now have a new roof on the church and the parsonage. The timing was great because we finally got some rain yesterday.

-The weather has been very mild the past few days, which allowed my wife and I turn off the A/C and have the windows open for 3 days. That is unheard of at the end of July.

-We are still raising the money to finish paying for our new roof. The faithful giving of our people, and the wise stewardship by our church board, allowed us to have a major portion of it on hand before the project started. Now we have a few weeks to raise the rest.

-Missing my kids and grandkids who are serving in Africa a lot right now.

-Looking forward to spending some time with our kids and grandkids who are stateside next week.

-Praying a lot for some of the ministries, and groups, that we plan to begin after school begins.

-Last week was the finish of summer conditioning and open gyms for volleyball. This week is a dead week as far as contact with the players. In 9 or 10 days we begin tryouts and then regular practices. I am excited for that to begin.

-Praying that many children will come to faith in Christ this week. Praying some children will sense a special call from God for ministry. Praying that many families will be drawn to Christ by what they see and hear from their children this week. Praying for adequate energy for the adults who are serving in VBS this week.

Here’s hoping that you have some special times of prayer this week and that you sense you are being prayed for by others.

Dennis