VBS 2010

Our Vacation Bible School was held the 16-20th of August. It is hard to know where to start in telling you about this amazing week. NO church does VBS like Bible Baptist Church in Prairie du Chien, WI. No one. This is the most fantastic, exhausting week. We love it. We canvass our town for weeks leading up to VBS. We put ads in the paper....we use the radio station....we put posters up everywhere we go. God blesses VBS. Parents come to church because of VBS. We meet 100's of new kids each year because of VBS....

I had the privilege of teaching the 11-13 year old girls class. I love this age. We had a great class and I didn't have one problem with any of them. On Monday night we started out with 28 girls. Praise the Lord. I told the girls, though, that I wanted to pack out our room....I wanted it to be so full that I couldn't even move. God answered that prayer, and on Wednesday night there were 40 girls. I couldn't move. The girls were packed so tightly...and we loved every minute of it.




God is so good.

Wednesday we had 248 in attendance. On Friday night each year we have a 'carnival'....our gym is full of booths with games and prizes while outside we have a bounce house, a zip line, 4 wheeler rides and FOOD, FOOD, FOOD....all of this can be purchased with the Vacation Bible School money that they kids earned throughout the week. Every carnival we have sooooooooooo many parents come. It is impossible to count how many people were there on Friday, but they couldn't fit into our auditorium. PRAISE THE LORD.

God is good.

I am thankful for VBS. I am thankful for the exhaustion it brings. I am thankful for the visitors and new families that we meet each year. I am thankful for the 70 professions of faith that were made during the week.

GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner....or maybe lunch??

The busy-ness of last week's Vacation Bible School has started to subside, and this week we will be back to our abnormal 'normal' schedule. I am glad! My house needs a good scrubbing and laundry needs to be done....so much got put on the back burner for VBS. I will tell all about our amazing week, but I wanted to share a story with you.

God loves me.

He does.

He loves me best of all. :) I know I have said it before, but I truly believe it!!!

Last Saturday my husband and I went on a date. We had been given a gift card and also babysitting time for my husband's birthday. We arrived at the restaurant at about 4:00 p.m.. When we were seated we were given the dinner menu. We looked at it, and although everything sounded wonderful, one entree was more that our entire gift card. Not a problem, really, but like any other couple in the ministry, or any other couple PERIOD we like to try and be economical. So, we were looking and trying to figure out if we should share an entree and or exactly what we should do.

The greeter who had showed us to our seats came out several minutes later and said, "The cook has just informed me that our dinner menu will not be available for at least another hour. We do apologize for the inconvenience, but you will have to order from the lunch menu."

SEE???? Jesus loves me BEST!!!!!!!!! We each ordered what we wanted and had $.43 cents left on our gift card when we left.

"I LOVE YOU, DEBBIE!" I heard Jesus say. And I happily replied, "I see you Jesus....and I love you, too!!!!!!!!!!"

Do I really believe?

We had a funeral at our church today. A funeral for a man who was only 61 years old. He was diagnosed with leukemia and within a week he had passed away. A sudden loss, to be sure. This man leaves behind 4 daughters - all in their early 20's, and a 7 week old grandson. He was greatly loved and will be greatly missed.

As I talked to the family, both at the hospital and at the funeral, one daughter in particular was especially struggling. This man had trusted Christ as his Saviour, as had his wife and 4 daughters - Praise the Lord. As I talked with this young lady I reminded her of Heaven....and while it seems so far away right now, the time she and her dad will have there will make this temporary world look like a grain of sand on the seashore. While she knew these things to be true, her heart truly was not comforted....she found no comfort in Heaven. My heart broke for her.

As I laid in bed last night I began praying for this family, and for this young lady in particular. As I prayed I thought, "She would not be nearly as brokenhearted if she truly believed in Heaven.....if she truly thought that Heaven is real."

I am not doubting her salvation for one moment, but I think that she has lost the realness of Heaven. How could the promise of Heaven NOT be a comfort.....streets of gold, no sickness, no crying, no bills, no struggles, no separation, no cancer, no foreclosure, no night.....JESUS!!!! What a comfort it is for ME when I think of all these things.

For a moment last night I think, to my shame, I began to think a bit too highly of myself...."I truly believe in Heaven....I truly think it's real!!"

The Lord very quickly brought me back to myself when He brought this thought to my mind, "What about Hell? Do you truly believe in Hell? Do you truly believe it is real?"

OF COURSE I do!!!! Hell is real.

"If you truly believe that Hell is real, why doesn't that belief change the way you live? Why aren't you telling more people about Jesus so they can escape Hell? If you TRULY believe that there is a Hell - why isn't that belief affecting your behavior?"

I laid there stunned. I SAY that I believe in a literal Hell. I SAY that I believe that those who do not accept Christ will go there. I SAY these things.....but do I really believe?

Do I really believe?

My actions do NOT back up what I say I believe. I do not take EVERY opportunity to tell others about Jesus. I do not always notice the lost souls around me. I am not always conscious of the fact that HELL IS REAL and I must tell everyone of Jesus. I am going to change that...with the Lord's help, I am going to change that.

Yes, I believe in a literal Heaven with its untold wonders....joy forevermore.
Yes, I believe in a literal Hell where those who reject Christ will spend eternity....eternal torment.

My life, by God's grace, will prove that I truly do believe.

I really do believe.