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.

Needy, oh so needy!

"But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me:
thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God."
Psalm 40:17

I know that I need - I MUST HAVE - Jesus every day, but there are days, like today, when I am reminded over and over and over......that I need Him....I need Him so badly. I canNOT do life without Him.

As I sat on my deck today reading and praying I just closed my eyes and begged God for His wisdom - His help. I reminded Him of what He already knows so well - I am a needy creature. I am helpless without Him. I am a mess. I NEED JESUS. With tears in my eyes I asked Him for His help and for His wisdom. I know He will help and I know that He will give wisdom...I am so thankful for that, but then I realized how frustrated God must get with me. He is ever willing and WANTING to help, but so many times I wait until I am at the breaking point before I really, REALLY reach out to Him.

Why do I do that?

Am I so forgetful that I just forget to ask?
Am I so busy that I don't take time to ask?
Am I so full of pride that I think that I can just struggle through alone?


It is probably a sad mixture of all those things - and others. How pathetic I am.....but how loved I am......Jesus takes ME: a forgetful, too-busy, prideful person and He LOVES me. HE LOVES ME. He knows I am needy, YET - THE LORD THINKETH ON ME!!! (I might just have to AMEN myself right there!!! :))
The Lord thinketh on needy 'ole me!

I am needy - YOU are needy, yet the Lord thinketh on me...He thinketh on YOU!!

Praise the Lord!!!!

Family Devotions

Each night we have a family Bible time together. Audrey is usually in bed by this time - a 20 month old has a hard time sitting still. :)

On Saturday night my husband was telling the kids a Bible story, as he always does. The story that night was about Lot, his family and the destruction of Sodom. Now our 8 year old listens carefully. He pays attention and really thinks about what is being said.

Our 4 year old lives in another world. She lives in a world filled with imaginary friends, imaginary trips....a world in which she doesn't have to take a nap or eat broccoli. She is hilarious, but more often than not, she is in this pretend world during devotions.

After the Bible story my husband will ask a few questions - just to make sure that they were listening...even a little.

He asked our son a question - his answer was right, of course.
He asked our daughter, "What happened to Lot's wife when she turned back? What did she turn into?"

Her answer:
"A pillow."

"No, not a pillow...a PILLAR. A pillar of what?"


Her answer:
"Of sauce."

So, obviously, Lot's wife was turned into a 'pillow of sauce'.

That is right, folks.....the Dolls are rewriting the Bible, one family devotion at a time. :)

Catching Up....

Last week my parents came for a visit. They live in Michigan, and while that isn't 'the other side of the world', it is just far enough that visits don't come as often as any of us would prefer.



I am blessed with amazing parents. They are on staff at a church in Michigan and they are such hard workers.

My dad was called to preach when I was young, and when I was in 6th grade we moved to Northwest Indiana for my dad to attend Bible College. He worked and provided for his family while in college AND got all A's!!!! I remember times when all we had to eat were potatoes, but my dad never complained. I don't know that I have EVER heard him complain....and I KNOW there have been many, MANY times when he wanted to - and probably would have been 'justified' in doing so, but he didn't. I am so thankful for my dad!

I always tell my mom that she is a loon! HA....and I mean that in the nicest way....really. My mom is a crazy woman with an amazing energy and zest. She NEVER stops....nothing stops her - not even when she had cancer almost 3 years ago. She is hilarious and will do ANYTHING.

I am blessed.

I am so thankful for the time my kids have to be around their grandparents....learning from them and loving them.

Sooooo much!!!

I know that you have been on the edge of your seat waiting for me to have a new entry in my blog! :) I do have so much to write about.....my parents came for a visit, my husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary, and we had a great tour group sing at our church, to name a few things....

So, I will post about these things....I will.....

But, first....

Laundry.

I will be right back.

(If you don't hear from me in 24 hours please call for help.... :))