Where have we been? In Bethlehem Inn {Part 1}

Whew!!!  What a whirlwind December was!!
So much so that it nearly knocked the wind out of my sails,

and rendered me in need of a sabbatical for a few weeks!!
I had writer's block.
It always seems to happen that way.

And here we are.

Already half-way through February!!!
We've been enjoying the less hurried pace of these deep winter months
early in the new year, and I'm finding my voice again.

In December, our family was consumed with the Christmas production at our church.
It was the very first year we did anything like this and it was amazing!!

I had the privilege of directing this and it was a 12-month labor of love!
When we walked in the doors of our church back in May of 2007, I felt immediately
that this was a place that had the potential of doing amazing things to tell the story
of Jesus's love for us through drama.
But I never envisioned that it would be another 11 years for us
to be ready for something of this magnitude.
Through a friend at a former church in Michigan, I heard about this amazing story.
When I first presented the idea to our Music Minister several years ago,
we had to shelf it because of some administrative transitions happening.
We finally received the all-clear in the middle of 2017, and my kitchen lady and I were sent
to Michigan that December to view it first hand and bring it back to our church in Texas.
What a glorious blessing it was to watch so many of our people work so joyfully
together, to use their talents and skills to create beautiful crafts and art work and all the costumes,
and to meet so many new people in our community eager to be a part of this.
So many of our people didn't know a lot of the new members and many new
friendships were forged as they collaborated together.
But most importantly was the incredible spirit of unity
as we worked together to tell the story of Jesus and how He came to us in our mess
to ultimately die to pay the price for our sins.
So much joy!!!

Vacation Bible School!!

During the last full week of May, we sent Lexi off with my Mom

back to Ohio where Lexi visited for 8 days.

I prepared for and coordinated a beautiful wedding over the weekend,

and the following Monday the rest of our family jumped in to a fun week

packed with energy, excitement, surprises, and ministry!!

We have only two children left 

who are eligible to participate in VBS as students now,

but the older three were very eager to participate as helpers.

One thing that I love about our church family is that there is no age

turned away when it comes to ministering.

It is clearly understood that we were all created to glorify God

and is it routine practice for teenagers to learn to serve in a variety of capacities!

Ashlyn was a helper in the three-year old class.

Grant was a game time assistant, and Abby was a craft time assistant.

Anytime a group of believers comes together for the purpose of reaching the lost

the devil goes into overdrive and the spiritual battles become intense.

Our great enemy tries to distract and discourage us in a fascinating

variety of ways that never cease to amaze me!

I'm not as surprised by his wily ways as I get older

 and see this pattern nearly every time now.

This year was no different.

Usually here in Texas, it stops raining for the summer around the 1st of June.

So imagine our surprise when we had several unexpected strong thunderstorms

come through our area, usually overnight, causing some kind of freak damage.

On Monday evening, that exact thing happened

 and an electric pole on our church property snapped in two

resulting in a loss of electricity to the entire facility.

It took the local utility company the entire morning to repair this damage

which meant there was no other choice but to cancel VBS on Tuesday.

A first for Worth Baptist Church.

Oh, the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth as children {and parents}

from all over the Fort Worth area learned this terrible news.

What a trick!!!

But we saw through Satan's guise and wouldn't let this get us down.

Instead, we rested and refreshed and went gung-ho in the rest of the week!!

23 children came to know Christ as their Savior because of the tireless

efforts of God's people in spite of that set back.

This year, I had the incredible privilege of leading the 5-year old class.

We had an average of 18 kids per day in this class,

and they were adorable fun and wiggly!!

Every year I participate, it seems there is that one child who comes as a visitor

that presents us with very special challenges.

In the past, it was children with language barriers from a local refugee housing

complex who had a difficult time following directions,

or the boy from a broken home who came on the bus and didn't 

really even want to be there.

This year, on the very first day, I was presented with a young boy with autism.

Thankfully, he was very verbal, but he struggled with impulse control

and transitioning from one activity to another.

He also seemed very sensitive to loud noises.

It was a challenge to learn how to best communicate with him

and to re-direct his attention when he got frustrated as an activity ended.

My greatest desire was for him to understand how much Jesus loves him,

and I began saying that to him everyday!!

Imagine the blessing it was for me when, on Thursday,

I happily received a completely unsolicited "I love you!"

from this little boy!!!

I don't know if I will ever see him again,

but what a blessing to get to work with him and experience

the love of God through him!!!!