Summer Spectacular 2009 (Vacation Bible School)

The week has come to an end - I'm exhausted but sad to see that it's all over. It went by too fast and seems like it was just Monday morning. The theme this year was "Transformed to be like Christ" and I had the privilege of shepherding 4th grade this year. Last year I shepherded 3rd grade so I had a few of the same girls (including Lauren!) come and find me this year which was so much fun! I had a total of 12 kids (11 girls and 1 boy) - I know... brave boy!!! He was too cute. When he came and chose my row I told him there were other open groups with boys in them and his response was "Oh no, I'm used to it! I have 4 sisters!" Okay... whatever ya say!! He was a trooper with all of us girls and Chad was actually able to join me Thursday and Friday and co-shepherd my group so he had at least 1 other guy :)

Tyler had a blast in the preschool area with his activities. The preschoolers pretty much participate in a lot of the same activities as the elementary kids and have music, snack, storytime, etc., just on a different level.

Monday was T-Shirt Day, Tuesday was Twin Day, Wednesday was Crazy Clothes Day, Thursday was Crazy Hair Day and Friday was T-Shirt Day again. The closing to the program and the energy in the sanctuary today was breathtaking and nearly brought tears to my eyes watching 1,200 kids (some of whom have ever been to church and at the beginning of the week had no idea who Jesus was) sing and dance and worship! It was quite a sight! As tiring as it has been, it has been worth every second of it knowing that you're making an eternal impact in these kids' lives. I'm praying that I continue to see my kids in Flight School every weekend, especially a couple of them in my group who don't attend church. We had such a fun time and can't wait for next year!

A few of the pictures are from my camera but they had a ton of people walking around with cameras to every age group and activity all week long so I took a few from thehangar.org that they captured of my group and of Tyler. Enjoy!!

* Tyler all ready to go! They don't make the shirts small enough for the toddlers so I just took a childs small, cut out the logo and verse on the back and sewed it on a shirt that fit him - It was super cute! *

* Our verse for this year came out of Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed but the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will."

* My 4th graders on Day 1 *
* Tyler on Day 2 - Twin Day. I was going to be Tyler's twin but realized I hadn't done laundry in over a week.. so anything that we could potentially match with was dirty... Oh well... *
* Lauren and I on Day 3 - Crazy Clothes Day *
* Tyler in the Toddler room on Day 3 - for crazy clothes I put him in boardshorts with a sweater vest, LOL *
* Day 4 - Crazy Hair Day! *
* Chad and I during Pastor H's morning devotion on Day 4 *
* The Priest Fam on Day 5 *
* Tyler on a buggy ride - he loves the buggy! *
* Playing Red Rover during snack - we played A LOT of Red Rover this week *
* My 4th graders before the closing * We were missing 2 girls today :(
* The tough boys of our group *
* The Closing on Day 5 *
The mission we supported this year at Summer Spectacular was The Narrow Door. The kids are asked to bring quarters everyday and if they reach the goal of $10,000 by Friday then Pastor Thune, Dave (missionary of Narrow Door) and Pastor H get slimed! We ended up raising over $12K this week to give to The Narrow Door!!! This local ministry gives boxes of food, every week, to families in need here in the desert - mostly in parks in Thermal and Coachella. It brought great awareness to some of the poverty and living conditions of those who are just 10 minutes away from our house. Chad and I are looking forward to serving with the Narrow Door in the coming weeks/months.