Hot Week in Missouri

This was quite a week. I had intended on working at camp every day but Wednesday and Friday when I would be working at the clock shop. As it turned out, I worked in the kitchen at camp Monday and Tuesday, leaving kitchen work long enough to play the keyboard and on Tuesday night I enjoyed singing with my boy.

Bro. Dignen was a great preacher and 5 souls were saved. Spencer outdid himself on the videos. They were super funny.

There seemed to be a very good spirit there and that was confirmed when I asked one of my bus riders this morning to tell me what she learned at camp. She quickly brought out all the notes she took and I was impressed with what she told me. Lord, please help that be long-lasting wisdom in her life.

On Wednesday, I got a call while at work from Leighanne, who had a bit of a problem since her babysitter had gotten sick. I agreed to take the children to their own house and spend Wednesday night through Friday morning with them. All went well. Jackson woke up at 4:30 Thursday morning crying for his daddy. I changed him and gave him a bottle. He continued to cry for another 30 minutes while I stood outside his door. He didn't awaken again until 8AM.

On Thursday night I realized that I didn't have an alarm clock so I asked Maleah to wake me at 6:30 so that I could get the kids ready for Liz to pick them up at 7:30. Unfortunately, at 4:45. Joselyn got up from the mattress beside the bed Jordyn and I were sleeping in to tell me she was having a nightmare. I just let her in the bed. That was the last wink of sleep I got until late that night.

Today was a blessing, after knowing that I really was in no mood for visitation or anything on Saturday, it's amazing what the Lord does in spite of us sometimes. We ended up with 22 on the bus and one of those was a first time visitor.

The Lord is so good. I was absolutely worn out when I got home Friday afternoon. I decided to not even go to RU. When I get overly tired, my thoughts are not good and I just want to give up. But while sitting here at the computer after bus visitation, I decided to check out Bro. Dignen's webpage. There I found this message:
http://www.bbcjc.com/MP3%20Files/August/August%2019,%202007%20AM.mp3
It was such a blessing. I do feel like we never give an out for physical exhaustion. As one that wants to be a part of the Lord's work and is not afraid of work, I do feel like I am going to collapse sometimes. Of course I know better but it seems as if we don't have permission to rest when God certainly told Elijah that he needed to rest.

In spite of my thoughts and my weakness, God blessed with a nice bus load and sweet children once again. I found myself, though physically tired, exhilarated at what the Lord had done. Praise the Lord for one more week accomplished. Now, ahead is Junior week at camp and then beginning Sunday night will be VBS and the busses are running every night through Wednesday. HELP.....we need more workers in the field!!!

Summer Schedule

Will I make it? That is the question.

Yesterday was a good day on the bus. We ended up with 15 kids on the bus. We also had 3 first timers. They were all such precious little ones.

This morning begins Teen Camp week. I need to leave here by 9 so I can get my keyboard set up. I am going to play for some of the services. I will also be working in the kitchen and taking lots of pictures. I so enjoyed that last year.

The next week will be Junior week and I will be doing the same thing. Then on Sunday night, July 25, we will begin four nights of VBS. The busses will be running so that will mean four late nights. I need the Lord's strength and power. I pray that our work will not be in vain.

Hello Again!

It has been way too long since I posted anything to this blog. I really did like the way it looked and I think I will try to resume my writing here again.

I am now back in the bus ministry. I no longer have the Pevely route but instead am working the Festus route. For many reasons that is much easier than Pevely. The ride is not as long so, less time on the hot bus in the summer and less time on the cold bus in the winter.

The flip side to that is that we have less time to have a program and less time to interact with the children. The following story is exactly why I decided to start blogging again. I don't want to forget the details of this.

Back in early spring, I started visiting at a home very close to the church. I had seen a number of children playing in the yard so I stopped. From that stop I began to pick up several but the two little boys from the yard where they were playing never would come. The mother had been very friendly and had told the oldest one, who was in the third grade that he could go if he wanted. The younger boy was only four and she really didn't know if she trusted him on the bus or not. The older one was a bit shy and for some reason didn't want to go. He would say he was coming but then he would have time to think about it and back out by the morning. I continued to visit every Saturday, always leaving candy for both.

I believe it may have been the end of May that the older one came with the next door neighbors and really enjoyed himself. Soon he brought his little brother and they both have been having a real good time.

Saturday, I got out of the car with my flyers and bucket of candy. Little J----- was next door and came running. I threw open my arms and he ran right into them for a big hug. He is just precious.

This morning, they both got on the bus, giving "high fives" to the bus driver and excited about church. They love to go to the back but soon decided they might like to come to the front. The yougest said to me , "Chuch Lady, are we gonna sing?" His little eyes were just dancing. I promised him we sure would in a few minutes. ( My problem is that I take the roll and can't sing while doing that, so it is hard to have a program. I must do something about that.)

We worked on our memory verse: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." If you haven't figured out, Little J doesn't pronounce his words very well yet. I think this was the way he repeated it. "Bwessed ith the nation whose God is the ward." He was so precious and like a little sponge as he listened to every word that was being said.

When we got to church, we got our 6(It was July 4th remember)charges to their classes. I was down the hall making sure that the three got into the five year old and 1st grade classes. I heard a sweet little voice saying "That's my Chuch Lady! Hi Chuch Lady!!" It was the little 4 year old who was being taken to the restroom by his teacher.

I'll tell you, those two little boys are worth any sacrifice that may be done to teach them the Word of God. They are so sweet and hungry to be loved and taught. Once again my eyes are opened to the needs of our community. There are little J's all over Festus, and I would like to reach as many as possible.

Thank you, Lord for this opportunity!