Vacation Bible School

Do you remember going to Vacation Bible School? I was just helping my sister, who is extraordinary with children, prepare for this year's VBS. And in the last few days, I have found such pleasure in recalling my childhood VBS's. I don't remember the different curriculums, but I do remember the sweltering heat of the Deep South. Then filing in with other children into the cold church sanctuary. I remember round cookies that had holes in the middle. I remember putting them on my fingers and eating around and around. I remember too sweet fruit drinks in tiny wax cups. I remember making things with glue, beans, and other things that would be gifts for Mama, Papa, Lisa or Richard. I remember laughing and singing. Just last night I realized that VBS is where I learned John 3:16. What a beautiful legacy. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him, shall not perish, but have evelasting life." If you have children, please take them to a VBS this summer. If you don't, please volunteer in some way. What better gift than to make sure a child learn John 3:16 this summer.
Lara

Sheltered by His Shadow

Shadows can be cold, dark and lonely places. It's where the heroine always runs to hide. Then just when she thinks she's safe, BAM, the killer finds her. But, are all shadows bad? Can they be intimate and beautiful places? What about the times we reach out with the Hands of Christ? What about when we watch with His Eyes and listen with His Ears. Or, more appropriately, we are supposed to be doing those things through Him? Do those we are ministering to see me? Or Christ? I believe that unless we place His Cross between ourselves and the needy, they will only see the doer. That can only bring glory to us, when we are called to glorify our Lord. Is the shadow of the Cross a cold, dark and lonely place? Not anymore! It was to the One Who was crucified upon it, but not to us. It becomes a shelter. A place of healing as well as atonement. Is it a comfortable place for us? Probably not, as I am learning more and more that He is not overly concerned with my comfort zone. He tends to focus more on the eternal. But in the 'eternal' run, there is no other place to take shelter. Let's live there, work there, and die there.

See you 'In The Shadow',
Lara