Another VBS Update :)

So last week Caleb gave a wonderfully detailed account of our week working at the VBS in the desert! I won’t bore y’all will everything all over again, but there are a few things that I feel led to share both to update Caleb and for all of you to be encouraged by such an awesome God that we serve. I will limit myself to the story of one little girl in order to do this, although there are many stories I could tell!

As Caleb mentioned, this year’s VBS was a challenge as far as the 5^th-7^th graders were concerned. My co-teacher Erick and I felt like it was just one spiritual battle after another trying to get through to these kids. Several of our boys in particular had absolutely no respect for authority or rules and were nearly uncontrollable in a classroom setting. By Wednesday night we felt completely defeated…I was truly on the verge of tears and felt like I had completely failed my pastor, the kids, and God. But after talking to Pastor Stephen, we had a foolproof plan…even if it killed us and the kids, they WERE going to hear and know the Gospel message goshdarnit! As Caleb described before, we were going to do this in the most unconventional way possible: feed them salty crackers, have them run a race, and then trick them into drinking salty water in order to demonstrate to them the desperate importance for a “living water” that will cause them to never thirst again. Cool plan right? Well, we thought so.

Until the next morning. All was going smooth, right up until the kids drank our salty water. One little girl, Taylor, comes running up to me instantly and shakily sputters out, “I…I….I…I’m ALLERGIC TO SALT!” Crap. I take her by the hand and down to Pastor Stephen’s office, asking her questions about the severity of her allergy and who we could contact in case of a reaction. But all the while my heart was sinking. “Seriously Lord,” I prayed. “I just want one child to know Who You are…and now not only have we lost the attention of the entire class, but I will be responsible for killing a kid.”

Ok, so maybe I overreacted a little bit. But you have to understand that after a week of complete frustration and banging your head against a brick wall, this one little thing on our last day seemed huge. However, the thing I neglected to realize was that despite Satan’s best attempts to bring us down and distract a group of children from knowing their Saviour, God had a perfect and incorruptible plan. He was in absolute control.

So Taylor ended up being fine, and the morning went on as planned. I took the girls into a separate room and we enjoyed some awesome “girl time” of digging into the passage about the Samaritan woman at the well. I had their full attention and they seemed to really connect with what I was teaching them! Praise God!

Now here’s where my story gets REALLY cool! I had been watching Taylor carefully all day (mostly to make sure she wasn’t dying), and I noticed that she seemed a little more quiet and introspective than the day before. She had told me earlier that she had never gone to church before and was interested in learning more about salvation. After our family fun open house night on Friday (wish you could have been there, Caleb!!), Taylor came up to Pastor Stephen alone and asked him if he would teach her how to accept Christ. She came to know the Lord as her Saviour that night in the foyer of my church. The very next Sunday, she and her mom and stepdad were sitting in the service and were welcomed warmly by First Southern Baptist!

Yesterday in church, we had a prayer service. Taylor’s mom stood up and shared an interesting story of her own. A few weeks back, Taylor’s mom had been trying to raise the money to fly Taylor out from Oklahoma where she lived with her dad in order to spend some time with her. Her dad is non-Christian and does not take Taylor to church. Well, just before VBS, Taylor’s mom unexpectedly received a $600 rebate from the online classes she was taking. Completely stunned, she bought a ticket and had Taylor get on an airplane out to CA! Taylor quickly became friends with a military family on base who attends our church and have a daughter her age. This other little girl asked Taylor to come to our VBS as her friend (in order to receive a special prize).

Oh my goodness! I was so overwhelmed as I listened to this story in church yesterday. Here I was all week of VBS, having my pitiful little Jonah moment, complaining to God about how frustrated I was that the kids had such hard, unrepentant hearts and everything felt like such a battle. When all along, even despite potential salt poisonings, “duck suicides,” financial hardships, and everything in between, God had a plan that this one sweet little girl would come all the way from Oklahoma to hear the message of Christ and become saved by His grace. I am so humbled today, thinking about how God’s plan for each of us is so perfect and that He is always in control even when we feel like we are walking in the dark. He will go to great lengths to make sure that everyone gets the chance to know Him and trust Him. I feel so privileged to have gotten to see this important chapter in this girl’s life unfold in such a powerful way. All praise and glory goes to God.

10 Reasons Why I've Been Enjoying My Summer . . .

1. I get to be around my Natey Boy! His latest: “Ticky (my nickname) close your eyes! Let’s play a game.” Me: “Not right now Natey I’m cleaning the kitchen.” Nate: “Close your eyes. Just close them. Now!” Me: “What is it you want to play Nate? I don’t get it.” Nate: “Remember? The Macky Johnny game?” Me: “What???” Then I think about it for a while Macky Johnny . . . “Oh! You mean Marco Polo?” Nate: “Yes! That’s what I mean!” Me: “You’re a dork! You goof ball. . .” then I continue laughing for a while. All of the sudden it dawns on me where he got Macky Johnny from. What a good little Master’s student he’d make! I was then lost in fits of laughter for a couple of minutes.












2. People here have the right view of marriage. This made me laugh really hard too. I reeeaaaallllllyyyyy LOVE this t-shirt. The funny thing is I’d actually wear it. You in Northern CA may have Tractor Supply stores near you. I found this t-shirt there. I’m sure people in the store thought I’d gone off my rocker when I couldn’t quit laughing.






3. I get to train dogs this summer. The one I picked up on Sunday is horrible. But, Lord willing it will have a heart change and turn in to a nice dog. If I actually start to like it, it’ll be a job well done. The puppy I had last week is a doll. Just love him to death. I’ve dreamed of a Great Pyrenees for a few years now and I have to watch my attitude when I think that I still don’t have one but have so far convinced two people to get one. I am happy that I am able to train this little guy though. I gave him to his owner on Sunday and then get him again when I’m done with the Boxer. A month of German Boxer and then back to this baby!



4. I was able to do VBS 2 weeks ago. I was the teacher of the 1st and 2nd grade kids. It is so sobering to think that at least 5 of these kids don’t go to church and don’t have the gospel shared to them on a regular basis . . . I could seriously get depressed about this, but thank God for His sovereignty. I had 26 kids (way too many for one group) and wasn’t able to personally connect with them which was too bad, but that’s ok, as I said before God is sovereign over it all.



5. I get to do Brazilian Jui-Jitsu 1-2 times per week. This is because I only have so many classes for the summer, but I am enjoying it sooooo much! After being thrown in the pool by a mere eagle scout and squinty eyed fellow I decided I must go get some real training! Hahahaha! Just kidding! I’ve been wanting to do this for a year now and just wasn’t able to because it was not really appropriate. However, we found an amazing academy with an amazing teacher and there are a couple of other girls there for me to grapple with :)


6. I get to live out in the country. No street lights shining in my face when I’m sleeping. I can go outside and no one is watching me. I can talk to squirrels and birds and no one looks at me like I’ve lost my noggin. I can watch calves grow up, laugh at the kids down the road, look out for colts when we’re driving into town, make a game of finding fawns in the grass . . . I can look into the wind and breath deeply and people don’t ask me if I’m ok. I can rejoice in the rain and take a walk in it and everyone understands.


7. I am setting up an area on my balcony to do school in this fall. I’ve got potted plants and am hopefully gonna find a deal on a patio chair that I can sit in. So far, I am just busy helping my plants survive through the heat of the summer, but I guess everything takes off again in the fall when it cools down and we start to get rain again.


















8. FOOD. My family understands what good food is. They understand what is precious about sitting down and having good conversation over a cup of coffee. Whether in a sad, rejoicing, or just normal everyday situation, first we have coffee. Desserts are REAL chocolate. Main meals stick and don’t leave a bad aftertaste or a fatty feeling in your gut when you’re done. We eat a little chicken, a little pork, and a lot of BEEF!!!!!!! Yes, yes, yes!!!!
















9. Bird watching. We have tons of birds here. There's cardinals, finches, sparrows, swallows, and I don't know what else. Tons of them though. We keep bird baths filled and they keep coming. Up on my porch I've got feed and so at almost any given time I can look out the window and see some pretty little fellow eating from there.








10. Water. It is so hot here. It's humid and muggy a lot of the time. We have been taking advantage of the rivers around here. Also any other water we can get ahold of such as water balloons, water slides, sprinklers, etc. Funny thing, I'm not a great swimmer, yet water brings me such joy! (You getting cold backs just thinking about it some of you?)





As always, everything really does go back to Romans one. We need to be thankful for all of the blessings God has given to us. I'm a romanticist at heart and so the little things are what intrigue me, maybe you aren't and the whole picture intrigues you more. Either way, Romans 1:20 talks about God's creation and how He is seen in all of it. Creation is His masterpiece and in it He is reflected. We are the ones who miss it, suppress it, and refuse to acknowledge Him in it. We change it to something grotesque and do not glorify God because of it. I'm working on looking at all of the little blessings and enjoyments that I am finding this summer and seeing God's hand in it all "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." Creation can't show us salvation, but having the gift of salvation, we can see God clearer through enjoying His creation - His handiwork.

VBS Excitement!

Howdy Tribe!!

I figured it was ABOUT TIME I contributed to this blog! I have been surprisingly busy the past few weeks, even though I still have yet to find a full-time job. Ah well, I can’t complain too much; God has been blessing me in amazing ways since graduation! Especially with the opportunity to help out with Vacation Bible School at my new church this week! So that is what I want to write about today!

As some of you know, I was beginning to feel God was calling me to leave my old church while I was away at school. I began looking into other churches in my area during breaks and such, but never really found anything I was comfortable with…that seemed like “home.” Then one night at Master’s, by God’s grace, I was talking about Yucca Valley (my home town) at tribal supper, and Caleb (who I just barely knew at the time) piped up and asked me how I knew about Yucca! He explained that he came up here last year to help with a VBS at a church that is pastored by a Master’s graduate. I was floored…and completely intrigued.

This church, First Southern Baptist Church of Yucca Valley, is unlike any I have attended in the past. The congregation is very small (about 50-70 people) and mostly elderly. But in my short time here I have found opportunities to serve and ways to connect with people I never could in 1,000+ person congregations. I now have a pastor who knows me by name and is personally involved in what is going on in my life. I am excited to go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays and hear the Word of God preached solidly, rather than politics or off-topic rantings. I am so happy and incredibly blessed to be a part of this church! Not to mention that it is really cool to have a pastor’s wife who lived in DIXON!! OH YEAH! I could be wrong, but I believe Pastor Stephen lived in Waldock too!

Anyhow…all that to say that our biggest children’s ministry outreach is about to kick off tomorrow morning! Our theme is “The Big Apple Adventure” where we are going to use New York City as a means of teaching the kids how to “connect” by believing in Jesus Christ (connecting through faith), accepting Him as their Saviour, and telling others about Him (connecting with the world). Pastor Stephen said on average we get about 50-60 kids for this VBS. Although it is only a three-day event, we are excited to be hosting a “family fun night” on Friday where we will do an open house for the kids’ parents to see what they did all week. It will be a great outreach to non-Christian families in our area who were only looking for free childcare for a few days. From past experiences in VBS’s in the desert, I can say that the rate of kids who come from non-Christian, abusive, and/or broken families is extremely high. Yet God is so good and loving to continue to bring them into these church events and allow them the opportunity to hear the gospel at a young age.

So how am I personally involved in this event? I will be co-teaching the 5^th-7^th grade class with a guy named Erick! I have to admit this responsibility scares me a lot. I have taught Sunday school classes for the young kids in the past, and am very comfortable with preschool to about 3^rd grade. This age group doesn’t only take me out of my comfort zone…it rips me out by the hair. I feel like, although there is great responsibility in teaching a child the Word of God at ANY age, these preteens are getting to the point where they are so much more intelligent and inquisitive. Our responsibility is even greater to present the Gospel accurately and clearly for them…no more spoon-feeding like the little ones.

Please pray for Erick and me as we meet this afternoon to plan our lessons for the week. Pray that all the teachers can make the studies fun and interesting to hold the attention of these little ones and that God would do a great work and touch many hearts and the lives of their families through this. Pray for Caleb as he arrived Saturday night to help out this week as well. Pray that God gives him strength and patience to serve the kids, for a refreshing visit with my pastor (who is also his former youth pastor), and for a safe travel back home on Thursday.

I am so excited to be a part of this! And so excited that Caleb and I get to share this with all of you! I miss you all so very much and hope to see you soon. Each one of you has contributed to my life in such amazing ways and I know God has each of you in a special place this summer to serve Him in a way that pleases Him and brings Him glory whether it’s while eating noodles in Korea, writing computer programs in Texas or Canada, or studying for the MCAT in Alaska. I’m so proud to call you all my friends…and my tribe.

Our classroom decorated in a Central Park theme!

10 things that I have caught myself or had to stop myself from doing since I came home from college:

1. resizing the window/zooming/resizing text on random websites to see when they finally break (muahaha!)

2. telling people they are rude

3. comparing MacGyver's mannerisms (and awesome hair!) to Weston's. This is no joke: we watched an episode yesterday and as we were starting it up my Mom suddenly yelled "oh my! He looks just like Weston!". We told her she should probably stick with Weston on her desktop.

4. trying to see how much I can see on all your Facebook's, without using my login credentials (because I'm not on Facebook and besides.... I'm not sure where my HD platter is right now)

5. saying "it's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!" then have people look at me strange

6. when someone says "long date" they are usually not actually talking about the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970

7. no pun intended

8. getting Rebeka Black stuck in my head when somebody  says "Friday" or John Denver when they talk about country roads (though I would definitely prefer the latter)

9. laughing out of context when someone says loop, a ray, C, java, SLIGHTLY, or any of our other innumerable computer puns.

10. losing the game when I see an Asian.


...now that's not creepy....

on a bit of another note, I'm in a bit of limbo right now on whether or not I'm going to be able to go back and work this summer. Everything was ready to go, but then there were some setbacks so I'm talking to Jason and trying to see if we can get everything worked out. Also I heard that there is a stomach bug going around Master's that is nailing everybody, so I hope Weston and Rhi start to feel better soon. Have any of you had to catch yourselves doing something completely strange, but would make total sense at college?


Joseph

My Eventfull/Uneventfull Summer

Summer and I have a love/hate relationship. There are times when I am having a ton of fun and I am loving summer, and then there is other times that I am bored out of my mind. So in-between all the evens that has happened and will happen, I have been doing (seemingly) nothing. Well, ok, not nothing, what I have been doing during boring, uneventful, nothing times is searching for a job and applying for scholarships, so I haven't been doing nothing, but it seems like it because nothing seems to be happening on those fronts.

Well the first thing that happened this summer was birthday season. I survived it! My three sisters had there birthdays and two of them graduated (Jessicah from high school and Maribeth from jr. high). It looks like Jessicah will be going to Masters in the fall, but don't expect to get to know her. She likes to be in different crowds from me, I don't know what she has against you. Just kidding it is probably because she doesn't want to have the same friends as ME. So it is me not you guys. She once had a dream that I ruined her reputation at Masters.

Which brings me to my next point, which is Masters. This is what it looks like I am going to do school wise this next school year, I am going to go to College of Canyons in the fall and Masters in the spring. I am going to do this because I can't afford to go to Masters for both semesters but I will still visit often, if I get my drivers licenses, but the last time I tried to get it I was so nervous that I almost killed someone (sadly not a joke).

Well after me sisters' birthdays, my computer got a virus, and a bad one at that. NEVER FEAR WESTON IS HERE! He saved my computer. :) Then it was my birthday. I am now an old man, 20. So Weston and Rhi threw me a birthday party and during the party Landrew came and visited Weston. After that the three of us watched a movie called "No Greater Love." It was a great party.

Then on the 17th Weston, Harrison, Rhi, two other girls, and myself saw "Green Lantern." It was a fairly good movie.

In between those two events, I had to help a friend and his mom move. His parents just divorced and he is taking it really hard, which is to-be expected. Pray for him, sadly I have been through this before (one of my other friend's parents got divorced). Pray that I know how to handle this situation well.

I have been doing Kids Fest at PBC this year, for those of you who do not know what that is, it is like a VBC every Sunday night during the summer for ten weeks. I came to the realization that I have been a guild for Kids Fest for 8 years and before that I was one of the little kids in the program. This year, Kids Fest is doing better then ever. :)

That is what happened, except I also bought a really cool book (The Complete Sherlock Holmes, it is the nicest book in my personal library) and went to Chick-Fil-A. I had not been to that place since Spring Party. My church did a fundraiser there and it was a success.

This is what is going to happen in the future... I am going to Yucca Valley and New Port Beach. This Saturday I am going to Yucca Valley (Where Anne is) to help Pastor Stephen Jones and Anne with their VBS. I did this last year, before I knew Anne, actually before Anne went to that church. And they wanted me to come back. I can tell you from experience that Anne is one of the normal people from Yucca Valley.

Then two weeks later, I will be in New Port Beach for a week in a beach house with my family. By my family I mean my immediate and extended family. My family is interesting but comparatively normal, especially when you compare it to a family like Weston's.

Well that is what my summer is going to look like. I guess it will not be as boring as I think it will be, but I guess that is what happens when you forget to look at the big picture. I think that will still keep you guys updated. You may even get an update from Anne and I next week.

In the Lord,
Caleb