I Found A Little "Me"

I have been serving in Vacation Bible School for years! Five years at this church, and at least 10 years at my other church. I have served in several different capacities, but always for the same reason. Seeing children come to know Christ and sharing the message of hope with them is the reason I serve all week at VBS every year.

Last year I wrote a blog about my friend Nellie. I got permission to write about her. This year the Lord placed a spot light on a different little girl. A girl who is in so many ways "me" 36 years ago. I don't really have permission to write about her, so I am not going to use her name. In light of the circumstances of her life, it is better off she be anonymous for this purpose. She is not and never will be anonymous to God or to me. Today, I told my story. I told the boys and girls that 36 years ago, I was sitting in the same kind of place they were sitting in today. Someone held up a storyboard and told a story of a little girl who had a Mom who was very sickly, and I saw that little girl kneeling beside her Mother praying. I identified with that little girl in the picture, and we were told that we could know Jesus personally and we could talk to Him, and He would answer us, He loved and cared for us, and He wants to be there for us. I still remember like it was yesterday. We sang Trust and Obey and then our leader asked if anyone wanted to ask Jesus to come into their hearts and be saved. I was the only person who ran down the isle. I needed Jesus, to save me and my very sick Mommy.

You can see my testimony here. I was a child who needed to be rescued in many ways. I told the boys and girls today bits and pieces of my story. When I finished I told them that I realized that many of these children have really great lives and my not see the need for a Savior (although we ALL need Him), but I also knew that there may be some like me, for whom life was hard and they desperately needed a hope! Either way, we live in a fallen world and why would we want to work so hard to get through this world without Jesus and have no reward in the end. If we ask Jesus to take up residence in our hearts, then we don't do life by ourselves and our reward is eternal life in Heaven with Him. I prayed a simple prayer with them and several people raised their hands to tell me that they had prayed that for the first time (approximately 32 children said they said that prayer for the first time).

When the bell went off to be dismissed a little girl came up to me, face flooded with tears and said these words: "I pray before I go to bed, but I never knew we needed to invite Jesus into our lives. I did that today for the first time." I cried, she cried...she continued to tell me that her Father just recently showed up in her life after being away for a very long time. Her parents are not together. She loves her Daddy, and now he wants to take her away from her Mommy. She loves her Mommy too. "They just don't get along, and I cry a lot at night! I am scared!"

I told her through my tears that she is not alone. She has invited Jesus into her heart and He will never leave her or turn His back on her. I told her how she needs to talk with Him all the time. When I was her age...I did just that! Sometimes you would find me under a table or a desk with my small New Testament talking to Jesus as I shook with fear at the circumstances around me. I needed her to know that even though she made this decision, Jesus didn't promise to keep her from all the scariness around her...her Daddy may still want to take her away & her Mommy & Daddy may continue to fight. Tough times may still be apart of her life, BUT, now she has a Rescuer. Jesus will be sure she makes it through those tough times and He knows everything she must endure and He will give her strength and wisdom beyond her years to get through the tough times. I told her my life was very very similar to hers and look at me today. Here I am, still loving Jesus, still holding on tight to Him, full of His joy and telling others about Him! I told her what she learned in VBS, that God is with us, God is powerful, God does what He says He will do, God gives us life, and God cares for us, is all very very true and she will probably see that to be very evident in her life! I told her that even after I said that same prayer, many things happened to me that I wouldn't wish on anyone, but GOD has always been my constant in an ever changing world! Even 36 years later!

We hugged each other for a little bit and she just cried in my arms. OH how my heart broke, but I know that this little girl was the one that God etched in my heart to never forget. Much like my Nellie (who, by the way, joined us again this year at VBS!) I vowed to Jesus to intercede on her behalf. I may never know what happens to her, but I know this, that I gently laid her in the palm of my Abba Father, and I know He will take very good care of her!

Lord, thank you for this precious little life. A little "me" from so long ago. Lord, you are a faithful God and you care deeply for your children. Watch over this child for me. Bring her parents to a saving knowledge of You! May her world be changed forever because of her decision to follow you. Father place in her life people who will disciple her and teach her how to read her Bible and pray. May she learn songs to sing to you and sing them often. As she goes through life, may she always be aware of Your hand of protection in her life as it was in mine! As the tears flow from my eyes right now Jesus, because part of me wants to tuck this child in tonight, please please tuck her in for me. Cover her, place your angels in charge over her and minister to her body, mind and spirit! May she always know how much she is loved by you!

This Is Why I Do VBS!!!

It is VBS week at our church this week. My kids talk about Vacation Bible School all day long! I love VBS. It is my time to give back to the Lord after all that He had done for me as a child. He rescued me when I was 7 years old! I love these kids!

We are only two days into it, but clearly Kyle's got a grasp of the truth! This is my Kyle...yes he is on the "spectrum", yes he has his "special issues", but man...this boy loves the Lord! He wrote and sang the song above before he went to sleep tonight! He really gets it! Thank you Jesus!

Meet Nellie!

This is Nellie, the little 9 year old girl who stole my heart at VBS. From Day 1 at Vacation Bible School, Nellie had my heart. I had never met her, she doesn't go to our church, but we made a connection immediately. I love VBS. I love the kids, I love being a station leader/teacher and I love the excitement and joy that these children bring with them every morning! As always I had an amazing (exhausting) time and I am ready to sign up for next year again! I have done this for many years, 4 years at this church and many many times at Wyckoff Assembly in NJ! I have a passion for Vacation Bible School, I think it is because when I was a little girl, not too much younger than Nellie, I gave my heart to Jesus at a Summer Christian Camp. People who loved Jesus, loved on me and I was never the same again. This brings me back to Nellie.

Nellie and I connected immediately. She is a sweet, smart little cookie who wore the best little grin every day. She greeted me every morning and asked me to divulge any secrets of the day (of course I would not!)! She would sit by me as I prepared my experiments (We did Power Lab this year - possibly the best VBS ever!!) and just ask me questions or want me to ask her questions. Then during snack she would ask her crew leader if she could come and see me - she did and we would talk. She just made me smile! Then at the end of every day she would come and find me and give me a big hug and remind me that my goal for tomorrow would be to try, just try and stump her with a question! Ohhhh I just fell in love with this little girl.

On Thursday I told the children that the Lord had woken me up at about 3:00am to pray for them! True indeed! I was honored to do so and humbled because of just being able to be a part of His plan for these children, well, it makes me want to cry just thinking about it! I told the children just how special they are and how loved by God they are that he would have me praying for them at 3:00am. I couldn't get my mind off Nellie. God was putting her on my heart in a big way. Thursday came and went, 7 children prayed to receive Christ as their Savior! Praise God!

By Friday, I was undone! I was in tears before the day even started. Partly because of the fact that it was over, partly because I was going to miss being with those children and partly because I wasn't sure I would ever see Nellie again, and I was going to miss her smile every morning. Nellie, handed me the sweetest note on Thursday during snack time. I was blessed beyond words and moved to tears. I didn't know anything about Nellie's life, I didn't know if she came from a home where she was loved, I didn't know if her parents went to church or were saved, I didn't know much about her except that the Lord cared very deeply about this little girl that He was putting her on my heart all the time. I wrote Nellie a note back, and at the end of the day on Friday I handed her my note and told her, in my awful cry voice, "Nellie, I just want you to know that I love you! You have blessed my life this week and Jesus loves you more than you may know! You are a very special girl, who is deeply loved by the Lord. I hope that we will see each other again some day, but if we don't, always remember just how special and loved you are!" She and I embraced and it was one of those hugs where you just want to hold on a little longer. I never had a chance to meet Nellie's Mom, but I told the woman who picked her up to please tell Nellie's Mom how much that little girl blessed me. (I was a crying mess talking to this perfect stranger)!

Well, today we had our town's 4th of July celebration and Riverside Dr. was packed. We found a spot on the river bank and sat on our beach chairs only to find that sitting next to us was none other than my little Nellie! We had been sitting next to this family for about an hour waiting for the fireworks to start and then this little girl shows up with them and my heart skipped a beat! Oh my goodness! Of course I cried out, "Nellie?" Then the next words were "Are you Nellie's Mom?" Nellie's Mom proceeded to tell me Nellie's story. She for all intense and purposes is Nellie's Mom, but Nellie has a birth Mom. I won't go into the details out of respect for the families involved, but lets just say that now I know why the Lord put Nellie on my heart the way He did! I talked to this woman tonight for about 40 minutes just hearing the tale of how Nellie fell into their lives about 3 years ago. Nellie and I share a very similar childhood in many ways. It makes total sense that she and I connected the way we did, she was just like me when I was little. OH, it was absolutely no mistake that Nellie and I connected at VBS and absolutely no mistake that we sat right beside her family so I can connect all the dots in the story of Nellie! Thank you Lord for caring so much that you would fill in the blanks for me. I have vowed to pray very specifically for Nellie and the situation she is in right now and for the family who has fallen in love with her as well. I have much hope for Nellie! Hebrews 11:1 says "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Oh Nellie, the Lord has His hand in your life my little friend. He will never leave you or forsake you! You sit safely in the palm of His hand and I am confident that He will take very good care of you! - Thank you Lord!