Cloud of Witnesses...
This week has been really crazy for me and for my family (half the families in our church could probably say the same thing!) This week was Summer Breakout for Grace and we had over 240 1st -6th graders running their Amazing Race. Our entire VBS was based on the life of Joseph and his choice to always trust that God had a plan for his life. He Chose to Believe no matter what the circumstances.
You could feel it in the air on this past Sunday that God really had something big in store. However, on the flip side of that, Satan was working on stopping that and trying to find every hole in my armor. Like I said earlier, I can just blog about personal experience. I am not in any way trying to set myself apart or diminish anything that other volunteers may have felt or dealt with.
Last week ended with Curly in the doctor's office, she had a double ear infection. No problem, right?! A really good antibiotic and all is well...maybe not. It wasn't long before Moe starting showing signs of illness and the snowball effect began. There were other things too, times where I began to feel parts of me being chipped away. Within a few days, I found myself face down crying out to God, begging him to protect me from all of the arrows Satan was throwing at me.
Something that He revealed to me though, was that I was not alone. Suddenly, there was a phone call, a friend, a hug, a kind word and most importantly a prayer and things began to look up. No big shock that a song came to mind...
Mark Schultz has a song entitled Cloud of Witnesses that is based on Hebrews 12:1, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
The first verse says this (with a few minor changes):
I watched them running down the aisle, Summer Breakout time, Sunday morning
The preacher asked them who they loved, and they all smiled and started pointing to their moms, dads, teachers from their Summer Breakout class. And each and every one had just become...A cloud of witnesses, that would see them through the years. Cheer them with a smile and pray them through the tears. A cloud of witnesses that would see them to the end, and shower them with love that never ends. A cloud of witnesses.
It dawned on me that this is what Satan was fighting so hard to prevent. Foundations were laid in all of these children's lives this week. Some were growing in their relationship and understanding of Christ, others were hearing about Him and His love for the very first time. The cool thing is that every person who volunteered, no matter what the role, became part of that child's cloud of witnesses.
I believe in my heart that some time in the future one of those kids will be drawn to a memory that was formed this week. Maybe it will be that they finally learned all the books of the Bible (Thanks Michelle for adding that song, it helped this 30 something with that too!) or maybe, just maybe, they will remember that teacher, that volunteer that took the time to care. They'll stop and remember all the time and effort that went into making their week AMAZING (huh!) I know that I personally began to appreciate all the effort that the many unnamed adults put into the VBS's I attended as a child and I am grateful to them.
So whatever you take from this blog (or this week for those who attended), please remember that you, YES YOU, made a difference in a child's life! You stood with the full armor of God and told Satan, "Oh no, not this kid! I will help arm them will the love and forgiveness of Christ and you will never win...not this time, not this child!"
Peace Out!
This week has been really crazy for me and for my family (half the families in our church could probably say the same thing!) This week was Summer Breakout for Grace and we had over 240 1st -6th graders running their Amazing Race. Our entire VBS was based on the life of Joseph and his choice to always trust that God had a plan for his life. He Chose to Believe no matter what the circumstances.
You could feel it in the air on this past Sunday that God really had something big in store. However, on the flip side of that, Satan was working on stopping that and trying to find every hole in my armor. Like I said earlier, I can just blog about personal experience. I am not in any way trying to set myself apart or diminish anything that other volunteers may have felt or dealt with.
Last week ended with Curly in the doctor's office, she had a double ear infection. No problem, right?! A really good antibiotic and all is well...maybe not. It wasn't long before Moe starting showing signs of illness and the snowball effect began. There were other things too, times where I began to feel parts of me being chipped away. Within a few days, I found myself face down crying out to God, begging him to protect me from all of the arrows Satan was throwing at me.
Something that He revealed to me though, was that I was not alone. Suddenly, there was a phone call, a friend, a hug, a kind word and most importantly a prayer and things began to look up. No big shock that a song came to mind...
Mark Schultz has a song entitled Cloud of Witnesses that is based on Hebrews 12:1, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
The first verse says this (with a few minor changes):
I watched them running down the aisle, Summer Breakout time, Sunday morning
The preacher asked them who they loved, and they all smiled and started pointing to their moms, dads, teachers from their Summer Breakout class. And each and every one had just become...A cloud of witnesses, that would see them through the years. Cheer them with a smile and pray them through the tears. A cloud of witnesses that would see them to the end, and shower them with love that never ends. A cloud of witnesses.
It dawned on me that this is what Satan was fighting so hard to prevent. Foundations were laid in all of these children's lives this week. Some were growing in their relationship and understanding of Christ, others were hearing about Him and His love for the very first time. The cool thing is that every person who volunteered, no matter what the role, became part of that child's cloud of witnesses.
I believe in my heart that some time in the future one of those kids will be drawn to a memory that was formed this week. Maybe it will be that they finally learned all the books of the Bible (Thanks Michelle for adding that song, it helped this 30 something with that too!) or maybe, just maybe, they will remember that teacher, that volunteer that took the time to care. They'll stop and remember all the time and effort that went into making their week AMAZING (huh!) I know that I personally began to appreciate all the effort that the many unnamed adults put into the VBS's I attended as a child and I am grateful to them.
So whatever you take from this blog (or this week for those who attended), please remember that you, YES YOU, made a difference in a child's life! You stood with the full armor of God and told Satan, "Oh no, not this kid! I will help arm them will the love and forgiveness of Christ and you will never win...not this time, not this child!"
Peace Out!
posted by Marie at 4:30 PM
3 comments
