VBS: Armor of God

We had a great week hosting VBS! We choose the theme Armor of God because I found a website with all the material and lessons planned out. Click here for the website: Armor of God Lesson Plans
Each mom was assigned one day and one piece of armor. They came up with a craft, snack and outside activity that pertained to the piece of armor. It was seamless all week. The kids really got into it!
*I need to be a little more diligent about taking pictures! I missed a few!

Day 1: The Belt of Truth

Craft: Make a belt out of felt, string, & duct tape. Decorate with things that remind you of the truth God teaches.
Snack: Fruit by the foot
Outside activity: Form a circle, pass a hula hoop from each child to the next. The kids LOVED twisting their body to get through the hula hoop while still holding hands with their friends!

Showing and teaching about a Japanese Beetle!

Day 2: The Shoes of Peace

Craft: Pre-cut shoes out of fun foam, take yarn and lace them. Make sure you use the end of the yarn to make some kind of design for their feet to go through to keep them on. Color the shoes.
Snack: PB & J sandwiches using a shoe cookie cutter, we didn't get a picture. :(
Outside activity: The kids line up at the fence. They each take one of their shoes off, put it inside a hula hoop laid flat on the ground and return to the fence. At 1, 2, 3 the kids run to pick up any shoe. They find the friend it belongs to. A few kids were not ok with giving up their shoes and other kids picking it up! We did not foresee this being an issue!

Day 3: The Breastplate of Righteousness & Sword of the Spirit

Craft: Breastplate: Pre-cut fun foam in the shape of a shield, add string to wear it like a front facing backpack, hot glue lids from cans (tomato sauce, canned veggies, ect.) To show we need to protect our heart. Sword: Cut cardboard in the shape of a sword, cover the handle in duct tape, cover the sword part in tin foil. We didn't get a picture of this :(
Snack: Graham crackers for the breastplate, grapes on a skewer for the sword.
Outside activity: WE made a kid car wash out of PVC and pool noodles. The kids ran through it with their breastplates and swords fighting off the "enemy" (water).

Day 4: Helmet of Salvation

Craft: Piece together pre-cut helmet pieces, decorate with stickers.
Snack: Fruit from the watermelon helmet, fig newtons with frosting to look like a Bible.
Outside activity: The kids wore helmets in a obstacle course while adults bopped them on the head with pool noodles! They really like this activity!

Day 5: Shield of Faith

Craft: Color and decorate paper plates, hot glue pipe cleaner on the back as a handle.
Snack: Cheese and crackers, Shield cookies, strawberries cut in 1/2 to look like a shield. Again, no picture :(
Outside activity: We made shields out of heavy duty cardboard. 1/2 the kids held the shields, 1.2 the kids through water balls or used water squirters to get them! The Daddies got involved!

We had a fabulous week! We ended the week with a barbecue and worship played by some of the daddies!

Baptized!

And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1Peter 3:21

I believe your faith grows at different rates, at different points of your life. There's something to be said about the saying, "Faith like a Child." Yet, when you reach the point as an adult where you really grasp the concept of God's infinite grace and the challenge to LOVE people as the gospel tells us over and over again, it's time to celebrate! And what better way to celebrate then an outward profession of your faith?

The very definition of Baptism!!

Bobby and I were both baptized when we were younger. But we have seen some major spiritual growth in both of us in the past year. We decided that now that we have a clear understanding of the example Jesus led, we needed to follow suit.

Faith Like a Child (Guest Writer)*

We have heard this phrase many times! But how true is it?? Seeing the joy in Jeremy's eyes when we start to sing "Jesus Loves Me." Or when we are at the fire station for dinner and Sierra is appalled that they start eating before saying grace, "Hey guys, we have to pray! Didja forget." It really makes me think about how unashamed they are to share their love for God. I, on the other hand, struggle with this. Even to the point that it's hard to blog about it for fear that someone out there who does not believe in God will be offended! I have to remember this is my time to share what God has put on my heart.

All that being said I heard an amazing story of Child-like faith from a dear friend! I asked her to write it out so I could feature her as a guest writer! My first ever! Isn't she special?? Definitely!  So here is the story of Ethan's plea for God to forgive him, via his mommy's account of the day. Thank you so much Danielle for you willingness to do this!

Tuesday morning usually consist of dropping my son, Ethan, off at preschool, quickly heading over to bible study with my baby girl, Angelina, then backtracking to my original destination, to pick Ethan back up. Little did I know that on this particular Tuesday I would be in the path of the divine and witness something that truly influenced not only my faith but also the very core of the relationship I have with God. 

As I proceeded down the hall to Ethan’s classroom I could already recognize my sons cry. As I walked up to his teacher she began to tell me all about his day and what he learned, but to my surprise didn’t acknowledge the fact that from behind her stood Ethan, hysterically crying. Usually his teacher is on top of relaying any information that I should know about which left me even more perplexed. I asked, “Why is Ethan crying?” She began to shake her head and explain to me that he had been crying for over twenty minutes and no one knew why. Evidently, it all began when he started to crumple his papers and his teacher took them away, to keep him from ruining them. I thought this was all very strange considering that Ethan is not a crier and there is usually a very good reason for his tears.

     As soon as we walked out of the building, I got down to his level and began to ask him why he was so sad. At this point, he began to cry even harder and all I could do was comfort him. We walked to the car and began driving home all the while I continued to investigate his day by asking him anything I could think of that would get him to open up. Suddenly in the midst of his sobbing he softly said, “I’m sad because I yelled at my teachers again”. Ethan has struggled with anger in the past, my husband and I have prayerfully tried our best to guide him in the ways of the Lord by teaching him that we are to consider others more important than ourselves and to show God’s love and grace to all whom the the Lord puts in our path. Ethan has been so diligent in practicing this and we haven’t had to broach this subject for a while. On this particular day, God had other plans!

     Now I could have begun lecturing him on the importance of respecting authority figures or started to quickly think of a way to effectively discipline him so this didn’t happen again. Instead, I felt the Lord tugging on my heart to redeem this moment for His glory. I obediently pulled the car over to the side of the road, turned around, looked into the eyes of my son and began to speak words of grace. I reminded him of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins and how the Lord doesn’t desire sacrifice from us, but only a humble heart. I spoke to him about the beautiful humble heart I saw the Lord creating in him and how the Lord loved him no matter what sins he committed. That’s when Ethan began to pray. It started off soft and muffled, but soon grew to loud cries unto the Lord to help him in his struggles. 

"God please help me" 

"Lord Father please help me." 

Listening to the authenticity in his voice and watching the vulnerability that he showed, I was consumed with not only my own need for a savior, but for the world’s. 

How many of us struggle every day with the feelings of never being good enough or the turmoil of facing the fact that, yet again, we have failed? 

We all do, and the devastating reality is that we deny ourselves from ever truly being loved by a God that will NEVER give up on us. We have a Savior who promises to love us in our darkest moments and if that isn’t enough, he also promises to redeem our brokenness and begin a great work in us that will ultimately bring a peace that is beyond all human understanding. How desperately we need him and need to receive his grace, daily. My three year old son understands this, unfortunately, I, myself and many others do not. I have been a follower of Christ almost my whole life and have never truly understood the depth of what Christ has done for me and my desperate need for Him until this day. As I said in the beginning God had other plans this particular Tuesday afternoon.