every so often...

Every so often something happens that reminds you that you're doing what God wants you to do. I had a couple things happen this week that reminded me of that:

1. A friend from Austin, Texas sent me the video above. It's for the Blacklight Story Time that he does in church for the kids. Matthew and Tammy Haney were volunteers for us when we were at the Big Vineyard here in Cincinnati a few years ago. They had kids in our ministry and volunteered to help us with puppets, etc... for Kid's Church. They saw many a blacklight stories those 3 years! They even helped paint some of the signs! A year later, we asked Matthew and Tammy to go to our preschool department to help establish a Kid's Chapel for the preschoolers. They went and did a tremendous job as volunteers. I still remember the day when we went to Matt's office and helped him empty out his office because he was being hired as our first Preschool Director. That was really cool! God had done an amazing thing with them. They took 2 road trips with our family to Augusta, GA to do a week's worth of a VBS programs. They were awesome! I remember a puppet training we went to and I thought Matt was going to have a heart attack he was so nervous! But God was taking them on an adventure. A few years after we moved to California, Matthew and Tammy and their 3 boys moved to Austin, Texas to take a Children's Pastor position. They've seen their church explode! Matthew sent me the song for the blacklight story just today. What a great thing! I am so blessed to think that maybe we had something to do with the ministry that they've overseen for the past 6 years. It reminded me to invest in people, no matter what you think the outcome might be. You just never know what surprises God is in store!

2. A kid who has been coming to VWS as a guest reminded me of why I do what I do. He told his mother (who showed up to church for the first time this past week) that he needed to do his worksheet because "it's time for me to learn this stuff!" WOW! As a Kid's Pastor I can't make the kids do this stuff, but I can provide the opportunity for them to do this stuff. He makes his Mom do the worksheet with him every night! That was such a blessing for me to hear. Sometimes you wonder if working this hard makes a difference. I can tell you that after the past few days... YES!!!!! I'm gonna keep it up as long as God gives me the breath to do it! Yeah!