We had a Blast at Blast X-Treme!

We had a BLAST, that’s for sure at our church’s version of VBS called, Blast X-Treme! Each day the chapel was filled with incredible Bible teachings with creation as the topic and mad scientists to deliver the thought provoking message! Every year I am in awe of how God brought us together as a body to serve one another with our gifts and talents, for His glory. From the music, to skits, teachings in the classroom and in the lab for crafts, nothing was missed and everything was remarkable. I was so proud of the kids who attended this year and their geneous hearts for donating $2,799.16 to the Center of Life ministry!

(Too bad Nathan and I had to miss several days this week for him to recover from his ‘spot attack’ known as the coxsackievirus. I missed my class I was teaching yet it was so neat to see my friend Kelly step up and take over in impressive ways. I did cherish the ‘snuggle time’ I had with Nathan though. Hmmm, not much else can compare in such a wonderful form!)

EVBC 17

God has blessed our church, East Valley Bible Church, with 17 years! Today we celebrated our anniversary together at the Mesa Amphitheater for one service (instead of the usual 6 each Sunday). It was an incredible sight to see the entire body of our church in one place, worshipping together! Besides being all together, my favorite part was knowing that Bonnie Codier, a gal we pray for often, was able to make it to church today, the first time in many, many years due to her health issues (see her blog). Also a favorite was listening to some powerful testimonies on how God worked miracles in two family’s lives. I was moved to tears and thankful for the transparency of these brothers in Christ.

All three music venues came together as one, to lead our time of worship through song. They sounded so great together!

Our friend (and music pastor) Aaron and one of our original Elders, Jerry Smith.

The Full Armor of God-Blast Xtreme 2008

Here are my soldiers, ready for duty in God’s Army! Have you been recruited? Each day last week, the kids and I enjoyed our church’s Vacation Bible School with this year’s theme, “God’s Army Training Camp”. I don’t know who learned more, the kids or me (as the 2nd grade class teacher). Here’s what we studied and the verses we memorized:

On day one we learned that Jesus calls the disciples, just as He’s called us and no excuses are allowed! It’s an invisible war but the good news is that Jesus is more powerful than Satan or anything!
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the Devil!” Ephesians 6:11

Day two we fastened our truth belts as we made the Belt of Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness. God’s belt of truth is important because it holds up when we’re being attacked with lies.
“He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” Psalm 91:4

Day three, we made sure our feet were ready for the Gospel of Peace and the Shield of Faith was in our hands. We learned our marching orders! The footwear provided as part of God’s armor making us ready as well-ready to stand strong in the confidence that Jesus is LORD and share this news. We can have peace in our hearts as well as true peace to pass on to others. The shied is important to hide behind since there are flaming arrows being thrown by Satan (Ephesians 6:16)!
“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” Proverbs 30:5

Day four, we made our Helmet of Salvations and our Sword of the Spirit! God’s helmet keeps harmful thinking out of our head and loving thoughts in. And the sword of the spirit is the Bible, our special helper!
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-4

And on day five, we learned the importance of prayer, a special gift from God!
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

On a side note, my class that I taught was amazing! The kids were wonderful and the teaching staff, the best! Three of us were on the same team last year, which made it great and Lesli joined us this year and we were blessed!
(Seena...we missed snapping a photo of you with us...ugh!)

Our Small Group

Just this year, Jon and I were led by the Spirit to leave our Bible study small group (same one for 9 years) that we love so dearly to go to a new one, just a mile away (that included our children each week…bonus!). We knew two of the families and they eagerly invited us and the unfamiliar faces made us feel welcome, right away. This semester we studied 2 Peter. Although having read it several times, I never studied it, verse by verse through the end resulting in deep dialog with others. I learned so much and grew from the time spent looking and applying it deeper.

One of my favorite passages of study was 2 Peter 1:5-7;
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”

What hit me was, through my gift of salvation, with God’s help, I must daily be making an effort towards this list of virtues to build my faith and remain a healthy and productive follower of Christ. All of these are equally important and build on one another, like a ladder you might say. I had to ask myself (and continue to), am I really making an attempt day after day? By looking at my overflowing to-do list and the things I spend my time on, are these attempts evident or am I consumed with "the things of the world"? It’s something in front of me now.

I could go on for a long time on all the other things I learned but I’ll leave that for a face to face discussion.

Another thing I really wanted to enter here onto our blog was how much I loved being in this small group and how sad I am that it has had to “end”. Our leaders, Scott and Ann Malm have been led to open a new Bible-based church, San Tan Bible Church, and now their efforts have to focus there, rightfully so. Some couples are following and some are “staying” at East Valley Bible Church. It’s exciting to see how God is using everyone to further His kingdom and to grow our faith. Who knows what next semester brings and what new faces and new study we’ll do. I’m comforted knowing God already knows and He’s picked out the perfect place for us to be.

Jason and Paige Addink, Alan and Sheri Finlayson, David and Christine Gray, James and Ginger Lanphere, Scott and Ann Malm, and Ted and Andrea Tyler, our Party of Five loves you all and thanks you for being a part of our lives. Thank you for praying for us, for being our friends, for holding us accountable for what we need to do, and for opening yourselves up to us. Although our group is not together anymore, we are all part of one special family and nothing can change that!

Lauren…our sweet babysitter for all 18 kids, THANK YOU! You really are the best. You are so sweet, so positive, and so fun! Here’s a message from Baylee, Nathan, and Owen… “Hi Lauren, you are nice. You always made us feel good. Thank you for taking care of us and for playing and teaching us!”

(For anyone interested in studying 2 Peter, you can go to our church website and download the study to use. Go to "study Guides" then to "bible books" you'll have a lot to choose from.)