Vacation Bible School (VBS) is coming up in one week and this year has been the most stressful for me. People don't realize how much work it takes in preparation to make it successful. They see the finished product but not the process it takes to get it there. I am already processing NEXT year's when this year's hasn't even happened. I have decided to keep a journal next year of the steps it takes to create a week of Godly fun for the community - just to see how many hours I really put in.
Anyway, when I get a VBS kit it comes in a tin can with books, DVDs, CDs, etc. They give you several of these media items and expect you to have this awesome media center and the volunteers to run it. In our case, we have a projector that I run with a remote. Therefore, I have to take all the music, the videos, the pictures.....everything and create a chaptered video that I can easily maneuver and make VBS a memorable time for the children. I spent 40 plus hours using a program to break down all the disks and create 10 dvds. I make one for the opening production and the closing production - therefore 2 per day/5 days. I made these a month or so ago, thinking I was well ahead of the game.
I began to burn the disks and after the 6th one (Day 3), I decided to test them to make sure they were working properly. To my horror, they all weren't working. They all had a spot that skipped or locked up. I was calm at this point and continued to tinker with the program. After 36 hours of non-stop tinkering, I was at my wits end.
Matt was at work and I was texting him in a panic. I had these disks that HAD to be done in a week or else VBS would be ruined (a little dramatic because I could have made due with the simplistic program - but didn't want to), I had to work on a lesson for Sunday's class and I had to work on a dance routine for J-Walkers, our drama group.....this was Saturday afternoon.
I was on the verge of a nervous break-down. I was so frustrated with everything that the tears kept welling up. Finally, I just got up and went to my bedroom to have a good cry. I was overwhelmed with my deadlines.
I have had people offer to help with VBS but, in all honesty, there are things that no one can help with. Some people call me a control freak. This is not true. While I do like to have control over the situations I am involved in at times, when it comes to people helping I don't have an issue with it. However, there are just some things that I know people can't help with and I also look at it like they have jobs, I don't. I have the time; they don't.
So after the crying and feeling like I was going to just pass out from exhaustion, Matt texts me a scripture -- Ephesians 4:1 - "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
This made me cry again but for entirely different reasons. The words Matt text me were so tender and so loving that they warmed my heart. However, the words are true. We all have a calling. In Jeremiah it says that God knew us before we were even born. Before we were even in the womb. We often overlook that scripture but we should really chew on it. God has known us longer than anyone else. Before we were formed in the womb of our mothers, he knew us. This has significance. It means we were not an accident and we were created with a PURPOSE. He knew us and he created us to be flesh on earth because we have a purpose that is mapped out. Every one of us has a life worth living. Every one of us has a purpose that God has placed in us. When I meet with young people they always say - "I dunno what God's plan is for me." I don't believe that. I think we have a purpose instilled in us, deep inside our guts. In return, I ask - "What gets you fired up? What gets you so angry that you want to change it? What makes your heart quicken when you think about it? THAT is your purpose."
It is up to us to follow that plan God has for us. Everyone has a purpose for being on this earth - EVERYONE - from Charles Manson to Mother Teresa; we all have God's calling. However, we choose to step out and follow it or follow a path less desired. Both paths have consequences - good or bad.
"....live a life worthy of the calling you have received." VBS may not seem like a 'calling' but it is. God gives me the vision, the ideas and the strength. I get 'fired' up thinking of next year's theme. I get excited when everything falls into place. Therefore, I shouldn't panic. I shouldn't be overwhelmed. I shouldn't be in my bedroom crying because I feel like I can't take much more. I have been called to do VBS so I need to straighten my back and live the life worthy of the calling I have received.
So if you have something burning deep inside you to do, do not be afraid to step out on faith and take the actions to do it. In Jeremiah, after God told him that he knew him before he was even formed in the womb.....Jeremiah replied with - "I do not know how to speak; I am too young." Often times God tells us what to do and we doubt it. I can't do THAT, Lord....and we follow it with an excuse ("I am too young"). However, look at God's reply to Jeremiah - “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send
you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” God is saying, I have commanded you to follow the dream I placed inside of you. Do not be afraid, do not make excuses because I am with you.
So whatever it is that you feel is your purpose, your dream, petition it to God and say "Here I am God" and he will make a path for you. He will set the things in motion. He will create the stepping stones and open the doors.
"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" -Romans 8:31
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