The Blessings of Broken Dishes

Last week, I had the honor of teaching crafts at our church's Vacation Bible School. The main topic for day two was "Sin Broke Our Relationship with God." I thought about the best way to show this to the kids and remembered a couple of dishes that didn't make the trip from Japan to Florida in one piece. The set had 1/3 of the dishes broken, but still had some whole. It was wonderful to see the look in the eyes of children who understood what sin does to our relationship with God when they saw that broken cup. I don't tend to worry about things like broken cups or things of that variety very often, but I was blessed to be able to use them in a teaching moment with the children. I hope that they will remember the broken cup and how our relationship with God was repaired on the Cross with Jesus.

Back in Florida

First off, let me apologize for being a horrible blogger. I admit that I don't get on as often as I should after creating these things. On another note, I don't expect too many people to actually read it. I try to do it when I remember. I'm hoping that I will post a little more often, and hopefully about trips to the World! :)

We're home!

After quite the experience traveling for almost 2 months, we made it back to Florida. I was ready to hit the parks right away, and then house happened. It has been refreshing, seeing the house look more cheerful with each coat of paint, but that was quite a bit of work I hadn't been counting on! I have taken this opportunity to try some new colors for the house. Like a purple bedroom wall! It should look nice when it is done and will match the quilt I started just after getting married.

Went for a ride in SC. Please pardon the lack of helmet, this is very uncharacteristic of me. I will say that no helmet was available (to the best of my knowledge) and I am familiar with this horse and we were in a closed ring. Accidents do happen though, so I was very careful and kept the ride short. 

After a week of painting, I had the honor of attending my former roommate's wedding! It was a great time and quite a reunion! I then made my way back to Florida from my trip to the midwest to get prepped for VBS.

This fellow was our greater at the fishing pier! I love seeing all of the wildlife down here in Florida!

What a blessing VBS is for me each year. Seeing the kids grow in their knowledge of Who God is and what a wonderful Lord and Savior we have makes me happy. Today I was happy to come home covered in dirt and paint after planting flowers with the 4 year olds and throwing paint with the oldest class. I love seeing the joy in their faces as they get to do crafts with me and the love they show for Jesus. Today, our theme was Creation. What a blessed reminder we get when we look around each day!

I love all of God's creation (unless it likes my blood) and this guy was really cool to see under the bridge! He was easily 8 feet long and he was fast!

Next week I plan on headed out to the parks for my first trip since I've been back. It will also be my birthday trip! I'm pretty excited about this upcoming trip and thankful for the time I've had since I've been back!