power of prayer

Last night at the end of our Vacation Bible School evening, the pastors were on hand for any kids that wanted to pray with them. Dennis went up to the Associate Pastor and wanted to pray for his grandpa in Heaven (David's dad, who died before Dennis was born). He said he'd really been thinking about him and that he'd died of cancer, and they prayed together that he was healed and whole in Heaven. It touched my heart big time to see Dennis bow his head and close his eyes and listen to the pastor's prayer with a solemn expression on his face. I'm continually amazed by his spirituality. Tonight in line for ice cream after our closing program, Dennis tapped a preschool girl on the shoulder and told her "God is real, and He is our Lord!". There are these divine moments we get to see (interspersed among the Star Wars play and Taekwondo poses and Secret Agent missions), and they let us know that we are teaching him the important stuff and he is remembering it!

For thought

Tonight Dennis said "I guess we won't need our skeletons in Heaven, will we?". Profound! I suppose not.

blue hair and a sad face

It was Tacky Tresses night at Vacation Bible School, and Dennis sported blue hair and a headband with 2 bath puffs attached to it. His hair was wacky, sure, but not as crazy as some of the others. But it did break my heart to see him burst into tears as I awarded tonight's prizes to 4 kids that were not him. Maybe he will win the wardrobe contest tomorrow night!

Praise God for His Greatness

That was the theme of tonight's lesson at Vacation Bible School, which has become a family event for us! Gran and Gigi helped in crafts, Gran and David did LOTS of decorating, Uncle Denny helped at supper time, and David helped lead Dennis' class. And we all had FUN! As exhausted as I am, I'm almost too energized to sleep. We ministered to 110 children tonight. Dennis said his favorite part was the skit at the opening program. I loved it all!

like having a sibling

For most of the afternoon, I had the joy of listening to "I have a better life than you do"; "no, I have a better life." And "he's not sharing" followed by "she bit me!". And there was some "but that's the one I wanted to play with now" and "hey, I had that first!". And I wasn't even at work. Zoe and family spent the day at the lake with us. Dennis and Zoe are most assuredly both accustomed to their Only Child status and fought like cats all afternoon. Chloe's arrival this evening helped calm things down a bit. We are reminded how thankful we are that we don't have to referee like this all the time!

Good food, great company, gorgeous fireworks... It was a near perfect day!

a rank upgrade

We are celebrating Dennis' promotion to Ninja Camo Belt. He will be attending Vacation Bible School next week and won't get to attend the awards night, so his instructor presented him with his belt at the end of class tonight. Dennis was beaming with pride--not only did the instructor give him the belt and certificate, he also went ahead and put the new belt on him. Dennis checked himself out in the mirror and kept a big happy grin on his face!

Tonight we finished watching Star Wars Episode 2 (Attack of the Clones), and he was really checking out Padme/Amidala. I mentioned that she was very brave. Dennis said "yes, but I don't like her because she's brave--I like her because she's thoughtful." I hope he remembers this bit of wisdom when it becomes time for him to date!

freedom fun

Happy 4th! Dennis celebrated with swimming, sparklers, food, fireworks, family, and FUN (and some mid-day green bean picking)! He developed his own rating system for the fireworks, and when he saw one he particularly liked, he yelled out "that's the cherry on top!". We are tired out from all the goings on. The dogs, cat, & guineas are fed and we are all in our beds!