Ridgell's Originals

And if not careful, everyone is missing the point of our VBS.

It is innovative and ground-breaking... and we stole it.  Well, we borrowed it from the Hills church of Christ in the Metroplex.  I am a big fan of the Hills.  They developed this concept and we got it from them.  My wife and our daughter Julie and the kids love Hills VBS.  They love it so much they have gone to stay with our son and his family just so they can attend.  Julie and Marsha have even taught with Jamie in the Hills VBS.  And we got the idea, many of the props, and the musical score from the outstanding staff at the Hills. They were delighted to help us out.  

Because they get it.  We get it.  VBS is not about innovation, music, and tee shirts.  All of those things may be important, but to think they are the focus is to miss the point.

Here is what VBS is about:  God's story in our lives.  It is about helping children -- and adults -- see God's plan for their lives.  It is about motivating and inspiring people to want to be part of that plan.

It is about reaching into our community with the Jesus story.  We are happy to have visitors from other churches, but that is not our target audience.  We want the families that are not connected to Jesus.  

It is about 150-- 200 volunteers giving of their time, money, and talents to make a difference forever.

It is about our families doing something together.  We have families ministering together in the musical.  We have families teaching class together.  We have families all attending classes about Moses.  It is a spiritual week for families.

It is feeding all of our volunteers so they can focus on each night's ministry.  It is about all the behind the scenes workers who got everything ready.  It is about all those who gave up hours of practice to make Moe the Musical touch people.  It is about all the teachers sharing the story of God and Moses.  It is about countless workers who insure that our VBS is a safe environment for kids.  It is about all those who register and welcome everyone.

And it is about tee shirts that children can wear after VBS and be reminded of God's story.      

It is about all those who commit money and prayers for God to do something amazing this week.  It is about all those who invite neighboring families to join us this week.

It is about a class for adults.  I love this for several reasons.  I have always thought VBS should have class for the adults.  I have rarely had a summer go by that I have not taught adults for some VBS somewhere. This lets our adults participate.  It gives families something to do together.  It lets us reach visitors with a God story.  And yes... we require parents or grandparents to stay for the adult class and not just drop off their kids.

Oh yeah... and tonight I get to teach the adults so pretty fired up about that.

So don't let a musical, or a tee shirt, or what others say -- or don't say -- about VBS confuse us about the real reason we are working ourselves to exhaustion this week.

God's story has been told.   And that will make a difference forever.  And that is what VBS is really all about.

So thanks to Ryan and all the Southern Hills team.  Thanks to the Hills for the idea.  Thanks to everyone involved this week in the story of Moe, God, and us.  

But most of all ... thank you God.  You get the glory.