East E. Free: Thursday

Greetings J-Di Cadets! I know I'm supposed to talk about what happened today, but to do that we need to rewind approximately 27 hours.

You know how rainbows are always pretty and beautiful despite however bad the rainstorm was before it? And sometimes, the bigger the storm is the more amazing the rainbow is. That's kind of how my night was last night. They call the Wednesdays of BUMP Warfare Wednesday because that's the day the exhaustion sets in and Satan tries his darnedest to discourage us. I never really believed that, until last night.
My job at BUMP is pretty easy, I help lead actions to the music. However, only about half the kids at VBS actually do any of the actions and the other half sit there and look very bored. When you put a lot into doing something and only half the people you do it for try to do it, it's very discouraging. When I'm not leading the actions, I'm kind of a free-agent and help out wherever I'm needed-primarily in snacks. Last night I was tired and frustrated because it seemed like no matter how hard I tried to make sure the kids had fun after snacks, there was one kid in particular who let me know he wasn't having a good time. Combined with the frustration from another conflict at the VBS and the lack of fun the kids were having during the songs, I really questioned why I even bothered trying. Surely, there's no way that feeding the kids Kool-Aid and cookies can bring them to Jesus, nor can teaching them motions that they'll forget in a week. I left feeling discouraged and ready to cry.
When we got back to the dorms, I was ready to go to bed and sleep like the dead. However, Rachel convinced me to go to the Skywalk (the hangout of all the cool teenagers) and I agreed despite my gloomy feelings. If you read Leon's blog yesterday, you know that an NCU student invited us to a small worship service in the lobby of the dorms.
We went, and it was by far the most powerful worship service I've ever been to. The power of God was definitely present, and I poured out all my feelings and complaints to Him. After that, He gave me a peace about VBS. I still don't know how exactly God uses snacks and motions to reach kids for Jesus, but I'm realizing that doesn't really matter. Look at the picture of me blowing up that giant beach ball. When I was blowing it up, I was sure it was leaking because it wasn't expanding at all.

When I was blowing air into it, I couldn't see the progress I was making. I was sure I was wasting my breath. However, I kept at it and, with only a little dizziness and a lot of help from others, it grew into a giant beach ball that one pre-schooler said was the size of the moon! The thing is, I didn't see how what I was doing affected the balloon. Looking at it now, I can see the difference I made. My job(s) at VBS is the same way. Maybe the actions help kids learn the song, and the song will stick in their memory when the actions are long-forgotten. Maybe the snacks make it so the kids don't have rumbling stomachs during the more-important lesson time. I really don't know what the purpose of my duties are, but I am confident that God has a bigger plan that calls for actions and snacks.
Aside from that ramble of a day, the other events today are quite noteworthy. One of the kids from the church we're partnering with fell out of his bed at 2 am and broke his foot and busted his lip. We went to the Mall of America. I found a store dedicated to the fluffy marshmellow treat Peeps and I could've sworn that I was in Heaven. Overall, it's been a great week so far filled with lessons from God and I really can't wait to see what He has in store for us tomorrow.

One Love,
Hannah

On a much lighter note, I can cross tripping backwards over a speaker in front of a room full of children off of my bucket list.