The Slide Show that wasn’t!

If you were at Faith Fusion Finale today you know the slide show didn’t work! SORRY, but here it is:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

 

Power Lab Day Four

Crew Leaders!

• How many Crew Leaders does it take to make a Power Lab??!?! THIRTY-SEVEN!!!!!! That’s 37 youth and adults that gave their week to spend with kids and help them meet up and hang out with Jesus. Makes me teary. Their AWESOME Crew Leader Coach, Darcy Fesmire, is in the front row-center in the black shorts. She is incredible.
• I heard today about one Crew Leader who found out someone in her crew who didn’t have a Bible…she made sure they got one.
• In Wacky Crafts and Missions today our Elementary Crews prayed over soccer balls that our mission team will take to Haiti with them next January–prayed that God would make Himself real to the kids who get the balls. Awesome.
• Another Crew Leader was super-duper kind to a crew member who was sad about the death of her grandpa (which was one year ago today).
• Speaking of teary–lots of teary station leaders today as we shared the best story of all: Jesus gives us the power to live forever AHA!
• If you’re reading this and you’re a VBS volunteer–plan to park on the Niagara Falls Blvd. side of the building tomorrow–it leaves lots of prime spaces for our guests!
• Plan to be at Faith Fusion Finale tomorrow!!!! There will be a special slide show and lots of fantastic fun…plus a chance to sing “Power” one more time!!

Power Lab Day Four

 

Power Lab Day Three

Dewd

• Today’s story is Peter walking on the water during the storm…and just as the kids were going to their Learning Stations after Sing and Play, a storm rolled in. God’s sound effects!!! SO COOL!! Jesus gives us the power to be brave. AHA!!!!
• Today’s Bible Buddy is Dewd (above). He’s my favorite one to say: “Deeeewwwwwwwwwd”.
• We had a fun Professor Wilbur entrance at Sing and Play today. The kids all got down on the ground and then jumped up to surprise him with the Bible Point and AHA. I was worried our Squeaky Beakers (who were at Sing and Play for the first time) wouldn’t be able to get into it, but they did! Lots of giggles and shouts.
• Tracy Bramwell to the Squeaky Beakers Preschoolers: “What’s a throne?” Silence. “What’s a throne”. Finally, one boy, thoughtfully: “It’s in baseball.” Took her a minute, but say “throne” and then “baseball” and  you’ll get it.
• A word about our 0h-so-cool-stage: WE’RE LOOKING FOR A TAKE-DOWN CREW FOR MONDAY JULY 21, 6:30PM. We need 15 strong bodies–if you can help, email me: ssteege@firsttrinity.com. We had 15+ last Saturday (THANK YOU THANK YOU) and it took around 2 hours. More guys = less time!!

Test Tube Treats

• Root beer floats (get the Peter-walking-on-the-water-connection??!?) for 170+ kids?? Bring it on! Our Test Tube Treats crew ROCKS. The Fizz Crews made the snack today. Fun. Fun. Fun.
• VBS is not just good for the kids! Check out Kristina Beras’ blog post today. She is a station helper in Bible Blast II.
• Today’s pics are below–ENJOY!!!

Power Lab Day Three

 

Power Lab Day Two

Sparki

• Jesus gives us the power to help others–AHA!!!!
• So many great stories from families today! One dad said, “My kids were up at the crack of dawn because they’re so excited about Power Lab and couldn’t wait to get here.”
• Made a coaching note for next year: “Tell everyone that Monday is CRAZY and you might wonder how you’re going to make it. Tuesday is always better!!”
• The Light Man (aka Pastor Chuck) was awesome today–it can be hard to help others, but Jesus helps us do it, just like he helped the Light Man.
• This cracked me up: we heard that one Crew Leader said she would give her kids a dollar if they behaved for the rest of the day. Not the best crew management, but I get the logic! The Crew Leader Coach (the awesome Darcy Fesmire) had a little conversation….
• Crew Leaders continue to be the absolute heart of this ministry. They are SO SO SO GREAT.
• We could use a volunteer for our Baby Beakers on Thursday, 8:45am – 12:15pm. If you can help, contact me (ssteege@firsttrinity.com)
• At Elementary Bible Blast today, the kids got “mud” (oatmeal) on their face to help them learn the story of Jesus healing a blind man with mud (you can check it out in John 9:1-41). They were really talking about it in the halls.
• A couple crews actually wrote beautiful thank you notes to some of the volunteers around Power Lab to practice yesterday’s Bible Point (Jesus gives us the power to be thankful). I love it when spontaneous things happen that are connected with the Bible Points.
• CD’s go home tomorrow–one per family. This is some of the best money we spend ($4.99 each). We want that powerful music to live on all year long in the homes and cars and hearts of the kids!
• Squeaky Beakers Preschool pick-up went much smoother today–way to go, Marsha Peth!
• Rick and Lily Lyons stepped up to help with the powerpoints–wooo hoooo!!!!
• One boy came in with a poster he made celebrating Power Lab. It is up near the registration tables if you want to check it out. It’s AWESOME–Chadder the Chipmunk is on there, and Professor Wilbur is too. And so is a cross.  So fun to see that expression that comes from being totally engaged at Power Lab. The Spirit is at work!
• Enjoy the pictures (below!). We will also include a slide show at Friday’s Faith Fusion Finale (11:30am in the Worship Center).

Power Lab Day Two

 

Power Lab Day One

Fizz

Didn’t get to a Sunday Night Mind Dump Post last night…sorry! Here’s the day’s update for Power Lab Vacation Bible School, in the spirit of a Mind Dump–fast and furious!

• We had 173 kids! That’s a 23% increase over last year. Woooo hoooo! What’s YOUR opinion about why? Leave a comment below and start (or continue) the conversation!
• We think that the online registration option this year really helped with Registration Craziness. Thanks to Joe Zimmerman for getting it up on the site!
• If you’re prayin’ tonight, pray for our Squeaky Beakers Preschool and Baby Beakers staff. They are awesome–and dealing with most of the added registrations–got a lot more kids than they expected.  They see this as GOOD NEWS (and they are right), but it made for a crazy Monday. Names to pray for: Jen, Marsha, Tracy, Dona, Pam and then the 20+ others who are working with them.
• Bible Point today: Jesus Gives Us The Power to be THANKFUL!! Bible story was the 10 Lepers who were healed. Only one came back to say thanks. Gratitude is one of my personal favorite scriptural concepts. I LOVE teaching kids about it. Great day.
• We are adjusting the Squeaky Beakers Pick-up at the end of the day. Hopefully it will be less chaotic.
• The Awesome Kim Taylor is making curriculum and supply runs tonight to keep up with the extra kiddos.
• My dry ice experiment at Faith Fusion Finale was super fun. It didn’t even work right and the kids still loved it. Bubbling over with thankfulness. Thanks to Jim Passage who made the run to Irish Carbonic to pick up the dry ice.
• I wish EVERYONE could have heard Darcy Fesmire’s prayer with the Crew Leaders and other staff that were gathered at 8:30am. When I see all the Crew Leaders, it makes me weepy. They give of their week so the kids can meet and hang out with Jesus. Whoa. Crew Leaders make this thing GO.
• One boy came today all upset because he wasn’t in a Crew with another boy he wanted to be with. I said, “Sean, I can’t wait to see what God has in store for you, buddy. He knows what you need today.” By the end of the day, Sean was grinning and having a ball. Loves his Crew. God is good.
• We always learn so much about how to do it better next time…the list is already starting.
• Fun to have more boys in the Lab Rats this year. They were really into it today (helping all the kids sing). LOVE IT.
• Some pics from Day One, below.

Power Lab Day One