The Beginning of the Endings

Vacation Bible School is over for the Harrington Crew. After a sensational, wonderful, awe-inspiring, breathtaking ride, it is finished. The day started as usual, far too early and with showers at the school. We appreciated the yet again sunny weather and were finally able to play VBS games outdoors. Today we had the largest VBS turnout of the week, with 19 children in attendance. Although we had 23 kids total attend throughout the week, today was the most we had in one day. We unambiguously finished strong, with a plethora of water balloon games outside and Bible Jeopardy inside. The undoubted climax of the week came during the closing program. Pastor Jim asked all the kids to bow their heads and close their eyes, then asked any of them who wanted to ask Jesus to live in their hearts to raise their hands. 5 or 6 hands went up, and Jim led the children in a prayer. It was hands-down one of the coolest things that we've ever experienced.

After the children were dismissed and lunch was eaten, we marched forth to do combat with the forces of debris. We arrived at the high school and were assigned to bus cleaning, parking lot sweeping, and detritus clearing. We labored diligently at our tasks, disregarding the relentless solar rays beating upon us. We completed our work around 3:00 and retired to our temporary residence to don swimwear. This accomplished, we retraced our journey and spent an hour at the high school's pool, before heading back to the church to prepare for the VBS evening program. We showed a slide show, performed a skit, and presented the theme songs and silly songs the kids had learned over the week. The program was a rousing success, with about two-thirds of the kids showing up and bringing their parents

After the program ended, we immediately retired to the park for a barbecue, bringing most of the VBS families with us. Caleb Stapp brought the worship band from his church in Deer Park, and they did a fantastic job with the music. The Davenport team brought their youth and met us there, swelling the attendance to 120 total. Hot dogs and hamburgers were served and games of Ninja, Ultimate, and Duck-Duck-Goose broke out. After the barbecue finished, the Davenport team returned to the church with us to help load our VBS stuff onto a truck for transport. While they were there, an amp was produced and a dance party ensued, with several classics such as Celebration pumped out and lots of hectically frantic dance moves performed. 

After the Davenporters packed up and left, the Crew drove to Pastor Jim's house where we had family time and cookies, before finally returning home to prepare for bed. With no VBS tomorrow, we get to sleep in an hour and there has been a promise of bacon for breakfast. Brandon returned today as well, and stayed the entire day again, but was much more comfortable around us, which was a huge blessing. Continued prayers are appreciated for Brandon, and thanks for a blessed VBS. We also ask prayers for energy and safety as we head into the final day of service.