Our family was super excited about stopping by Disney’s Coronado Springs in Orlando for the 2012 Children’s Pastor Conference. Our goal was to meet up with Kidology founder Karl Bastian to show off Howard, our Kidology to Go motorhome at an informal get together at the conference.
However on our way down to CPC we received news about Patsy’s dad who had surgery down in Naples, Florida and was having a tough time with his recovery. Not knowing how things were going to far with her dad, we decided to forego the get together in Orlando. Still we wanted to stop in and say hi to Karl and take a stroll through CPC’s famous vendor room.
Strolling up and down the aisles of vendor after vendor at CPC is sort of like walking the miracle mile of children’s ministry! More than just a curriculum fair, CPC is a place to find all the latest tools, goodies and fun gadgets that children’s pastors love to use to spread the Gospel. Good stuff for sure, but having kids along with us, we got the royal treatment.
Brendan as the dragon
At the Group Publishing site a bunch of ladies wanting to demonstrate a trick involving hairdryers and hollow balls, grabbed our boys who were quite happy to play along. Later the boys were hijacked at a booth demonstrating face painting and balloon twisting. Once again they were happy kidnapees! Still another booth insisted on giving them magic canes and yet another some candy. Blake talked to a graphic artist who makes stills of Bible Stories for use in children’s church and a job offer for later in life!
Our family of five boys looked so great, we were handed five different CDs with Christian kid’s music!!
We did get to meet up with Karl at the Discipleland booth. He was very gracious and understanding, encouraging my wife to go and be with her father. When we were done walking to gauntlet our boys had a big bag full of freebies and they were all very glad to be there. They barely even realized they were on Disney property!
As we travel across America in our motorhome we often hear questions about how we manage to be in such a tight place with five boys or how do we manage to keep our sanity and patience with all these people in such a small space. Of course we have our pat answers like “We lost our sanity long ago, otherwise we never would have tried such a trip!” Haha I know.
Still as I have lots of time to ponder and think as I drive the highways and byways of our vast nation, I have often thought of how these questions reflect a little into the hearts of modern Americans and more importantly modern Christians.
Before I go there let me say that living in a 350 square foot home with seven people and pets DOES stretch our patience to the limits.
And our peace of mind, our sanity, our faith, our comfort zone and just about everything else. I am not complaining because I would not trade the experiences, the memories and the bonding that we share for anything. Still these things come with a price.
Yet God’s hand is so evident in this trip. Time and time again He has shown us this through countless signs (spiritual signs that is, not road signs!). He is working in our lives in such a tangible way through the difficulties as well. He is revealing to us areas that He really wants to work on in our hearts. You see He is the potter and we are the clay, but often times the clay needs some heat to get the impurities out and some pressure to form it into something beautiful. Howard our RV has been like a giant mobile potter’s wheel for most of our family. God is using the insanity to bring clarity, the frustrations to bring peace and the chaos to bring order into our family and into our souls!
As I drive I think about our natural inclination to create comfortable situations in our lives, rather than to embrace the situations God often calls into that are uncomfortable. We often flee from adversity rather that walk through it and see how God brings us out of it on the other end. As Jonah found out, you can’t flee from the hand and designs of God though. He has a purpose He is going to work out in your life and that means He is going to create some uncomfortable situations and times to bring your focus into the areas He is trying to form His purpose in you. For our family that has been living and working together in sometimes small spaces, learning to function as a cohesive unit rather than seven ships passing in the night. For you and your household the potter’s wheel may be quite different.
For all of us though, in order to travel the road less traveled, we have to go contrary to our nature and we have to embrace the struggles, the uncomfortable situations, yes even embrace a certain amount of suffering, taking up our cross as His word says. This is how I cope with the lack of quiet and calm in my “house.” I realize it is yet another opportunity for Christ to form His nature in me!
Kevin Shutterbug helps our family wish you a Merry Christmas as we celebrate together Immanuel, God With Us! May Messiah rule and reign in your hearts today and every day.
One of the goals of our trip was to find some ministry outside of being a pastor’s family. Jesus certainly did not limit the ministry he did to inside a church (Ok a synagogue)! We really prayed that God would open some doors for us in this regard.
Brendan Collects some trash
The door opened for us to stay at Hephzibah Children’s Home for most of the month of December. There is a small RV Park with full hook-ups here at Hephzibah for people who come here and volunteer at the home.
Patsy helping clean
Hephzibah has been serving the needs of children since 1900. For more than a century, the Home has been a stable influence on hundreds of children and young people in need of out-of-home care. Hephzibah is located on a beautiful piece of property, around 200 acres in Macon, Georgia. The mission of Hephzibah Children’s Home is to provide a Christ-centered, safe and wholesome environment for children and young people in crisis.
Free moment
So far we have been at the Home for almost a week and we have picked up trash, helped a new mother move to a new room, cleaned an apartment, set up a room for a banquet, changed light bulbs on very tall chandeliers. and other assorted tasks. We also met some new friends who have been very kind in making us feel welcomed here at Hephzibah! We have had some free time to play football and let the kids ride their bikes and all the kids love getting to ride around on the golf carts!!
Football Time
This works our really well for us in Howard as well, so we can set up a tree and all our Christmas lights and we do not have to move the rig and take it all down each time we move to another place.
Our family was super excited about stopping by Disney’s Coronado Springs in Orlando for the 2012 Children’s Pastor Conference. Our goal was to meet up with Kidology founder Karl Bastian to show off Howard, our Kidology to Go motorhome at an informal get together at the conference.
