Skid warned us about Wednesday.
The fun and newness and adventure and enthusiasm for being in a foreign place, doing God's work and meeting new people is beginning to wear thin. As Alex Pearcy put it... we're just "tired." Or, as Brennan Alexander said after a day putting the tarpaper and shingles on the roof of the house we're building: "We're tarred. [Add thick hillbilly accent]."
And when you're tired or tarred, the temptation is to focus on yourself and not the kids and to just offer up minimal effort and conserve energy. The temptation is to withdraw and just take care of the yourself. But we're not here for that.
We're here for the kids.
They're need for interaction and activity seems inexhaustible. Working with them and fighting off Wednesday's weariness makes you aware of the incredible work of the City's staff and dorm parents. We'll need to remember them in prayer. They're amazing people to put forth so much and work so hard. Their labors go beyond service. They are truly sacrificial.
So Wednesday's was about fighting the weariness, tapping into the strength God promises and making sure we finish strong. It's also about finishing some of the other work we've begun. The house crew put the finishing touches on the house that tomorrow when we turn over the keys will become a family's home. The food crew made the final food deliveries. And our four nights of skits also drew to a close.
In our skit, a group of castaway kids have been pitted against several pirate crews as everyone searches for a mysterious treasure. Instead of focusing on getting home, the kids have been lured by the riches the pirates seek. So powerful is the promise of treasure, the kids have even taken on pirate garb and pretended to be in league with the evil captains and their crews. It's, of course, a metaphor for how we tend to live our lives. We're distracted from our journey home by the things of this earth that catch our eye. We're tempted to outwardly fit in and the act of looking/acting like the world arounds us draws in and captures our heart.
In the end, our castaways uncovered the true treasure as well as a few other surprises along the way. We learned that Captain Amerigo La Quinta Ricardo Gonzales Officina Eric Estrada Enrique Iglesias Jennifer Lopez de Soto Montoya (his name got longer each night) was not a pirate captain at all. It was Juan, who lived on the Island and wrote of his Captain. Juan was there to aid the castaway kids in their search for the true treasure though his actions and words were often misinterpreted. In the end, Juan's Captain made his appearance as Sirviente (servant) -- both Captain and Sirviente -- he revealed to the children the true treasure...an empty treasure chest. It was empty because the true treasure is not what we get it's what we give up to become our truest selves. It's the washing away of sin and not the gaining of riches that is the truly amazing and enriching treasure, Christ, our Captain and Sirviente, gives us. That and the peace in the midst of struggle.
Seeing the truth for the first time, one by one, the castaway kids filled the treasure chest with their discarded pirate garb.... Not able to understand the nature of Sirviente's treasure, the pirate captains walked way to continue their meaningless and endless search for the world's riches. But their henchmen stayed, each giving up their pirate swords and shirts...until only one henchmen remained. In this moment our week's lessons came first circle. Skid began the week on Sunday using an illustration in his sermon, in which a person was lead to find something by the audience, who clapped louder as he/she got closer to the object of their search. The last pirate henchmen was led to the true treasure by the claps of the castaway kids.
This blog doesn't do the three days of skits justice. It's just a tip of the iceberg as far as the story goes. But so is any retelling of the amazing story of what Christ has done for us. If you want to read the script for our skits, go to the book of John chapters 13 and 14. Add pirates and read. As Skid explained, Jesus taught by putting hard to understand things in simple stories. So we tried to follow his example with our story.
We closed the day with celebration and devotion. And the recipient of the Festival of Sharing cap/crown for Wednesday was Erica Goslowsky, who had been battling stomach and eye issues most of the trip. But, even so, every day saw her up and at it.
We made it through Weary Wednesday. Thanks for all who prayed.
We're here for the kids.
They're need for interaction and activity seems inexhaustible. Working with them and fighting off Wednesday's weariness makes you aware of the incredible work of the City's staff and dorm parents. We'll need to remember them in prayer. They're amazing people to put forth so much and work so hard. Their labors go beyond service. They are truly sacrificial.
So Wednesday's was about fighting the weariness, tapping into the strength God promises and making sure we finish strong. It's also about finishing some of the other work we've begun. The house crew put the finishing touches on the house that tomorrow when we turn over the keys will become a family's home. The food crew made the final food deliveries. And our four nights of skits also drew to a close.
In our skit, a group of castaway kids have been pitted against several pirate crews as everyone searches for a mysterious treasure. Instead of focusing on getting home, the kids have been lured by the riches the pirates seek. So powerful is the promise of treasure, the kids have even taken on pirate garb and pretended to be in league with the evil captains and their crews. It's, of course, a metaphor for how we tend to live our lives. We're distracted from our journey home by the things of this earth that catch our eye. We're tempted to outwardly fit in and the act of looking/acting like the world arounds us draws in and captures our heart.
In the end, our castaways uncovered the true treasure as well as a few other surprises along the way. We learned that Captain Amerigo La Quinta Ricardo Gonzales Officina Eric Estrada Enrique Iglesias Jennifer Lopez de Soto Montoya (his name got longer each night) was not a pirate captain at all. It was Juan, who lived on the Island and wrote of his Captain. Juan was there to aid the castaway kids in their search for the true treasure though his actions and words were often misinterpreted. In the end, Juan's Captain made his appearance as Sirviente (servant) -- both Captain and Sirviente -- he revealed to the children the true treasure...an empty treasure chest. It was empty because the true treasure is not what we get it's what we give up to become our truest selves. It's the washing away of sin and not the gaining of riches that is the truly amazing and enriching treasure, Christ, our Captain and Sirviente, gives us. That and the peace in the midst of struggle.
Seeing the truth for the first time, one by one, the castaway kids filled the treasure chest with their discarded pirate garb.... Not able to understand the nature of Sirviente's treasure, the pirate captains walked way to continue their meaningless and endless search for the world's riches. But their henchmen stayed, each giving up their pirate swords and shirts...until only one henchmen remained. In this moment our week's lessons came first circle. Skid began the week on Sunday using an illustration in his sermon, in which a person was lead to find something by the audience, who clapped louder as he/she got closer to the object of their search. The last pirate henchmen was led to the true treasure by the claps of the castaway kids.
This blog doesn't do the three days of skits justice. It's just a tip of the iceberg as far as the story goes. But so is any retelling of the amazing story of what Christ has done for us. If you want to read the script for our skits, go to the book of John chapters 13 and 14. Add pirates and read. As Skid explained, Jesus taught by putting hard to understand things in simple stories. So we tried to follow his example with our story.
We closed the day with celebration and devotion. And the recipient of the Festival of Sharing cap/crown for Wednesday was Erica Goslowsky, who had been battling stomach and eye issues most of the trip. But, even so, every day saw her up and at it.
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| Erica at her FOS crowning |
We made it through Weary Wednesday. Thanks for all who prayed.
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