I was not a VBS kid...

As I grew up, VBS was "vacation...beach...sun",  not "Vacation Bible School". As Cate attended VBS this week I was just not sure what to expect. She was nervous, I was nervous. WOW! What a week she had! Each day for a few hours Jesus, crafts, worship and play were all woven together.

Today, I had the opportunity to stay for a bit of the daily "Worship Rally". It was a fun time with God-honoring music; a presentation from now-grown former orphans from Maldovia, and pledges to not only our USA, but to our Christian Faith and the Word of the Lord. It was really impressive given more than 700 kids were part of it all!

And there, I sat with tears just swelling. I did not have such an opportunity as a kid. I grew up pretty much a-religious. Our best exposure was to Judaism through my dad's side of the family. My dad had little interest in his faith, so we did not attend services and only really learned about that faith while at my aunts' home for Friday Shabot dinner and holidays. A girl with a non-Jewish mom is not wholly recognized as being Jewish. Our only Christian influence was celebrating Easter and Christmas, but pretty much as secular as you can get. I did not meet Christ until I was an adult.

I can certainly look back and see times when He was clearly with me, I just did not know Him to see Him. I can look back and see the friends who simply planted little seeds of faith in me without me even knowing it.

I have always had a pretty good moral compass. I was a good kid. I have a heart for others. In college, I got in some trouble with my parents because while home during a particularly cold winter break I packed up just about every warm thing in the house and took them to a park downtown where the homeless gathered. In hindsight, it was not the safest thing for me to do, but I was more concerned about these folks being warm than me being safe.

I am thankful for the path the Lord had me on. I can relate to non-believers very well because in my life I had some well-meaning Christians try to tell me about Christ,  but did it in such a way that it was a turn-off (note to any Christians out there, never tell a non-believing teenager that she might as well have horns coming from her head if she does not accept Jesus on the spot.) I had life-experiences that clearly shaped who I am. Without such experiences, I would not have as much a witness to the life I let die to become alive in Jesus. 

It is hard for me not to compare Cate to myself. We look alike. We act alike. She really is a mini-version of me. Today, watching her respond to the name of Jesus with such excitement made me weep for joy. The Lord makes it clear that our children are not ours. They are His. He asks us to raise them up to be His arrows to this world. Today, I realized we are doing that. And, I realized in doing so, we may well be raising a little arrow who goes far from us to do His work. How that makes me sad and happy all at once. I look at her and think, "if I did so many things with others needs first not knowing Christ, how much more will she knowing Him?".  I cannot wait to see.