23Jul 08
Backyard Bible School – Day 1
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Earlier this year, Dad gave our family a vision for hosting a Backyard Bible School this summer. Stepping out to prepare as a family to impact our local community in this way has been a rewarding experience. And a fulfillment of a recent family rhema passage:
"And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in (Isaiah 58:10-12)."
Our first step was to decide upon a theme – the quality of attentiveness. From there, a flier was drafted and delivered to children in our neighborhood, friends & family, and attendants of last year’s Good News Club. A related Bible 
lesson was chosen (God’s call to Samuel), a portion of Scripture to memorize (Prov. 8:32-35), a powerful story entitled, "The Frisbee Chasing Dog," and the remarkable lesson of the white tail deer along with the ‘Attentiveness Song’ as laid out in the Character First material.
This morning marked day one. The children in attendance 
were full of joy and such an encouragement. Everyone enjoyed learning three secret hand signals (1 finger up means sit or stand up straight, 2 fingers up tells everyone to freeze but do keep breathing, and 3 fingers up tells everyone to smile with atleast 3 teeth showing 
). We also received a surprise visit from Cadet M. Wilkes who discussed how essential it is for a 
soldier to demonstrate attentiveness. With the memory verse, Sarah encouraged us to be attentive to and apply instruction that we may be wise. We learned that the first thing every person must be attentive to, is the call of God unto salvation (Rev. 3:20). The story of, "The Frisbee Chasing Dog," kept the audience in suspense & revealed the close relation between attentiveness and obedience. Would the dog heed the distant cry of his master to drop amidst a wholehearted frisbee chase?
Our attentiveness was put to the test when Daniel lead us in a water balloon toss. Squeals, water, and balloons were coming from everywhere as close to 60 water bombs flew back and forth through the air. The fun continued as everyone lined up and then charged across the yard in search of water 
balloon remnants. Following the clean-up, scarcely a piece could be found anywhere.
We enjoyed every part of the morning and are eagerly looking forward to tomorrow!
Attentiveness: Showing the worth of a person by giving full concentration to his or her words.
All praise and glory to God for the great works he performs through cracked vessels and pots.
A joyous day indeed! The evidence that lives are being touched in little ways is such a reward!
I have enjoyed watching each one rise to the occasion and have seen much growth in our family through this process.
Thank you Dad for your gentle reminders to pray. It has been a critical and crucial part of of the preparations.
This has been so much fun preparing for! What a blessing it has been already. Looking forward to tomorrow.