Whew!

What a week! We've come to the end of a fun but exhausting VBS. These five days have worn me out, and I didn't even have to go to a job during the day like most of our volunteers did!

One of my favorite things about this year's VBS was the donation drive. Each night kids had the chance to help an orphanage in Bulgaria. Last winter HCC kids collected coats for the orphans there, and money raised this week will cover the postage costs for that shipment. It was wonderful to see the children so excited to give! They would just run to the well to drop in their coins and dollar bills.

Ryan and Katie got to experience all kinds of things, from donkeys to stone-carving. This was Ryan's last year to attend as a student, and since he's one of the older kids, he considered sitting this one out. I'm so proud of him for setting such a good example for the other kids. I was so proud of Katie, too, for the way she dove into the synagogue lessons. I was tickled to hear her help Ryan recite Hebrew at dinner tonight! As always, it warms my heart to see how much both kids love our church family. We are so thankful for Jamba and all of our amazing helpers.

And me? I'm hoping all the Diet Coke I have consumed this week will eventually wear off and maybe—just MAYBE—I can get some sleep!