Dots and Dashes Ministry

06/11/2026

Ain’t no tired like VBS tired. And if you’ve ever led a VBS week you already know exactly what I mean. 😴

But here’s what I also know - you know who shows up when you’re out there teaching the gospel to children? The enemy does. And this week we reminded him: Not this week. Not today. Not ever. 😤

Tonight is our Family Night Finale for Illumination Station VBS and I have been looking forward to this night for over a month. Not just because it means the finish line is close - honestly I’m going to miss these kids terribly when it’s over. When the decorations come down and the church goes back to quiet I will feel every bit of it.

But that’s the thing about VBS. You pour everything you have into a week and then you trust God with what happens next. In the hearts of those kids. In the families who walked through the doors. In the seeds that were planted.

I can’t wait to see what He does with tonight. And with all of it after tonight. That part is just getting started. 🌟

If you’re a children’s ministry leader in the middle of your own VBS season right now - you’ve got this. Keep going. It is worth every single tired. 💡

06/10/2026

Pray for the child who almost didn't come back today. But did. 🌷

06/07/2026

It's VBS Sunday for us! Somewhere a child is picking out their outfit. Somewhere a volunteer is triple-checking their room. And somewhere God is already at work. Let's GO. 🔦 "

06/07/2026

🌟 Decoration day is DONE and VBS starts TOMORROW.

Let’s be honest. Nobody warned you that children’s ministry would turn you into part interior designer, part electrician, part craft supply hoarder, and part person who genuinely gets emotional over foil curtains.

And yet. Here we are.

This is what showing up looks like. It’s late nights and hot glue burns. It’s “I found these at the salvage store for a dollar” becoming a centerpiece. It’s your husband still tweaking the light brite cross while you’re arranging star-shaped beverage dispensers and wondering how your life got this beautiful.

When everyone had left and everything was cleaned up, I just sat in the glow for a few minutes.

And I cried a little. Because this is it. This is the thing. The foil and the glitter and the dollar store finds and the volunteers who showed up - it all points to one thing.

He is the light of the world. And tomorrow we get to tell kids that.

If you’re in the thick of your own VBS prep right now - keep going. It is so worth it.

John 8:12 - I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

✨ Illumination Station starts TOMORROW. Let’s go.

06/06/2026

Y’all. Software issues. Two Walmart trips. A delivery order for the thing I forgot. A decoration project. A peaceful moment on the porch waiting for that delivery where I just stood there and felt the breeze and honestly - felt God.

And then while I was working on that decoration project, Forrest Frank’s “Okay” came on and y’all - I needed that song in that moment. Like it was put there on purpose.

And then right before bed when I thought I’d knock out one quick thing before I called it a night?

The printer threw an error. 😂

And here’s what I noticed. I wasn’t stressed. I was just… OKAY. Already thinking about the workaround. Already telling myself tomorrow is another day.

That’s not me. That’s what peace that passes understanding actually feels like when it shows up in real life. Not in the big dramatic moments. In the Friday night printer error moments.

VBS prep is rarely glamorous. It’s Walmart runs and software glitches and pivoting and piddling and figuring it out as you go.

But God’s peace doesn’t wait for everything to go right before it shows up.

It meets you on the porch in a June breeze. And in a song that hits at exactly the right moment.

And somehow that’s enough to face whatever the printer has going on in the morning. 💜

🎬 Sonic Fan Music Video.This fan-made music video features clips from the Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), KNUCKLES (2024), and the S...

06/04/2026

She thinks she’s just helping mama hang streamers. 😄

But what’s actually happening is so much bigger than that. Every time we let our kids work beside us in ministry - even in the small things - we are planting something in them that goes way deeper than streamers and silver walls.

They’re learning that the church is worth showing up for. That serving is just what our family does. That their hands matter in God’s work too.

My daughter didn’t ask for a theology lesson today. She just came to help her mama. But I have a feeling God was teaching her something anyway.

That’s how it works sometimes. 💜

06/03/2026

Are you even a VBS volunteer if you haven’t had paste under your fingernails by Tuesday? 😂

This right here is the glamorous side of children’s ministry that nobody talks about. Newspaper. Flour paste. A balloon. And a vision.

Because in a few days this soggy ball of Carroll County news is going to be a disco ball hanging in a fellowship hall full of kids hearing about Jesus.

That’s the thing about serving in ministry - it rarely looks pretty in the middle. The prep work is messy. The hours are long. Nobody sees most of it.

But God does. And the kids will.

And that’s enough. 🌟

06/02/2026

Y’all. NEXT year’s VBS theme just dropped.

And I found out about it standing in the Walmart aisle, picking up more stuff for THIS year’s VBS to-do list. 😂

Lifeway just announced their 2027 theme - Take Flight - and the second I saw it, my brain did that thing where it just… took off. Hot air balloon. Biplane. Parachute. Station names. Volunteer titles. Centerpiece ideas.

And then I had to laugh at myself. Because honey, I haven’t even gotten through Sunday yet. The cart wasn’t even unloaded.

But here’s what I couldn’t shake after I put my phone down and kept shopping:

That theme. Trusting God’s Faithfulness Above All. Psalm 100:5.

It wasn’t just a cute VBS tagline on my screen. It felt like a word for RIGHT NOW. For every children’s minister, every VBS director, every volunteer who is tired and excited and overwhelmed and grateful all at the same time this week.

His faithfulness isn’t just for the big moments. It’s for the Tuesday night when the craft supply order is wrong. It’s for the Sunday morning when half your volunteers text in sick. It’s for the in-between, the behind-the-scenes, the nobody-saw-that moments that make up most of this work.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to trust the One who does.

So yeah - I’ll be dreaming about 2027 eventually. But right now? I’m showing up for 2026. And I’m trusting that the same God who is faithful through ALL generations is faithful through this one crazy, beautiful, exhausting, holy week too.

See you on the other side of Illumination Station. 🌟

06/02/2026

Our VBS week is 5 daysYour volunteers will run on Jesus and snacks. Plan accordingly. 😄

But before the first kid walks through that door, here are 3 things every VBS director needs to have done BEFORE the first day:

1. Every volunteer knows exactly where to go and what to do.
Not “we’ll figure it out Sunday morning.” Send role sheets, room assignments, and a daily schedule rundown by Thursday night. A confused volunteer is a stressed volunteer - and stressed volunteers can’t pour into kids.

2. Your supplies are sorted, labeled, and staged by station.
Craft supplies in the craft room. Snack supplies with the snack team. Nothing still in your trunk Sunday morning. 😅 This is the one people skip and regret every single time.

3. You’ve prayed over the space.
Walk through those rooms before the kids arrive. Pray over the chairs, the tables, the doors they’ll walk through. Ask God to meet every child by name before you even know their name. This one costs nothing and changes everything.

You’ve worked too hard for this week to not be ready for it. Go finish strong. 🕯️

06/01/2026

💡✨ Welcome to Dots and Dashes Ministry ✨💡

This page is for YOU.

The one who sets up and tears down.
The one who plans the lesson AND buys the snacks AND makes the copies AND fixes the craft that didn’t quite work AND cleans up the glitter that somehow ended up EVERYWHERE.

The one who loves kids that aren’t always easy to love.
The one who shows up even when nobody notices.
The one who prays over little chairs before little people sit in them.

You do everything.
And we see you.

This is not just a page.
This is a ministry FOR the ministers.
A community FOR the volunteers.
A soft place to land for the ones who hold everybody else up.

Here you will find encouragement.
Real talk.
Practical wisdom.
And people who GET IT – because they are living it too.

You are not alone.
God sees every single thing you do for His kids.
And so do we. 💛

Pull up a tiny plastic chair.
Stay a while.
You belong here.