(It is my honor to introduce a special guest who has written the Monday letter this week while I am on vacation, and I could not be more pleased to share these words with you from our Children and Family Minister, Brittnye Lee. Brittnye has touched and inspired us all with her vision, energy, devotion and faithfulness, and it is a privilege to have her as a colleague on the church staff and to share the devotion she has written for this week’s Monday letter.)
Dear Church Family and Friends,
It’s midnight on Night 3 of VBS, and I am absolutely exhausted. I should be asleep, but something has been stirring in my soul, and I just couldn’t lay my head down yet. I’ve learned that I do my best listening and connecting with God late at night, so maybe midnight is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
As I stood looking at our stage tonight, the results of months of planning, praying, building, and preparing, I realized how easy it is to focus on the one thing that went wrong instead of the countless ways God showed up.
VBS is hard work, but it is so incredibly rewarding. Tonight, though, I caught myself focusing on everything I felt I messed up. The things that didn’t go as planned. The details I overlooked. The mistakes.
I’ve been planning VBS since December, but I’m not perfect, and I don’t pretend to be. Mistakes happen. Things get forgotten. Plans change. But if we’re not careful, those little mistakes will take root in our hearts. They’ll fester and grow until they overshadow all the good God has already done.
So, tonight, I’m making a choice. I’m choosing to let go of the negative and focus on the blessings. Because nobody is perfect. Mistakes will happen. But do you know what’s more important?
More than eighty kids experienced the love of Jesus this week. More than eighty children — and their families — heard how deeply God loves them. And tonight, as one little preschooler was walking to her car, she stopped, stretched her arms out for the biggest hug, and said, “I love you, Mrs. Brittnye.”
That moment made every late night, every stressful moment, and every mistake worth it.
That’s what church is for. That’s why bringing your kids to church matters.
They need to know the love of Jesus. They need to know they have a church family. They need to know there are adults outside of their own families who love them, pray for them, encourage them, and point them to Christ.
So, if you’ve been dwelling on the negative and allowing Satan to steal your joy, let this be your reminder: Shake it off and give it to God. Whether it’s a person, a circumstance, or a mistake that’s weighing on your heart, release it into His hands. He can handle it far better than you or I ever could.
Tonight, I’m choosing gratitude over guilt, joy over disappointment, and faith over fear. Because God has been far too good to me to let the little things keep me from seeing the big things He’s doing.
Dr. Brittnye Lee
Minister of Children and Families
Imagine Church
