What a week this has been.
I volunteered to help with vacation bible school thinking that I could be one of the helpers who walked the kids from station to station, or maybe one of the ladies who fixed the cute snacks that coordinate with the bible story of the day.
But oh no. In a moment of weakness I said I would go where ever I was needed. They assigned to be the leader for the "Bible Blast station. Oh my!
At the Bible Blast station, kids hear the Bible story and engage in activities that help them experience what the Bible characters experienced. I realized, as I read through a week of scripts, that this station would be better served with a much younger leader. But it was too late to get a replacement. I prayed that my enthusiasm would make up for all my inadequacies.
I loved watching the dynamics of the different groups each day. VBS was open to kids from 4 years old to 5th grade. The preschoolers were full of fear the first day, but by the end of the week they were so eager to participate that they would raise their hand even if they didn't have an answer.
The ages of the "kid helpers" ranged from 6th grade to high school seniors.
The 6th grade helpers were close enough in age that they still wanted to participate and several times the adults had to remind them they were supposed to be helping.
The Juniors and Seniors were more interested in hanging out with each other and getting community service credits than they were in helping the kids. Often they too had to be reminded that they were there to help.
But from 7th -10th grade, the kids were genuinely interested in helping.
Oh, if we could only have collected all of their enthusiasm and given it to the rest of the world to share, we could have changed the world. And I hope we did.
The first day of VBS we learned that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, and not ungrateful like nine out of the ten healed lepers in the Bible story. The kids pretended to be lepers, going around the outside of the village...(made with decorated cardboard boxes) and calling out "Unclean Unclean".
We quarantined the entire crew with caution tape, and when we cut them loose it signified that they had been healed. My question to them just before we cut the tape was - "What is the first thing you would do if you had just been healed by Jesus? When I cut you loose I want you to show me what you would do."
Like the nine lepers, they all ran off to reconnect with friends instead of remembering to stop and give thanks. After reading the conclusion of the story about the nine that didn't return and the one who did, many did come back and hug me and thank me for being healed.
One little girl I call "Little T" latched on to me the very first day for some reason. I must have remided her of her grandma. Whenever she saw me she'd come for a hug. At the end of the first day Little T was pretty tired and when all the other kids were up dancing and singing to the music CD, Little T came and knelt on the seat next to me and put her head on my shoulder and took the cross I was wearing in her hand to look closer. When she did her hand brushed the bare skin above my V-neck T-shirt. "You're Squishy right there" she announced loud enough to make all around me begin to chuckle.
Boy was I thankful I had remembered to turn off my cordless microphone so more people didn't get in on the laugh.
Tuesday the kids were blindfolded and lead into church and there learned how it must have felt to be blind like the man sitting outside the gate the day Jesus came to town. They were healed after they had a special mud mixture (baby oatmeal) placed over their eyes, and then washed off, and we learned that "Jesus gives us the power to help others".
Our parish is in the middle of a diocesan wide drive to gather food, clothing and personal care products for the migrant workers. We printed a letter asking the kids to bring in a personal care item and we pinned the letter on their back to remind them that we are all supposed to be carrying our brothers on our back. The kids answered the call in a big way and their generous donations will help many of our brothers.
Wednesdays lesson that "Jesus gives us the power to be brave" was the favorite . A midnight boat cruise with the disciples turned into a powerful storm where the kids got sprayed with water and all got wet.
We used brown tarps for the boat and draped blue table covering on the seats of the chairs to look like waves. We had storm music playing in the background. When one little girl hid under the chair when she heard the thunder and felt the rain and I couldn't help but think how many times in my life I have done the same. When the storms in my life arrive, I bury my head in my hands and call out to God to take the storm away. Instead of keeping my focus on Jesus and believing that though the storm rages he is right beside me and eventually he will quiet the wind and when he does I will be a stronger person for having weathered it.
When the boat ride ended, each child got a chance to experience the feeling of walking on water. The church carpeting was a mess with the gooey mixture of cornstarch and water, despite the huge mats we put down
Our VBS is only 4 days long, and on the last day the kids learned that Jesus gives us the power to tell others about him." The bible story was about receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
I enlisted the help of my oldest grandson Andrew to explain the miracle of Pentecost. He was a foreign guest who was trying to tell me something in a foreign language that I couldn't understand. He was so funny making up words. Most came out like a grunt. The kids had to make up their own language and go around to the other groups and speak the new language and listen to the others.
I volunteered to help with vacation bible school thinking that I could be one of the helpers who walked the kids from station to station, or maybe one of the ladies who fixed the cute snacks that coordinate with the bible story of the day.
But oh no. In a moment of weakness I said I would go where ever I was needed. They assigned to be the leader for the "Bible Blast station. Oh my!
At the Bible Blast station, kids hear the Bible story and engage in activities that help them experience what the Bible characters experienced. I realized, as I read through a week of scripts, that this station would be better served with a much younger leader. But it was too late to get a replacement. I prayed that my enthusiasm would make up for all my inadequacies.
I loved watching the dynamics of the different groups each day. VBS was open to kids from 4 years old to 5th grade. The preschoolers were full of fear the first day, but by the end of the week they were so eager to participate that they would raise their hand even if they didn't have an answer.
The ages of the "kid helpers" ranged from 6th grade to high school seniors.
The 6th grade helpers were close enough in age that they still wanted to participate and several times the adults had to remind them they were supposed to be helping.
The Juniors and Seniors were more interested in hanging out with each other and getting community service credits than they were in helping the kids. Often they too had to be reminded that they were there to help.
But from 7th -10th grade, the kids were genuinely interested in helping.
Oh, if we could only have collected all of their enthusiasm and given it to the rest of the world to share, we could have changed the world. And I hope we did.
The first day of VBS we learned that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, and not ungrateful like nine out of the ten healed lepers in the Bible story. The kids pretended to be lepers, going around the outside of the village...(made with decorated cardboard boxes) and calling out "Unclean Unclean".
We quarantined the entire crew with caution tape, and when we cut them loose it signified that they had been healed. My question to them just before we cut the tape was - "What is the first thing you would do if you had just been healed by Jesus? When I cut you loose I want you to show me what you would do."
Like the nine lepers, they all ran off to reconnect with friends instead of remembering to stop and give thanks. After reading the conclusion of the story about the nine that didn't return and the one who did, many did come back and hug me and thank me for being healed.
One little girl I call "Little T" latched on to me the very first day for some reason. I must have remided her of her grandma. Whenever she saw me she'd come for a hug. At the end of the first day Little T was pretty tired and when all the other kids were up dancing and singing to the music CD, Little T came and knelt on the seat next to me and put her head on my shoulder and took the cross I was wearing in her hand to look closer. When she did her hand brushed the bare skin above my V-neck T-shirt. "You're Squishy right there" she announced loud enough to make all around me begin to chuckle.
Boy was I thankful I had remembered to turn off my cordless microphone so more people didn't get in on the laugh.
Tuesday the kids were blindfolded and lead into church and there learned how it must have felt to be blind like the man sitting outside the gate the day Jesus came to town. They were healed after they had a special mud mixture (baby oatmeal) placed over their eyes, and then washed off, and we learned that "Jesus gives us the power to help others".
Our parish is in the middle of a diocesan wide drive to gather food, clothing and personal care products for the migrant workers. We printed a letter asking the kids to bring in a personal care item and we pinned the letter on their back to remind them that we are all supposed to be carrying our brothers on our back. The kids answered the call in a big way and their generous donations will help many of our brothers.
Wednesdays lesson that "Jesus gives us the power to be brave" was the favorite . A midnight boat cruise with the disciples turned into a powerful storm where the kids got sprayed with water and all got wet.
We used brown tarps for the boat and draped blue table covering on the seats of the chairs to look like waves. We had storm music playing in the background. When one little girl hid under the chair when she heard the thunder and felt the rain and I couldn't help but think how many times in my life I have done the same. When the storms in my life arrive, I bury my head in my hands and call out to God to take the storm away. Instead of keeping my focus on Jesus and believing that though the storm rages he is right beside me and eventually he will quiet the wind and when he does I will be a stronger person for having weathered it.
When the boat ride ended, each child got a chance to experience the feeling of walking on water. The church carpeting was a mess with the gooey mixture of cornstarch and water, despite the huge mats we put down
Our VBS is only 4 days long, and on the last day the kids learned that Jesus gives us the power to tell others about him." The bible story was about receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
I enlisted the help of my oldest grandson Andrew to explain the miracle of Pentecost. He was a foreign guest who was trying to tell me something in a foreign language that I couldn't understand. He was so funny making up words. Most came out like a grunt. The kids had to make up their own language and go around to the other groups and speak the new language and listen to the others.
The little kids were wide eyed as the story played out. They couldn't take their eyes off Andrew, and I think they were a little afraid of is guttural samurai warrior sounds.
There were giggles and many groans of embarrassment as the crews made up and spoke their language of gibberish.
The lesson ends by telling the kids that they can tell others about Jesus by letting others see Jesus in them. They each made a Thank you card for someone who helped them learn about Jesus this week. Lots of them made cards to take home to mom and dad. But it was craft station lady who had the biggest fan club.
Yes, this past week has exhausted me, but it was worth it. I'm praying for each little head that entered my station and heard God's word proclaimed. I'm praying that every day they will start and end their day with a thankful heart. I'm praying that their eyes may always be open to the injustices that surrond them. I'm praying that when the are afraid they will turn to God for their strength and protection. And last of all I'm praying that their lives may always
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