Vacation Bible School

Da Cave Quest.

Drums made out of coffee cans and rubber patches.  The Wordless Book.  “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery...”.  Let me tell you something, my dear friends, VBS has come a loooong way since my days.  Multi-media presentations, decorations to the hilt, small armies of volunteers to make it happen (well, that’s still the same!), live worship bands, and the like.  I have to admit there are few things that move me in the way that packed pews of kiddos of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences, singing their hearts out to “Majestic” or “Jesus Loves Me” (the funky version).  

Da Band.

My Favorite Philosopher likes to tease me and say that my primary motivation for VBS Volunteerism is that I covet the VBS t-shirts that are emblazoned with the theme and/or read “staff or volunteer”.  While I do have a lovely collection of such garments AND they are usually designed by someone with a creative eye and good fabric sense (and it’s always fun to be part of that group!), there’s just something about the simplicity of the Gospel, the earnestness of the kiddos, and servant hearts of those who volunteer for these adventures.  Of course, we all, at some point, have moments of weariness and “please hold still” may not come out as gently as Jesus would have preferred.  We might never see the fruit of the seeds that are planted.  But, that’s not really part of the job description.  It’s our job to plant, to water.  And make cool crafts.  It’s His job to do the rest.  

Despite my very “J”-ness, I have discovered that I love the “floater” role.  Rather than doing the same thing, over and over, as a “center leader” (or Crew Chief, or whatever the appropriately-themed nomenclature might call me), I get to experience many different aspects of VBS--the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff.  Essentially, I report to our ever-so-capable Pastor to Children and Families--and go where Aaron tells me to go.  In a manner of speaking.  It could be tallying kids for the meal line, helping our techno-multimedia guru guy set up photo shoots for future “big screen” moments, filling in for a team leader who’s taking care of a sick grand-baby (Aww!), or helping our teen girls with motions (Baptist-speak for “choreography”) for the nifty new songs we get to sing during the week.  That was my favorite.  Shocking, I know.

I got to climb into the baptismal to help hang this sign.
Had it not been empty,
it would have given new meaning to my role as "floater".

So, our week is already over.  It went by awfully fast.  Mini-Hooper was a trooper (whoa, that rhymes!), going early with his “floating” mama--while MFP did a spectacular job of keeping the homes fires burning.  He’s awesome like that.

And, I have another cool t-shirt.