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appreciation, blessings, children, gratitude, neighborhoods, nourishment, positive attitude, religion, spirituality, thankfulness, Vacation Bible School
And we will stand together, stand forever.
We will stand strong.
Standing up for God each day,
we will stand strong!
Have you noticed that many of the things we love as adults are those things cultivated from our childhood memories?
One of my childhood memories is Vacation Bible School. Every summer for a week we would do crazy things like glue macaroni and alphabet soup on cans and spray them gold to give to our mom as a pencil holder. I’m sure we memorized Bible verses and sang the old songs, but that’s what I remember tonight. I loved Vacation Bible School!
This week I had the opportunity to volunteer for Vacation Bible Xtreme or VBX, at our neighborhood community church. It was anything but small! Kingdom Rock rocked the socks off of 300 preschool and elementary school kids. With a staff of over 100 volunteers, this was vacation bible school on steroids. Can you imagine how many hours were spent setting this all up?
I came two years ago and helped in the preschool program, but this year I wanted to be around my grandkids more, so I was a team leader in the 3rd and 4th grade. I snagged Annabelle the first day and asked if she wanted to be in my group. There were about 56 – 3rd and 4th graders registered, and six staff leaders, so we figured we would each have about 10 kids. That’s not too many, right? Well, my granddaughter has friends, lots of friends. And each of the friends had a friend they didn’t want to be separated from, so my 10 grew to 17 by mid-week as our 56 grew to 70. That’s just the 3rd and 4th graders.
We started each morning with the K-6th graders in the sanctuary, music cranked up loud and it didn’t take long for the kids to be just as loud. They danced, they screamed and cheered, they laughed and sang, and they learned about the mascot for the day and the morning Bible verse, complete with sign language.
They learned about the Mission they were bringing in their nickels and dimes to support — clean drinking water for the people of Costa Rica. They learned that just $15 would buy one person clean drinking water for 20 years. They embraced the challenge, and every day were so excited to learn just how many people they had helped. By the week’s end they had offered up over $1,500 to provide 106 people clean drinking water. They tapped their piggy banks and gave from their heart, learning the wonderful feeling of helping someone in need. Will they remember this in 30 years? I think they will.
In the Royal Bible Adventure tent they learned about some Bible heroes who stood strong when times got tough. King David, Esther, Nehemiah and Jesus. For some it was the first time they had heard these stories.
We learned a new song:
Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that these were the words that I needed to hear that day. As I try to do everything my own way and by myself, lately I’ve just been spinning my wheels and wondering what I’m doing wrong. I think I found the answer this week, and I’m the one who needed to come to VBX. It’s time to get back on the right path.
The other feeling I’m left with this week is pure love. Love for these kids, love for being a volunteer and also a love for this new town we are calling home. There’s no better way to meet people than to immerse yourself into a project, or a community like a church, a school, or a soccer team! I think my mentor Rollin taught me that. It really works.
Thank you Real Life for a wonderful week!
Check out videos from the week at www.seekreallife.com