Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
~ Psalm 47:1
Last week we gathered at the church for three mornings of singing, dancing, worship, games, crafts, and bible lessons with a wonderful group of kids. We had our core group that regularly join us in our Small Seeds program, as well as some grandkids of members!
And let me tell you, it was a blast. We laughed, played, and learned, and honestly, afterwards I rested. Man was that tiring!
But here’s a secret – this was my first Vacation Bible School.
I never went to VBS as a kid, and through seminary most of the churches I worked at were too small or didn’t have a venue to host a summer program. Then on internship I was too busy (and exhausted after a youth mission trip).
Luckily my husband, Greg was volun-told last year (and again this year) to participate as an adult leader with VBS. He had a bit of an idea of what to expect.
But as I began going through the curriculum last month, I realized that this was a whole new level of ministry.
Our monthly kids-group is about two hours on a Saturday afternoon. With VBS we were looking at 2.5 hours three mornings in a row.
I always come away from our Small Seeds weekends excited, our kids have a way of bringing out joy and excitement in me.
And after all this time together with our kids, after my first ever Vacation Bible School, I just want to shout and clap my hands for joy.
Our kids are so full of love, and they’re so curious to learn about God in their lives. Our theme for VBS was “God’s Galaxy”, and so not only were we talking about God’s love and mercy and all the things Jesus has done for us, but we also got to talk about space!
We have a few kids who are obsessed with science right now, and it was such a joy to see their hands shoot up into the air whenever we asked questions like “how many times does the earth rotate around the sun?” and “What would have happened if the moon wasn’t just the right distance from earth?”
So as I continue to process last week, I invite you to clap and shout for joy with me, as we celebrate our kids, the different ways we might do ministry, and all the ways in which science, God, and joy fills our lives.
