Vacation Bible School

This has just been an incredible week, one unlike any other our family has experienced. VBS started on Sunday and went through Thurs. This year the theme for the preschoolers (the older kids had a different theme) was PandaMania. The children learned that God is wild about them, loves them no matter what, listens to you, watches over you...and just really the "what you need to know" about our awesome and loving Father. The curriculum was perfectly suited for this younger age group and was just pure genius to split the preschoolers into this group. There were stations that the children would travel through each night....opening/closing time, music, crafts, recreation/snack time, and bible story time. Eric and I served as teachers this year to the 4 yr old class and our job was to move the children from station to station....then each station had their own specially gifted servant that would run the station.

Above is the Bible story time. This is Mrs. Martha (she is AMAZING) dressed as Jonah. She had an opened can of tuna so the children would know how horrible it smelled inside that whale's belly. It was awe inspiring for me to watch her use all the senses to teach a lesson. Each night her stories had incredible and tangible visuals that reached these children like I would have NEVER thought to do. Her example showed me about truly getting to the level of the children and helping them understand these stories. I am certain the memory of these bible stories and the important lessons from each have been permanently planted in their hearts and minds forever.

Please excuse the poor quality of my pictures...I forgot my camera every.single.night. :( So this is the best I could do with my phone and I only have a few moments captured from the whole week. This is Mrs. Wendy and music time. This was high energy time that was fun and full of music that helped us smile, worship, and learn more about God's love.

My absolute favorite time of the night was the rest time for the VBS workers. Another ingenious plan by the Children's Pastor and his wife (Dustin and April - LOVE them and appreciate them so). This was a place where the servants of VBS, were served. A refuge was set up in the church's library where the workers were allowed a 20-25 minute break. There were fresh snacks and drinks each night! There was plenty of laughter, encouragement, and just a true sense of fellowship and love. I have never been involved with a VBS where the workers were actually pampered in such a loving way!

One of our biggest worries about the VBS week was our youngest, Nathan. Most nights we didn't get home until 9, so it was way past his bedtime and this was his very first VBS. We were blessed with an angel, who is a very smart mommy, that kept us all busy during the day so the boys would take very good naps before the big nights. Nathan did wonderfully and made a new friend, Mrs. Angie. The 2 yr old class had teachers that stayed one-on-one with this group so she was with him all week and Nathan was more than infatuated with her. The last picture above shows her spoon feeding him ice cream (he totally had her wrapped around her finger). The picture above that was sing and dance time. Most nights he would obsess about making sure he looked handsome enough before we left for church! So funny! It really was a blessing to not worry for even one second about him the entire week and just focus on our task. The attachment between them was hard to break on our final celebration night and there were tears by both. She has been sweet to offer to babysit him (and Noah) so we can go on a date night! Wow, another blessing!


This week, our family grew leaps and bounds in our relationship with Christ, with friends, and as a family. I am so thankful for our church and the people in it...there is a very special place in our hearts for all they have done for us and we look forward to serving there for many many years to come (we specifically picked out our new property so we would not have to change churches)!