Tis the season for Vacation Bible School! For those not familiar with this annual summer ritual, churches host a week-long event - sometimes during the day, sometimes in the evenings - inviting children to come and learn about Jesus. There is always some catchy theme to get them hooked and make learning about the Gospel fun! My church is having VBS the week of June 21 and our theme this year is Saddle Ridge Ranch - "Roundin' up Questions, Drivin' Home Answers." The kids get to be together in worship at Worship Rally Valley and get lunch everyday at Big Sky Grill. I am helping this weekend at our VBS work day to help prepare crafts and truly wish I could actually be able to be at VBS everyday seeing those cute kids running around screaming "Yeehaw!"
Thinking about VBS made me think about my favorite VBS memories. There are so many, but I'll narrow it down to two - of which neither include raw macaroni cross formations or other craft projects. When I think of VBS, I think of being able to wear shorts to church! When I was little, the only time I was allowed to wear shorts in the sanctuary of our church was during VBS, per my Dad. I felt like such a little rebel as we lined up on the porch each day waiting to march into the sanctuary to "Onward Christian Soldiers" whilst wearing my t-shirt and shorts. Life at church has gotten much more relaxed, but I will still never forget that memory. The other memory that sticks out in my mind is the treat we got every year on the last day of VBS. My family attended a church for a couple of years that was close to our house and the pastor was a good friend of my Dad's. He pastored the church I attend now before I was born...Dr. Beach. He was the pastor that walked me through my decision to accept Christ and baptized me. One of his favorite things was White Castles. (For you southerners, that's a burger similar to Krystals) Each year on Friday, we all were treated to White Castles. They carried in bags and bags of those little square burgers and I remember the quirkiest thing - the teachers asked us to break down the little boxes that held the burgers so we could make our trash more compact. Why I remember that, I have no idea.
So, that brings us to today's Table Topic...
"What are your favorite memories from VBS?"
Attention...Salute...Pledge (that's an inside joke for you VBS-ers)
At home, the churches had to rotate VBS because there weren't enough kids to fill any one denomination's. So one week was the Methodist church, then the Baptist, then the Christian, then the Church of Christ....
ReplyDeleteWe went to all of them. A bunch of us did. I don't know where our parents were, but we listened to the same messages, made the same crafts, ate themed snacks, and learned songs probably 6 weeks of the summer. Then, at the end of the planned events, all of the churches would give us their leftover popsicles and let us play basketball well into the evenings on the outside ball goals. They actually encouraged our loitering!
Some of my best memories from home with my favorite families ever were made in this way. It was our socialization, and there was a gaggle of kids. I still have two or three of the Jesus bracelets--the red bead is for His blood, the white is for His sinlessness... :-)
Amy