The past two years I have taken time off from work to serve during Vacation Bible School at my church. I love VBS. My Mom worked in VBS for years and any time I do something to carry on her legacy that I also enjoy, it warms my heart. My position during the week was in Preschool Crafts...two words I love...Preschool and Crafts! Preschoolers are the best. They are young enough to still want love and hugs regularly but old enough to carry on some pretty stellar conversations. Crafts are one of my favorite things to do in life. It's therapeutic and accomplishing. Mix the two together and you have a week of exhausting fun. This year, I'm compiling my lessons learned from the week. A glorious week. I truly will miss it next week when I'm back at work.
I'm good with crafts, not so good with room decor - This year's theme was Agency D3 (Discover, Decide, Defend) and we were all agents in training. The craft room was known as The Lab where we would make exciting things to help tell about Jesus. Tessa is our leader and does a phenomenal job decorating our room. I was helping her hang a few test tubes and bubbles coming out of the concoctions when I placed one incorrectly. You see, it was a pyramid-shaped flask and I hung it upside down. Picture it. The flask upside down with bubbles coming out of it. Tessa was kind enough to point out that I needed to turn it upside down, otherwise it looked like a martini glass. Whew, close one! Don't let me decorate a room unsupervised.
Craft ideas are educational - Of course, the point of crafts is to continue the theme of the week and the lesson learned each day. Day Two we talked about how Jesus wasn't just any man. He could do things nobody else could do...like walk on water. On that day we made a Jesus Walked on Water Bottle. The kids filled their empty water bottles with beads, glitter and sequins and then we filled them with water, a little food coloring and baby oil. The baby oil made the items float to the top...and "walk" on water. Who knew? Not only was that a cool craft, but we all smelled good at the end of the day and had very soft hands.
My co-workers should be required to work VBS every year - These 3-5 year olds were exceptionally good this year. We had very little whining and most of the issues were minor. So many of them helped their friends and on the last day when new people came, they befriended them and made sure they weren't left out. The hardest part of the week was when the little ones were exhausted and just flat tired from the rigorous schedule. One day when I left I was monitoring my work email for any disasters and saw more than one email that shook me back to reality. Whining and complaining...throwing blame at others....you would have expected that from preschoolers, not employed adults. Many of my co-workers would benefit from a week being humbled by preschoolers. And shown how a person should act and play well with others.
It Takes a Village to Do VBS - We had 4 workers in our craft room. Each of the five preschool classes that came in had 5-6 workers. That comes to about 40 workers, just for preschool and the craft room. You factor in all the other aged rooms, and rotation rooms, like crafts and your number exponentially increases. One group that gets the award for amazing work was our Snack team. About 16 people worked tirelessly crammed in our kitchen making tons of wonderful snacks for all the kids and workers. And not just any snacks. Their "food replicator" created "disguised" food for everyone. My favorite snack of the week were the disguised sushi rolls. A rice krispie treat rolled around a jelly bean and wrapped in a fruit roll-up. Yummy! The snack crew not only made the food, but delivered it as well. They kept the workers' snack room full and for those of us who couldn't break free, they delivered our snacks to us. Once all of our classes were done at the end of the day, we'd enjoy our plate of snacks. Beyond those of us that were working all week at VBS, there were countless others who cut out crafts, donated items and prayed for a successful week. It takes a village for VBS.
Every child has a soul that will never die - This isn't a new lesson for me; our pastor reminds us regularly of this truth. But after spending a week with preschoolers who soaked up the truth about Jesus and learned their memory verse by the end of the week, it became even more real that this truth is the foundation of why we do VBS. The seeds planted in the hearts of these little ones, we pray, will grow into having them accept and follow Christ one day. I haven't heard all of the results of the week that was VBS, but I know of at least two girls who decided to follow Christ. That is worth all the exhaustion, stickers, messes, paint spills and plaster clean ups we did.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
I Used to Enjoy Going to the Dentist
I have always been the only person on the planet who enjoyed going to the dentist. Aside from all my health challenges, my teeth have been stellar. Only one cavity my whole life and I have 3 of my 4 wisdom teeth. Going to the dentist was somewhat of a treat because it was painless and I always got a good report.
Even though I no longer live on the south side of Louisville, I still go back to the original dentist office where I've gone for years. The dentist has since retired, but the new one that took over serves my purpose. He comes in, looks at my x-rays, pokes around my mouth and says "no complaints; see you in six months." Plus he's pretty cute.
Today was my six-month checkup and I arrived all smiles with my pearly whites. I was greeted by a new hygienist and should have known this was trouble. I went into the exam room and she indicated it was time for my pan x-ray so I followed her to the machine. I got seated and had my face contorted to bite down on that white stick perfectly when she remembered she hadn't donned me with the iron blanket. Sigh. Everything unhooked and un-contorted. She asked "is there a possibility you are pregnant?" Um, that's a no, thank you for the reminder of my single, childless life. After re-contorting and gripping that white stick with my teeth, she took the x-ray. Off I went back to the exam room.
As I sat down in the exam chair, I almost fell out. The chair was literally lowered to the floor. Miss Hygienist replied, "Oh, sorry, my chair is kind of finicky." Once I composed myself, I laid back and prayed this would be over soon. She started by explaining how my pre-appointment protocol wasn't needed. Aside: due to a joint replacement, I have been instructed to take antibiotics prior to the appointment to avoid infection. I explained to her I understood that, but since I'd been doing it for years, I felt more comfortable continuing. Next quiz. She asked if any of my health conditions had changed. I said no. Then she asked what medications I took. I paused and said, "Do you have the list from the last appointment?" She indicated she did not. I sighed and said that I confirm each appointment so there should be a list. She asked if I had a list written down (which today I didn't), so she had me fill out a new patient form. The exam hadn't started and I was already in pain.
When the procedure started, she explained everything she was doing. First she was going to use an ultrasonic sprayer to remove my plaque. She set up a water sucker in my mouth, but wasn't all too sure how to place it, meaning that periodically I would stop and vacuum my own mouth. Unfortunately, I didn't grab that vacuum fast enough as I had water running down my neck. Next she used her manual hand tools to clean the rest. And finally she polished my teeth. After the polishing, she sprayed my mouth to clean out the granules. This was when I knew she was new to the profession. I was sprayed on my forehead, cheek, ear and, eventually, my mouth. I literally needed a towel when she was done. This poor hygienist had no idea of my angst. I was as sweet and kind as possible knowing that she probably had a long day with much less patient patients.
I got the normal "you need to floss more" lecture. Flossing is of the devil, yet I do it periodically. This time, Miss Hygienist explained the goodness of an electric toothbrush. A couple of years ago I contemplated buying one and opted against it but now that she's recommended it, I think I'll take the dive. If at the next check-up I get the infamous lectures, I may be able to deflect some of it with my wonderful use of my electric toothbrush.
As I left, I got my normal goodie bag, filled with floss, travel toothpaste and a toothbrush. (Wouldn't replaceable brush heads been better for my new toothbrush purchase?) I still enjoy the dentist better than most doctors. Next time I'll just bring my swimsuit and a towel.
Even though I no longer live on the south side of Louisville, I still go back to the original dentist office where I've gone for years. The dentist has since retired, but the new one that took over serves my purpose. He comes in, looks at my x-rays, pokes around my mouth and says "no complaints; see you in six months." Plus he's pretty cute.
Today was my six-month checkup and I arrived all smiles with my pearly whites. I was greeted by a new hygienist and should have known this was trouble. I went into the exam room and she indicated it was time for my pan x-ray so I followed her to the machine. I got seated and had my face contorted to bite down on that white stick perfectly when she remembered she hadn't donned me with the iron blanket. Sigh. Everything unhooked and un-contorted. She asked "is there a possibility you are pregnant?" Um, that's a no, thank you for the reminder of my single, childless life. After re-contorting and gripping that white stick with my teeth, she took the x-ray. Off I went back to the exam room.
As I sat down in the exam chair, I almost fell out. The chair was literally lowered to the floor. Miss Hygienist replied, "Oh, sorry, my chair is kind of finicky." Once I composed myself, I laid back and prayed this would be over soon. She started by explaining how my pre-appointment protocol wasn't needed. Aside: due to a joint replacement, I have been instructed to take antibiotics prior to the appointment to avoid infection. I explained to her I understood that, but since I'd been doing it for years, I felt more comfortable continuing. Next quiz. She asked if any of my health conditions had changed. I said no. Then she asked what medications I took. I paused and said, "Do you have the list from the last appointment?" She indicated she did not. I sighed and said that I confirm each appointment so there should be a list. She asked if I had a list written down (which today I didn't), so she had me fill out a new patient form. The exam hadn't started and I was already in pain.
When the procedure started, she explained everything she was doing. First she was going to use an ultrasonic sprayer to remove my plaque. She set up a water sucker in my mouth, but wasn't all too sure how to place it, meaning that periodically I would stop and vacuum my own mouth. Unfortunately, I didn't grab that vacuum fast enough as I had water running down my neck. Next she used her manual hand tools to clean the rest. And finally she polished my teeth. After the polishing, she sprayed my mouth to clean out the granules. This was when I knew she was new to the profession. I was sprayed on my forehead, cheek, ear and, eventually, my mouth. I literally needed a towel when she was done. This poor hygienist had no idea of my angst. I was as sweet and kind as possible knowing that she probably had a long day with much less patient patients.
I got the normal "you need to floss more" lecture. Flossing is of the devil, yet I do it periodically. This time, Miss Hygienist explained the goodness of an electric toothbrush. A couple of years ago I contemplated buying one and opted against it but now that she's recommended it, I think I'll take the dive. If at the next check-up I get the infamous lectures, I may be able to deflect some of it with my wonderful use of my electric toothbrush.
As I left, I got my normal goodie bag, filled with floss, travel toothpaste and a toothbrush. (Wouldn't replaceable brush heads been better for my new toothbrush purchase?) I still enjoy the dentist better than most doctors. Next time I'll just bring my swimsuit and a towel.
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