Vacation Bible School. Again

It's Vacation Bible School at Grandma Lilibeth's church this week, so we are all tired and keyed up. How can you be both, you ask? Ahh, you have not had experience with pre-schoolers if you do not know. Mim and Zaya are in my "tribe", so they're both being able to participate without causing undue stress to Mommy. Zaya would be fine, actually, but Mim is still very much a "mommy's girl" and this is the only way it would work for her.

My mother's church has done the same style of VBS now for four years, and I've enjoyed in every year. It's the first VBS I haven't dreaded, and that's saying something. You know how it is. You want to help, and you know it's important, but it ends up being shear craziness and you're exhausted by Friday. Sometimes by Tuesday.

Not at Mom's church, though. I can't remember the company that makes these VBS packets (you can set me straight there Lilibeth), but they are all set back in Bible times. The first one was Jerusalem, and I wasn't able to help with that one for some reason. Then we went to Bethlehem and the Sea of Galilee. This year the company was going to offer the Jerusalem packet again, but our kids all still remember that very well, so my mother just created her own. We're at Philippi, and we'll meet Paul and Silas and watch them be put in chains and rescued through their praises.

It's amazing how the kids get into their roles in these sessions. Everyone is dressed in Bible costume, so that helps. And I do mean everyone; leaders, students, helpers. We all have tribes to which we belong, and we stay in these family units throughout the evening and week. Each unit consists of all ages, which works very well because the older students can help take care of their younger brothers and sisters. They explain things to them, help them with their crafts and generally make themselves useful. This also means that no person is stuck with a particularly difficult age group.

There's a marketplace that plays a key role in the evening. It has many different shops, and by the end of the week, each student will have visited each shop and made a craft there.

I could go on and on, but I'm prepared to believe that this is boring to someone who hasn't participated. Suffice it to say, we're tired and busy, but we love it. I left my camera at the church last night, so I don't have pictures yet. If no little heathen Philippian stole it, then I'll put some pictures on tomorrow morning.