Monday, July 27, 2009

Did you know that kids can be so generous?

Last week (July 20-24, 2009) was our VBS. I was determined not to stress out too terribly much this year. You see, usually I don't have a lot of help putting one of these together. Even when all ya have to do is sit down and paint. And I am not talking about artistic painting, I'm talking coloring book painting. I do the outlines of the decorations like a coloring book and then paint in the color. My wonderful hubby then takes a black marker after it is dry, and re-outlines the poster so it really pops.

So this year I didn't have a ton of posters up like I usually do. I have carpal tunnel or something with my hands and arms and it is much worse when I am preggers, so I didn't stress it too much. We put together 2 yard sales so we would have enough $$$ to get supplies, prizes and food for the VBS. They went over wonderfully, with enough moula to make it thru.

We (the church volunteers) voted to move the VBS to the end of July and in the afternoon. Personally, whatever gets me the volunteers I need, I will work with. I usually work thru the crafts, redoing some and making up some others, so that we can make it on the budget that we usually have. I make all the samples because, lets face it, I LOVE to craft. I also rework the lessons to hopefully make it easier for the teacher for the various ages he must teach when he is not used to the younger crowd. I do this to make things easier so I can have the most volunteers, not to toot my horn.

Now this VBS we only had 9 kids total for the entire week and that wasn't on the last day at all. It could have been a bummer. After all, we put in all that work for so little attendance, but we got some new faces this year. Some people complain that VBS is only a babysitting service. So what? People trust us to watch their kids for 3 hours while they can rest awhile. WE get to tell them about Jesus and expose them to the wonderful love of God. I think of it as a chance show kids what Christians can be rather than the popular world view of the Hard, Critical, medieval crusader christian. I hope that I can show the Love that Jesus wanted to show. And when I go shopping or play at the park, kids come up to me and ask when our next VBS is going to be and how much fun they had and what new crafts and snacks the next VBS will be had. It is so awesome.

But I wander away. I wanted to say how much I was touched this VBS. How God Himself touched my heart. You see, this year, like so many, we chose to send our offering to the Mission of Morning Glory School in Guatemala. I love Facebook, because I have a link into Lori's blog about the school. I read some of it to the kids which can't have been very fun for them, but they sat and listened. And took the words to heart and gave with such a generous heart. My VBS kids felt so connected to the children in that school, they gave from their hearts. Now remember, we only had 9 total. From these kids, we raised a little over $62 for our mission. Nine little children from the age of 4 to 11, raised $62 for some children they never ever seen. Can we say that God is good? I know that He will certainly bless those little joyful givers, but I wanted everyone to know how God touched ME through the generosity of a few precious children.