It's no vacation in Vacation Bible School!

Every once in a while, I wish I could be a kid again. This past week, I didn’t get to actually be a kid, but I got to spend a week with some awesome kids during our Vacation Bible School. Our church was blessed with over 7,000 pre-K through 6th graders. For some, it was a life-changing experience. We had over 300 known first-time professions of faith and many others that we heard about throughout the week. The Lord definitely showed up, as He always does. You could feel the electricity and excitement in the building.

Now, admittedly, I am not the natural teacher type. I am in awe of “those teachers” who can use the quiet voice in a roomful of children or those who use the “ba ba ba-ba-ba” method to get a roomful of preschoolers to instantly quiet down (yes, you know who you are!). If I ever have the privilege of teaching your child, please know in advance, that is not me! I asked one sweet teacher this week, “Are you a teacher by profession?” She said no, that she had just finished up her degree last month. Either they are teaching those skills in college or they are just born with it – or a little bit of both. Maybe I should take some classes because I was a little hoarse by the end of the week!

Anyway, back to my point. Sometimes we want to just be kids again to take a break from the grown-up responsibilities that we have. But sometimes, it is also fun to take a break from being an adult for a week to see life through the eyes, ears and hearts of a child. Jesus said in Matthew that we need to “become like little children” and become as “humble as this little child.” (18:3-4) And Jesus goes on further in Matthew 19:14 and says that “the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” Jesus wants each one of us, young and old, to seek Him humbly and faithfully like little children – children who haven’t been stained or defiled by this world - with wide-eyed curiosity about Him.

I got to see that this week in the eyes and hearts of the 29 children entrusted into my care. Some of these children were members of our church, some of other churches and some were unchurched. Some knew bits and pieces of the Bible stories we shared this week and some had never heard about what we were teaching. I love when a 4 year old can retain and share information with their peers and answer questions about the Bible. It gives me so much hope. Each time a story was presented, they would sit listening and waiting for the plot to unfold. Today, children aren’t always used to storytelling. They don’t have to visualize events unfolding in their heads because it is presented in full color on TV screens. But this week, with the exception of music, we were completely unplugged. Each of the five stories presented from classroom to classroom had to be told. It was awesome to watch and hear children relate the stories to other stories in the Bible.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to teach during Vacation Bible School, I highly recommend it. However, note that it is NOT a vacation for you or the kids! Everyone is equally exhausted by week’s end. But, as I went to bed last night, I was thinking how great it would be if adults would do an adult Vacation Bible school. There’s something about being presented with the Gospel five days in a row, three hours per day, that just gets you fired up all over again for Jesus and what He did for us and still continues to do for us each and every day.

On our last day, one of the moms told us as she was checking in her daughter, “My daughter accepted Christ last night. She mentioned it and said she wanted to do it. She’s had so much fun this week and has loved everything she’s done and learned.” As tired as I was each and every day, if it was only for this one child, it was worth it and then some.