That Time of Year Again!

I will confess that I have a certain amount of anxiety and fear before we start our Vacation Bible School program each year.   Will the kids show up?  Will the music be well received?  Will the Bible stories make sense to young children?  Will we be able to pull it off again this year?  Well, miracles have been happening this week!  We are half way through and so far God has been praised and everyone is still smiling. 
Actually it has been a delight to see faces return for the 3rd or 4th year since I arrived at St. Barnabas.  Kids that may only see each other during this week remember each other and old friendships are rekindled and strengthened.  And, as always, the kids impress me with their knowledge and love of God.  We get the usual questions: “What does God look like? (I suggested looking in a mirror.) “Where does God live?” (In our hearts.) “Why can’t we see God?” (Because we need to look with the eyes of our hearts, and then we will see God everywhere.) We also get great insights about how being kind to a brother or sister is doing God’s work, or saying how they helped a neighbor or parent the night before and that person was so happy.  These are great foundations for kids to learn and remember as they get older.
I never participated in a Vacation Bible School when I was a child.  I never even heard of the program until my parents moved to Tennessee.  I was delighted to know that St. Barnabas has a long tradition of offering this program. It is a wonderful service for this community and a great way for us to share our love for God.
VBS would not have happened this year without Namita Ipe.  She has done an amazing job with VBS since I have been at St. Barnabas.  Words limit the amount of gratitude I have for all that she has done in order to make this program run smoothly. We thank you for your ministry, Ms. Namita.
We also thank you for your prayers and support as we continue our efforts to pass along the Christian tradition to the younger generation.  We also invite you to our VBS Celebration Eucharist at the 10:30 am service on Sunday, August 23rd.  You will have the opportunity to enjoy the music and stories the kids learned this week. You can also help us with our service project of collecting school supplies.  We will be collecting all items until August 30th.
Finally, the Bible verse we have been focusing on this week is 1 John 4:16 that is paraphrased: We can count on God’s love. God is love!
In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+

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