My church has done VBS for as long as I can remember. And each year, it's been pretty darn elaborate. When we started out, Benny Chang's mom was the head, and every year was fantastic. Things aren't as cool now, but Makayla Miller's mom is doing pretty well. We've set up something with this other church (which is freaking huge) so we can borrow all of their sets for our themes. So far, we've done "Avalanche Ranch", "Crocodile Dock", and, now this year, "High Seas Expedition".
This year I'm old enough to be a group leader. No, not a helper - a leader. At first, I thought my group was going to be me and Makayla (who I've also known since I was little and is the peanut butter to my jelly) and then the kids, but it got switched. The girl who I thought was going to be my sister's helper, Ilysa, who I don't really like at all, ended up taking Mak's place due to lack of staff. I was pretty bummed. Then came the kids in my group.
Team "Salty":
There's Mattie (6), who is the youngest of the Johnson family's adopted African kids; Casey (6? 7?) and his friend Kurtis; sisters Hadley (8) and Taylor (7?) who are both adopted from China; Jocelyn (9?), who is Ilysa's little sister; Logan (3), who is allergic to everything; and Matthew Quarter (11). I hate Matthew Quarter.
The first day was kind of crazy. Ilysa was not helping me at all. She, instead, was talking and making fun of everything with Matthew and Jocelyn while I chased small children around from station to station. It's a good thing I had to leave early for an interview for Bird Watched High School* (which I got accepted, by the way!), or I would have lost my mind.
I complained to Dana (head VBS person?), and she was able to get me another helper named Simon Hayden (12) to assist me. Things have been noticeably better since then.
The Schedule? Praise, Crafts/God-Sightings, Games, Story Time, Snack, Praise, End. It takes two and a half hours.
I feel like the lessons have been great. The kids are following Paul and Peter's journeys after Jesus ascended into heaven as they evangelize to the Gentiles. Hence High Seas Expedition. So far we've learned through them that God's Word is True, God's Word is Comforting, God's Word is Surprising, and God's Word is Life-Changing.
Today was the most intense day we've had so far. We played all our activities on how Christ laid is life down for us because we deserved to die and he didn't want us to. I've been realizing exactly the extent of what Jesus did for me on the cross these past two months since Kyle started being our youth pastor. Like, every single one of my sins would take an eternity in hell to pay for just one. Jesus not only took all of my sins, though. He took the entire worlds'! Past, present, and future. Every single person's. And he bore all of that in three hours.
Dude.
That is intense.
Wanna know my God Sighting today? I got into Bird Watched High* a few days ago, and I barely even met the qualifications. It costs three thousand dollars a year, which is more than my family can pay for. My grandparents called this morning and told my mom that they wanted to pay one thousand dollars of my tuition each semester I was in school, and my mom got accepted for a job at the pastry shop. I didn't think I could pass the math placement test to get into Algebra II, and the board decided I didn't have to take it because I had evidence of having a B in Geometry last year.
God is truth! God is comforting! God is surprising! And most of all, God is Life Changing. VBS lessons aren't just for kids, folks, they're for highschoolers, too!
*You are aware I change the names of everything, right?
hey! this is amy! my church did high seas expedition 2! God Bless!
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