Remember vacation bible school when you were little? Arriving every morning at the church for a week, volunteer mothers would have crafts and games ready. Macaroni necklaces, recipe holders, place mats. Snacks of cookies and Kool-aid. Memorizing a bible verse every day. Singing Onward Christian Soldiers. I remember going to VBS at Epworth Methodist Church in Epworth, Georgia, I guess I was about 10. This is actually my first memory of attending a church, we had just settled here after moving around most of my life (army brat).
My next memory of vacation bible school was with my kids. I remember parents night at the end of the week out at Nine Mile Methodist. All the kids standing up in the front singing Deep and Wide, going through the motions, humming through the different stanzas.
And another one with my kids at Cartecay Methodist, with pastor Randall Massengill. This is the first one I remember being in the evening, after work, staffed by moms and pops with a few grandparents and teenagers in the mix (anyone they could enlist), everyone having something unique to offer. In contrast to many the many older pastors we had through the years, Randall was young and enthusiastic, and the kids loved him as did we all. I remember him cooking up a spaghetti dinner for everyone in the church kitchen. He loved to cook and always set a great example for the kids.
These VBS memories were sparked by a report I recently read about the VBS at Camp Morganton in Blue Ridge. The pastor is a high school classmate of mine, Denise Bryson Caldwell, and she apparently knows how to have a great VBS. Our high school art teacher, Kathy Thompson, was recruited to help the kids make tie-dye t-shirts (pictured above). Here is Kathy's report on Facebook:
3-day overnight Vacation Bible School at Camp Morganton. Slept on top bunk bed with kids. If you stayed here as a kid it is now air conditioned. Pastor Denise, her adult helpers and a Mission Team from Louisiana did a great job. Local kids, visiting teens. My job, tie dye.
Kids everywhere are making memories this summer at vacation bible school, memories of activities and games and songs and friends. They will treasure those memories and blessings they received this summer for years to come. Along with those wonderful shirts. I wonder what happened to that recipe holder I made when I was 10...
afterthought - granddaughter Madison has been helping out with VBS for a few years now, a special teenager giving a week of her summer to make some memories for this generation of vacation bible school kids.
~thanks to Kathy Thompson for the great picture!
