Today's Theme: Children

We're using a popular soft-evangelical Vacation Bible School Curriculum again this year. Of the many positive attributes of this Curriculum, one is a simple, easy to remember theme phrase every day. This year we've been learning "God's Word is true!" (Let's go!) "God's Word is comforting!" (Let's go!) "God's Word is surprising!" (Let's go!)

(I recalled fondly that the first time we used this curriculum, the theme reply was the word "Awesome!") So we learned "Jesus helps us" AWESOME "Jesus cares for us" AWESOME. You get the picture. A number of the Vacation Bible School children showed up to sing their songs the Sunday after the program. So, I worked the key phrases into my sermon, and told the children to shout out "AWESOME" whenever they heard the key phrase. It worked out great, impressed the adults, and was, may I say, AWESOME. However, I don't remember any more what the theme of my sermon was.)

This year, for the first time, I am key player in a prolonged skit every day. On Monday I played Rhoda, a servant girl who told the story of Peter getting out of jail. The one seemed pretty dramatic until the last two days, when I was involved in a shipwreck. On Tuesday we were on a cardboard boat when a storm came up. There were high winds (fans), something that sounded like hail, and rain coming out of spray bottles. There was also a lot of screaming. We were just getting ready to abandon ship when the story ended.

Today, we swam to shore, where I was bitten by a poisonous snake, but didn't die. Also, an exciting, exhausting day.

I don't remember Vacation Bible School being this involved when I was a little girl. These are the few thingfs I remember: Bible lessons outside, a woman named Ferda singing "God Will Make You Fishers of Men", learning origami, planting flowers in paper cups, making stuff (some things never change). I had fun, too.

Later on, I went to Children's Hospital. The hospital is doing major construction. I wondered if the fun stars on the floor, showing me where to go were just there because it was Children's hospital. I also think Children's Hospital has the most interesting gift shop, with books in English and Spanish. I almost bought a book about "The colors of the Rainbow" in Spanish.

I really want to learn Spanish.

Tonight, at the beginning of our faith-sharing class, we played a game. It was a serious game, in the end, and it had a lesson for us. But it was still a game, and it made me remember that there is a little bit of child still in all of us. No matter how old we get, a part of us wants to over-act, jump overboard, scream, swim to shore, make stuff, follow the stars, play games.

We just get tired faster, now.