VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL MEMORIES 2009

This dock rocked!

Crocodile Dock Vacation Bible School was held last week. And what an incredible week it was! The church building was packed with kids each night, learning how to shine God's light. I'm sure if you ask any one of our volunteers, you would hear funny, moving, or challenging stories from the week. Here are a couple of mine:

Just a shout out to Group Publishing for their exciting, high quality VBS music. The dvd's are part of what made this such a high energy week. But also in that equation was our music team, a group of women (plus a couple of guys at times) that led the motions to the songs.

One night, one of our preschool girls wandered up on the stage. Nobody asked
her to do so, she just went up the steps and joined in the song we were singing. And she had every move, every motion, every bit of choreography down pat! Her crew leader tried to motion her off the stage, but our song leader let her stay to finish the song. It was a blessing to know that this girl...and certainly other kids...have got songs embedded in their minds that teach about God.

And speaking of the motions and our song leaders (affectionately known as "Swamp Stompers"), Friday night I made a mistake and called up a different version of one of our songs. Same tune, same lyrics, but different voices and graphics...and no on-screen motions! One would have thought it was perfectly natural, as the Swamp Stompers and the kids did all the motions perfectly as we had all week.

Another Friday music blessing involved the song "This Little Light of Mine." Crocodile Dock had a hand clappin', fee stompin' bayou version of this classic song. During the week, the music team had tiny little lights hidden in their hands (little LED "God sight lights"...if you've done the Dock, you know what I'm talking about). At the phrase, "Even when I'm afraid, I'm gonna let it shine", the girls brought out their lights and waved them around in the motions to the song. It was highly effective and never failed to bring oohs and aahhhs.

On Friday night, each of the kids got to take home a "God sight light". The plan was to hand them out as they left, but someone decided to give it to them during the closing program instead. But when it came time for "This Little Light of Mine", out came the lights at "even when I'm afraid, I'm gonna let it shine." In the darkened sanctuary, it looked like dozens of fireflies swarming around...which is a cool visual effect, given the theme.

Thursday night (at least with Group's VBS programs) is a straightforward presentation of the gospel, facilitated by a moving object lesson or dramatization in the closing program. These presentations never fail to move me...even thinking about it now, I get a little choked up. I cannot describe the scene adequately, but the point was not lost on the kids. I gave an invitation...and 20 hands went up to indicate that they were professing faith in Jesus Christ! I've heard follow up reports from some of our crew leaders that they got to talk to some of these kids afterwards. In our staff devotions after the kids went home, one of our crew leaders announced that he had made a re-commitment of his faith that night. It was an incredible evening...and one that reminded a weary VBS team why we put ourselves through this every year.

Our station leaders and helpers, our bayou crew leaders, and our support team were INCREDIBLE. I'm reminded of the corporate management saying, "if you want people to think you're brilliant, surround yourself with brilliant people." I've received a lot of positive feedback...and I appreciate each and every compliment, but I always steer it back to the Lord, first and foremost, but then to those who served so faithfully during the week. If I look talented or brilliant, it's because of all the talented, brilliant people who did the hard work.