I've got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY....

 

Thanks to Covid uncertainties, we were not recruiting for JOY Camp very much at all this summer. Some repeat campers signed up, though, which led to an unusual bunch of 14 campers from only 3 towns. They were ages 9-16, which means that one camper drove himself there and another asked me to tie his shoe. Several of them were also related, which gave a fun dynamic as well, as middle grade boys jockeyed hard for position in the older kid group, so as not to be thought of as little kids themselves. 

It reminds you a little of how the disciples acted- hey Jesus, can we sit at your right hand and your left hand? Are we your favorites? 

But, while the older kids were not unanimously accepting, (it's hard when you're too big to be little but too little to be big- and once you've left that stage yourself you block it out of your memory!) there were also some lovely moments of leadership and role models going on. I had the joy of introducing three of our oldest to the program coordinator so they'd have a familiar face when they apply for Junior Staff next year. Camp is full of people for kiddos to look up to, ones who are just one or two life steps ahead of them. God is always drawing us toward community, so we can learn from each other. 

Of course, sometimes we learn the hard way. As I write this, the world seems to have forgotten to look for the good in each other, that we are all children of God. Earlier this week, while taking the van back to Cherie, I made the mistake of listening to the radio- about an hour and a half of increasingly bad news. But when I hit about Lewis, another station began to compete with the news- and I kid you not, it sang out "I will trust You, Lord; I will fear no more." Oh, how we need that reminder- not that we should bury our head in the sand and ignore the problems in the world- but that having that foundation of trusting God, we're equipped to go out and let our little lights shine. 

Hey hey, Goliath...

So surreal to be back to Richland- in my first several summers working with MUMMs I went to Peg's house in Richland to prepare for VBS, and now here I am doing Bible school here. 

I've really enjoyed playing Two Truths and a Lie as an icebreaker during Bible time on the first day (Armor Up with Truth!) It can get pretty philosophical when you reflect on it (How can we tell what is true? Is it easy to know when someone is telling the truth? Is it always best to tell the truth? Should we always believe what we see on the internet?) I think I've used the same example two truths and a lie all summer, and I was super impressed with a girl here who answered as confidently as if she'd known me all her life. I asked her how she knew, and she explained very patiently- "You just look like someone who would play the ukulele." Goals. :-D 

We had great volunteers, but the science station was a standout. A retired principal dressed in cardboard armor as Goliath and let the kids shoot paper at him with slingshots. They won't forget that lesson anytime soon. 

As always, the preK group brought us lots of smiles. One girl raised her hand at three separate times on Tuesday night to tell me she hadn't been here before. The next day she came with a big smile- "I came here again!" Yes you did, little one. Keep on coming. I also had to stifle a giggle during the puppet time as I heard one girl very firmly correcting a little boy on my dragon friend's name:"It's SPARKY not SHARKY!" 

One of my favorite activities during Bible time was about making the best of a bad situation. Paul and Silas were unjustly thrown in jail, and they used their time to sing songs to God and witness to their jailer. This activity had kids use the power of the pen to turn the negative into something better- and we talked about how yes, you've always got the power of the pen. 

"Like, times a million."

 

Bonnie and I had a great week in New London. Around 26 kids came for their evening Bible school, a joint effort between the Presbyterians and the United Methodists, and 8-10 helpers made sure things went smoothly. These volunteers were fantastic- they had decorated a castle wall to go around the fellowship hall as well as snowflakes for the frozen side of Knights of North Castle. Our color-coordinated age groups were each guided by a fearless leader. I loved that the older group did not consider themselves "too cool for school"- we were able to have great conversations during Scripture time, and Bonnie reported that they were anxious to do whatever game they saw the younger kids playing during recreation time. :) Our younger groups had good discussion too, as we practiced locating the stories in the Bible. "I really love God," one boy announced, "I love God, like, times a million." I wonder if he would be willing to do some guest preaching somewhere- what more do you need than that? 

One of my favorite kid quotes from the week came at suppertime. This preschooler had decided he wanted just a hot dog and a drink. Coaxing him toward the fruits and veggies also on the table, I asked him how he was going to get his vitamins from just a hot dog, and didn't he want to get vitamins so he could grow big and strong? He considered this for just a moment, then went back to a song we'd been singing about David and Goliath. "That song says the bigger they are the harder they fall," he pointed out. How do you argue with that? Kids listen and pick up on things, even (especially?) when you think they don't. And often our most energetic young friends were the ones who were able to remember the details from the stories the best. Of course sometimes you can help yourself remember things, too- I got a big kick out of the older kids. When I was preparing them for the program on the last night, where I planned to have each class help teach us about one of the Bible stories, most of the kids in the older group voluntarily decided to take notes. Love it. 

These notes came in "hand"y during the program.

Often we stay with a host family when we're on the road like this, but given the odd year and Covid uncertainties, the churches offered to put us up in a hotel. They were incredibly generous and hospitable, and we were so grateful to work with them! It was so great to see so many community members come out for the program on the last night to hear our songs, be reminded of stories that point to God's love, and eat some ice cream! 

No Skillets Were Thrown Here Today.

 Today Sparky and I went to Macksburg United Methodist. We were a week too late for National Skillet Throwing Day, held here in town annually, but maybe next time. 

We had13 kids and several grandmas and moms join us on this sort of rainy Saturday morning. I was happy to see the place was already castle-like when we arrived, and one helper came with some big cardboard shields to help us get into a knightly mindset. Our craft helper brought homemade bubble solution and also homemade play-dough (hair conditioner and corn starch. Smelled great!) We roasted hot dogs at lunch. 

My picture does not do it justice, but we entered castle doors. Hi, Sir Knight of the Window!

We did a one-day event from 9:00-2:00, doing a more-or-less normal VBS day schedule, then lunch, then a repeat of the morning with a different story. If a week-long VBS seems daunting, doing a Saturday is a great place to start! You can learn a lot in just one day, though we did have a request at the end from an upper elementary kiddo- "See you next summer- and next time make it longer!" He was also pretty excited to hear that there was no age limit- you're never too old for Bible school. 

Cherie will be glad to hear that we had fun with the science today. The kids loved making the Jesus walking on the water pencil flippers and were especially excited that they could use them as actual writing utensils as well. 

My favorite kid quote of the day, though, came when we were making the seismograph. I was setting up the soda bottle with attached pen. Seeking some student input, I asked, "How do you think we could measure the waves with this?" (I was hoping they'd see the piece of paper nearby and connect the dots.) A four year old raises her hand. (Alright! Young confidence, right!) Her response? "If you don't know how to do it, I don't have a plan!" :-D 

I really love churches next to cornfields. If you look closely, you can also see the wind farm in the distance. To me, this is a lovely reminder that even in these crazy times, even if pews aren't as full or if ministry needs to look different than it used to, rural churches are most definitely renewable. 

We're baaaack!

Well, everything's back in the van, I have a hand-colored picture of Sparky the dragon, and the chorus for "Hey, hey, Goliath" is firmly entrenched in my head. Week one of VBS- complete.  

A knight's armor...in edible form. Why yes, that is a Pringles shield of faith and cheese puff shoes of peace. 

I was happy to spend my first week back on the post-pandemic Bible school circuit in Newton. If you've ever wondered if Mobile United Methodist Missionaries serves only United Methodist churches, the answer is no! We'll hang out with anybody who wants a hand sharing God's love in their southern Iowa communities. This week brought me to a community VBS joining First Lutheran and United Presbyterian, and I could not have asked for better help. We had somewhere around 25 kids join us for at least some of the week, and some older sibling teenage helpers were worth their weight in gold. 

We are using Cokesbury's Knights of North Castle curriculum this year, and we were all pretty excited to realize that the fellowship hall where we were holding opening and closing time looked pretty castle-like all on its own. This proved to be an even better location when the other church lost air conditioning in its sanctuary the week before VBS, so that worked out splendidly! (Thursday set heat records and there was work on the roof, so we were a little more inside than we had originally planned.) 

With small groups, I tried out some more of the active learning stories from the Bible lesson book. We had a lot of fun with that as well as practicing our Bible-handling skills by looking up the stories. This is a great time to get to talk with kids and see what they're understanding. In my preschool group, for example, we got to learn that a stable is not that little piece of metal that holds papers together. :) 

It was nice to get back into the swing of things again- the quest continues! 

A Pentecost Prayer

Getting a group of dignified Lutherans to stomp their feet and make wind noises in church is not an easy task. The trick is to work it into a children's sermon about Pentecost, or at least that worked for me last year, when I used a shortened version of the Bible storyteller lesson from VBS. My top favorite thing from that lesson, though, was about the speaking in tongues. This is perhaps odd, because glossolalia is one of these Bible things where I tend to smile, nod, and look elsewhere, like when Aunt Edna tells you that her first job was being Elvis's secretary. But the fun part of the lesson was that we learned a word in many different languages. To be honest with you, I don't remember now what that word was- peace? spirit? thank you? hello? But the kids loved getting to say it in Spanish, Swahili, Cherokee, Chinese...how often do you get the chance to do that?

Today is Pentecost. That is still my favorite part of the story. The Spirit came, and the people were able to understand each other.

Can I say that again? The Spirit came, and the people were able to understand each other.

If ever there was a time for understanding, this is it.

To recap, in the world right now:

-A police officer has killed a black man in Minneapolis.
-Some people are so outraged by this that they have burned businesses and a police station.
-Many people are so outraged that this country is still battling racism that they have peaceful protests.
-Some people have to worry about their loved ones in law enforcement trying to keep the peace.
-Many people are so outraged by this whole thing that they sit in their houses and seethe, then try to distract themselves because they feel entirely helpless.
-Vast swaths of people around the world have been in quarantine for months now because of Covid-19.
-Some people are so frustrated about this they have held armed protests.
-Some people are so frustrated by this that they spend their time sewing masks and checking on their neighbors.
-Some people have lost their livelihoods, and some businesses will not reopen.
-Some people have lost dear loved ones, and worry deeply about friends and relatives in high-risk categories.
-Some people feel more isolated than ever.
-Some people have found much-needed rest and family time in spite of all this.
-Some people work in crammed-like-sardines working conditions where viruses run rampant- yet a tiny few people remember them as we chow down on our hamburgers.
-Teachers, students, and parents anxiously await news of what school will look like in the fall.
-Also a couple people recently went to space (probably to get away from the rest of us) and I'm not sure anybody noticed.

There's a lot going on right now. I think it's safe to say many people just do not understand each other right now.

You know what's an uncomfortable truth? Replace "people" with "God's children." Because we all are, are we not? Are they? (Whoever THEY are? The THEY that isn't us?)

God's children have been treated unjustly.
God's children have been rioting.
God's children have been dying.
God's children have been helping.
God's children have been acting out of fear.
God's children have been complacent.

We sang "Spirit of Gentleness" in facebook church this morning. James Manley's words of the Spirit call us to "Awake from your slumbers and rise on your wings." We had best be praying for the Spirit to help us do just that.

The Spirit came, and the people were able to understand each other.

Dove of the Holy Spirit, Bernini, public domain 

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Freebie! Church Member Connect Four

So, my church has been doing a book study on the book Growing Young, and we've been discussing some small steps we can take to bring our church family closer together, especially across generations. One of the things we came up with (no surprise to this teacher/camp counselor) were some icebreakers! Yes, go right ahead and roll your eyes, but this is a useful thing. I sometimes give my own family a hard time when we go to ice cream (anti-)socials- you go, you start your own table so you can sit with the people you came with, you eat your ice cream, and you go home. It's often the same at church fellowship time.

Something is missing here.

In an effort to get people up talking to those folks who sit clear across the room, here is a connect four game. We're going to use it this Sunday at the church potluck, so some of the questions are a little holiday-themed. I'm happy to send you a version you can edit if you leave a comment here or message Mobile United Methodist Missionaries on Facebook. If you try it out, I'd love to hear how it goes!

Happy New Year!

It's still August, so it's still summer, right?

School has started. Temperatures have cooled off. And still I can hear vacation Bible school songs resonating in my head. Most of the summer, I've pulled from my repertoire of easy/action-filled/call and repeat camp songs. Especially for sites that are less than five days, I'm kind of over trying to teach super wordy songs to kids who can't read yet. But for a full week at Eldridge, I had borrowed the music video, and that's a different story. Kids can pick up on the actions and catch on at least to the chorus pretty quickly, and they can just listen to the lyrics during the verses. The overwhelming favorite song here was Even When the Lions Roar. They loved singing it, and I loved watching watching young humans announce "I will not be shaken; I will not be moved" with strong, unselfconscious eyes. The lions can roar pretty loud sometimes. We talked at length that the lions in our lives show up in a lot of ways- arguments, doubt, sadness, fear. They reared their heads even at VBS-
"Leave me alone!" she shrieked at me and several others, troubled by whatever inner lions growled at her. Then after another round of that at recess, with a friend going to talk to her and her sister yelling not to go near her when she's like that, the girl went running- not into the street- but straight into my arms. I gave her a hug for a long time. Her sister tried to come over and do the same, and for a while we were a hugging mess. The sister left; the girl calmed down. We blew bubbles. She helped me with mine because my bubble wand was all shook up and wasn't very bubbly. Afterward, I praised her for calming herself down, and suggested that next time she try using a calm voice to say I want to be alone right now instead of screaming, because when you scream, people think something's wrong and they want to help even more. "Ok," she smiled, very receptive. "Can we practice?" Oh, someone has walked down this road with her before. Fantastic. We did a quick role play. Later, the pastor told me she came up to her and said she should have said "I want to be alone" instead of screaming. Oh, my heart. Full disclosure? This wasn't a permanent fix. Learning to deal with your emotions takes time.

The same day when it was time to go, one preschooler came back to give hugs to all the helpers. every single one, including the kitchen lady whom she trailed a little while before the woman noticed she was there, as we all looked on grinning.

We will not be shaken; we will not be moved. All our hope is in You.

The last week of summer brought JOY camp at Wesley Woods. I was excited to return to my original role as a counselor. For the past several years, I've helped oversee all the groups, so I did miss getting to know what was going on with everyone. But I traded breadth for depth. My co-counselor was absolutely amazing, and our group of girls bonded pretty quickly. They contributed in Bible study, they sang a great memory verse to the tune of Senorita, and they worked on lifting each other up. Many of my older campers realized they were aging out of JOY camp and wanted to know about junior staff. So lions and all, the season ended on a peaceful, hopeful note.

EP3-20 Meets His Hero

"If you were traveling in space, who would you trust enough to take with you?"

When the teacher posed this question in Bible study time, there were many answers of parents or siblings. Then one very astute little girl answered Peggy Whitson. And that's how I knew for sure I was in Mt. Ayr.

In case you don't know, astronaut Peggy Whitson was born in nearby Beaconsfield and went to school in Mt. Ayr. Every Iowan should be very proud!

EP3-20 met his hero. 

We had about 23 VBS voyagers with us that week in Mt. Ayr. They loved the great meals served by friendly helpers; our puppet friend; science time led by a real-life science teacher; craft time led by a mom-daughter duo; and Bible reflection time led by a resident musician and teacher, who also played Dr. Speck this week. Turns out I left the DVD with our urgent transmissions from the Starship Galaxion in the DVD player in Batavia, so Sally and Pastor Emily stepped up to act out those segments with me. This often proves to be way more fun than watching a video, especially as I handed Dr. Speck her prop ukulele and saw pure joy on her face. :)

While we somehow managed to put a hula hoop on the roof and leave a fine trail of moon sand on the carpet, we also had some great faith discussions throughout the week. A few younger kids were asking questions as they tried to figure out just who this Jesus fellow is, anyway.
"Is He an angel?"
"No, He's higher up than angels. He's God's son."
*several moments of quiet*
"Did God have a wife or a girlfriend?"
"No..."
"Then how did He have a son?"
A very valid question. May we all have kids (and adults) in our churches that think through things this much. That's how you grow your own faith, by rejecting the easy answers and struggling through ideas like this. What a joy to struggle together.

Batavia

Whenever I say the name, my mom thinks it sounds like a medieval kingdom with a castle- Bataaaviaaa. We may be getting ahead of ourselves- it's next year that the theme of VBS is Knights of North Castle.

This town of 499 people (I guess I made 500 for the week?) sees about 25 people come to the United Methodist church on a Sunday. So it was pretty neat then to have 21 kids on the first night, with a few more along the way. I told the kids the first day that their "homework" was to bring a friend, and I had at least one kid introduce their homework to me. :)

One of our young friends came bounding in the second night, and I about fell over when he said his name. I had just seen it on the page of one of our solar system books- he shares a name with a constellation. Another boy, a mythology fan, was excited to tell him the story behind it.

We had some great help here, and they were flexible enough to try new things. In years past, they had not served a meal with their VBS- but it came very naturally to them, and throughout the week they were willing to take on all sorts of leadership roles. The pastor has a penchant for science, and the kids really enjoyed that part of the evening!




The last night, we invited families to come for a short program, and they saw how the kids, in 4 days, had memorized Ephesians 3:20: "Glory to God who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by His power at work within us." Amen.

Neighbor VBS

"What is Bible school FOR, anyway?" inquired a curious little girl while chatting with me at the summer lunch program where the Bible school kids had come to eat.

I told her things like learning about God, hearing Bible stories, making crafts, and playing games. But what struck me was how her question "what is it FOR?" and the answer "to learn about God" is the same no matter how old you are.

We had a very intergenerational VBS at Vanderwilt Park this year. In fact, you could argue we didn't have many kids. There were three who fell in the "normal" VBS age. But we had a mom who brought her itty bitty boys, and we had my grandma and her sister, and we had a crew of other amazing helpers, and everybody there from 2 weeks old to 4,264 weeks old learned something about God through this encounter.

I, for example, learned for the umpteenth time about God's goodness- during a week with such divided ages,  He sent us an early childhood specialist and a speech language pathologist to play with these little boys while the older ones did Bible study.

Kids of all ages enjoy VBS :) 

We learned about flexibility. They've been doing some work on the park, and so we avoided vast open spaces of dirt, and then moved a few times through the time to account for construction folks noisily building dugouts nearby. No matter where we were, we found shade and simplicity.  We decided to forgo the canopy again this year, and it worked just fine (no rain!)

My grandma brought crafts. Here kids are making toys that can be donated to the animal shelter. Notice the dramatic sky that did not rain on us! 

We learned that pizza ministry is powerful ministry. A wonderful woman from church has volunteered each year to bring us pizza on the last day. Boy, do we all feel loved when there's a tradition like this!

The most important thing is we were together. We had no question about "who is my neighbor" when we got to the Good Samaritan story- it was us. It was each other. We had snacks together, and sang drowsy music together Wednesday morning when everyone was on the sleepy side, and enjoyed cuddles and caretaking together with the littles. Having a foundation like this enables us to go out and share that sense of being a neighbor, of feeling God's love and the community of others, with everybody.

Relatedly, this week, we got an amazing donation from Osky's Central United Methodist Church (my home church.) Their VBS had been the week before, and they graciously chose MUMM to be the mission they supported. They invited me to come speak about what we do, and it was so powerful to watch this future group of world-changers care about those in their own community so other kids could have VBS just like they do and could go to camp just like they do. Many, many thanks to this community of faith for all the love and support of MUMMs (and me)!

Looking at the world through rose (hill) colored glasses

Rose Hill, Iowa. Population 168. Driving into town, you're greeted by the remnants of a burnt trailer. The town does not seem, at first glance, to have much to offer. But God lives here.

Earlier this summer, if you pulled up to the White Oak Venue around lunch time, you'd see some of God's family there serving lunch. These volunteers brought the (wholly secular) summer lunch program to their community. But many of them are also involved in other ways to serve here in this community hub- Bible study, an addiction recovery support group, and a weekly after school program for youth. This is an outreach of New Hope in neighboring Oskaloosa (which deserves to have its story told as well- check them out here, this is another amazing place where God works.) Since it was summer and the after school program was no longer in session, they wanted a way to continue to connect with the kids. Spencer had helped me out with VBS in years past, so he asked MUMM to come help out. This is exactly what we do. They'd never done VBS here before, and Spencer asked if we had to have a minimum number of kids. Recalling lots of small beginnings, I said if we had one kid we'd do Bible school.

Bonnie and I want this band to come with us everywhere we do VBS. 

Well, we had two kids the first day, another day we found the "one kid" statement a reality, one day we were joined by a family of three, another day we invited in two from outside where they were patronizing the only pop machine in town. So seven kids, never all at once. But if there's one thing I've learned in my years in this ministry, it's that it isn't about the numbers. When you have two kids, you can spend the first half hour playing and talking before jumping in to programming. You can all have an instrument during a musical jam session. You can get to know each other much better, and kids will share things with you. For example, one day we did a worry prayer. I asked them if they wanted to share worries they were scared about before we prayed about them.

Answers I was expecting: The dark. Grades. Bees. Fitting in at school.
Answers I got: Custody. Jail. My soul and demons.

These kids are thinkers. And this is how God works- through conversations, through small moments spent on big ideas. There is a fantastic group of kingdom people planting seeds in Rose Hill. Pray for the gardeners. Pray for the garden.

We took our crayon resist art to the great outdoors. 

Just behind the concrete slab were some lilies to consider. Beautiful blooms take time. 

Camp Psalms

This year, my fiance and I are working our way through the One-Year Bible, reading the whole thing from cover to cover. At the end of June, we were nearing the end of Psalms. After making it through Leviticus (long lists of things you shouldn't do) and 2nd Chronicles (long lists of kings who did those things anyway), it was immensely refreshing to get to some poetry- even if it does sometimes reveal a brutally honest look at the whole gamut of human emotion (and a sprinkling of obscure musical terms, selah.)

Also at the end of June, Cherie, Bonnie, and I spent a week with 35 JOY campers and their awesome counselors. We stayed outpost, which meant we cooked over an open fire, walked in a lot of mud, and never had the problem of air conditioning being too cold. This was a big change, but it was a neat experience the kids really enjoyed. What I especially enjoyed was watching growth in campers I've now known for years. It is amazing to watch kids you once comforted comfort others when they're down. Because in one short week at camp, you get to see the whole gamut of human emotion- and a sprinkling of obscure musical terms (Oh kaway oh wuh? A tikki tikki tumba?)

Hm.
Psalms + Camp = Camp Psalms.



Psalm 7:47, a lost psalm of JOY camp
1 How long, O Lord, will the others talk and shine their flashlights long after lights out? Yet Thy mercy is great, and the morning brings pancakes for talkers and sleepers alike.

2We bring our praise to You; we praise You with song, with hand claps, and with elaborate hand motions.

3 The swimmers and hikers raise their voices unto You. The righteous teach patience and safety to the young, and the cadence of their voices becomes like each other.

4 The birds, bullfrogs, and the lawnmowers, they sound Your praise, and the junebugs and the goats.


5 And when I am stuck in the muck and the mire, You are the polka dot rain boots that bring me out of the midst of it.

6 When Your waters pour from the sky, You are as raincoat and dry socks to us.

7 You have chosen us first for lunch in the presence of our rivals, and always are there seconds in Thy bountiful kingdom, as long as we walk and show courtesy to our neighbors.

8 All the superheroes and TV theme songs sing Thy praise to You, O God.

9 You tie us together as knots in a friendship bracelet, O Lord.

10 Your backpack and Your water bottle, they comfort me, and I shall follow the sound of Thy voice and Thy count-off.

11 We shall remember all You have done for us, O Lord, and as the forests echo with the shouts of chapel, we shall live as though each day is Easter.

12 You provide for me in my weariness a hammock under shade trees on a breezy day. You anoint me with sunscreen and fill my ear with birdsong- You restoreth my soul.

(In)dependence Day

Happy 4th of August!

It doesn't have quite the same ring as 4th of July, and there are many fewer fireworks, but it's still a great day to celebrate dependence- which is what I did on Independence Day this year. Not many places want VBS over the 4th of July, but I had a hunch that my Osky site would be just fine- and so they were. It was a small bunch- six girls- but we didn't lose them on the holiday. We all enjoyed celebrating together as a small, close group.

How did we celebrate dependence on Independence Day? Well, it takes a village to raise a VBS.

-Each day my grandparents came, bringing tables, drinks, and other necessities, to help Bonnie and me set up. We discovered this year that with some strategic shade, we could do just fine without the canopy tent we've used in years past. (Tying the puppet stand to a tree so it didn't fall over and having a pond-like puddle from lots of recent rain were two finishing touches that really pulled the outdoorsy River Rampage theme together here in, well, the outdoors. No fancy decorations needed here!)



-Since my extension cord just won't go that far, we didn't use the video portion of the puppet show. Instead, some friends did a fantastic job of acting out the parts. Not just anybody can pick up the part of Jean Michel McDiver, expert survivalist or Max Breezy, meteorologist- but I preferred their live performances to the video.

-With such a small group, we pretty well turned craft time into a team building activity. One person held the cardboard tubes, the other rolled the duct tape. It was a great hands-on reminder of how we need each other!

-We rocked the boomwhackers and other instruments for a sound story about Zaccheus. Making music together is another great way to become a community quickly.

-Normally we eat at a summer lunch feeding site, but this year it wasn't open in July. When I checked to see if we could send someone to pick up lunches, they offered to stay open for us for the days we had VBS! That was really above and beyond- so impressive. The last day of VBS, a friend from church brought us pizza and homemade cookies.

Seeing so many hands working together always reminds me of what church really is- God's people working together to support each other and share God's love with each other. I love joining together God's children of all ages to do just that!

Learning from the Littles

Well, I'm a little behind on my blogging, but allow me here at the tail end of July to take you back to the end of June, where Romper and I went to Orient UMC.

These helpers are awesome. They are super organized and had fun decorating. Brown paper turned into rocks and streamers turned into waterfalls.

One of the extra fun things for me here is that I used to teach in this town, so I get to see some former students- they keep growing up fast, though, so most of them were "too old" for VBS. Personally, I think you're never too old for VBS, but some of them have graduated high school and all, so I guess I can see that.

The kids we did have in abundance were littles. Little littles.

If you've done VBS, or if you have worked with children, or if you have seen children, you will recognize that little little children really change how you have to do things. The difference between a preschooler and a kindergartner is pretty substantial.

Yet Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Mark 19:14)

Not just children, but specifically little children.
Hm.
What can we learn from little children?


-The world is exciting and awesome and there's always something new to learn. Toilet paper tube binoculars really work. It's all in how you look at things.

-Sometimes you just need a little attention. During science in the afternoon, one little little was crying, wailing, really, for no reason we could see and with no signs of self-soothing. I took her to go get a drink. As soon as she grabbed my hand, she was quiet. She came back and sat on my lap throughout science. Sometimes we all just need someone to notice us.

-Naps matter. One especially little friend went home for nap time and came back refreshed. God rested. Why don't adults think they need to?

-You can be at peace no matter what's going on around you. Our all-day format left some of the little ones tired by the end of the day (those who didn't go home for naps. See point 3.) So, one little girl created her own nap time in her pew. We did the puppet show. She slept. We sang songs. She slept. We left for our next rotation, leaving a helper beside her so she wouldn't freak out if she woke up alone. She slept. We came back and practiced for the program. She slept. How you can sleep through all this noise is beyond me, but she did. When the world is crazy around us, how many of us have that kind of trusting peace?

Woolstock

I've had many conversations recently that have gone like this:
"Where are you going next week for Bible school, Allison?"
"Woolstock!"
"...Woodstock??"

I think Woolstock should capitalize on this confusion and have a wool festival, like knitting for hippies. It's a pity people don't ask me to community plan. In real life, WOOLstock, Iowa is home to 168 friendly people and is the birthplace of George Reeves, TV's Superman.

On a Sunday, roughly nine people worship at the United Methodist church. Given that figure, this site had probably the highest percentage of its congregation come out to help of anywhere I've been! They hadn't had VBS in a very long time and were very nervous that no kids were going to come. We were all thrilled with the seven that came. These were some wonderful kids, too- the sort that remind me why I love working with kids in the first place. They loved to make things, to be creative, to sing. We need these people in our churches. That is the beauty of VBS- as illustrated in the following conversation:

Me, trying to get them to say ways we can learn about God: Where are we right now?
Little boy: Home! Oh. Church.
Me: I like that answer, because church can feel like home.
Little boy, eyebrow raised: How can church feel like home?
Me: Well, the people are like your family. We're all children of God, so this is our church family.
Little boy, proudly: I live in Woolstock.
Me: How many people live in Woolstock?
Almost every hand went up. Lots of faces were surprised. 168 people, but that doesn't mean you know all of them. A common theme in the places I visit is the expectation that living in a small town means you know everybody, but they find the reality is that people move in and out so much there are many strangers. I love having people meet their neighbors at Bible school!

Fun kid moments:
We're eating lunch, and one little boy observes, "There are lots of Poppies and Grandmas here." True story- every one of these people was retired. "And moms," he added, "that's you."
"Actually, I'm not a mom," I said.
"Are you a kid?" he asks, puzzled.
"No, not a kid."
"What are you?"

Another boy told me about his plan to go into business by collecting worms to make sushi.

Like most kids, this bunch adored the puppet. During closing time, one boy really wanted Romper to talk to him, and he kept calling out, "I love you, Romper!"

Boomwhacker Life Lessons

In a host family first for me, Bonnie and I had our own apartment as guests of a member of the congregation who lives in a senior living facility. Quiet neighbors, breakfast buffet, free wi-fi, ice cream machine downstairs.... how old exactly do you have to be to move to a place like this? Asking for a friend...

Someone was an artist- we came to a decorated church, including a waterfall in the sanctuary!

Davenport Faith is a church that clearly wants to reach out to the families around them. They had knocked on doors to invite kids to Bible school. While they didn't get quite the turnout they were hoping for, we did average twelve kids a night- and not always the same kids, so we reached more than that. Plans were in the works for their Back to School night reaching out event with crafts and activities in the church yard. The energy and willingness to help in this congregation was amazing- which helped things go smoothly when our twelve kids had about twenty-four kids' worth of energy :) We decided to rotate between three activity stations instead of the two we had planned on- and it went swimmingly.

Bonnie and I were in charge of the science station. I'm coming to enjoy the science portion of VBS. We did three lessons from the curriculum and then we made one up involving boomwhackers and sound waves. I wish I had taken pictures I could show you, but that's hard to do while conducting. Essentially, they're different-sized, different-pitched, colored plastic tubes. We lined them up lowest to highest pitch, observed that the sizes correspond to the pitches, and then played songs. Because we had eight boomwhackers and four kids in a group, the adult helpers got to join us in music-making. You are never too old for boomwhackers! The helpers really gave good tips to the kiddos- "You've got to watch her for when she points at you! Don't take your eyes off her!" I was delighted, because A) when they watched, they knew when to play, B) I got to see even young children build attention span through the allure of making music and C) their faces lit up when it was their turn- kids and adults alike. We messed up on occasion, but we had all kinds of fun. I can't help but think of this in terms of our life of faith. We should always be reminding each other to keep our eyes on God, who is delighted to make music with us. We get distracted and we may miss a note- even when we're adults- but God still loves to see our faces light up when we're right there with Him paying attention. And then the song sounds right.

Fun kid moments:
Disclaimer: I could never be a kindergarten teacher. It takes a very special person to do that all day, and I am not it. However, I do really love the littles during VBS. At one point in the script, Romper the purple river otter talked about a time when he didn't have any friends. One of the littles objected quietly and sincerely: "But I'm his friend!" "Me too!" another chimed in.

On the last night, one of them asked very solemnly in the middle of closing time on the last day- "Are we graduating?"

Martha, Martha, Martha

While Mary sat and listened to Jesus, Martha stirred the soup.
While Mary sat and listened to Jesus, Martha swept the floor.
While Mary sat and listened to Jesus, Martha fretted about the million and one details that go with the first week of Bible school.

Ok, so maybe that last one was me.

Mary and Martha- this was the story that resonated the most with me this week. It's so easy to get caught up in things that are trivial. Case in point: my wonderful hostess was making blueberry pancakes for breakfast. They looked great, and still were a hundred-fold improvement over my typical breakfast of Poptarts, but they got browner than she wanted. "Oh no," she exclaimed as she started to fret, apologize, and make some more. While they were cooking, she asked me what Bible story I was teaching that day. I got to tell her it was Mary and Martha, and we both got a good laugh out of the timeliness of that story that morning. 

Nature print paper is magic.

Week one of Rolling River Rampage VBS happened directly after school finished, and the end of the school year for me this year was filled with upheaval and change. There were so many details to get worked out. I was thrilled to be surrounded by a familiar community of amazing, friendly people- and get to spend a little porch time in the afternoons relaxing and letting my soul settle a little bit.

Farmington was full of teachers and grandmas for volunteers, which made things run very smoothly. The first day we had 12 kids and grew to 19 by the last day. Six of our new friends were all from one family! The only trouble we had was technology that first day, as we tried umpteen combinations of cords and devices to make the DVD play on their system. Finally we settled on an old smaller TV from downstairs and someone's DVD player from home. And you know what? It worked beautifully. With a younger bunch of kids and three days instead of five, I also decided not to use the music from the curriculum and just do easy, familiar songs instead. And you know what? That worked beautifully too. Even the older kids whole-heartedly belted out Zaccheus Was a Wee Little Man. Their favorite craft that week? One of the simplest- the paper chain snake. And that is how I became Mary instead of Martha this week, and I never looked back.

Fun kid moments:
A few of the kids came early with their grandma to help set up. "Are we way early? Nobody else is here!" they asked her. Then they saw the MUMM van. "Oh- at least the captain's here!" :)

While we were cleaning up after craft time, I asked one little kindergartener who was spinning around on the stairs if he would please pick up the paper templates for me and put them in this envelope. Excited to have something useful to do, he found every single one- and I glanced over to see him proudly lick and seal the envelope to return to me.

As we did our Rapid Reminder of the day, Find Acceptance on the River, we were supposed to lean left and then lean right- I thought this was supposed to be like steering our kayak. Then one little girl in the front row made reference to the thing where "we lean on each other." I hope those words find your ear just right like they did mine. It's perhaps an unexpected picture of what church should be, watching rows of kids giggle as they topple over into each other, but yes, friends, don't worry- we are here to lean on each other. Leaning on each other helps us to focus on Jesus- that's the one thing that is needed, Martha.