V-Very, B-Busy, S-Summer!

Right this minute Michael and I are side by side in the bed, each with a laptop. He’s looking up Thomas trains on Ebay and I’m talking to you guys. 

Thomas trains may be the best toys we’ve ever bought. Aidan got his first one before he was 2, and has played with them off and on for the last 5 years. That’s some serious toy longevity. Paisley likes them, too. She goes to her big brother, takes his hand and says “Choo Choo Bubba!”, then they go upstairs and build a track and she knocks it down. 

Yep, we’re just kickin’ it around here this summer. 

We’ve been to the park a lot. I am loving life at the park these days. I can go sit with my friends in the shade and my kids can run around without Mama having to follow them every step. I’ve waited for this for years. 

We spent today at my Aunt Peggy’s house, playing in the pool all afternoon. We did cannonball contests and had a big time. I love the water. I love swimming races with Michael. The kids cheer and yell for both of us. Michael always wins in the underwater swimming. I always win in backstroke. Neither of us are Phelpsian by any means, but we have a great time. I love splashing, jumping, swimming, and just lying completely still on a raft, and blocking out the sounds of the kids. The water is definitely my favorite part of summer. 

My other favorite part starts on Monday. Vacation Bible School! I think there may have been only one summer of my entire life that I didn’t do VBS. When Michael and I were newlyweds and didn’t really have a church home, we didn’t do it. But I have either been a participant, a helper, a teacher, a food preparer, or a worship rally leader every other year that I can think of. I’ve danced to the Rickshaw Rally, gone on a Ramblin’ Road trip, paddled to Outrigger Island and everything else. 

I get so excited about it. I try to put as much into it as I want the kids to get out of it. I mean, that’s the point, right? I don’t think it’s ever about the theme, or the decorations, or the music, although those things are awesome. I think it’s about a whole slew of kids seeing Christ demonstrated in the lives of the adults leading. I don’t want the kids in my room to say, “yeah, it was fun. my friends are cool. we did cool stuff. the teachers did their job.” I want them to see me excited about what they’re excited about. I want them to see me not afraid to act like a maniac, if it gets their attention and helps them to realize that adults really do care about what is going on in their hearts. 

I want to go home every day and say, “that was fun!” It’s a personal challenge to myself every year: how hard can I laugh? How passionately can I convey God’s Word? How off the wall can I act to get them to understand that the Christian life is a blast! 

Last year, I got to sit down and tell my sweet 5th and 6th graders about how God made me and how there are some things about me that are not quite like everybody else. I was talking about my arms, legs and the other little quirky things about my body. I then shared with them how God created me to worship him, and whether my arms are bent or straight, I will raise them in praise regardless of what they look like. It was an experience I won’t forget. I felt like they understood feeling different or weird. I think they “got it”. I pray that God used what I said to maybe calm an insecurity or two. 

So I’m pumped up about this week. I want to see some kids meet Christ, and know it’s for real. I want my own children to have a wonderful time, and be completely exhausted at the end of each day (wishful thinking). I want Michael, who is so great to come work this year, to teach the Word every day in such a way that the kids see Jesus. I want to have the energy and enthusiasm so that they’ll know that Mrs. Anne cares immensely about the state of their precious hearts. 

After 31 years in the VBS business, I always get way more than I give. It’s a great investment, no matter how you look at it.