Joyfully Teaching Vacation Bible School - Day One

Vacation Bible School , or VBS, Motto
Facing Fear! Trusting God!

VBS Scripture
For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
2 Timothy 1:7

Focus
Saul's conversion on the Damascus road and his journey as Paul.

Flitting Around the House Like a Butterfly 

Yesterday was Day One of VBS and my nerves kept me flitting around the house like a butterfly.  Teaching fifth and sixth graders is not new, but I never know how many students will enroll. Plus, 30 minutes is not a lot of time to teach a lesson AND have a fun activity. So, I was nervous. Finally, I shared this information with Bill and his response is, " Honey, you are organized and prepared, but let's pray about it." We did and the nerves stopped jangling with apprehension and started jingling with excitement.

Day One Begins 

As I drove into the church parking lot, I swiftly sent up an appeal to Jesus, " Let my words flow from you. Open the eyes and hearts of the young people to receive your message." The next five minutes was a flurry of activity -  parking the car, loading myself down with an overflowing Thirty-One bag of educational supplies, a computer briefcase, a large zip top bag of materials, a shopping bag, and packing it all up two flights of stairs worked out any tension that might have been left over. Upon reaching the upstairs Youth room, I paused for a couple of minutes to catch my breath. For the next fifteen or twenty minutes, I happily set up the computer, CD player, placed the Day One materials around the room, and put the empty bags in the supply closet. Okay, everything was in place and I felt the calmness of Spirit-led teaching mode flow through me.

Eagerly, I left the room on my way to the VBS Sign-In Desk in the reception/kitchen room. Six fifth and sixth grade students were signed up. I felt the quiet voice inside me say," See daughter, it will be fine. You will do well." Happiness continued to bubble up inside me. All would be well.

Blindfolded and  Struggling to Place the Puzzle Pieces

Excited giggling and horseplay filled my version of Coaster Alley. Two blindfolded preteens had two minutes to put a puzzle together by listening to the directions of their two team mates. Two minutes later, the two teams had partially placed, scattered puzzles. Without a blindfolded member, each group had a complete puzzle in less than thirty seconds. The point - Saul before his conversion, struck blind without God versus Paul, a changed man of God.

Flat Paul, The Plan

Flat Stanley was very popular about eight or nine years ago. Children carried a  picture of Flat Stanley around, took pictures, and put together a book called, "The Adventures of ______and Flat Stanley. VBS 2013 has Flat Paul as part of the lessons. My plan is to take pictures during VBS with and without Flat Paul. Then I'm going to use Movie Maker to put together a VBS movie and burn a DVD titled, The Adventures of Flat Paul, for each student.

Six happy students listened to the plan for Flat Paul, the movie. Attentively, I waited for a response. Would they like it or not? The preteens chatted about it and decided they liked the idea. Yes! I'm so happy that they decided it was a neat idea.

 I am a joyful woman as I type this post. Day One of VBS is and was a success. My pictures for Day One have been uploaded and are waiting for editing and placement. I love being a wrench in the Lord's toolbox. Have a joyful day Brothers and Sisters, and be watching for Day Two of Joyfully Teaching VBS.