Vacation Bible School was an exciting week for me growing up. I always had a great time. Just like our kids do today, I would learn bible stories, have a snack, make a craft of some kind, play, sing, and interact with my friends. It was great fun!
I am grateful, our church is able to offer Vacation Bible School to our children. VBS is more important than most realize. It is a time for parents to have a break, although we would love for our parents to volunteer and see just how much fun the children who are on campus have throughout the week. It is a time to give kids space and a time during the summer where they can be with friends, make new friends, and learn how much God loves them.
I think if I could teach one thing to all people that they would remember throughout all of life, that one thing would be this: God loves you. It is such an easy concept but so many people don’t believe that God, who created them, could also love them. Maybe it is because so many parents in our world today treat their children as a commodity. They are used and abused by the very people who are supposed to love them, protect them, and take care of them. Maybe it is why some people have a hard time thinking in father language about God. I think too, that many churches teach about a vengeful God filled with fire and brimstone if you don’t live exactly like you should. We gotta cross all those T’s and dot all those I’s in order to get into heaven!
God is not like that. That is not the God I have come to know. I think, God is like a gardener who continually tends and cares for all of God’s creation. Giving us what we need when we need it and waiting patiently for us to grow. Not hurrying us along or chopping us down when we don’t act like we should or produce exactly as we think we should. In fact, I wonder if we aren’t our own worst critic and God is there constantly reminding us in ways we do not expect, that we are perfect where we are and we are loved for who we are. The rest will come as we let go of what isn’t good in our life and receive God’s love for us.
Here is what I do know: VBS is great! If you can, send your children and grandchildren. They will love it. Most importantly, they will learn that God loves them for who they are.
Peace,
Pastor Beth
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