Vacation Bible School

Jesus loves me!
This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak but He is strong.

 

(from Jesus Loves me, Anna B. Warner)

 



Day 1 Lesson: Jesus loves me even if I am weird.

Day 2 Lesson: Jesus loves me even if I am frustrated.

Day 3 Lesson: Jesus loves me even if I do wrong.

Day 4 Lesson: Jesus loves me even if I am scared.

 

Vacation Bible School. Does that exist anywhere else but in the South? Until I moved here thirteen years ago, I had never heard of such a beast! Because I am Catholic and I had never such much as heard the phrase uttered, I assumed it must be a Protestant thing.

 

...It isn't. Vacation Bible School (or VBS, as the locals call it) is the biggest God party...EVER...just for kids. And the Catholics down here have it too! For one week, the kids show up in their shorts and flip flops, hair still stringy wet from having spent the afternoon swimming, ready to sing, dance and rejoice. There are crafts, there are games, and there are skits that help illustrate the take home lesson of the day. The list above is what my children learned this week.

 

They started participating last summer, when my little one was finally old enough to attend with her sister. Every night when I picked them up, they were elated, rejuvenated, ecstatic!

 

That was last year...this year something was missing. When I took them on the first day, they seemed subdued, somewhat heavy. My kids looked sad.

 

I felt guilty...responsible for casting a cloud upon them. I wondered if they felt like I felt - undeserving of all the joy around them. Different from all the apparently happy families...who stay together. Unsure if we even belong in this celebration.

 

I don't know exactly what brought them down on that first day, but they must have learned their lessons well. They learned that Jesus loves them even if they are weird...different from everyone else. Jesus loves them even if they are frustrated by their helplessness in their parents' relationship. Jesus loves them even if they feel like they are wrong for feeling the way they feel. Jesus loves them even if they are scared of what their lives will be like when their parents are no longer together.

 

By the time I picked them up on the last day, they were singing enthusiastically and dancing on the stage. They looked radiant and filled with peace and love. I watched them dance and sway as they sang "Jesus Loves Me", and I tried not to cry...because I knew that the lessons were for me also.