VBS

As a child, I dreaded Vacation Bible School. I would always go for at least a couple of days at my grandmother's church and I always thought it was so boring.  There were no cool songs to sing, no decorations or theme, there were snacks I supposed, but not very creative ones, and the only crafts I remember making were homemade bookmarks.  We would spend forever in the sanctuary memorizing long passages of scripture and, to be honest, the only thing that I really can quote to this day from those Bible schools is this:

I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path, and I will hide its word in my heart that I might not sin against God.


These are wonderful words, and I know that some of them are taken from Scripture, but they are not exactly words that changed my heart and made me excited about Jesus.  In fact, I don't even remember having the Gospel presented to me at those Bible Schools, at least not in a way that I could understand.


It is amazing how much VBS has changed since then. Over this summer, my three children went to FIVE different Vacation Bible Schools, three of them with different themes, and all very different from the ones I grew up with.  Each church made every effort to transform the sanctuary and Bible study classrooms.  There are awesome songs that teach the Biblical truths and Scripture verses. The snacks and crafts are amazingly creative, and the games are a lot of fun. Most importantly, the VBS curriculums today teach leaders how to present the Gospel to children in age appropriate terms. Unlike when I was a child, these kids want to come.  They look forward every year to seeing what the next year's theme will be and they leave singing the songs and telling the Bible stories.  They are excited about Jesus.

What are your fondest VBS memories?  Are there any songs or Bible stories that you remember specifically? Maybe you accepted Christ as Savior because of VBS, or maybe you were like me, bored to tears and wishing you could be anywhere else on those beautiful summer days.