Everything I Really Need to Know, I Learned at Vacation Bible School

Now that the leaves are turning from green to brilliant colors, and there is a chill in the air, I sadly concede to the fact that Summer is over... (big sigh)... As a tribute to my favorite season of the year, I decided to write about Vacation Bible School because it was historically the first rite of Summer while I was growing up. And, now that I'm older, I now realize that it was more important to my life than I ever realized.

There are three things you can count on when you are a kid: Little League baseball, School will shut down for the summer, and Vacation Bible School (VBS) will pick up where school left off. In fact, VBS normally occurred during the second week of summer break. I went to a large Church in Eastern Kentucky and have to believe that it had the greatest VBS ever in the history of Christendom. Actually I am probably a bit biased because I never attended the other VBS's because my Church was the only one that provided bus service to pick you up and take you home. This was especially handy because both of my parents worked long hours.

Anyway, A typical VBS day would start with an assembly of all the age groups in the main sanctuary where the Pastor would welcome us. While there, we would say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American and Christian flags and also to The Bible. Then, we would sing a few songs like, "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "The B-I-B-L-E". After this assembly, we would be shepherded to our classes. We had a devotional lesson class, a craft class, a music class, snack time (kool-aid and peanut butter crackers), and my personal favorite, the physical challenge. Even though there wasn’t much to the physical part of it, there was usually a water balloon toss or some other fun/messy event to complete in. The day would come to a close with another assembly. This assembly was the big one of the day, because the Pastor would have his chance to preach the Gospel of Jesus to us. This assembly always closed with an invitation to accept Christ. Then out the door, onto the bus, and home.

When I look back on the crafts, songs, Kool-Aid, and Peanut butter crackers, I smile. Whenever I hear the pledge to the Christian flag or the Bible, I snap to attention. When the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” comes to mind, I feel like marching onto a battlefield. But what I hold most dear is the fact that a seed was planted in my formative years that would later sprout, take root, and grow into a tree that bears fruit for the Kingdom. That seed, planted in me at Vacation Bible School, was Jesus Christ and the fact that He is the Son of God that died to pay my ransom for all the bad things I had done and will do in my life. And at the heart of the seed is this:

All I have to do is believe in Him, ask His forgiveness, and I will be washed white as snow.

And that my friend, is everything I really need to know.