Sunday, June 17, 2007

Take the plunge!

Our church runs a really cool vacation bible school (VBS) every summer, that would be a program I would like to go if I were a kid. Through songs, bible verses and stories, crafts and games, children get a better understanding of what the bible teaches about a personal walk with God our Maker -- a decision our kids will have to make for themselves.

And in church yesterday, we heard the volunteers, who had put their hearts and minds and hands to making VBS work, speak from their firsthand experience of how eager and ready the children were, when it came to taking the plunge over the past week!

"Take the Plunge", that's the theme for this year's VBS, to plunge into this and that -- obedience, courage, faith, worship, service, and most of all, to make a splash with Jesus! And Jon enjoyed every bit of it!

The songs especially, they were so hip and catchy, even Ben who's too young to attend, would look forward to going with me to pick Jon up at the end of each day's session, so that he could join all the other kids in praise and worship unto the Lord! We're still singing the songs in our own home, and the lyrics didn't need to be complicated to speak to me too, about renewing my own trust in God!
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The carnival on the last day, that Ben and I got to attend with Jon, was also creatively organised. Everything from the food to every game stall, was based on the sea theme, but of course! And not just Jon, but a really enthusiastic Ben, happy he could join in the finale, plunged headlong (and toes-deep) into all the water and fun!

How not to have a whale of a time?!

The Way-Cool "Take the Plunge" Carnival

Jon with Matthias and Seth...
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Swim tubes (hot dog) and rings (mini bagels with tuna salad), and seashells (pasta) for the main course, and fish bait (a gummy wriggly worm in chocolate mousse) for dessert.
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Quite the highlight -- all waiting to see who will dunk Professor Heno Head... and then, Jon having a go at it!
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Some of the other water-themed games...
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The boys' favourite...
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My favourite... and I think Ben and Jon were expecting to get a lot more wet than just this! But between them and their toes, they didn't do too bad! Take a look...
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2 comments:

A Mature Student said...

Looks like so much fun. Not only absorbing God's Word but having a fun time while taking in Spiritual food.

I like that picking up marbles with toes game. Not many kids can do that.

bp said...

Yes, Judy... you could say the kids got to soak up God's Word! And the bible stories were all water-related, like the woman at the well, and Jesus walking on water.

That marble game is really quite interesting. I was surprised Ben understood what was to be done, and Jon because he's older was told that he had to pick out the white amongst the coloured ones to make them count, and they wasted no time to do just that. And what they picked in the 1-min timeframe was supposedly the record at that point. But I wonder if I could do it myself... since I've only played the more common version using our hands (e.g. chopsticks) not feet, to grab the marbles.