Principals of Positive Thinking:

~ Our thoughts have power over feelings and attitudes.
~ You can change yourself by changing your thoughts.
~ Positive thinkers use faith to gain control of their problems.
~ Fear and worry conquered by practical spiritual methods; meditation and prayer increase vitality and peace of mind.
~ A positive mind leads to improved health and well-being.
~ Positive thinkers overcome mistakes, forgiving themselves and others.
~ The practice of positive imaging instills the courage and confidence to achieve your goals.
~ Enthusiasm leads to actions.
~ Positive attitudes create more enduring and fulfilling relationships.
~ Positive thinking is achievable by all people.

...Norman Vincent Peale

VBS is over! Woo Hoo! I was the Story Teller and had been dreading it right up until the day the kids walked into the "tent". I was tired of doing Bible School after having done the job of just about every VBS duty at least once over the 18 years I've had kids old enough to participate. My brain keeps telling me that the younger Moms ought to be stepping up. When I looked around at the other VBS workers in leadership roles, most were in their 40s, 50s or 60s! Where are the young mothers? Our church is full of them. Do they think VBS is a babysitting time? Where is the commitment? Are they afraid? What's going on? It worries me.

Anyway, the week went great. Mostly due to the fantastic help I had from some of the High School kids. Wes volunteered for the Story Time right away. I was glad to have his help, remembering his enthusiasm last year. Jackie also wanted to help but didn't show up on Day 1 so I frantically grabbed Danielle as she was walking in and she also helped all week. I ended up the week with 2 more helpers, McKeah and Bo. Those teens made the job fun and easy for me. They took anything I threw their way, totally unflustered by it!

At the end of each day we'd really quickly go over the curriculum and I'd give them a copy of the scripts and we'd choose parts...But by morning I would have studied it more, reread the corresponding scriptures and thought about it all night long. When they'd arrive in the morning I had changed it or added to it or completely threw out the old and rewritten a new script. A couple of times I just told them I would call them out in-character and talked with them and they would improvise the appropriate-to-their character answer! I'd give them crazy props and not tell them what to do with them and they'd use their imaginations and it was great. They dressed up in Bible attire sometimes and sometimes did Puppets. Those kids were awesome!

It was harried all week since we had ages of children varying from 3-year-olds to 6th Graders so we really had to have several different scenarios and improvise a lot. The half hour was too long for the younger kids and not long enough for the older ones! The VBS curriculum started with 1st Graders so for the 2 classes of younger kids we just winged it most of the time.

The whole week went so well and I can only attribute it to the superior flexibility and Biblically-strong and moral youth. I didn't have to explain everything and the whys of the stories because they already were familiar with them. I even made Wes take my djembe and do a conga beat for the kids and we danced around the room singing "God listens to us, God provides for us, God will forgive us, God will protect us!" The kids loved it!

So the Story Time was a success and I am feeling much better about it now that it is finished. The whole VBS was good and the women that did the Music portion were fabulous. Teaching them the awesome songs and also little dances and movement that made it more fun for the younger kids and interesting for the older ones. (They were younger women, by the way.)

I think the children learned a lot about Prayer (the theme) and God and Jesus and the Bible and that is really what it is all about anyway. Sometimes I get frustrated when God calls me to do something that I don't want to do but it always turns out right.