OHC VBS: Kingdom Rock

After a rather negative experience two years ago, I decided to attempt VBS at our church again this year.  The VBS program itself at Orchard Hill is outstanding.  The problem came with it being late (6:15-8:15pm) in Cedar Falls (20 miles away) too many nights in a row (five).  This year both kids were old enough to attend and not just be in nursery waaay past normal bedtime (although like last time, Austin was out of town during the week). 

One positive change this year was the kickoff took place during the 10:45am worship service on Sunday followed by a family picnic.  The "picnic" was held inside because of rain, and all the fun activities (giant bounce house/slide, balloon swords, crafts, face painting, etc.) were crammed into the gym, but it was still fun.

The kids had fun the first two nights, but it still got late and bed time was a bit ugly.  The third night was cancelled because of all the bad weather.  We skipped the fourth night because I had a previously planned event.  Since Austin was out of town, a babysitter came to stay with the kids. 

The theme was Kingdom Rock: Where Kids Stand Strong for God.  The decorations were phenomenal.  Since we missed Wednesday night, we stopped at church Thursday morning to take pictures and deliver our mission offering (over $3,000 was raised to purchase Jesus Storybook Bibles translated into Creole for schools and families in Haiti).

I didn't take any pictures during the actual event, so here are a few courtesy of the OHC Facebook page:

I volunteered to be a floater this year, which means they put you where needed.  The first night I was an assistant group leader for the 6th grade boys.  The second night was 5th grade.  Shh, don't tell, but I was secretly planning to skip out on Wednesday night and hide out at Panera with high hopes of getting this blog caught up (enter severe storms, which were probably God's way of saying, "Nope!").  I wasn't sad to miss Thursday night.  After two attempts at volunteering, I just honestly decided that VBS is not my thing.  I would be willing to do just about anything that didn't necessarily involve the kids (crazy, I know).  Like hosting in the volunteer hospitality room.  Or baking cookies (which they didn't ask for this year).  It's just not my gifted area or sweet spot.  Our church really focuses on serving out of your strengths and passions, so I shouldn't feel guilty about not volunteering again next year.  I still will feel a bit guilty if I don't help out in any way, but maybe I can be more careful to choose something that energizes me rather than something that drains and discourages me.