…for the Bible tells me so! Little ones to Him belong – they are weak but He is strong!
Remember those lyrics? Well, assuming you aren’t an alien, almost regardless of your faith background, you can pretty much identify these words as coming from a song that most of us learned in Bible school many years ago. It’s also one of those tunes that keeps on playing in your head – year after year after year…
So what’s this have to do with tonight’s post? Well, its VBS (Vacation Bible School) week at the church that our daughter, Kristin, works at. In fact, she is in charge of the younger kids and so the VBS program falls under her list of responsibilities; Kristin absolutely loves vacation Bible school each summer. And this year was no exception. To be fair, the songs have changed, as most things do with time, but the newer tunes are just as catchy as the ones we learned so long ago.
In fact, our other daughter, Jill, travels to our home from Oklahoma to help out and all four of our grandsons participate in one way or another. The oldest two, Connor and Carter, are volunteers who help with the younger kids groups, while Cooper and Drew, our youngest two, were actually attending Bible school. It has become a real family affair. The theme this year was learning about the country of Peru and all the donations received are earmarked for clean water projects in remote villages.
By the end of the week, the 200+ kids, in addition to their parents, raised more than $2600 for the water projects – ensuring clean water for more than a year to 530 South American children. It was awesome. And that wasn’t all…
Originally, Janet and I weren’t scheduled to be involved this year. But, as luck would have it, they were short several volunteers, and so I was asked if I would join the security detail – making sure that the kids were safe and there were no strangers or unauthorized people in the building. For years I did this job in the children’s wing in our own church, so it was second nature to me. Janet helped out assisting wherever necessary. In all honesty, we only worked the last two nights but it was great fun.
There is something inspirational about watching hundreds of children and more than 150 adult volunteers all singing together in the sanctuary at the beginning and ending of each evening’s activities. Watching all the arm movements, in unison with the music, as well as the skits and the joy of the children engaged in learning about Jesus and God was worth all the effort. Investing in our children and teaching them about the love of Jesus is one of the most important things we can do. And the volunteers who led the various sessions during the middle of the evening were talented and gifted in their own right – their love of children and desire to spread the Good News of Jesus to the world.
The children are impressionable so it is a huge responsibility to make sure that we are exposing them to the truth – the real deal about God. To make it fun and have them eager to learn is just as rewarding. And witnessing this past week has reinforced the idea of childlike faith. How inspirational to see the kids pick up on the lessons and remember what each night’s message was about…
Tonight’s verse is from the book of Matthew. It highlights the love of Jesus for the little children. Matthew tells us, in Matt. 19:14, “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” What a great message for us to hear. My encouragement this evening is that Jesus loves it when we introduce our children to Him. My prayer is that you will find joy in participating in VBS programs for our younger folks or investing time with them in other ways. While we may be older and more stuck in our faith, what a joy it is to see the exuberance of our youth. It will keep us young! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…