VBS at Avalanche Ranch

It's VBS at our church this week!

As you all probably know, VBS is much more than bible stories, color sheets, cookies and watered down Kool-aid like it was when I was a kid. VBS is a major production! My role in our VBS this year is hall and auditorium door decorator. It's a great gig for me because I get to do what I love, create and decorate, and then I'm pretty much done!

This year there was a slight hitch. There was a wedding Saturday afternoon in our church so we only had Saturday night and Sunday afternoon to decorate my designated areas and some of the rooms. It was a bit of a challenge. But with lots of help from Rob and my creative, talented and overly generous friend Courtney..it was done with time to spare! The first night of VBS went great! Here are some pictures... (I think this is fast becoming a photo blog!)

My doors and hall



The cute downstairs craft room decorated and manned by the aforementioned Courtney and Jeri!

There is a reason these ladies teach crafts! They spent many hours on this room.
The details are so neat!

Downstairs Bible... Again, such a cute, cute room! And my friend Jill is such an excellent teacher! The decor is only the beginning of what these kids will get from Jill and Shelly this week!



Downstairs Snack: These ladies pulled this whole room off in about two hours! My cousin Ashley probably didn't plan to spend her 12th anniversary this way, but she did it with a smile! Great job Ashley!

Downstairs Music ... You may recognize the teacher! Elizabeth is going to have these kids moving and singing all week. She wrangled Lauren into helping at the last minute when her partner couldn't make the first two nights (Not to mention the decorating before hand!)

Upstairs Crafts... Emily and Aimee did their usual magic!

What is it with craft ladies? Their rooms are so cute!

Upstairs Bible These ladies are awsome! They even have a cast of actors helping them bring the stories to life...



And I didn't even mention the big puppet show and nightly introduction in the auditorium! There is so much more to see and show of this VBS, but I think you get the idea.

Sometimes I wonder if all this decorating and effort is worth it. I mean do the kids really notice? Does it make a difference? I debated this a lot during the last two days as I spent hours decorating and trying to make a formal church hallway look "Rocky Mountain Western." As much as I love doing it, does it really matter?

Last night my Mom brought a little girl from her school to VBS. (My Mom is the counselor at an Elementary in a not so nice part of town.) This little girl's mother died when she was 2 and she is being raised by a very sweet great-grandmother who is in her late 70's. (Can you imagine raising a 5 year old on your own in your late 70's?) This little girl is not neglected or unloved, but she doesn't get to go to many kid centered events. Last night when I met her her eyes were as big as saucers! She was so excited and just trying to take it all in.

Her reaction reminded me of what I think my kids would do at Disney World. She was really wowed by the whole thing. Her grandmother told my Mom she had been up, dressed, and ready to go since early that morning, even though our VBS is at night. Mom went to all the classes with the little girl and said the she loved it and just soaked every activity in. I wish I could bus my Mom's whole school to VBS. Mom knows so many kids who just don't have what I wish every child could have...A safe home, with two loving, active parents, enough food and clothing, a relationship with a loving God who knows them and who they can turn to, and more than anything, the assurance that they are loved and that they will be taken care of, always. I think every child deserves that.

So if this VBS excites and makes life happier for just that one little girl this week...
It's worth it.
And if just one little girl or boy happens to hear something about our God, a God who loves them and who they can always turn to..
Then VBS really is worth any amount of time spent putting it together and pulling it off!

If you are in the area tonight at 6:30PM bring the chill'uns on over to Avalanche Ranch! We'd be more than happy to have them for two hours ... And together we just might learn somethn'!