August 4 Martha's Musings

The past couple of weeks have shown me, again, the beauty of personal effort. When I worked as a crew leader with our recent Vacation Bible School, the amount of preparation done by those in charge was stunning. The daily snacks always matched the watery theme of what exactly is in the ocean. We ate on darling little plates shaped like shells and dined on gummy sharks. During arts and crafts, the 4-year-olds in my group outshined my wildest imagination in stringing beads to make friendship bracelets, making a colorful fish out of a paper plate and paper muffin cups, and turning a baby sock filled with stuffing into either a fish or an octopus, complete with googly eyes! At the Imagination Station, we learned, among other things, that an octopus has 9 brains and 3 hearts, and that lots of salt makes water very heavy. Then at Reef Rec there were games which required both running and listening skills. At Bible Adventure there was always a setting of some sort, and the leader would read Scripture and review its application to the setting. There was Reflection Time where the kids were given Sticky Scriptures and a small sea creature, like the one they learned about earlier that day. There was singing and dancing at the beginning and end of every day. The scenery alone was OUTSTANDING, and the adults present marveled at the beauty and creativity of the sets. But I was absolutely blown away by the effort put out by Brittney Hitchcock and her crew – Adam and Roger; Betty; Travis, Cody, and Johnny; Nelda, Rhonda, Kelsey and Sharon; Rejeanna and Whitney; Danielle; Michelle and Mac; Doug, Ruth and Paula; all the crew leaders, their assistants and youth helpers; and, of course, all the children and their dedicated parents. This VBS was a mammoth undertaking, and a huge success, in my humble opinion. When dedicated people put forth such effort to teach little children about the Lord – that, my friends, is ministry, doing what God asks us to do. And St. John’s has shown, once again, that outreach matters. PTL!

Blessings,
Martha Arizpe, St. John’s Prayer Team

PS – Special gratitude to my group of kiddos: Caroline, Cohen, Parker, and Rowan. You blessed me daily by just being yourselves.